How non-native English-speaking staff are evaluated in linguistically diverse organizations: A sociolinguistic perspective

The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of evaluations of non-native speaking staff?s spoken English in international business settings. We adopt a sociolinguistic perspective on power and inequalities in linguistically diverse organizations in an Anglophone environment. The interpretive qualitative study draws on 54 interviews with non-native English-speaking staff in 19 UK business schools. We analyze, along the dimensions of status, solidarity and dynamism, the ways in which non-native speakers, on the basis of their spoken English, are evaluated by themselves and by listeners. We show how such evaluations refer to issues beyond the speaker?s linguistic fluency, and have consequences for her or his actions. The study contributes to the literature on language and power in international business through offering fine-grained insights into and elucidating how the interconnected evaluative processes impact the formation and perpetuation of organizational power relations and inequalities. It also puts forward implications for managing the officially monolingual, yet linguistically diverse organizations

Constructing a leader's identity through a leadership development programme: an intersectional analysis

This article explores the notion of leadership identity construction as it happens through a leadership development programme. Influenced by a conception that leadership development is essentially about facilitating an identity transition, it uses an intersectional approach to explore school leaders’ identity construction as it was shaped and influenced by experiences on the leadership development programme. The article draws data from a mixed-methods study that evaluated the impact of the leadership training programme offered to practising school leaders in South Africa. In order to examine the process of leadership identity construction, the article draws from data where identity work was visible. It argues that categories of identity – gender, race and social class – interacted simultaneously with the contexts and backgrounds of participants to shape and influence the outcome of the leadership development programme. This complex intersection enabled unexpected outcomes where women appeared to benefit more from the programme despite their less privileged entry status. The article calls for more work that asks direct questions on leaders’ construction of identity in order to inform leadership development programmes more meaningfully

Muslim businesswomen doing boundary work : The negotiation of Islam, gender and ethnicity within entrepreneurial contexts

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