‘It's Down to Hard Work, Lonely Work, Long, Long Hours, and You Have to be Able to Sacrifice’: Removing the Veil of the Gender-Neutral Organisation.

This research examines the notion of the Gendered Organisation concept within a UK public sector organisation; drawing attention to the presumptions of Gender-Neutrality being satisfied if there are equal numbers of females and males in leadership positions. By examining the experiences of female leaders in a perceived Gender-Neutral public sector organisation that surely ought to apply equality law and policy with rigour, we explore the dominance of agentic leadership styles (assertiveness and competitiveness). Such styles often popularised in comparison to, and to the detriment of, communal characteristics (nurturing), can lead to the creation and reinforcement of masculine-informed structures, language and norms that leave little room for a communal or feminine approach to leadership. The findings from 13 semi-structured interviews look at what extent a public sector organisation may be perceived as Gender-Neutral. However, such perceived neutrality has created only a veneer of equality and what we term a gender complacency, which presents a risk to authentic Equality, Diversity and Inclusion interventions within the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]