Catch-22: Token Women Trying to Reconcile Impossible Contradictions between Organisational and Societal Expectations
基于对沙特阿拉伯一家跨国公司的29次深度访谈，扩展了Kanter的象征性理论，揭示了组织环境与社会环境相互作用如何导致独特的象征性表现，对研究性别不平等和跨国管理的学者有参考价值。
Extending tokenism theory, and Kanter’s work on numerical representation within organisations, we emphasise the societal context of gender inequality in order to understand token women’s lived experiences at work. Based on analysis of 29 in-depth interviews in a multinational (MNC) situated in the distinctive socio-institutional setting of Saudi Arabia, the article expands Kanter’s typology of roles, to capture token assimilation in a context-embedded way. In particular, we explore the interaction of a seemingly Western MNC espousing liberal values, rules and norms with the enduring patriarchal and traditional context of Saudi Arabia. Further adding texture to Kanter’s theory, this study reveals that the organisational context cannot be seen as fundamentally neutral and inevitably interacts with the societal context, resulting in unique manifestations of tokenism.