The invisible gendered subject: men in education management

Debates as to the efficacy of a 'new gender order', a place/time where wome n enjoy social ascendancy having displaced men/masculinity in 'crisis', inc reasingly inspire both academic and more popularist writings. Whilst recogn ising the seductive notion of such analysis and the shifts in many women's epistemological and ontological locations, this article considers whether a ny celebration might be somewhat premature. For whilst profound changes app ear to have occurred in the self-perceptions of many women, to what extent have men changed? Drawing on feminist and pro-feminist analysis, and inform ed by recently completed research into education management, this article c ompares and contrasts the gendered subjectivities of women and men Further Education managers. In so doing, attention is given to the continuing debat es surrounding the validity of feminist/womanist epistemologies, contrastin g these with similar discussions in respect of the gendered subjectivities of men.