Different and always lacking: the discursive construction of the 'male benchmark' work organisations

The literature on creating more equitable and inclusive and therefore more effective organisations focuses on the gendered basis of organisational and management structures and practice and the existence of gendered organisational cultures. A focus on organisational discourses highlights the ways in which organisational gender relations are discursively constructed through the every-day practices of organising and managing. This paper uses a postmodernist perspective to argue that an examination of organisational discourses holds the key to understanding organisational processes of inclusion and exclusion that produce unequal employment outcomes for women. It identifies the discourses of difference and individualism as interconnecting fields of meaning and practice that define and defend the status quo of organisational gender relations by simultaneously problematising women's workforce participation and normalising men's advantage in work organisations. The paper draws on data from three Australian organisational case studies to demonstrate the power of discourse analysis in unveiling hitherto difficult to identify and challenge gendered organisational processes that exclude or marginalise women in paid employment.