Reader in Work and Organisation Studies
Books by big name businesswomen are popular with female readers, but can they really help ordinary working women? A new analysis shows how readers take some ideas on board, ignore others and then create their own strategies to improve things for the women around them.
“Books by female celebrity executives like Sheryl Sandberg, Helena Morrissey and Karren Brady are popular,” says Dr Maria Adamson. “And as with most self-help book and female autobiographies, it's women who read them.
“But if we take a critical look at these books, they tend to perpetuate the idea that women need to develop confidence and courage, and if they fail it’s because they’re not trying hard enough. They’re not really giving women the idea that there’s something wrong with the structures that needs to be challenged.”
Dr Adamson is a Reader in Work and Organisation Studies at the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London. She is also Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity.
She continues: “But we know that reading is an active process. So, if such celebrity messages have attracted wide criticism, what are women getting out of these books?”
To find out more, Dr Adamson interviewed 28 women in mid- to senior-level positions in various industries who had read one or more of these books. She asked them why they decided to read these books, what resonated with them, and whether they used the advice in real-life situations.
The findings of the study have been published in a paper, co-authored with Professor Elisabeth Kelan from King’s College London, in the British Journal of Management called Reading in-between: how women engage with messages of ‘superstar’ business role models.
The article analyses the women’s responses by looking at what information is there is the text of the books, how the women interpreted that information and what they did with it. This revealed three main patterns: confirmation, challenge, and change.
Dr Adamson explains: “With confirmation, we have some messages in the text, such as being more confident, that women agreed with. These were usually quite pragmatic changes, for example, many women quoted Sandberg’s advice to ‘sit at the table’.
“Then there were messages that the women challenged. These were often to do with advice about improving work-life balance and being more efficient. There was quite a strong push back on this.
“Readers see through the nonsense, and they say, ‘Yes, you have nine children, but you have a husband who doesn't work and a nanny. Without that support, there's only so many hours in the day, there's only so much you can do.’”
Finally, Dr Adamson says: “It was striking how many women also said, ‘It's not just us, it's the structure of organisations and the men who need to change as well.’ So, there is a sense that the women are creating messages that were not in the text.
“A lot of them, especially those in more senior positions, said that reading these books made them think about giving support to other women. They said, ‘If she’s writing about these struggles, it’s clearly not just me, others are struggling as well. I'm in a position of power, so maybe I can help if I set up a network or change some policies at work.’
“This was a very interesting finding, as most messages in the books are about changing the self, self-balance and confidence.”
Dr Adamson says that the study highlights a more nuanced influence of these role models, suggesting that while the books may not always provide perfect advice, they can stimulate thought and action.
She concludes: “Without reading these books, those new insights that women realised may not have emerged. But equally, it wasn't these celebrity women who told the readers to support other women. These role models may not be the beacons of hope, but you can't discard their books completely, because they do create some food for thought.
“So, in order to understand how role models can be helpful, it's not enough to scrutinise what they say. It's this process of interaction between the aspirant and the role model, and the role modelling effect happens somewhere in between.”