Negotiating the tall poppy syndrome in New Zealand workplaces

women leaders managing the challenge

Authors

  • Janet Holmes Victoria University of Wellington
  • Meredith Marra Victoria University of Wellington
  • Mariana Lazzaro-Salazar Universidad de Católica del Maule

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.31236

Keywords:

workplace discourse, women leaders, the gender order, egalitarian ideology, Tall Poppy Syndrome, critical realism

Abstract

The ‘tall poppy syndrome’ (TPS) is one example of a societal constraint whose function in Australasia is to enforce society-wide ideologies such as egalitarianism and the gender order. The TPS acts as an enforcement mechanism which keeps self-promoting discourse in check. While carefully managed selfpromotion is permissible in some contexts, there are others where New Zealanders are expected to behave with modesty and humility. Using a social realist approach and drawing on data from four different professional contexts (a commercial company, a medical clinic, a government department and a nongovernmental organisation), this paper explores the discursive instantiation of the TPS in combination with potentially competing leader and gender identities as experienced by New Zealand women leaders. Finally, we ask if the pressure to conform to the egalitarian ethic, alongside other downplaying strategies, is gendered in New Zealand workplaces.

 

Author Biographies

  • Janet Holmes, Victoria University of Wellington

    Janet Holmes is emeritus professor in linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. She has published in a wide range of areas including language and gender and workplace discourse. She is associate director of the Wellington Language in the Workplace project team which is currently researching the hospitality industry. Her recent books include Gendered Talk at Work, Leadership, Discourse, and Ethnicity (with Meredith Marra and Bernadette Vine) and The Handbook of Language, Gender and Sexuality (with Susan Ehrlich and Miriam Meyerhoff).

  • Meredith Marra, Victoria University of Wellington

    Meredith Marra is associate professor at Victoria University of Wellington and director of the Wellington Language in the Workplace Project. She has been involved in collecting and analysing naturally-occurring data in New Zealand organisations since 1998. Her primary research interest is the language of business meetings, and she has published in the areas of humour, gender and ethnicity in workplace interactions. Her recent books include Leadership, Discourse, and Ethnicity (with Janet Holmes and Bernadette Vine), and Constructing Identities at Work (co-edited with Jo Angouri).

  • Mariana Lazzaro-Salazar, Universidad de Católica del Maule

    Mariana Lazzaro-Salazar is a research associate of the Language in the Workplace Project team. She is also a postdoctoral fellow at Universidad Católica del Maule, Chile. Mariana’s research has focused on the study of healthcare communication, including nurses’ construction of professional identity, evaluating doctors’ feedback and communication barriers experienced by migrant doctors in the Chilean healthcare system. Some of her recent work includes ‘“Forty Bucks is Forty Bucks”: An Analysis of a Medical Doctor’s Professional Identity’, ‘Downscaling Culture in Intercultural Interaction: The Case of Nurses’ Professional Values in New Zealand’ and ‘Othering the Chronically Ill: A Discourse Analysis of New Zealand Health Policy Documents’.

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Published

2017-03-28

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Holmes, J., Marra, M., & Lazzaro-Salazar, M. (2017). Negotiating the tall poppy syndrome in New Zealand workplaces: women leaders managing the challenge. Gender and Language, 11(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.31236