The premise of Sixteen Australian Managers Ten Years On: Rhetoric and Realities is an interesting one. In 1996, the author studied 507 middle managers from large Australian companies, with the aim of investigating gender issues in managerial career advancement. Ten years later, 16 of the study cohort were followed up and interviewed in some depth. The interviewees were given the opportunity to reflect and comment upon their original responses, their career trajectories since the original study, and changes in managerial and organisational practice during the ensuing decade.
The primary objective of the original research was to enhance understanding of gender issues in managerial career progression, and the later phase of research outlined in Wood's book maintains this core focus. However, the book also provides insights into many other aspects of the Australian managerial experience over the last ten years, including the impact of transformations in organizational structures, philosophies and technologies.
The structure of the book is informed by Judi Marshall's (1995) Women Managers Moving On: Exploring career and life choices, in that much of the text is comprised of interviewees “telling their own stories” of managerial life and career progression. This approach makes the book highly engaging to read, as well as imparting a substantial volume of information; all of the interviewees have a wealth of managerial experience to share. Wood's “voice” is included at the end of each major section via short reflective pieces which also provide brief summaries of the major themes found within the chapter.
Each substantive chapter of the book relays a different interviewee's story, with subsections relating to: career outcomes; current role; significant career milestones; major satisfiers in the management role; major dissatisfiers in the management role; mentoring and coaching experiences; reflections on the role of management in Australia and organizational practices over the past ten years; equal employment opportunity; work/life balance; and future goals. The penultimate chapter relates the interview findings to extant management theory, and the final chapter draws together the previous sections into a cogent summary of the realities – both positive and negative – of working as a manager in Australia during the last decade.
The most valuable contribution of the book can be found in its detailed and perceptive explication of obstacles to female managerial advancement through the managers' own stories, presented in their own words. The work also highlights the difficulties in gathering meaningful data on female managers' career advancement, and the shortcomings of relying on statistical data exclusively for information on what is a complex issue influenced by numerous work and non‐work factors. In addition, through the sixteen interviews, Wood provides a rich picture of the importance of networking and mentoring to managerial career progression, the increasing challenges in attempting to achieve managerial work‐life balance, mixed feelings about the efficacy of Equal Employment Opportunity practices and policies, and the impact of various motivational factors on managerial career success and advancement.
This book is a valuable resource for scholars on the topic of gender issues and career progression in management, and those who wish to gain an in‐depth understanding of the changing nature of managerial life in Australia in recent times. It contains much information of relevance to HR specialists who are interested in strategies to improve job satisfaction, organisational commitment and staff retention. Because the book is written in a manner that is highly accessible, it will also be valuable to non‐specialists who wish to gain an overview of contemporary managerial life in Australia.
