Deconstructing and challenging gender orders in organizations through narratives

The chapter discusses the potential of a narrative approach in equality and diversity research fieldwork, with a specific focus on gender. After introducing the reason why narratives gained growing attention in human science and in organizational studies, the main methodological implications of narrative research are outlined. This contribution will show how narratives can be particularly efficacious means to shed light on three main facets of gender practices in organizations – in processes of identity construction and gender positioning; in reproducing or deconstructing the dominant gender orders; and in fostering gender change – to promote more inclusive contexts. For each dimension an example of application will be drawn from the author’s research experience based on different narrative materials: stories of women and men working in typically male environments; narratives of working fathers who used parental leave; narratives used as stimuli for reflexivity and experiential learning about gender in organizations.