Women, masculinities and workplace culture in small and medium-size businesses in the Leeds City Region

Purpose This paper explored the workplace culture in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the Leeds City Region. The paper looked at perceived leadership expectations vs self-assessment of leadership characteristics and mindsets, as well as workplace culture respective to hierarchy and organisational supportiveness of SMEs as workplaces. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach was deployed, consisting of a survey with SMEs and 14 interviews with women working in SMEs. Since the survey yielded a low response, results were analysed summatively, and a cross-tabulation was used to provide insight into data and inform future research. Survey questions were then used to inform the interview questionnaire to explore findings in depth. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. The research was informed by studies conducted on women in mass communication industries, Bourdieu’s habitus theory and industry research on alpha organisational cultures. Findings Findings revealed that self-assessments of leadership characteristics and mindsets lean towards those typically perceived as feminine, whereas assessments of which characteristics are needed to become a leader lean towards those typically perceived as masculine. However, at the same time, the workplace culture was assessed positively, and women reported a lack of hierarchy and a positive and friendly atmosphere in SME workplaces. Practical implications Women reported more positive perceptions of the workplace culture than those found in other studies conducted generally or on larger corporations, thus opening questions about whether things are different in SMEs and better for women. Issues with leadership characteristics and mindsets are present in SMEs, but they do not seem to affect women’s career progression or satisfaction with employment. Organisations that are not SMEs should consider these findings to develop more inclusive policies to foster a positive perception of their workplace culture. Originality/value The authors analysed the workplace culture in SMEs using Bourdieu’s habitus, previous research in mass communication industries and industry research on alpha culture and applied it to study the workplace culture and leadership in the context of SMEs, thus extending research in sociology and communication to study SMEs. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to do so.