This study brings the literature on tokenism together with multiple theoretical lenses on the formation and social construction of men’s and women’s career aspirations. The study builds on comprehensive survey data from the Danish public sector. Results show that, after controlling for alternative explanations with respect to both personal life situation and differences between occupations, token status has a significantly negative effect on women’s management aspirations, while it has no effect on men’s aspirations to management. Furthermore, these findings are generalizable across occupational contexts. At the same time, however, analysis across occupations show that token women are mainly to be found in occupations where women have relatively high managerial aspirations. Token women are therefore characterized by aspirations to management positions, but their status as tokens minimizes these aspirations.

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between workplace gender diversity among peers and management aspirations among male and female employees. It focuses on whether gender diversity influences men and women’s management aspirations. Design/methodology/approach The study builds on cross-sectional survey data from the Danish public sector. Findings Results shows that in mixed-gender workplaces, male employees are less likely to express management aspirations than male employees in mono-gender workplaces, but female employees in mixed-gender workplaces express management aspirations to the same – low – degree as female employees in mono-gender workplaces. All in all, the findings show that gender differences in career aspirations are not just a matter of individual preferences and/or macro-structural factors but also a matter of factors at organizational level. The findings suggest both positive and negative implications of gender diversity, and hence problematize a – rather common – simplistic celebration of gender diversity. First of all, gender diversity seems to counteract the fertilization of rigid stereotypes of men and hence prevents some men from being pushed into management positions and a career ladder they perhaps do not want to be placed at in the first place. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. Practical implications The findings seem to identify that the challenge of secure a large and qualified pool of potential managers might be even extra challeging for managers in gender-diverse organisations. Originality/value A more nuanced view of the implications of gender diversity based on a basic argument of gender-asymmetry. Furthermore, the study are build on a unique dataset that allows to study the implications of gender diversity across a wide range of occupational setting and hence control for occupation specific characteristics.

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Artiklen undersøger, hvordan omsorg og disciplin på en række forskellige måder fletter sig ind i hinanden, når arbejdsløse borgere på kontanthjælp fortæller om deres oplevelser med jobcenteret. Empirisk hviler artiklens analyse på interview med 27 kontanthjælpsmodtagere. Vi identificerer i materialet en række forskelligartede oplevelser af, at disciplin og omsorg sameksisterer i jobcenterets virke. Vi begrebsliggør disse sammensatte erfaringer som ”hybrider”, og vi udpeger tre ofte forekommende hybrider: (a) En aktør-båren hybrid, hvor borgeren skelner imellem henholdsvis disciplinerende og omsorgsfulde aktører. (b) En system-aktør-hybrid, hvor ”systemet” opfattes som disciplinerende, mens konkrete ansatte i højere grad fremdrages som omsorgsfulde. (c) Og – slutteligt – en tidslig hybrid, hvor fortællingen udgøres af faser præget af henholdsvis disciplin og af omsorg. Vi argumenterer for, at forståelsen af sådanne hybrider er et væsentligt bidrag til at forstå kompleksiteten af såvel jobcenterets arbejde som af erfaringerne og handlemulighederne hos de mennesker, der er i løbende kontakt med jobcentret..