Re-Examining Femininity – The Voices Of Leadership In Managerial Meeting Discourse

Kesumawati A. Bakar

Abstract


This paper contends that some of the communicative strategies employed by Malay women academic administrators are the antithesis of expected gendered speech patterns that could be triggered by the demands of leadership as well as an expression of individuality. Their observed communicative patterns contradict gender expectations and breach normative female communicative behavior. This paper chronicles the voices of 3 women academic administrators – as they project their individuality and construct their gender identities that defy gender stereotypes – and from new understandings reexamines the theory of language and gender within the context of managerial meeting discourse. Apart from understanding individual communicative styles of Malay women academic administrators, what this paper aims to demonstrate is the variation in communicative styles that exists within one gender of the same ethnic group, to re-examine the standard dichotic gender paradigm used in language and gender studies and consequently to reaffirm the concept of multiple femininities.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Allen,A (1998) Power Trouble: Performativity as Critical Theory.

Constellations Volume 5, No. 4. Oxford. Blackwell.

Aries, E. (1976). Interaction patterns and themes of male, female,

and mixed groups. Small Group Behaviour, 7, pp. 17–18.

Asma Abdullah. (2001). Influence of Ethnic Values at the Malaysian

Workplace. In Asma Abdullah (ed.) Understanding the Malaysian Workforce:

Guidelines For Managers. pp. 1-25. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Institute of Management.

Asma Abdullah, Surjit Singh & Saran Kaur Gill. (2001). Communicating

with Malaysians. In Asma Abdullah (ed.) Understanding the Malaysian Workforce:

Guidelines For Managers. pp. 25-43. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Institute of Management.

Bahiyah Abdul Hamid. (2003). English-Bahasa Melayu Code Alternation, Code Choice

and Gender in Decision Making in Committee Meetings at an Institution of

Higher Learning. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis

Bem, S.L. (1993). The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on

sexual inequality. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Bergvall, V., J.M. Bing, & A.L Freed. (1996). Rethinking Language

and Gender Research: Theory and Practice. Essex. Longman.

Blackmore, J. & Sachs, J. (2000, December). The accidental manager and

the enterprise of the self: Gender, identity and crisis of motivation in leadership?

Paper presented at the AARE Annual Conference, Sydney. Accessed 14th Jan 2004:

www.aare.edu.au/00pap/bla00233.htm

Brown, R. E. (1996). Nine behaviors of leadership: A training model.

http://www.rebrown.com/rebrown/article.htm

Cameron, D. (1996) The Language-gender interface: challenging co-optation in Bergvall,

V., J.M. Bing, & A.L Freed. (Eds.). Rethinking Language and Gender

Research: Theory and Practice (pp. 31-53). Essex. Longman.

Claes, M. T. (1999). Women, men & management styles. International Labour Review 138(4),

-446. Accessed 7 March, 2005: http://global.umi.com/pqdweb?

Coates, Jennifer. (ed.) (1986). Women, men and language. Harlow : Longman.

Coates, Jennifer. (ed). (1998). Language and Gender: A reader. Oxford: Blackwell.

Colwill, Jenni and Townsend, Jill (1999). Women, Leadership and information –

The impact of women leaders in organizations and their role in integrating information

technology with corporate strategy. The Journal of Management Development, 18 (3): pp. 207-215.

Eggins, Heather (ed.). (1997). Women as leaders and managers in higher education.

Buckingham: Open University press.

Epstein, D. (1999). "Real boys don't work: 'underachievement', masculinity and the harassment

of 'sissies'". Failing Boys: Issues in Gender and Achievement. D. Epstein, J. Elwood,

V. Hey and J. Maws. London, Open University Press.

Fredrick, C. & Atkinson, C. (1997). Women, ethics and the workplace. Westport, CT:

Praeger.

Goodale M. (1987). The language of meetings. Hove. Language Teaching Publications.

Hofstede, G. (1991) Cultures and Organizations – Intercultural Cooperation and

its importance for survival. London: Harper Collins Business.

Jamieson, K. H. (1995). Beyond the double bind: Women and leadership. New York:

Oxford University Press.

Kakabadse, A. & Nada Kakabadse. (1999) The essence of leadership.

London: International Thomson Business press.

Koshal, Manjulika, Ashok K. Gupta & Rajindar Koshal. (1998). Women in Management :

A Malaysian perspective. In Women in Management Review, 13 (1): 11-18.

Kaplowitz, R. A. (1986). Selecting college and university personnel: The quest and the questions.

Washington, DC: Association for the Study of Higher Education.

Korabik, K., Baril, G. L. & Watson, C. (1993) Managers' conflict management style and

leadership effectiveness: The moderating effects of gender. Sex Roles, 29, 407-

Kieffer, G. D. (1988). The strategy of meetings. London. Judy Piatkus.

Kim, Min-Sun. (1995). Intercultural Communication Theory. California: Sage Publications.

Lee, David. (1992). Competing Discourses – Perspective and Ideology in Language Harlow: Longman.

Maltz, D. & Borker, R. (1982). A cultural approach to male-female miscommunication.

In J. Gumperz (Ed.), Language and social identity (pp. 196-216). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nelson, W.M. (1998). Women’s Ways: Interactive Patterns in Predominantly Female

Research Teams. In Language and Gender: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell.

Oshagbemi, Titus (1988) Leadership and Management in universities:

Britain and Nigeria. New York: Walter De Gruyter.

Peters, C. (2002). Gender in Communication: Micropolitics at Work. Paper presented

at Aare 2002 International Education Research Conference Brisbane. Accessed 14th January 2004.

Rubin, J. Z., & Brown, B. R. (1975). The social psychology of bargaining

and negotiation. New York: Academic Press.

Rodino, M. (1997). Breaking out of Binaries: Reconceptualizing gender and its

relationship to language in computer-mediated communication. Journal of Computer-mediated

Communication Online 3 (3): 1-27 (on line) http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol3/issue3/rodino.html

Schiffrin, Deborah. (1995). Discourse Analysis. Harlow: Longman.

Scollon, Ron & Suzanne Scollon. (1995). Intercultural Communication. Oxford : Blackwell.

Sharifah Hapsah Shahabudin & Jasbir K.Singh. (2001). Academic Leadership Strategies and

Skills for Women in Higher Education. In Asian Women Leaders in Higher Education. pp. 62-92. Bangi:

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Sherif Abdel Azeem. (1998). Women In Islam versus Women in the

Judaeo-Christian Tradition: The Myth and The Reality. Cairo: El-Falah.

Saran Kaur Gill. (1998). Asian and Global communication Skills for Women leaders.

In Asian Women Leaders in Higher Education. pp. 93-122. Bangi:

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Surjit Singh. (2001). Managing Meetings. In Understanding the Malaysian Workforce:

Guidelines For Managers. pp. 137-152. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Institute of Management.

Zimmerman, D & West, C. (1975). Sex roles, interruptions and silences in conversation.

In B.Thorne & H.Henley (eds.) Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance. pp 2-5,

Massachusetts: Newbury House


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2131

ISSN : 1675-8021