Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Dr. Karel Kurst-Swanger

Abstract

In the United States government, gender inequality is a major issue. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the phenomenon of a gendered organization by interpreting the experiences of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) employees. The collected data were used to determine if NASA should be considered a gendered organization. In this study, key characteristics of a gendered organization were identified and explored. The research questions focused on exploring perceived career barriers, gender inequality, and their contributors to better understand the phenomena of gendered organization in the federal government workplace. The theoretical framework for this study was Acker's gender organization theory. A phenomenology study design was used to conduct fifteen open-ended interviews of government employees who were recruited through the social media outlet LinkedIn. The inclusion criteria included NASA employees that had been employed at least ten years or retired no longer than five years. The data analysis yielded four themes: (a) career barriers, (b) traditional hierarchical organization structure, (c) organizational policies/organizational culture, and (d) gender differences/gender roles/gender inequality. The results of this study provided insight to gendered organizations and applying this concept to a federal agency like NASA. The implications for positive social change suggest that by exploring gendered organizations, women will come closer to obtaining gender equality in the workplace and the federal government will function in a manner that benefits both men and women.

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