Toward an understanding of gender logics in startups

A critical review

Abstract

This conceptual paper undertook a literature review to discuss whether startups are as gendered as traditional organizations for women in middle management positions, and if so how. We worked on the assumption that characteristics intrinsic to their organizational structure, such as flexibility in the workload, horizontality of the organizational hierarchy, cross-functional collaboration, group mentality, cool culture, and family-friendly environment allow startups to escape from the gendered organization politics and practices and to mitigate the barriers faced by women. To investigate how the characteristics inherent to startups may exacerbate and/or
reduce gender inequality at work, we collected women’s experiences from previous empirical studies and analyzed them according to propositions based on six concepts (gendered organization, horizontal and vertical segregation, glass ceiling, queen bee phenomenon, firewall, and labyrinth). Findings showed that startups do indeed favor women’s career development but still reflect a gender logic in their practices and structure. Our review went some way to compensating for the lack of discussion on gendered organizations and gender inequality metaphors in new organizational structures, which represent more flexible work dynamics, as a result of globalization and the development of information technology.