PATTERNS OF DIFFERENTIAL ASSIMILATION AND ACCULTURATION FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

This article reviews cross-cultural studies on adaptation, specificall y acculturation and assimilation, in the context of the literature on organizational culture and develops a conceptual model of women's curr ent status in organizations. A cultural perspective that goes beyond p erson- and situation-centered theories helps to account for the gender gap in management. The cultural perspective suggests that it is possi ble for women, like other marginal persons, to acculturate to the orga nization without being assimilated into it. This article proposes a cl assification of differential patterns of adaptation for women in busin ess organizations and suggests some options for changing the culture i tself in order to mitigate the effects of the differences.