Sammendrag

Påstanden at kvinner har spesifikke verdier og kompetanse fordi de er kvinner, behøver i de fleste sammenhenger ingen nærmere begrunnelse. I spørsmålet om kvotering av kvinner til styreverv ser vi for eksempel en forventning om at kvinner skal bidra med noe annet enn menn når de kommer inn i styrerommet. Det er uklart om kvinner faktisk gir prinsippelt andre bidrag til styrene enn sine mannlige kolleger, men ideen om at de gjør det, er høyst levende. Med utgangspunkt i andres empiriske og teoretiske arbeid innenfor kommunikasjonsteori og biologisk orientert psykologi, diskuterer Bolsø forventningen om det særskilt kvinnelige innenfor organisasjonsforskning.

English abstract

Hunting high and low – is there a particular female contribution to management?

It seems to be common knowledge that women’s values and competence are different from those of men. In the Norwegian quota debate for corporate boards, one of the main arguments has been that women’s particular contribution would increase the assets of the company. It is not clear whether having women on boards does have such an effect on the bottom line: it is more likely that it does not. However, the idea that women make a positive difference is very much alive. Bolsø discusses this way of perceiving gender difference in organizational research. She compares research within the tradition of evolutionary psychology with communication research based on Carol Gilligan’s ‘ethics of care’. The author is critical of both, and suggests that we start asking whether gender difference matters, instead of automatically assuming that it does.

Keywords:management, gender, difference, ethics of care, evolutionary psychology