Minority representation, tokenism, and well-being in army units

Perez, Alycia L. U.; Strizhko, Tatiana V.

doi:10.1080/08995605.2018.1482184

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Women tokens tend to suffer social isolation from "professional networks" and experience heightened cultural boundaries from male peers as well as tend to function in gendercongruent roles, which limits their opportunities for growth (Yoder 1991: 179). Similar findings have been identified for the military settings (for a summary see Perez & Strizhko 2018). Yoder (2002: 5) stresses that women tokens tend not to receive "benign neglect" by the dominants (men) (cf.…”

Section: Women As Tokens and 'Honorary Men' In The Militarysupporting

confidence: 67%

“…According to the theory, when a certain group of people in an organization has less then fifteen per cent of representation (e.g., women), they -as tokens and minority members -face certain disadvantages from the majority members (e.g., men, the dominants). The theory has been found to be relevant to the military setting as discussed by Yoder (1991) and Perez & Strizhko (2018).…”

Section: Women As Tokens and 'Honorary Men' In The Militarymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unpacking the Complexity of Gender Integration in the U.S. Military Using Discourse Analysis: The Case of Servicewomen’s Talk Around Having to Prove Themselves

Pawelczyk

2021

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

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A quasi-idiomatic expression ‘women have to prove themselves’ reflects various performance pressures and heightened visibility of women functioning in gendered professional spaces as advocated by tokenism theory. It is an example of how discriminatory practice – according to which competent and qualified women entering the culturally masculine professions are explicitly and implicitly expected to work harder for any recognition – gets discoursed in language and becomes a “rhetorically powerful form of talk” (Kitzinger 2000: 124). This paper explores the question: what is it that U.S. servicewomen functioning in the culturally hypermasculine space need to do to prove themselves? To this end, qualitative semi-structured interviews with women veterans of the recent Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are qualitatively scrutinized with the methods of discourse analysis and conversation analysis to 1) identify practices that U.S. servicewomen engage in to symbolically (re-)claim their place and status in the military, i.e., to prove they belong; 2) find out how the talk around proving emerged in the course of the conversation and how it was further interactionally sustained and/or dealt with in talk-in-interaction. The findings of the micro-level analysis – interpreted through the lenses of tokenism and the category of the ‘honorary man’ – reveal women’s complex and nuanced struggle to fit and find acceptance in the military culture of hypermasculinity. They also re-engage with the ideas of tokenism by demonstrating that various acts of proving, reflecting women’s token status, may concurrently and paradoxically be a means to earn honorary man status.

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Section: Women As Tokens and 'Honorary Men' In The Militarysupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Women As Tokens and 'Honorary Men' In The Militarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpacking the Complexity of Gender Integration in the U.S. Military Using Discourse Analysis: The Case of Servicewomen’s Talk Around Having to Prove Themselves

Pawelczyk

2021

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

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“…Within the very large body of military research, several issues and topics are frequently covered that share conceptual overlap with organizational behavior and social, clinical, and cognitive psychology theories not focused on the military. The military journals more focused on social science frequently publish research on leadership (e.g., Fallesen, Keller-Glaze, & Curnow, 2011), mental health (e.g., Bergman, Przeworski, & Feeny, 2017;Galovski & Lyons, 2004), gender and race (Armor, 1996;Ben-Shalom, 2012; see special issue on gender in Armed Forces & Society, B. L. , well-being (Burrell, Adams, Durand, & Castro, 2006), and the intersection of these topics (e.g., gender, performance, and belonging in the military: Archer, 2013; minority representation and well-being: Perez & Strizhko, 2018). Much of this research was conducted within the context of the military itself, but there is also a large body of research on employment and mental-health issues among veterans (e.g., Dickstein et al, 2010).…”

Section: Central Psychological Issues Addressed In the Military Research: Opportunity For New Theoretical Applications And Integrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Challenges of Military Veterans in Their Transition to the Workplace: A Call for Integrating Basic and Applied Psychological Science

Shepherd

Sherman

MacLean

et al. 2020

Perspect Psychol Sci

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Long-standing structural features of the military have created a culture and society that is dramatically different and disconnected from civilian society. Thus, veterans transitioning to civilian society face a number of challenges related to fulfilling basic psychological needs (e.g., need for structure and order, belonging) and civilians’ reliance on stereotypes to understand military veterans. In an attempt to enrich the understanding of these challenges, we integrate social psychological theories and insights with research from sociology, clinical psychology, military psychology, and organizational behavior. Theories of compensatory control, stereotype threat, and stereotyping are drawn on to help explain the psychological challenges that veterans may encounter during their transition to civilian society. We present recent research that leverages these theories to understand issues veterans face. This theoretical integration illustrates the opportunity and potential for psychological researchers to conduct basic and applied research in the context of veterans and for clinicians and managers to draw on basic theory to inform programs and interventions.

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“…Tokenism is classified as the practice of doing something (i.e., hiring one Black faculty member or appointing a Black colleague to a higher position) to prevent criticism and give the appearance on inclusion and diversity without the proper infrastructure to support those individuals ( Kelly, 2007 ). These actions often result in increased occupational stress and psychological symptoms for minority individuals ( Jackson et al., 1995 ; Perez & Strizhko, 2018 ). The heavy workload that provides higher standards for promotion and progression can also result in higher levels of stress that can interrupt health ( Blackstock, 2020 ; Carr, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building bridges and capacity for Black, Indigenous, and scholars of color in the era of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter

2021

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Background There is a critical need to increase diversity in the nursing workforce to better address racial health disparities. Purpose To provide academic institutions with practical recommendations to foster a collaborative environment and essential resources for and in support of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) scholars. Methods We examine the experiences of three Black nurse scholars, at a research-intensive university in an urban area during the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest in the United States. Findings Findings suggest barriers exist, which negatively impact workplace climate, collaboration and mentoring for BIPOC nursing scholars. Guided by a Black feminist perspective and utilizing existing literature, we recommend strategies to enhance workplace climate, to develop culturally aware collaboration, and to center mentoring as the foundation for BIPOC nurse scholar success. Discussion This article acknowledges that a crucial step in addressing health disparities is successful support of and collaboration with BIPOC nurse scholars.

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Minority representation, tokenism, and well-being in army units

Cited by 9 publications

References 69 publications

Unpacking the Complexity of Gender Integration in the U.S. Military Using Discourse Analysis: The Case of Servicewomen’s Talk Around Having to Prove Themselves

Unpacking the Complexity of Gender Integration in the U.S. Military Using Discourse Analysis: The Case of Servicewomen’s Talk Around Having to Prove Themselves

The Challenges of Military Veterans in Their Transition to the Workplace: A Call for Integrating Basic and Applied Psychological Science

Building bridges and capacity for Black, Indigenous, and scholars of color in the era of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter

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