Moving out of the `Armchair': Developing a Framework to Bridge the Gap between Feminist Theory and Practice

In: Organization: the interdisciplinary journal of organization, theory and society, Volume 7, Issue 4, p. 553-571

Abstract

This article describes how a research team used feminist organization theory in its work with organizational change agents to further gender equity in their organizations. We describe the theoretical framing that initially informed this action-research project, what we learned in the early encounters inside the organization and the framework we ultimately developed to help bridge the gap between feminist theory and practice. The framework outlines four approaches to the `gender' problem in organizations and their respective implications for organizational change. We also describe our early attempts to translate this frame-work into knowledge that change agents could use.