Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 23 Issue 10

Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) XXIII Issue X Version I Year 2023 50 © 2023 Global Journals sector, and there are lots of women in the cultural sector. If I were working in technology or engineering, I’d have already quit, that’s for sure! - Emma Other female managers confided that certain workplace experiences had caused disgruntlement that escalated to bullying and—at times—violence: I had an employee who was—who was very sexist, so having him under my supervision wasn’t easy. He was—he was a man with a rather imposing physique, unlike me. So one time, he was unhappy about something [...] he came toward me and backed me into a doorway as he approached, so I had to lean against him and that was very intimidating. There were other staff members present during the incident. Naturally, there’s a culture of silence in my business, so we don’t report things. And management didn’t take the incident seriously, because the four people who were there, the guy and three others, ended up saying the opposite of what I reported. So nobody took it seriously for X [mentions how long, more than one year], he was really very…he’d come near me, for example in a doorway, he’d get really close to me and I’d feel his breath on my ear or my hair moving […] up to the time when he threatened to hit one of my female superiors with a X [mentions object, threat of physical violence]. Then after than it was taken seriously, and he was laid off. So yes, it’s because I was a woman in a position of authority that I had to suffer this. That’s for sure. - Suzanne Additionally, a few managers said that despite the mentoring they got from male colleagues, they were still exposed to sexism in the form of in appropriate sexualized or untoward comments, as Camille reveals: [...] the white man mentoring who sees a young woman in a management position is also true. Oh, as much as they’re going to call me sweetheart, they’re also going to help me and coach me and say: “She’s young woman who wants to take her place and she’s got potential, so we’re going to help her and we're going to bring her along too, and all that.”- Camille In sum, the processing and analysis of the interview materials revealed the integration of young managers can be complicated by mismatches between knowledge accumulated from previous training and job experiences and the demands of managerial work, environments where the organization of work may pose health risks, pressure to “prove themselves” in complying with group norms, and by strained relationships or conflicts in the workplace that may lead to violence. For the first of these sub-categories- mismatches between previously accumulated knowledge and managerial work- it might be useful to explore potential new avenues in better supporting these new managers as they integrate into their professional roles. Leadership training programs, innovative forms of support through mentoring, or even young manager groups or associations might be one way to offset the effects of these mismatches. As for integrating into environments where the organization of work poses health risks, our findings are consistent with other research that has shown how recent workplace transformations can adversely impact the well-being of managers (Eurofound, 2019; Farrell & Morris, 2013; Glée-Vermande & Beyer, 2012; Harris & Ogbonna, 2020; Pelletier, 2014; Worrall & Cooper, 2014). Turning to the sub-categories of being pressured to “prove oneself” to comply with group norms and strained relationships and conflict in the workplace that may lead to violence- it should be noted that only female participants brought up these experiences, which can indicate another layer of complexity to women’s professional integration. It is safe to assume from this that young female managers continue to be exposed to sexism (Galerand & Kergoat, 2017; Hirata & Kergoat, 2017) as they ease into management roles. In fact, the findings in these last two sub-categories validate research confirming the manifestation of social gender relations that continue to shape interpersonal workplace dynamics with colleagues and management teams during the socio-professional integration of women managers (Giguère et al., 2020). These findings are also in line with Molinier (2002), who posits that women who enter a traditionally male field are not only confronted with certain forms of resistance from men, but are also subservient to the interests of the dominant group, a group to which they do not belong from the outset. Similarly, these findings are consistent with other studies that reveal the persistence of ethnic (Alesia, 2017)or gendered (Alesia, 2017; Bates & Holt, 2021; Ekonen & Heilmann, 2021; Ezzedeen et al., 2015; Vaz et al., 2023) prejudice and stereotypes and varied forms of sexism (Goyer et al., 2019; Marry et al., 2017)as well as micro aggressions (ex. Mansplaining, manterrupting) (Vaz et al., 2023) that hinder women’s access to leadership roles. VI. D iscussion and C onclusion Our findings help illuminate and categorize the various workplace experiences of young managers during their professional integration in the early stages of their careers. We feel they enrich current scholarship, as this cohort remains a largely under-researched population (Barley & Kunda, 2001; Gjerde & Alvesson, 2020; Korica et al., 2017) in studies in the transformation of managerial work (Farrell & Morris, 2013; Hassard et al., 2012; Worrall & Cooper, 2014), and those that show the impacts of these changes on the limitations or uncertainty of career paths (Farrell & Morris, 2013; Hassard et al., 2012). More broadly, our findings attest to the relevance of combining a life course approach (Fournier et al., 2016) and living work theory (Dejours, Navigating Early Career Management: Workplace Experiences and Career Impact