Women and Power: Conformity, Resistance, and Disorganized Co-Action

As women have moved into positions formerly held by men, researchers have begun to examine whether women’s experiences of power are, in some contexts, different from those of men so that some of the conclusions of earlier, supposedly gender-neutral power research might have to be expanded or modified (Acker & Van Houten, 1976; Blau & Ferber, 1987; Calas, 1993; Calas & Smircich, 1992; Clegg, 1989; Ibarra, 1992; Karsten, 1994; Marshall, 1984; Mills & Tancred, 1992; Pfeffer, 1992). For example, studies have examined obstacles that block individual women from gaining power (Lee, 1993; Martin, 1994; Northcraft & Gutek, 1993) and strategies that individual women can employ to gain power .