Män väljer män, kvinnor väljer..? : En kvalitativ studie om uppfattningar kring kön och ledarskap inom HR-branschen

Sammanfattning

Women have long faced poorer opportunities in the Swedish job market, a disparity that is also evident in the persistent gender segregation among top-positions in organizations. Previous theories in gender- and organizational sociology point out that this is due to the dominance of male ideals within organizations which cause two kinds of effects - men are given better opportunities to reach top positions, while women must “masculinize” themselves in order to advance and build a career. Against this background, a qualitative interview study was conducted in order to examine whether these conceptions of gender and leadership also characterise the female-dominated HR-profession. The results showed how the women had different conceptions of gender than those described in previous research regarding the characteristics of male and female managers. Furthermore, the interviewees valued a balance between soft and hard qualities as well as between relationship- and task-oriented leadership. These values could however not be linked to the favouring of either male or female managers. Lastly, the results showed how men are given better opportunities to reach top-positions within the HR-profession. This is however caused by other mechanisms rather than gender-based preferences towards male or female managers.