Dr Patricia Lewis, Reader in Management at Kent Business School, has begun 2018 at full steam with the release of a co-edited book, ‘Postfeminism and Organisation’, as well as becoming Joint Editor-in-Chief of business and management journal, ‘Gender, Work and Organisation’.
With the new academic book, Postfeminism and Organisation, Dr Lewis was joined by Co-Editors Professor Yvonne Benschop of Radboud University and Professor Ruth Simpson of Brunel University to create a publication that is a first in its field.
With contributions from key international authors writing in the field of Gender and Organisation Studies, the book explores an array of subjects around postfeminism which impact on work-based experiences and work identities. Until now, the exploration of the concept of postfeminism has been largely undertaken in the fields of Culture and Media Studies and this unique edited book inserts understandings of postfeminism into the organisation studies field.
Speaking about the creation and release of the book, Patricia said:
“The book is motivated primarily by a scholarly fascination with the persistence of gendered inequalities. We present the concept of postfeminism as a means of shedding new light on the tenacity of gendered disparities between men and women in contemporary organizations.
“At a time when there is much discussion about the gender pay gap, gendered interactions between men and women in organisations and allegations of systemic sexual harassment, we consider why this situation endures within a context where it is claimed that gender discrimination is no longer an issue, inequality is a thing of the past and women are told they ‘never had it so good’. While certainly some women have secured access to organisational power through the take-up of senior organisational positions, consideration is also given to how contemporary advantages are not easily secured by everyone with other forms of difference intersecting with gender.
“Through the chapters in the book, we hope to shed light on the usefulness of postfeminism as a critical tool for exploring ongoing inequality while also drawing out the complex and at times contradictory experiences of living and working within a postfeminist gender regime.”
Continuing her busy start to the year Patricia will be Joint Editor-in-Chief of ‘Gender, Work and Organisation’ until December 2020. She has published articles within the journal over a number of years and during that time has worked closely with its publishers and contributors, making this new role an exciting opportunity to build on existing relationships and contribute to the further development of the field of Gender and Organisation Studies
“My appointment as Joint-Editor-in-Chief (with Professor Alison Pullen of Macquarie University in Sydney and Dr Ida Sabelis of Vrije University in Amsterdam) of Gender, Work and Organisation is a huge privilege for me. We aim to build on the substantial intellectual legacy of the journal – which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in January 2019 – in publishing cutting-edge research which explores the persistence of inequalities, intersections between gender and other forms of difference and the development of strategies to ensure that organisations can benefit from the wealth of talent that is available to them.
“Kent Business School will be hosting the Gender, Work and Organisation Conference in 2020, an event which builds on the research capacity of the School and will support existing international research partnerships and help construct new ones. This is a major international conference and I look forward to working with colleagues in KBS and the wider Social Sciences faculty in welcoming delegates to the University of Kent.”
Patricia’s book is available now through Routledge and various other sellers, and Gender, Work and Organisation is published by Wiley six times per year and is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/.
Dr Patricia Lewis convenes three modules at the Kent Business School across undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Find out about Kent Business School’s under- and postgraduate courses.
Dr Patricia Lewis
Reader in Management
Dr Patricia Lewis’ research is located in the broad area of Gender and Organisation Studies and she is interested in exploring the impact of social and cultural norms (connected to gender) on managers, management and organisations. She teaches across all levels of Kent Business School’s programmes.