Locating Gender Neutrality in Formal and Informal Aspects of Organizational Cultures

This article describes and analyzes the practices that conceal gender at work in the contexts of different organizational cultures. The case studies on which I base my discussion derive from clerical work in two organizational settings. The interpretation I suggest is that regardless of their sex, age or hierarchical position at work, employees regard gender as a personal and intimate issue that, with the exception of pay, does not belong to the sphere of work. Gender issues raise questions that disturb the preferred harmony in everyday life in workplaces. Consequently, the employees seemed to think that hierarchical differences are located in society at large, not in their own workplaces. The analysis shows that age, position and technology shaped differences not only between women and men in organizations, but also among female clerical workers. Thus the results relate both to the practical realities at work and to the gender identities of clerical employees in their organizational cultures.