Via the submission of six published papers, this thesis draws together the body of work by Broadbridge on retail management and women’s careers. It reveals the factors that continue to be problematic for women’s careers and why in 2010 they continue to be under-represented in the retail management hierarchy. A contextual background to the selected papers is provided in three chapters which summarise some wider issues for the non specialist reader: an introduction to career development models, the gendered processes in management and a contemporary overview of retail employment in the UK. Of the six papers presented, each adopts a different theoretical perspective and so cumulatively a comprehensive understanding of the reasons for women’s continued under-representation in retail management positions is gained. The overall findings from the papers indicated that the main reasons for women’s and men’s differential experience in the retail management hierarchy can be located in issues of male control. Retail management is male dominated, male identified and male centred. This can present itself in a variety of different ways, and through overt or covert means of behaviour and underlying organisational cultures. Key theoretical contributions to the thesis are located in three sets of theory: the sexual division of labour and the organisation of retail work; the gendered retail career, and work-life balance and multiple role demands. Empirical and methodological contributions come from the corpus of data and the use and refinement of a mixed methods approach to understanding the subject area.

Women in the U.S. workforce have been a focus of scholars since the onset of the 21st century, when work-life balance skewed in favor of the term work-life integration because professional working mothers found that balance was an unachievable ideal in the fast pace of the contemporary world. Accordingly, this research study examined the work-life challenges and career choices of women working in the public sector through the framework of the Kaleidoscope Career Model (KCM). While research has been conducted on women in corporate America, there have been limited studies exploring the work-life challenges and career decisions of women working in government. The study design was phenomenological with convenience sampling of women working for state government agencies. Data were collected through a structured interview and demographic questionnaire. Data from the 7 participants were analyzed using the KCM theory and considering Mainiero and Sullivan's A-authenticity, B-balance, C-challenge parameters. Overall, findings indicated that women working in state government chose and remained in their jobs because of stability, security, and benefits. These women did not opt-out, as is common for corporate workers, because they received the flexibility and benefits required to integrate work-life balance. Corporate human resources might explore needs of their own workers using the KCM framework. Policies to retain workers might include more flexibility in scheduling and benefits for workers. This work extends applicability of the KCM to a population of which it has not been used.

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[pt] Esta tese analisou o processo de socialização profissional vivido por policiais femininas atuantes na Polícia Militar do Rio de Janeiro, que resulta na assunção da identidade policial, identificando as etapas deste processo e os aspectos ou condições que tornaram este decurso desafiador, levando em consideração a transposição das dificuldades inerentes aos estereótipos de gênero impressos nesta profissão e das limitações operacionais e culturais, típicas da carreira de policial militar. Além, disso, esta tese objetivou: discutir os aspectos ou condições que possam ter sido facilitadores deste processo; analisar os elementos identitários incorporados pelas entrevistadas, no transcurso da incorporação do ethos do policial e no processo de adaptação e socialização neste nicho profissional; compreender a construção identitária resultante desse processo, que culmina na construção da identidade da mulher policial e identificar os traços identitários estereotipados como femininos, ressaltados pelas entrevistadas ao se descreverem, que podem ser considerados como uma forma de resistência à incorporação de uma identidade masculinizada e embrutecida, tal qual se sugere que seja a identidade típica do policial. Para tanto, sob os preceitos da pesquisa qualitativa, foram realizadas vinte e três entrevistas em profundidade com policiais femininas atuantes em batalhões diversos do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e os depoimentos colhidos foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo. A relevância e originalidade da presente tese repousam na sua perspectiva teórico-analítica, uma vez que, nesta pesquisa, foram utilizadas teorias relativas às questões de gênero, à construção identitária relativa ao ethos do policial, além de teorias sobre identidade, construção identitária e socialização profissional amplamente utilizadas em pesquisas acadêmicas e de grande aderência aos objetivos deste trabalho. Os resultados indicam que ser mulher na PMERJ é uma realidade repleta de dificuldades, relacionadas à falta de preparo cultural desta instituição para a atuação destas profissionais. Além disto, sobre os estereótipos de gênero típicos da profissão de policial, é possível inferir que muitas entrevistadas percebem as barreiras de gênero a elas impostas, o que as coloca numa posição de inferioridade em relação a seus pares, devido ao consenso, reforçado, inclusive, por algumas delas, de que a atividade policial é mais adequada aos homens. No tocante à assunção da identidade policial, fenômeno experimentado por homens e mulheres de forma intensa, as entrevistadas relatam a incorporação de uma postura mais autoritária e impositiva; um estado de atenção permanente, visando a sua própria segurança e a de seus parceiros de trabalho e familiares; a diminuição da sensibilidade e o consequente aumento de uma postura mais dura perante muitas circunstâncias; o embrutecimento, sob a forma de masculinização, como estratégia de sobrevivência neste ambiente androcêntrico. Porém, ao mesmo tempo em que as entrevistadas incorporam novos elementos a suas construções identitárias, tornando-se mais duras e destemidas, estas também reforçam aspectos que podem ser interpretados como de resistência identitária, fortemente associados ao estereótipo feminino, em contrapartida ao ethos masculino do policial. A análise do processo de (re)construção identitária das policiais revelou o quanto este processo é paradoxal, marcado tanto por mudanças radicais, quanto por significativas resistências. / [en] This thesis analyzed the process of professional socialization experienced by female police officers in the Rio de Janeiro Military Police, which results in the assumption of the police officer identity, identifying the stages of this process and the aspects or conditions that have made this course challenging, considering the transposition of the difficulties inherent in the gender stereotypes printed in this profession and the typical operational and cultural limitations of the military police career. Furthermore, this thesis aimed to: discuss the aspects or conditions that may have facilitated this process; analyze the identity elements incorporated by the interviewees, in the course of incorporating the ethos of the police officer and in the process of adaptation and socialization in this professional niche; understand the resulting identity construction from this process, which culminates in the construction of the identity of the police woman and to identify the feminine stereotyped identities traits, emphasized by the interviewees when describing themselves, that can be considered as a form of resistance to the incorporation of a masculinized and brutalized identity, such as the typical identity of the police officer. To do so, under the precepts of qualitative research, twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with female police officers in battalions from the State of Rio de Janeiro, and the testimonies collected were submitted to content analysis. The relevance and originality of this thesis rests on its theoretical-analytical perspective, since, in this research, theories regarding gender issues, the identity construction related to the police ethos were used, as well as theories on identity, identity construction and socialization professionals widely used in academic research and of great adherence to the objectives of this work. The results indicate that being a woman in the PMERJ is a reality full of difficulties, related to the lack of cultural preparation of this institution for the performance of these professionals. Moreover, about the typical gender stereotypes of the police profession, it is possible to infer that many interviewees perceive the gender barriers imposed on them, which places them in a position of inferiority towards their peers, due to the consensus, even reinforced by some of them, that the police officer activity is more suitable for men. Regarding the assumption of the police officer identity, a phenomenon experienced intensely by men and women, the interviewees reported the incorporation of a more authoritarian and imposing stance; a state of permanent attention, aiming at their own safety and that of their work partners and relatives; the decrease of the sensitivity and the consequent increase of a harder posture under many circumstances; the brutalization, in the form of masculinization, as strategy of survival in this androcentric environment. However, as the interviewees incorporate new elements into their identity constructions, becoming hard and fearless, these also reinforce aspects that can be interpreted as identity resistance, strongly associated with the female stereotype, in contrast to the masculine ethos of the policeman. The analysis of the identity (re) construction process of the police woman revealed how paradoxical this process is, marked by both radical changes and significant resistance.