Rationality and male reasons: generation of inequalities through meritocracy practices in a Brazilian technocratic company
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1981-0490.cpst.2022.179850Keywords:
Gender, Inequality, Meritocracy, Employment discrimination, Human sex differencesAbstract
The paper reveals how meritocracy – disguised as a neutral promotion system – produces and reproduces inequalities between gender attributes in a Brazilian company in the electricity sector. Our theoretical approach establishes a parallel between meritocratic practice as a struggle between categories and their values and Bourdieu’s praxeology. Our approach is qualitative and based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation. From content analysis, three pairs of analytical categories emerged: technical/non-technical; meritorious/not meritorious; and male/female. The association between more valued male and merit attributes is an unequal gender relation which discourse maintains implicit but wrapped in merit attributes which are grouped in neutral and dissimulating labels associated with masculinity. This study broadens the understanding of the construction of meanings underlining the ascension processes in this organizational hierarchical structure by showing the relations between the attributes of merit and value, and those of masculinity and rationality.
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