Fitting into technical organizations? Exploring the role of gender in construction and engineering management in Greece

摘要

While there is growing interest in professional identity construction, little is known about how marginalization may influence the development of professional identity of minority professionals, such as women engineers holding middle and upper management positions in construction management. Professional identity is denned as one's professional self-concept based on attributes, beliefs, values, motives and experiences. The development of professional identity under conditions of marginalization presents an interesting puzzle. Professional roles are defined as prestigious and provide the role holder with autonomy and, often, a degree of privilege. However, marginalized professionals are often accorded little prestige and/or privilege because their identities are perceived as inferior. Thus, the purpose of the study is to build and enrich theory around the development of professional identity under conditions of marginalized gender identity. To accomplish this goal, the study of narratives by 33 prominent Greek women civil engineers with careers in construction management explores what it means to be both women and engineers holding high management positions in their organizations. The analysis of the findings revealed a redefinition rather than an adaptation process as a central task for the professional identity construction of women managers in engineering which involved three redefinition tasks: redefining occupational rhetorics, disadvantage, and the self.