Our Separate Ways, With a New Preface and Epilogue

 

6

FITTING IN

REGARDLESS OF THE PATH they took to their careers, all of the women we interviewed had to adjust to the organizational cultures they encountered.¹ Not only did they have to learn how to be a manager, but they also had the extra burden of coping with organizational cultures that were largely white male domains. What were the women’s perceptions of the corporate environments and cultures they entered? What were their expectations? What conflicts did they experience because of their gender, race, and class of origin? How did they respond to the cultures they found? What lessons did they take away from these early career experiences? Such questions address what is known as organization socialization, defined by organization studies ...