The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education
This article is concerned with the implications of casual, non-permanent forms of employment that have become a common cultural practice in higher education. It proposes that contractual terms of employment have important implications for women and leadership in higher education, since to pursue lea...
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2017-06-01
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Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/7/2/20 |
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doaj-81339e92366046a397889ed4abbd98812020-11-24T22:17:02ZengMDPI AGAdministrative Sciences2076-33872017-06-01722010.3390/admsci7020020admsci7020020The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher EducationAnne Vicary0Karen Jones1Institute of Education, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire RG1 5EX, UKInstitute of Education, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire RG1 5EX, UKThis article is concerned with the implications of casual, non-permanent forms of employment that have become a common cultural practice in higher education. It proposes that contractual terms of employment have important implications for women and leadership in higher education, since to pursue leadership, usually one must first gain permanency in an organization, in contractual terms. Based on an autoethnographic study by a female academic in a UK higher education institution, the article illustrates that temporary forms of employment, should they be protracted, can stifle leadership aspirations due to lack of career progression opportunities and lead to a sense of alienation from the target community of practice, and even to personal difficulties, such as feelings of isolation and poor self-esteem. The article discusses theoretical and practical implications for women’s leadership arising from the findings and makes recommendations for improvements in practice in the higher education sector. The findings and recommendations from this study will also be relevant to other organizational contexts where casual or temporary, fixed term, zero-hours non-permanent forms of employment are common.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/7/2/20autoethnographyhigher educationwomenleadershipidentityhabituscommunities of practice |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Anne Vicary Karen Jones |
spellingShingle |
Anne Vicary Karen Jones The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education Administrative Sciences autoethnography higher education women leadership identity habitus communities of practice |
author_facet |
Anne Vicary Karen Jones |
author_sort |
Anne Vicary |
title |
The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education |
title_short |
The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education |
title_full |
The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education |
title_fullStr |
The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education |
title_sort |
implications of contractual terms of employment for women and leadership: an autoethnographic study in uk higher education |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Administrative Sciences |
issn |
2076-3387 |
publishDate |
2017-06-01 |
description |
This article is concerned with the implications of casual, non-permanent forms of employment that have become a common cultural practice in higher education. It proposes that contractual terms of employment have important implications for women and leadership in higher education, since to pursue leadership, usually one must first gain permanency in an organization, in contractual terms. Based on an autoethnographic study by a female academic in a UK higher education institution, the article illustrates that temporary forms of employment, should they be protracted, can stifle leadership aspirations due to lack of career progression opportunities and lead to a sense of alienation from the target community of practice, and even to personal difficulties, such as feelings of isolation and poor self-esteem. The article discusses theoretical and practical implications for women’s leadership arising from the findings and makes recommendations for improvements in practice in the higher education sector. The findings and recommendations from this study will also be relevant to other organizational contexts where casual or temporary, fixed term, zero-hours non-permanent forms of employment are common. |
topic |
autoethnography higher education women leadership identity habitus communities of practice |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/7/2/20 |
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