Rationalising the Postfeminist Paradox: The Case of UK Women Veterinary Professionals

Treanor, Lorna; Marlow, Susan; Swail, Janine

Abstract

This paper critically evaluates how highly qualified women veterinary surgeons make sense of their constrained professional career progression in a context of postfeminism. Postfeminism posits that agentic individualism, combined with professional accreditation, generates a meritocratic pathway for career attainment. A dilemma emerges in the form of a postfeminist paradox however, as this rhetoric of opportunity is not translated into a reality of achievement. To make sense of this dilemma, women can either assume blame for their lack of career‐progression or accept the presence of discriminatory bias, contrary to postfeminist assumptions of individual opportunities premised upon agency. To illustrate these arguments, we explore how these professional women rationalise their constrained career‐progression and in the process, illustrate the impact of postfeminism upon the psychic lives of individual women.

Citation

Treanor, L., Marlow, S., & Swail, J. (2021). Rationalising the Postfeminist Paradox: The Case of UK Women Veterinary Professionals. Gender, Work and Organization, 28(1), 337-360. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12568

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 8, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 19, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-01
• Deposit Date: Oct 27, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 20, 2022
• Journal: Gender, Work & Organization
• Print ISSN: 0968-6673
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-0432
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 337-360
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12568
• Keywords: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management; Gender Studies
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4986530
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12568
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Treanor, L., Marlow, S. and Swail, J. (2020), Rationalising the Postfeminist Paradox: The Case of UK Women Veterinary Professionals. Gender Work Organ. , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12568. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.