Gender Based Tokenism: A Qualitative Research on Female-Dominated and Male-Dominated Professions

Öz

The phenomenon of tokenism, which is a derivative of gender discrimination, is the main theme of this study. Kanter’s (1977a) theory of tokenism states that individuals who are available in limited numbers in their professions face performance pressures, boundary heightening and role entrapment. The researchers who worked on tokenism after Kanter pointed out that there are different experiences apart from the experiences revealed by Kanter. In this study, performance pressure, boundary heightening, and role encapsulation revealed by Kanter (1977a), and the status differences, the occupational inappropriateness and the intrusiveness dimensions revealed by Yoder (1991, 1996, 2002) are handled together. In this context, the study was carried out with the aim of exploring the experiences of men in female-dominated professions (preschool teachers, nursing and stewardess) and women in male-dominated professions (coaching, prison officers, police officers and forest engineering). In this study, a qualitative research method and a phenomenological pattern were used. 41 participants of the research were selected by a purposeful sampling method. The data collected through in–depth interviews were analysed by the researcher. Later on, the MAXQDA Pro Analytic 2018 software was used to facilitate and manage the process more systematically. In this study, it has been found out that there are very limited evidences to indicate that minority in numbers alone leads to the undesired experiences of tokenism. It has been concluded that women were more exposed to performance pressure and role entrapment, while men did not experience it at all. It has been revealed that women were accepted to have a lower status compared to men due to the nature of their sex category and, therefore, male created boundary heightening and female tokens were more exposed to interventionism.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Tokenism
• Gender
• Status
• Male-Dominated Occupations
• Female-Dominated Occupations

Cinsiyete Dayalı Tokenizm: Kadın Egemen ve Erkek Egemen Meslekler Üzerinde Nitel Bir Araştırma

Öz

Cinsiyet ayrımcılığının bir türevi olan tokenizm olgusu bu çalışmanın ana temasını oluşturmaktadır. Kanter (1977a)’in ortaya koyduğu Tokenizm Teorisi yer aldığı meslekte sınırlı sayıda bulunan bireylerin performans baskısı, yükseltilmiş sınırlar ve rol kuşatması olarak ifade edilen olumsuz deneyimlere maruz kaldığını belirtmektedir. Kanter’den sonra tokenizm konusunda yapılan araştırmalar, farklı deneyimlerin de olabileceğine dikkat çekmektedir. Bu çalışmada Kanter (1977a)’in ortaya koyduğu performans baskısı, yükseltilmiş sınırlar ve rol kuşatması deneyimleri ile Yoder (1991,1996, 2002)’in ortaya koyduğu cinsiyet statüsü, mesleki uyumsuzluk ve müdahalecilik deneyimleri birlikte ele alınmaktadır. Bu bağlamda çalışma, kadın egemen mesleklerde (anaokulu öğretmenliği, hemşirelik ve kabin ekibi memurluğu) erkeklerin; erkek egemen mesleklerde (spor antrenörlüği, orman mühendisliği, polis memurluğu ve infaz koruma memurluğu) kadınların deneyimlerini keşfetme amacını taşımaktadır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemi ve olgu bilim deseni kullanılmıştır. Amaçlı örneklem yöntemi ile belirlenen 41 katılımcı ile derinlemesine mülakat gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler MAXQDA Pro Analytic 2018 programı yardımıyla analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada, sayısal azınlık olmanın tokenizmin olumsuz deneyimlerine tek başına etki ettiğine dair kısıtlı ispat bulunmaktadır. Performans baskısı deneyimi ile en çok karşılaşan grup olan token kadınlar benzer biçimde rol kuşatması deneyimini de en fazla hisseden gruptur. Kadınların cinsiyet kategorisi itibari ile erkeklere kıyasla göreli olarak düşük statüde kabul edildikleri ve bu nedenle erkeklerin sınırlarını yükselterek kendi kültürlerini daha fazla dayattıkları tespit edilirken, çeşitli müdahacilik uygulamalarını da kullandıkları belirlenmiştir. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Tokenizm
• Toplumsal Cinsiyet
• Statü
• Kadın Egemen Meslekler
• Erkek Egemen Meslekler

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