Identity and Difference in Organizational Communications

1. Tara Benoit – COMM303

2. Identity
 How individuals place themselves in
the world through language and actions
 “Zone of indifference” – work-related
side of individual, separate from real
self

3. Identity
 Authenticity –
desire to combine work and
real selves to be honest
in how we live and work

4. Difference
 Organizations aim to regulate and
control diverse member identity
 Feminist organizational communication
scholars have attempted to enable women
to participate more fully in organizations

5. Four Frames of Identity
1. Gender Differences at Work
2. Gender Identity as Organizational Performance
3. Gendered Organizations
4. Gendered Narratives in Pop Culture

6. Gender Difference at Work
 Gender identity is the product of
biological or socialized differences
manifested in different communication
styles

7. Gender Differences at Work
 Report talk – style of speaking men use
to gain status by emphasizing:
 Knowledge, skill, and ability
 Instrumentality
 Conversational command
 Abstract terms over personal experience

8. Gender Differences at
Work
 Women use rapport talk in
conversations to build relationships

9. Gender Identity as
Organizational Performance
 Gender identities are ongoing
accomplishments
 Identity is accomplished through
“doing” rather than “being”

10. Gender Identity as
Organizational Performance
 Emotional labor – a type of work
wherein employees are paid to create a
“package” of emotions

11. Gendered Organizations
 Organizations are gendered by structures,
policies, and practices that produce
and reproduce gendered scripts

12. Gendered Organizations
 Organizations are also “raced” and
“classed” in ways that reflect
inequitable divisions in everyday
organizational life

13. Gendered Narratives in Pop
Culture
 Shifts attention from
communication in organizations
to communication about
organization

14. Gendered Narratives in Pop
Culture
 We are significantly influenced by films,
books, TV shows, news reports,
magazines, and fashion

15. In Relation to NWSF
 The planning committees of the NWSF
wanted to “shape participation and
highlight particular issues and people
who are not typically highlighted in open
events.”

16. In Relation to NWSF
 By including people like small farmers,
women, and homeless people, the
NWSF did not discriminate against
the differences these people had