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Gendering Organizational Learning| Describing Gendered Patterns in Formal and Informal Organizational Learning

<p> This study explored organizational learning from a feminist perspective, similar to feminist critiques of organizational culture, and offers an analysis of individual&rsquo;s perceptions of gender dynamics in organizational learning. Mainstream literature on organizational learning is based upon gender-blind assumptions in theory and practice. This study examined those assumptions with a feminist lens. Constructivist epistemology, a feminist interpretive lens, and phenomenological and feminist methodologies guide this research, which asks, what does gender equal organizational learning look like? Fourteen senior leaders of a small New England college were interviewed to better understanding their experience of gender and collective learning at a small liberal arts college. Feminist analysis of the in-depth interviews revealed patterns of gender dynamics and a distinction between informal and formal organizational learning. Informal learning affected elements of formal organizational learning, raising questions about the ways culture is enacted in organizations. Gendered experiences of voice, participation, and power are among the key findings that problematize mainstream organizational learning theory and suggest that different genders have dissimilar experiences of the participatory and strategic development of their organization. This research sheds light on the emancipatory potential of organizational learning, showing the ways organizational learning is both aa reflection of the culture and a means to change culture and advance gender equality.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10120219
Date22 July 2016
CreatorsHunter, Kierstyn
PublisherPrescott College
Source SetsProQuest.com
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typethesis

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