Women managers’ experiences and strategies: the case of METU technopolis

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2016
Güvenel, Cansu
For centuries occupations segregated for women include tasks that do not have priority or wage importance in economy. However, with the improvements in education, with the globalization and economic liberalization policies leads influential changes in the structure of occupational composition. Today a higher number of women take up prime positions in economy. With the changes in the occupational structure, new dimensions such as social network, social connections and relations become crucial in the professional life. Not only in business sphere but also for the individual, social connections and related facilities bring important alterations. For that reason, social capital which is one of the fundamental entity for the professional life has been frequently discussed in the literature. In this study, women managers and entrepreneurs’ experiences and strategies and how they develop these strategies on the basis of their social connections has been identified. According to the interviews with 18 women managers and entrepreneurs in Middle East Technical University Techno polis, it is seen that women experience different problems in the work place and also during the start up process. In order to cope with those problems, women managers develop some strategies by using their social connections. However, although women managers and entrepreneurs shape strategies that adapt them to the existing business sphere, it is generally seen that there is still deeply rooted patriarchal influence in all of them. Even though the strategies that women develop result in short term gains, there is apparently a long-term failure in changing the masculine and gendered organizational culture. At the end of the study, it is difficult not to acknowledge the dependency of women, even in managerial positions, on a continual and limiting patriarchy.  

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Citation Formats
C. Güvenel, “Women managers’ experiences and strategies: the case of METU technopolis,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2016.