Denna studie har undersökt kvinnliga medarbetares upplevelser av att arbeta inom en mansdominerad organisation och hur jämställdhetsarbetet upplevs. Studien utgick från en kvalitativ semistrukturerad intervju med enbart fokus på intervjuer av kvinnliga medarbetare. Designen för denna studie är en tvärsnittsdesign och inför analysen valdes en abduktiv tematisk analys. Insamlingen av data genomfördes via möten på ZOOM som i samtycke med deltagarna spelades in inför transkribering. Resultatet och analysen visade på att medarbetarna upplevde flera olika härskartekniker och en bransch som är starkt mansdominerade. Däremot upplevde inte deltagarna i denna studie att de påverkades negativt av att arbeta inom en mansdominerad bransch, utan istället skapade en acceptans av branschens normer och kultur. Deltagarna upplevde att som kvinnlig medarbetare måste man ha skinn på näsan och vara tuff samt hård för att vara en kvinnlig medarbetare inom väg- och anläggningsbranschen. / This study has examined female employees' experience of working within a male-dominated organization and how the gender equality work in the organization is experienced. The method for this study has focused on female employees in the road and construction industry which is predominantly a male dominated industry. The study was based on a qualitative semi-structured interview with sole focus on interviews with female employees. The design for this study is a cross-sectional design and a deductive thematic analysis was chosen prior to the analysis. The collection of data was carried out via ZOOM meetings which, in  agreement with the participants, were recorded for transcription purposes. The results and the analysis showed that the employees experienced several different master suppression techniques and an industry that is strongly male-dominated. However, the participants in this study did not feel that they were negatively affected as women working in a male-dominated industry, but instead cultivated an acceptance of the industry's norms and culture. The participants experienced that as a female employee, you have to have a thick skin and be tough to be a female employee in the road and construction industry.

Previous research confirms that gender affects organizations and the overall organizational culture. Organizations are heavily gendered and, in most cases, to the disadvantage of women. It has been shown that gender bias within male-dominated organizations creates the queen bee syndrome, characterized by a lack of solidarity and hostile behavior amongst women. Because gender bias exists in all organizations, it is reasonable to believe it also exists in female-dominated organizations. This study examines the queen bee syndrome in female-dominated organizations, analyzing how the characteristics permeate the organizational culture. The study employs a qualitative research method and collects data through qualitative surveys with LiVO members, a Swedish union organization for managers within the health and care sector. The study aims to build on theory regarding the queen bee syndrome and extend knowledge about gendered organizations and female-dominated organizations. This study suggests that signs of the queen bee syndrome, to some extent, permeate the organizational culture in female-dominated organizations. However, the result also reveals that complexity and duality exist. The triggering structures that create the queen bee syndrome need to be addressed rather than the gender composition to counteract queen bee behavior.

This study focuses on women managers in women-dominated organisations. They are leaders in organisations where the majority of the managers as well as the employees are women. In Sweden today most women and men of working age carry out paid work. Women’s salaried employment in Sweden, along with other Nordic countries, is well above the EU-average. The labour market is however divided both horizontally and vertically according to gender. Men and women tend to work in different sectors and industries, perform different tasks and hold different positions. In the public sector, 64 per cent of all managers are women. This means that quite a large proportion of women managers in Sweden work in the public sector. The empirical material consists of interviews with managers, employed in the public sector, working with care for the elderly and disabled. The results were also based on observations of the managers’ places of work as well as written material. The overall aim of the thesis is to: understand how gender power relations are produced, reproduced and changed through describing and analysing the working conditions of women managers, their room for manoeuvre, and how this (re)produces and changes in organisations dominated by women. The studied organizations are large organisations that supply a vast number of care services. The managers describe their job as compelling and stimulating and they enjoy having the power to shape the organization. Results of the analysis suggest that being in majority opens up for various ways of challenging male constructions of management. The managers do not have to relate to pre-existing notions of management. They are comfortable in the power position. They constitute the norm for management in the sense that it is what they do at work that defines management. Moreover, they do not perceive themselves as part of a gendered category as managers. The manager’s working conditions are characterized by large areas of responsibility. They are responsible for budget, staff, organizational development and day-to-day operations. Despite this, managers in woman-dominated operations are paid lower salaries than managers in both male-dominated municipality activities and in the private sector. How can it be that such highly qualified and challenging managerial practice is not rewarded high status and high salaries? In the analysis a misogyny discourse is identified which exists at the level of society and is passed on to the organisations studied. The misogyny discourse contributes to devaluing and making women’s work invisible. In parallel with misogyny, there is also a discourse glorifying men. The glorification of men gives men in minority a dominant status above the women in majority. Power relations are nevertheless not only reproduced. The results show that the women managers apply both individual and collective resistance strategies to alter subordination. The prevailing unequal conditions are thus both reproduced and challenged. / <p>QC 20131125</p>

Syfte: Syftet är att skapa en djupare förståelse för hur bakslagseffekten verkar inom en kvinnodominerad organisation när kvinnor avancerar i hierarkin. Metod: Vår studie antar en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med nio kvinnliga chefer inom en kvinnodominerad organisation. Vi har en abduktiv ansats där vi låtit teorin ligga till grund för de teman vi har tagit upp och som är återkommande genom vår studie. Respondenternas åsikter har sedan tolkats genom en innehållsanalys. Vår teoretiska referensram bygger på tidigare forskning inom bakslagseffekten, könspräglade organisationer, könsroller och ledarskap. Resultat &amp; slutsats: Vår studie visar att de kvinnliga cheferna antar ett transformativt ledarskap men att de trots det i vissa avseenden antar manliga karaktärsdrag. De möter vidare en bakslagseffekt som kan karaktäriseras av att de missgynnas i rekryteringsprocesser. När kvinnor blir chefer över tidigare kvinnliga kolleger möts de av en bakslagseffekt där de ogillas, deras kompetens ifrågasätts och i vissa fall blir de även utfrysta. Förslag på fortsatt forskning: Framtida forskning bör rikta in sig på att studera om det finns informella hierarkier som påverkar kvinnor när de avancerar i hierarkin. Organisationskulturer och generationsfrågan bör studeras närmare för att se deras inverkan på bakslagseffekten. En sista punkt är att definitionerna av könsroller och de karaktärsdrag som förskrivs till kvinnor respektive män förändras över tid därför kan det vara ett intressant område för att se vad det har för effekt på bakslagseffekten. Uppsatsens bidrag: Vårt teoretiska bidrag är att vi har visat att kvinnor som avancerar i hierarkin inom en kvinnodominerad organisation möter en bakslagseffekt till följd av att de blivit chefer över tidigare kvinnliga kollegor. De praktiska bidragen är att organisationer måste arbeta med att motverka informella hierarkier och att sträva efter att skapa mindre löneskillnader mellan könen. / Aim: The purpose with our study is to create a deeper understanding of how the backlash against women works in a female-dominated organization when women advances in the hierarchy.  Method: The study applies a qualitive research perspective. We have conducted semi structured interviews with nine female managers in one female-dominated organization. We have an abductive approach. Respondents' views have been interpreted through a content analysis. Our theoretical frame of reference is based on previous research on backlash, gendered organizations, gender roles and leadership. Result &amp; conclusions: Our study shows that the female managers assume a transformative leadership, although they assume male characteristics in some respects. They face a backlash that can be characterized as being in disadvantage in recruitment processes and also by facing disapproval from colleagues. When women become managers of former female colleagues, they face a backlash in which thet are disliked, their skills are being questioned and, in some cases, they are also being exploited.   Suggestions for future research: Organizational cultures, informal hierarchies and different generations should be studied more closely to see how they impact on the backlash. One last thing is that the definitions of gender roles and the characteristics attributed to women and men change over time, hence it would be an interesting area to study, in order to see what possible effect it may have on the backlash. Contribution of the thesis: Our theoretical contribution is that we have shown that women who advance in the hierarchy in a female-dominated organization face a backlash as a result of becoming managers of former female colleagues. The managerial contributions are that organizations must work to counter informal hierarchies and to strive to decrease the salary gap between the sexes.

Gender equality work is ongoing within the transport industry. The industry has a reputationof being male-dominated which may be the reason why fewer women are attracted to it.Previous research shows that there are clear norms and stereotypes within male-dominatedprofessions where women face challenges such as harassment, exclusion, prejudices, andissues with work-life balance. Previous research also presents opportunities and femalequalifications such as women being more cooperative, selfless, and less risk-taking than men. The aim of the study is to investigate how transport companies are working towards genderequality and examine the barriers and opportunities that women in the transport industry face.The study was conducted through a qualitative method, where semi-structured interviewswere conducted with a total of eleven people in leadership positions and truck drivers in threeselected transport organizations. The material provided by the respondents through their ownexperiences and perceptions has been interpreted and categorized, which is presented in theempirical chapter. The results of the study show that transport organizations are actively working to promotegender equality in the industry, requiring active marketing from companies and the presenceof female role models within the organization to increase female participation. The results ofthe study also show barriers that women face, such as work-life balance, stereotypes, andexclusion, as well as career opportunities provided to women through internal trainingprograms. By breaking norms and creating an inclusive work environment, companies canattract more women to the industry. / Jämställdhetsarbetet pågår aktivt inom transportbranschen. Branschen har en bild av att varamansdominerad vilket kan vara orsaken till att färre kvinnor söker sig dit. Tidigare forskningvisar på att det finns tydliga normer och stereotyper inom mansdominerade yrken och därkvinnor står inför utmaningar såsom trakasserier, exkludering, fördomar och problem med attfå till arbetslivsbalansen. Tidigare forskning presenterar även möjligheter och kvinnligakvalifikationer såsom att kvinnor är mer samarbetsvilliga, de är osjälviska och är mindreriskbenägna än män. Syftet med studien undersöker hur transportföretag arbetar med jämställdhetsarbete samtundersöker de hinder och möjligheter som kvinnor i transportbranschen står inför. Studien hargenomförts genom en kvalitativ metod där vi utfört semistrukturerade intervjuer med totaltelva personer på ledande positioner samt lastbilschaufförer i tre utvaldatransportorganisationer. Materialet respondenterna tillhandahöll oss genom sina egnaerfarenheter och upplevelser har vi tolkat och kategoriserat, vilka presenteras i det empiriskakapitlet. Resultatet av studien visar att transportorganisationer arbetar aktivt med att främja enjämställd bransch. Det krävs en aktiv marknadsföring från företagen samt att det kvinnligadeltagandet ökar när det finns kvinnliga förebilder inom organisationen. Studiens resultatvisar även hinder som kvinnor står inför såsom arbetslivsbalans, stereotyper och exkludering,men även vilka karriärmöjligheter som ges till kvinnor via internutbildningar. Genom attföretag bryter normer och skapar ett inkluderande arbetsklimat kan fler kvinnor attraheras tillbranschen.