Organizational change in research institutes and the integration of women

Although women have made substantial progress in educational achievement, t hey still have poorer chances than men to, attain positions in high status fields. The problem of the slow pace of the integration of women into) thes e fields needs to be addressed with the focus on the organizational context . Using the empirical example of a German I research organization that main ly works in the natural and technical sciences, the authors look at organiz ational determinants of the employment of women. What roles do organization al strategies, policies, and environmental conditions play? The analysis is based on panel data from ten research institutes over the period running f rom 1984 to 1997. The total percentage of women employed increased slightly ; however, there was a remarkable variation in the integration of women bet ween the institutes. The analyses demonstrate that the implementation of te mporary employment contracts goes hand in hand with a higher representation of women. Women find access to male-dominated research institutes if gener al conditions of employment become worse or statistical discrimination is n o longer justified because of non-tenured employment practices.