title: Commonalities, conflicts and contradictions in organizational masculinities; exploring the gendered genesis of the Challenger disaster.
abstract: The events surrounding the 1986 decision to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger are reconstructed to illustrate how multiple masculinities, particularly between and among managers and engineers, contributed to that organizational crisis. An analysis of gendered power relations--especially among men--reveals how the construction of particular forms of "masculinities," and the ways in which they are reproduced, rationalized or resisted, vary as a result of contextual changes. Commonalities and differences among these masculinities are discussed. We close by exploring possible contradictions in the construction of organizational masculinities and their implications for organizational practice.
authors.affiliation: Chapman University.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Messerschmidt
mesh_terms: D000060:Accidents, Aviation / Q000523:psychology*; D001318:Authoritarianism; D003657:Decision Making; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008571:Men / Q000523:psychology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010551:Personality; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013026:Space Flight / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018531:Spacecraft / Q000295:instrumentation; D014481:United States; D018557:United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Q000458:organization & administration*