Framing “Research” for the PRME Gender Equality Working Group

January 2013

Introductory comments

Goals two and three of the Gender Equality Working Group are to:

  • Facilitate a global repository of resources for integrating gender into management education and research, and
  • Advocate for new research and the dissemination of knowledge on the integration of gender issues into management education.

The first year’s activities concentrated on establish the Working Group and developing the framework for the Gender Equality Resource Repository. The Repository, which was launched in June 2012,

identifies materials and resources that assist faculty in integrating gender issues and awareness into management education in that field. These include, for instance, specific case studies, syllabi, texts, and best practices that assess or otherwise address the roles of gender in various educational and workplace environments. The Repository also lists resources, including search engines, divisions/subgroups within professional academic associations, organisations such as the Aspen Institute’s Center for Business Education, etc. that are designed to help faculty and administrators incorporate gender-related topics into management education curricula.[1]

The Repository to date has focused primarily on teaching and curricula, and is a work-in-progress as new materials and new sub-disciplines are added. The Working Group is in the process of defining what the next steps will be, particularly in reference to the notion of research.

Research is obviously an expansive concept which by definition exists without boundaries. However, the challenge for the Working Group is to determine how research can be used to advance it mission, which is

bring together academics and employers in order to provide support and resources for integrating gender issues and awareness into management education, business school curricula, and related research to facilitate respect and support for the WEPs and PRME.

It is, therefore, necessary to develop a framework for what role research will play in the Working Group Repository and what limits, if any, will be established to ensure that the research advances the cause and does not become unmanageable.

What we want regarding the Repository

During 2013 we would like to expand the Repository to include a Research Component in each of the disciplinary fields. We are seeking practice-oriented materials that will help move forward issues surrounding the integration of gender issues into management education and the workplace, in addition to materials which will help to demonstrate the importance of this task.

Examples of materials we would like to include are research on:

  • how gender equality and gender issues are integrated, addressed, and promoted in management education;
  • how gender equality and gender issues are integrated, addressed and promoted in the workplace;
  • ways in which gender is being addressed in schools and colleges/universities;
  • how gender is taught in leadership courses;
  • other ways in which gender equality is being addressed in management education, including research on gender parity policies, on gender and students, on career placement services., etc.; and
  • gender issues in disciplinary areas that can usually be utilized in management education.

What we want to avoid

We want to avoid conducting a massive literature search on everything related to gender. For example, we are not seeking to:

  • collect and post research on gender issues which goes beyond the mandate of the working group;
  • develop bibliographies for all management education disciplines, unless they pertain to the ways in which gender inequality is addressed in management education or can be used in the classroom; and
  • re-create the existing framework for research which currently exists.

What we want to encourage

We are also interested in exploring:

  • the development of case research on initiatives in management education which address gender equality; and
  • funding possibilities which would allow us to develop case studies and other curriculum materials with PRME signatories or global compact signatories. The former would be to collect stories of successful initiatives in management education, and the latter would be to try to fill some gaps in terms of curricula in the various disciplines and sub-disciplines.

Concluding comments

This brief outline is an attempt to frame the issue of how research should be integrated into the Working Group’s activities. It is intended as a starting point for discussions within the Working Group itself.

(M. Kilgour, P. Flynn, K, Haynes, January 2013)

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