Individual Devices: Boosters for Executive Careers

To present the individual devices, we considered those that management shows as drivers of executive careers, which are associated with intrinsic aspects of life and represent the necessary impulse for women to pursue their executive careers. The individual devices found were: ambition, power, self-criticism, updating, self-realization, achievements, challenges, initiative, and creativity.

According to the interviewees, there is no limit to their ambition, to the growth of the ego, or to the refusal to accept their limits (Bauman, 2007a) – “in addition to feeling that I could do more, I wanted more and knew that I lived there in the business that I could be prosperous, I could be, do much more, which depended on my effort” (E20, 62 years old, businesswoman). Therefore, the subjectivity of female executives is manipulated to meet the interests of management (^{Bernardo, 2009}; ^{Mansano, 2009}) and to encourage the development of ambitious and rational characteristics, aiming at career advancement (^{Cyrino, 2011}).

The need for ambition being established in the subject, the power inherent to executive positions arises because people “do not empower themselves as human beings, they empower themselves with the position” (E21, 52 years old, businesswoman). The decision-making power linked to the position raises the female executive’s ego since “most people I talk to, the position comes before the human being, and when I speak with the position, I speak with the ego, I speak with power” (E21, 52 years old, businesswoman). The female executive lets herself be carried away by the power and the ego when the position becomes bigger than the person, generating a greater sense of omnipotence (^{Tanure et al., 2007}).

Due to the demands and pressures of the position to which they are subjected, the female executives believe that self-criticism is necessary for their development: “I think I’m the most incompetent person on the face of the earth, all the time. But, I think that’s good because you always try to improve. You have to be self-critical all the time” (E1, 51 years, director). The devices manipulate subjectivity so that formal control is no longer necessary (^{Mansano, 2009}), as the female executives themselves take care of it and start to live like their own bosses (^{Gaulejac, 2007}).

The fear of being replaced (^{Olbermann et al., 2017}; ^{Tanure et al., 2007}) and of becoming outdated (Bauman, 2007b) makes female executives seek incessantly to improve their performance. Female executives cannot “stand still”, as stagnation is not allowed in modernity (Bauman, 2007b; ^{Mansano, 2009}). They must constantly update themselves and this, contrary to what many imagine, “it is not easy. Isn’t it ‘oh you go there, put on your heels 15, put on your pencil skirt and everything’s ok’? It’s not that! We have to study, we have to keep up to date” (E13, 39 years old, manager). Updates are devices that improve the performance of female executives to guarantee them the prestige of the position and survival in the company (^{Pizza. 1995}).

The desire to fulfill themselves in their careers and the dream of building an enviable future are characteristic features of the discourse on the lives of female executives (^{López-Ruiz, 2004}). Self-fulfillment and the pleasure of achievement are praised by them: “I think there is a thing of looking back and realizing that you conquered what you thought you were not capable of” (E2, 49 years old, director). Self-realization emerges as a reward from executive life. There is no room to question individual efforts compared to the benefits of executive life. Suffering, sadness, and frustration do not match this lifestyle.

Self-realization comes along with the search for challenges: “I like the challenge! You learn” (E1, 51 years old, director). They challenge themselves all the time, aiming to create an identity and recognition for what they do and for the quality of their work (^{Dejours, 1999}): “people who know me know me for my genius and my personality. What concept do I have? Of a woman who does it! If I make a commitment, I deliver and it’s over” (E21, 52 years old, businesswoman). The challenge emerges as a way to remain competitive and justify its place in the labor market.

As a result of organizational competition, initiative and creativity are crucial factors for achieving the desired results, being attributes inherent to successful executives (^{Alencar, 2011}). The speech of E29 (44 years old, director) shows how female executives perceive creativity as something natural when, in fact, it is an adaptation to the constant changes imposed by management: “I liked to learn, to share, and that made me have a broader look, which ended up favoring me because every time I had a new project, I was always asked to take it on. So, with that, I built in a very natural way this position of always leading the projects, the people”.

The individual devices show how the female executives adhere to the management discourse as if they were natural to their personality. Although such characteristics, desires, feelings, and abilities are not inherent to them, they are developed and highlighted as a way to keep in the position and be competitive in the market.

Social Devices: Adaptation to the Glamour of the Position

To analyze the social devices, adaptations to social norms were taken as a basis for female executives to remain in a position of visibility, status, and glamour, acting as existential standards. Social devices were considered: glamour, status, social projects, social visibility, clothing, overcrowded agenda, robustness, and “opening doors”.

When occupying a high position in the organizational hierarchy, the executive is seen by society as someone who has reached the desired position, receives enviable remuneration, enjoys various benefits (^{Tanure et al., 2007}), and, therefore, is successful. These elements describe the subject making an identity reference and defining his status concerning others (^{Mansano, 2009}): “the status is quite good. The responsibility is great, but the status is very seductive” (E5, 55 years old, director). Gradually, female executives produce lifestyles resulting from social elements marked by glamour, status, and social prestige (^{Tonon & Grisci, 2015}), because “people have a vision, in my perception, that executives are demigods” (E8, 33 years old, manager).

The performance of unpaid and “volunteer” work stood out in the interviewees’ reports. These jobs become part of the female executives’ work routine and provide them with more visibility, glamour, and status and, consequently, more credibility to sustain their business: “I’m giving a little more time to do this too, it brings a very nice result for the company” (E20, 62 years old, businesswoman). It is convenient to develop social actions, but exercising a hierarchical position with status: “I am also vice president of an association. It is also another bias using my manager’s head, but for this to be reversed in actions and benefit people” (E18, 44 years old, businesswoman).

To be identified as female executives, women need to develop actions that give them social visibility compatible with this role: “when you are recognized for doing something that is difficult to contest, but that the community understands as positive, that you are applauded, that you are recognized this is also very important” (E16, 37 years old, public office). Developing actions corresponding to society’s expectations means submitting to certain norms that enable them to be socially recognized (^{Cyrino, 2011}).

As a producer of social space (^{Costa & Leão, 2017}), the glamour device makes society relate the executive position to people who are well dressed, have expensive cars and enormous houses or apartments; who travel all over the world, stay in luxurious hotels; who attend restricted clubs and restaurants (^{Pizza. 1995)}. To meet society’s expectations regarding the executive stereotype, they adapt to the ways of working (^{Grisci, 2008)}, even when these behaviors do not match their lifestyle, as reported by E25 (63 years old, businesswoman):

I think there is a big concern to convey through clothing and behavior how I want to be read by society. I want to be understood as a tough leader; the clothes are more classic, the behavior is tougher, and the language is tougher. I want to be read as a sweetheart, the clothes are a little more colorful, the language a little looser, and there are more smiles on the lips. So, the female executive ends up carrying that into the general behavior of how she wants to be read, and then there’s some suffering because the female executive sometimes wants to deliver, she wants to be austere, but at the same time, she wants to be liked. And then there’s a crossfire.

There is a social demand that uses mobilization tools such as the dynamics of the “ideal self”: either the individual conquers or is subjected to anguish and emptiness (^{Gaulejac, 2007}) – “this for me I know it’s a representation, and I have a suffering because I can’t be who I am, you know? So, there is a stereotype there that we follow the booklet” (E9, 45 years old, manager). The interviewees show that they feel trapped by a standard model, such as a predefined identity of a glamourized figure that enhances their power (^{Rolnik, 1997}).

Through clothing, the female executives mythologize an image that attractively presents them in the hope of sustaining the recognition of society (^{Rolnik, 1997}), as reported by E18 (44 years old, businesswoman): “What bothers me a lot is society’s demand to transform you into a model that doesn’t necessarily have to be. That is, it’s the one you have to pretend you are because that’s what society wants you to be”. Her subjectivity is therefore shaped and controlled by the dictates of society, as she is constantly being monitored and judged.

The role of a successful female executive is also demonstrated by an always full and super crowded schedule. Meetings and more meetings happen daily: “yesterday, for example, I had seven meetings” (E6, 55 years old, director). Engaging in the various organizational commitments provide the feeling of being indispensable, and the visibility of their numerous commitments refers to the figure of a competent professional (^{Tanure et al., 2007}).

The figure of female executives is reinforced by the media with the image of a strong, powerful and intelligent character (^{Olbermann, 2017}), which they reproduce: “it’s not our profile to depend on anyone and we all walk the road without depending on anyone. So, don’t come if you don’t have it. There is no bibelot here” (E3, 44 years old, director). Because characteristics that refer to femininity - emotionality and sensitivity - are not desired in management and, when assuming higher positions in the hierarchy, women tend to exalt characteristics - strong and independent - socially attributed to the profile of the ideal worker - masculine - to be accepted as a leader (^{Eccel & Grisci, 2011}; ^{Fraga et al., 2020)}.

Often, the place of women in the organization is questioned, either because of their domestic duties or because of their characteristics: “I think that this issue of pregnancy, the leave that the woman takes and the child is also very disturbing” (E24, 43 years old, businesswoman). Due to the predominance of organizational practices that reinforce gender differences and male dominance (^{Fraga & Rocha-de-Oliveira, 2020}; ^{Joshi et al., 2015)}, many of the reports presented could have been made by men since the women assume an executive pattern dictated by management: “after you beat men neck and neck, you have to forget about a son’s school meeting, you have to forget about the day you have menstrual cramps, you don’t even have time for maternity leave, so you have to work as a man” (E1, 51 years old, director).

The executive position provides access to people and places previously inaccessible to women. As the insertion of women into positions of power is gradual, still preferably occupied by men (^{Tanure et al., 2007}), they recognize the importance of the path taken and the “opening of doors”, as E17 (41 years old, coordinator) reports: “it took us a long time to get to these places, so I see that society doesn’t really understand what it is, but they value women when they arrive at this place. I realize you have an admiration”. The “opening of doors” is one of the devices that shape the executive subjectivity, making her accept the conditions of the position held.

Organizational Devices: Seduction and Reward

Organizational devices act in the subjectivation of female executives to adapt to the requirements imposed by the position, which turns them into depersonalized agents (^{Pizza. 1995}). The following were considered organizational devices: identity classification, seduction - financial and psychological rewards, identification and involvement, owner positioning, mobility, competitiveness, performance evaluation with a focus on results, the promise of independence, freedom, and synoptic surveillance.

It is relevant for the organization that the female executive considers herself distinct from others; she does things differently and has a prominent place: “they say I was one of the 50 most influential CEOs in this Hispanic community” (E2, 49 years old, director). The female executive feels as if she were unique as if that place could be occupied only by her, creating an identity classification (^{Souza & Carrieri, 2010}). It is as if she occupies one of the highest places on the podium, and other people have nothing left but admiration and a desire to be equal.

To differentiate and reinforce the position of female executives, companies seduce them through financial and psychological rewards. Thus, in addition to prominence before others for having decision-making power and managing the work of others, the financial benefits accentuate the differences, reinforcing their status and distancing them from other employees. In this scenario, the devices establish themselves in the form of seduction: “I have a health plan that covers me and my family, top! I have a private pension, I have a good car, I have an Audi Q3 that the company changes every two years, notebook, cell phone” (E1, 51 years old, director). However, all the time, female executives justify themselves by surrendering to the seduction of the rewards offered (^{Brett & Stroh, 2003}): “when you are an executive, you earn more, and the financial part you can enjoy later with your family and everything else, of course” (E4, 51 years old, director). Here are the devices acting, manipulating, and seducing the executives (^{Grisci, 2008)}.

Due to the subtlety with which the devices work in the executives’ lives, they are not aware of the manipulation, such as, for example, the computer that is offered by the company and seems to be received as a gift and not as a work tool that will enhance the results (^{Bernardo, 2009}): “last year I was given the last generation notebook from Apple, so monstrous the computer and I was super happy” (E12, manager). Female executives are seduced by admiration (^{Sennett, 2009}); therefore, psychological rewards also sustain the executive life: “we had a meeting with the whole group from Mexico, Austria and I already had an increase in recognition for the work, dedication, it was really cool” (E14, 43 years old, manager).

The identification of personal values with the organizational values leads female executives to feel strongly involved with the company (^{Coda & Fonseca, 2004}; ^{França, 2009)}. The involvement is perceived by the report of E3 (44 years old, director): “I say to my husband: ‘I married Company C before you because I married Company C in 93 and you in 95’”.

Involvement with work is seen as an intrinsic motivation for the pleasure of working and not as a device of punishments and rewards dictated by the company (^{Lauda, 2013}) to induce greater commitment to the career (^{França, 2009}). This involvement awakens a sense of belonging and makes female executives see their definition at work (^{França, 2009}): “I love what I do, I love the company I work for, and I can’t see myself out of there” (E3, 44 years old, director).

Due to the subtlety with which the devices work in the executives’ lives, they are not aware of the manipulation, such as, for example, the computer that is offered by the company and seems to be received as a gift and not as a work tool that will enhance the results (^{Bernardo, 2009}): “last year I was given the last generation notebook from Apple, so monstrous the computer and I was super happy” (E12, manager). Female executives are seduced by admiration (^{Sennett, 2009}); therefore, psychological rewards also sustain the executive life: “we had a meeting with the whole group from Mexico, Austria and I already had an increase in recognition for the work, dedication, it was really cool” (E14, 43 years old, manager).

The identification of personal values with the organization’s values leads female executives to feel strongly involved with the company (^{Coda & Fonseca, 2004}; ^{França, 2009)}. The involvement is perceived by the report of E3 (44 years old, director): “I say to my husband: ‘I married Company C before you because I married Company C in 93 and you in 95’”.

Involvement with work is seen as an intrinsic motivation for the pleasure of working and not as a device of punishments and rewards dictated by the company (^{Lauda, 2013}) to induce greater commitment to the career (^{França, 2009}). This involvement awakens a sense of belonging and makes female executives see their definition at work (^{França, 2009}): “I love what I do, I love the company I work for, and I can’t see myself out of there (E3, 44 years old, director).

The organizational strategies used to seduce the executives, making them feel like members of a family, a situation in which the individual identity mixes with the company identity, assuming their personality (^{Bernardo, 2009}; ^{Pagès et al., 2006}). Executives are required to put themselves in the role of owners because, in this way, there will be a greater approximation between the organizational purposes and those of the executive, as E7 (49 years old, director) reports: “it is as if, for me, work was my business. My business today is Nacional 7, I provide services for them. Because I understand it as my business.” It is understood, then, that the executive must act and think like an owner, as the company has an ideal that is shared so that it can feed it (^{Gaulejac, 2007}).

Mobility has been an imperative for career development (^{Fraga & Rocha-de-Oliveira, 2020}). Executives have to be available to travel for work (^{López-Ruiz, 2004)} as a way of investing in their careers: “I was always very available to travel, I was very available to effectively invest in it” (E6, 55 years old, director). Travel makes them feel relevant and indispensable, so they are available and mix work and leisure time (^{Cardoso, 2013}; ^{França, 2009}; ^{Gaulejac, 2007}; ^{Oltramari & Grisci, 2014}; ^{Tanure et al., 2007)}.

By adhering to the management discourse, executives seek justifications and ways to conciliate organizational demands: “Multinational 6’s headquarters are in Atlanta. I’m going to Atlanta, and then I’m going to go to New York for a few days” (E6, 55 years old, director). Thus, the work of female executives occupies full time, and leisure time becomes fragmented (Bauman, 2007a; ^{Cardoso, 2013}; ^{Tanure et al., 2007}): “I quit the gym and I miss it so much. So, it’s me having spaces that I can’t have today” (E25, 63 years old, businesswoman).

Organizations put female executives to the test all the time. Often, their limits, ability to work, and performance are pushed to the extreme point in the aggressive competition, in which the weakest is eliminated (^{Dejours, 2007}). The testimony of E12 (manager) illustrates this context: “the commercial that was my partner, it’s a very aggressive, competitive area, but it’s not a healthy competition, it’s a destructive competitive and I couldn’t get into that vibe”. It is noticed that the strong performance control of the Taylorist model gives way to devices that act subtly. The boss doesn’t need to charge for results: employees are strategically arranged as a way to improve the performance of others without constant surveillance.

Female executives are recognized for what they do and not for who they are (^{Dejours, 1999}) because “what matters is the result. It’s the result that always brings in” (E14, 43 years old, manager). Control over female executives is also exercised by setting production and profit targets (^{Sennett, 2015}): “goals that are not my day-to-day, are goals beyond my day-to-day. So, in addition to my daily dedication, I have projects that I coordinate and so. And I am evaluated yes, and of course, the result is clear” (E6, 55 years old, director).

In these circumstances, some conflicts emerge, as not everything that is imposed is following the values cherished by individuals. The female executive imagines that she has autonomy but is an autonomy granted to do what is imposed: “what generates frustration, suffering, it is that I have to work many times against my authentic will, right, and have to operate in the naked logic of numbers” (E8, 33 years old, manager). The devices can shape and guide the behavior of employees (^{Mansano, 2007}), resulting in female executives abstaining from certain ethical principles as if the ends justified the means (^{Dejours, 2007}). The way of thinking and living of each one changes due to the overlapping of organizational interests over personal ones, as the subjectivity of the female executives must meet the interests of the company (^{Bernardo, 2009}).

Thus, although the success and glamour associated with executive life produce a sense of freedom and autonomy (^{Pizza. 1995}), a control over female executives subtly develops: “you don’t have time control, but you also work more than 12 hours a day. The volume of activity is too large” (E1, 51 years old, director). They do not feel controlled, as the manipulation devices are associated with mobility and have synoptic characteristics (^{Grisci, 2008}), as can be seen in the speech of E1 (51 years old, director): “you don’t have control, you don’t have time to do anything anyway, so you have so much activity and I have a full schedule in shared Outlook. Everyone knows where I am all the time”. The female executive domination happens through devices that can be activated anywhere, at any time (^{Mansano, 2009}). Due to technological innovations, the production of new modes of subjectivation turns to control, incorporating monitoring and surveillance (^{Mansano, 2009}).

New technologies allow the executive to be subtly controlled from anywhere: “it was a great achievement for them to give it up and let me do this home office. It was an achievement I would never have thought of” (E7, 49 years old, director). The illusory freedom of being able to work from wherever she wants hides the control exercised over the female executive, as she must be permanently connected to the network (^{Gaulejac, 2007}). The mechanisms used by management aim to improve organizational performance and enable managers to deal with workers to obtain higher advantages for the benefit of the organization without using explicit mechanisms of coercion (^{Homem et al., 2009}).

Support Devices: Executive Position Maintainers

Female executives who occupy high positions in the hierarchy are seen as “super executives”, who manage to conciliate different roles. And, to sustain the dynamics of executive life, they are supported by various devices, without which they would have greater difficulty reaching the desired position. Support devices, therefore, organize the executive’s life, changing her lifestyle according to her professional life, with support from her work team, family members, outsourced staff, therapists, and coaches.

Thus, in the organizational environment, the female executive has a work team that is responsible for supporting the female executive: “I am very happy to have good people working with me. In fact, this is a sine qua non condition for you to advance in your career” (E4, 51 years old, director). This statement shows that the sense of organizational belonging is enhanced when the subject participates in a successful team (^{França, 2009}; ^{Tanure et al., 2007}).

Women also rely on their families to support their executive roles. For the professional success and maintenance of status, they depend both on resignations and on a well-structured family that supports the female executive in maintaining her image as a competent subject (^{Oltramari et al., 2011}). This situation ends up becoming natural for the female executive because “everyone knows that I work a lot, that I have a lot of responsibility, so much that I can’t keep in touch with them [family members] daily” (E8, 33 years old, manager).

Gradually, the family organizes itself without the executive, and many decisions are taken without her participation (^{Dejours, 1999}), as reported by E27 (61 years old, director): “there was a driver who took them to the places they needed to go, to English class, to the dentist. I talked to people on the phone, I went from time to time for them to see my face, but I wasn’t at all the appointments”. Since the devices shape subjectivity to adapt to modern life (Bauman, 2007b; ^{Mansano, 2009}), both her and the people around her have to adapt to the impositions of management.

To endure the difficult routine and maintain the position they have conquered, female executives have to forget about family demands – socially and culturally considered a woman’s responsibility (^{Fraga & Rocha-de-Oliveira, 2020}). In this circumstance, they rely on outsourced services – drivers, nannies, maids – to perform their multiple roles outside the organizational scope, as reported by E7 (49 years old, director): “I hired a taxi service that takes her and picks her up in all these places, with a schedule. We can have that independence”. What E7 (49 years old, director) calls independence corresponds to the desire to feel free, not to face the obstacles of the labyrinth of the female professional trajectory (^{Eagly & Carli, 2007}; ^{Fraga et al., 2021}; ^{Fraga & Rocha-de-Oliveira, 2020)} that would prevent her from continuing her work.

For female executives, the challenge is to fight for balance between all the spheres they go through (^{Tanure et al., 2007}). As women are required to play the roles of mother, maid, wife, and daughter, it would not be possible for them to continue their careers if it were not for the support devices. However, the reality of these female executives, due to social privileges – white, heterosexual women, with a family income higher than the Brazilian average – allows the labyrinths of their careers (^{Eagly & Carli, 2007}; ^{Fraga et al., 2021}; ^{Fraga & Rocha-de-Oliveira, 2020)} are less drastic when compared to the vast majority of Brazilian women.

To support the dynamics of the process, they also seek support in therapies, as E8 (33 years old, manager) explains: “I did all kinds of possible therapies that you can imagine: psychoanalysis, cognitive, developmental program, immersions. Yoga is being my last tried line of therapy from this process”. Unable to manage all the spheres that involve them alone, female executives use apparatus to be able to show themselves as unshakable and deserving of the position they occupy.

Then, it is clear that these devices can also be understood as a form of discipline: management encourages female executives to seek help as a way of controlling their behavior and standardizing it according to the behavior accepted by management. Thus, even after reaching the top, they continue the therapies, especially so that they can withstand the pressures of the position, as reported by E7 (49 years old, director): “we need it, especially as I’m in a family business, extremely traditional, sexist. So, to ride the wave and it doesn’t get too heavy”. Due to the high workload and burnout, as a result, female executives turn to support devices to minimize suffering and guilt.

Management organizes these devices so that everyone wants to be a successful executive and be the president of the company, even if there is only room for one president. Thus, in this continuous search, the subject accepts the conditions imposed in the search for better performances that directly benefit the modes of production. The quest to be the best does not privilege professional and personal fulfillment, but rather the profitability of the company. Even because those who get there, in addition to having abdicated their leisure, suffer from the resignations. And the continuous search for happiness becomes, therefore, a favorable space for the performance of management devices.