Narrative practicing of the meaning of work: The gender we think and talk

Kars-Unluoglu, Selen; Guneri-Cangarli, Burcu; Gaggiotti, Hugo

Abstract

This chapter shows how gender asymmetry is produced through narrative practices. By analyzing the work-life narratives of 14 men and 14 women working in a variety of occupations ranging from personal care to finance, from crafts to health, from creative and performing arts to sales and marketing, this chapter demonstrates the ways in which the narrators positioned themselves within the world of work, and the work within their personal lifeworld. The analysis brings about an order of gender in how work is approached, made sense of, experienced, and narrated. Recognizing these dynamics helps organizations and their members to be more aware that gender is not a natural attribute of people, but something we create and recreate in our everyday work narratives, which in turn shapes both the meaning we attribute to work and the meaning we get out of it.

• Publication Date: Feb 6, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 11, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 15, 2022
• Publisher: IGI Global
• Pages: 1-27
• Book Title: Eastern Perspectives on Women’s Roles and Advancement in Business
• Chapter Number: 1
• ISBN: 9781799887423
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8742-3
• Keywords: Gender; Gender asymmetry; Meaning of work; Narrative research; Narrative identity; Social construction
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9004936
• Publisher URL: https://www.igi-global.com/book/eastern-perspectives-women-roles-advancement/273126
• Contract Date: Sep 29, 2021