Career development and the vitality of academic women in an era of intensifying globalisation
type: CreativeWork
description: Globalisation is a term used by authors such Korten (2015b), Klein (2016), Kelsey (2016a), Maxton (2011), Stiglitz (2014) and Shiva (2016) to denote the greater integration and intensification of capitalist ideas globally. The form of globalisation under critique has been characterised by Seo and Creed (2002) as embedding hegemonic control, ultimately achieving what Kobrin (2009) calls a post-Westphalia world order. This order is sustained by a form of institutional logics critics find rife with contradiction and paradoxes. Gender dynamics are crucially entwined with globalisation. From my review of the literature, I came to think neoliberal feminist ideals and projects have rewarded a limited number of women at the cost of the wellbeing of people and planet. To target simple equality between men and women seemed increasingly inadequate for transformation of the trajectory of globalisation if the thriving of all humanity and restoration of Earth is to be achieved. To enquire more deeply into this reflection, I shaped my fieldwork around conversations with twelve academic women who hold senior positions in business or management schools in the North Island of New Zealand. New Zealand has been at the vanguard of neoliberal [re]organisation and, given its size and seeming geographic isolation, curiously influential in global affairs. From a rich set of literature, field-notes, stories, and self-reflective journaling, I crafted five themes for further reflection: i) career depictions, ii) vitality, iii) radical feminist theory, iv) globalisation, and v) critic and conscience of society. Examined separately these themes allowed for a particular view into aspects of participants’ lives with confluences and divergences of ideas within and among the women, and between their experiences and the literature. Seen together our conversations provide insights into the complexity of women’s lives, their commitment to their values, the opportunities and constraints of an academic c…
abstract: Globalisation is a term used by authors such Korten (2015b), Klein (2016), Kelsey (2016a), Maxton (2011), Stiglitz (2014) and Shiva (2016) to denote the greater integration and intensification of capitalist ideas globally. The form of globalisation under critique has been characterised by Seo and Creed (2002) as embedding hegemonic control, ultimately achieving what Kobrin (2009) calls a post-Westphalia world order. This order is sustained by a form of institutional logics critics find rife with contradiction and paradoxes. Gender dynamics are crucially entwined with globalisation. From my review of the literature, I came to think neoliberal feminist ideals and projects have rewarded a limited number of women at the cost of the wellbeing of people and planet. To target simple equality between men and women seemed increasingly inadequate for transformation of the trajectory of globalisation if the thriving of all humanity and restoration of Earth is to be achieved. To enquire more deeply into this reflection, I shaped my fieldwork around conversations with twelve academic women who hold senior positions in business or management schools in the North Island of New Zealand. New Zealand has been at the vanguard of neoliberal [re]organisation and, given its size and seeming geographic isolation, curiously influential in global affairs. From a rich set of literature, field-notes, stories, and self-reflective journaling, I crafted five themes for further reflection: i) career depictions, ii) vitality, iii) radical feminist theory, iv) globalisation, and v) critic and conscience of society. Examined separately these themes allowed for a particular view into aspects of participants’ lives with confluences and divergences of ideas within and among the women, and between their experiences and the literature. Seen together our conversations provide insights into the complexity of women’s lives, their commitment to their values, the opportunities and constraints of an academic c…
author: John Asirvatham, Sheeba Rosaline
keywords: Career development, Vitality, Globalisation, Radical feminist theory, Critic and conscience of society
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/a65d6ea9-4283-4bf7-a4ef-811a79cbe1a1/download
date published: 2016
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:46Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Waikato