Cultural trespassers or disruptors? Femininity reinvented and the career advancement strategies of Saudi women senior managers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9891014 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hayfaa A Tlaiss (0000-0003-3202-5280, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, corresponding author), Dmitry Khanin (0000-0001-8090-3936, University of New Mexico, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 1688-1716 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00187267231202736 |
| OpenAlex | W4388828417 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 45 |
Does the way in which people do gender influence their career advancement strategies? Based on semi-structured interviews with Saudi women senior managers and drawing from the postcolonial feminist theory, we discover in this study that it does. We show that Saudi women choosing to do gender well, the Sailing Through cohort, achieve career advancement by amplifying their commitment to family responsibilities, enacting respectful femininity, and invoking family associations to build winning alliances. We describe this form of resistance as crafty agency. In contrast, Saudi women choosing to do gender differently, the Trailblazing cohort, achieve their advancement goals by acting in a serious, composed, and competitive manner, investing in their human and professional capital, and effectively using self-promotion and self-advocacy. We describe this form of resistance as determined agency. Overall, our study demonstrates that Saudi women’s agency is not fixed, or definite, or passive but rather it is fluid, multifaceted, and transformational. This article contributes to gender studies by showing how different stances on doing gender drive the reinvention of gender identities and pursuit of alternative career advancement strategies. It also provides a nuanced understanding of how Saudi women attain senior management positions as they navigate the messiness and contradictions of gender roles and gendered contexts, agency, doing gender well and doing gender differently, and career advancement strategies
Agency (philosophy · Career development · Femininity · Feminism · Political science · Politics · Promotion (chess · Public relations · Resistance (ecology · Social science · Sociology · Transformational leadership · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Socioeconomic Development in MENA · Work-Family Balance Challenges
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Naturalistic inquiry
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 7 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |