This thesis explores the issue of why female managers’ commitment is so often reportedas being less of that of males, despite research evidence that there is no genderdifference in levels of commitment. No previous research was found which reportedmanagerial meanings of “commitment”, usually conceptualised with an affectivecomponent resulting in loyalty and effort, and a continuance component, the desire tostay in an organisation. Meanings of “commitment” in three major engineering companieswere elicited through interviews with 37 engineering managers in the UK and Sweden.The sample included sixteen male/female pairs matched on age, qualifications and jobposition, from top, middle and junior levels of management.The meanings important to managers were the manifested behaviours of commitment atwork. The most common of the 36 elicited meanings were task delivery, putting yourselfout, involvement, and quality. Overall, male meanings were more similar to top managers’meanings than female meanings. Top women’s meanings were similar to those of topmen, sharing meanings of being proactive/using initiative, being ready for challenge,being creative/innovative, and being business aware. More women overall gavemeanings oriented towards the organisation, particularly good citizen behaviours, whichwould be less visible to managers, whilst more men overall gave meanings, benefitingthemselves as well as the organisation, which were very active and highly visible. Fivetypes of commitment meanings were identified: Virtuous, Volunteer, Virtuoso, Vanguardand Gender-Shared.In a later questionnaire, the sample were asked to rate the importance of their 36meanings of commitment in terms of their own view and their perceived view of how theirorganisation would rate them. Through gaps between individual and perceivedorganisational ratings, tensions were identified and mapped, providing a guide for an indepthanalysis of meanings with the greatest tensions, particularly on hours over thenorm perceived to be valued more by the organisation, and on getting balance, enjoyingwork, thinking of oneself as well as the organisation, and being people-concerned.Interviewees at all levels indicated the importance of getting work/nonwork balance, mostrejecting the notion of commitment meaning working additional hours. Attitudes tomanagers seeking maternity/paternity leave were reported. Through the Swedishcomparison, a trend was identified that where most male managers take extendedpaternity leave, the issue which is seen as a woman’s individual problem in the UKbecomes an organisational planning issue in Sweden. Thus, perceived lessercommitment is transformed into less unplanned availability for a short period.The process of commitment assessment has also been explored and a number ofdimensions drawn out, particularly the tacit nature of the evidence, the subjectivity ofassessment, and the manager’s susceptibility to influence. These affect the way in whichcommitment behaviours are interpreted by the manager, as both males and females useimpression management strategies to demonstrate their commitment.The contribution of this thesis is to the commitment field, in identifying managers’meanings of commitment, and to the women in management field, where evidence ispresented of the differences in male and female meanings of commitment, and theimportance of visibility of commitment to managers. As women’s meanings are lessvisible than those of men in this sample, this suggests an explanation of why women’scommitment is still challenged.
