Navigating the good ol’ boys club: women, marginality, and communities of practice in a military non-profit organization

Abstract

When women work in male-dominated organizations, do they form collaborative networks with other women or do they take on the practices of the male-dominated community they are a part of? In this paper, we explore how female staff and volunteer members participate within a male-dominated non-profit organization. We use communities of practice as a lens to explore the extent to which women do, or do not, form support networks with other women. Our findings suggest that gender issues may not be the driving factor in the creation of communities of practice in such organizations; indeed, multiple communities of practice can exist within a single organization despite facing a common set of challenges.

Notes

1. All names are pseudonyms.