Simmons School of Management
Center for Gender in Organizations
http://www.simmons.edu/som/cgo
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Contact Information:
409 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-521-3824
Fax: 617-521-3878
E-mail: cgo@simmons.edu
CENTER DESCRIPTION
The Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) at Simmons School of Management is an international resource center committed to improving organizational effectiveness by strengthening gender equity for those at work. We understand that gender operates simultaneously with race, class, ethnicity, age, and sexual identity in shaping organizational systems and practices as well as individuals’ identities and experiences at work. Our focus is at the intersection of research and practice, and we pursue our mission through action research, consultations, education, convening, and information dissemination.
AREA(S) OF EXPERTISE
CURRENT WORK
To learn about specific projects on any of the following themes, please visit the CGO website at http://www.simmons.edu/gsm/cgo.
CGO is unpacking the topic of leadership to illuminate under-researched and under-recognized aspects of leadership and to give voice to the experiences and knowledge of women leaders of varied racial, class, ethnic, national, and sexual identities, largely marginalized until now. In particular, several projects on Latina leaders are underway or being developed.
Rather than seeing gender as a problem that individual women confront at work, we see gender as embedded in an organization’s culture. CGO helps organizations deal with these subtle gender dynamics by identifying the work practices that contribute to the bias and inequities that hinder organizational effectiveness. Recently CGO faculty edited the Reader in Gender, Work and Organization (Blackwell Publishers, forthcoming) that presents an alternative conceptual approach to gender in the workplace. by considering classic and newer topics in management education - leadership, negotiation, human resource management, organizational change, diversity, and globalization - from fresh perspectives.
Given the speed and scope of technological change in workplaces, CGO is exploring the implications for gender equity and whether the embedded gender dynamics observed in more traditional organizations are replicated as organizations move into virtual work or are founded as virtual organizations.
Building on the theme of addressing the intersection of race, class, sexual identity, and gender, CGO has been exploring the possibilities and challenges of building alliances among different social identity groups in order to support and sustain organizational change.
CGO is developing both conceptual and applied work in the area of global diversity. We are also conducting focused research on the impact of globalization on the dynamics of gender, race, class, sexual identity, and ethnicity within domestic work organizations.
RESOURCES
Working Paper Series. Designed to disseminate recent developments in research, theorizing, and practice related to gender and organizational effectiveness.
CGO Insights. Written for both practitioners and scholars, these short, briefing notes are on topics relevant to promoting organizational effectiveness through strengthening gender equity.
CGO Speakers Bureau. Faculty give talks regularly on the themes of gender, leadership, power, negotiation, organizational change, and organizational effectiveness to diverse academic and organizational audiences.
CGO in the Media. Faculty are frequently asked by the popular press for insights and analysis on issues of women, leadership, and management. This is an important mechanism for influencing public discourse on gender, work, and organizations.
CGO Consulting Services. CGO engages in consultations and action research projects with organizations interested in examining the ways in which their work norms, values, and practices are gendered and introducing changes that will foster greater equity for both men and women as well as improve organization performance.
Customized Educational Programs. CGO faculty work with the Simmons School of Management to design and deliver programs that help women understand the systemic nature of gender issues, increase their knowledge and skill in navigating their organizations with confidence, and help them to develop more successful careers. Customized programs include Executive Education courses held at Simmons School of Management and courses conducted onsite at the organizations for which they were developed.
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