Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

DOI 10.1007/s11266-010-9143-7

ORIGINAL PAPER

The Influence of Organizational Culture in Women

Participation and Inclusion in Voluntary Organizations
in Italy

Daniela Acquadro Maran Giorgio Soro

Published online: 26 May 2010

 International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University 2010

Abstract The aim of this study is to analyze the rules whereby women are
selected for leadership and management roles and to describe the cultural values
that can foster their inclusion and participation in Italian Voluntary Organizations.
Two hypotheses: the organizational culture that governs these organizations is
necessarily oriented toward acceptance, involvement and participation, and the rules
and setting must be flexible and inclusive of all members in order to enable each
organization to survive. Methodology was based on 91 semi-structured interviews.
Findings indicate that Italian Voluntary Organizations must necessarily embrace an
organizational culture whose rules and norms are oriented toward attracting men
and women to join and encouraging them to participate. Implications for for-profit
organizations are also discussed.

Resume Le but de ce travail est danalyser les modalites par lesquelles les femmes
sont choisies pour exercer des roles de responsabilite et de gestion, et de decrire les
valeurs culturelles qui peuvent favoriser leur integration et leur participation dans
les associations italiennes. Deux hypotheses sont emises : la culture organisation-
nelle qui conditionne ces organisations est necessairement orientee vers laccepta-
tion, limplication et la participation ; les regles et le contexte doivent etre flexibles
et accorder une place a lensemble des membres afin de permettre a chaque entite de
survivre. La methode repose sur 91 entretiens semi-directifs. Les resultats indiquent
que les associations italiennes doivent necessairement adopter une culture

D. A. Maran (&)
Work and Organizational Psychology, Department of Psychology, Universita degli Studi di Torino,
Via Verdi 10, 10124 Torino, Italy
e-mail: acquadro@psych.unito.it

G. Soro
Work and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universita degli Studi di Torino,
Via Po 14, 10123 Torino, Italy
e-mail: soro@unito.it

123
482 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

organisationnelle dont les regles et les normes visent a attirer ladhesion dhommes
et de femmes et a les encourager a participer. Les consequences a tirer pour les
organisations a but non lucratif sont egalement etudiees.

Zusammenfassung Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung der Regeln, nach
denen Frauen fur Fuhrungs- und Managementpositionen ausgewahlt werden, und
die Beschreibung der kulturellen Werte, welche ihre Einbeziehung und Mitwirkung
in italienischen gemeinnutzigen Organisationen fordern konnen. Hierzu werden
zwei Hypothesen aufgestellt: Die Organisationskultur, von der diese Organisationen
geleitet werden, orientiert sich zwangslaufig an Akzeptanz, Einbeziehung und
Beteiligung, und die Regeln und Rahmenbedingungen mussen flexibel sein und alle
Mitglieder einschlieen, um den Fortbestand einer jeden Organisation zu gewahr-
leisten. Die Methodik beruhte auf 91 halbstandardisierten Befragungen. Die
Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass italienische gemeinnutzige Organisationen
zwangslaufig eine Organisationskultur annehmen mussen, deren Regeln und Nor-
men darauf ausgerichtet sind, Manner und Frauen anzuziehen und sie zur Mitwir-
kung zu animieren. Implikationen fur gewinnorientierte Organisationen werden
ebenfalls diskutiert.

Resumen el objetivo de este trabajo es analizar las reglas mediante las cuales se
seleccionan las mujeres para puestos de liderazgo y direccion, as como describir los
valores culturales que pueden fomentar su inclusion y participacion en las Organi-
zaciones Voluntarias Italianas. Dos hipotesis: la cultura organizativa que rige estas
organizaciones se orienta necesariamente hacia la aceptacion y la participacion; y las
reglas y el entorno deben ser flexibles e incluir a todos los miembros para permitir la
supervivencia de cada organizacion. La metodologa se basa en 91 entrevistas
semiestructuradas. Los hallazgos indican que las Organizaciones Voluntarias Ita-
lianas deben necesariamente abrazar una cultura organizativa cuyas normas esten
orientadas a atraer la union y la participacion de los hombres y mujeres. Tambien se
analizan las implicaciones para las organizaciones sin animo de lucro.

Keywords Gender
Social role
Organizational culture
Italy

Since the 1980s, the symbolic paradigm of culture has informed our understanding
of the complex of beliefs, values, explicit and implicit rules, behaviors and shared
meanings that enable people to adapt to the group, convey a feeling of
organizational identity, support a sense of belonging, and determine the rules of
interaction (Hatch 1997; Schein 1992). Scholars have identified both the factors that
describe the type of organizational culture, and the phenomena that perpetuate it.
These factors include the potential latitude for individual action (Golden 1992),
decision-making processes (Chatman et al. 1998), reward systems (Kerr and Slocum
2005), tolerance of conflict, diversity and innovation (Gordon 1991), and control
and leadership style (Schein 1992, 1996). The phenomena are associated with the
ceremonies used to celebrate particular moments, the organizations rites and rituals

123
Voluntas (2010) 21:481496 483

(Trice & Beyer, 1984), its myths, legends and stories (Martin et al. 1983), and its
values, symbols, and language (Hatch 1993). Scholars have suggested that the
organizational culture construct is strictly linked with leadership (Jaskyte 2004;
Schein 1992): a leader permits to perpetuate or to change the sets of assumptions,
values, norms, and rules, that characterize the organization and the way in which
members live in it (Schein 1992). Through mechanisms such as training model,
reward system, recruitment, selection, and promotion, a leader can transmit and
embed an organizational culture (Jaskyte 2004). At the same time, the organiza-
tional culture, from the start, influences the characteristics (including the gender
characteristics) selected for a leader (Schein 1992), as well as how subordinates
perceive the leaders performance (Denison and Mishra 1995).
As regards the links between organizational culture and gender, studies have
focused on the factors that can help or hinder women in achieving key roles in the
organization (Davidson and Cooper 1992; Morrison et al. 1987). Authors as
Newman (1995) describe the means of beliefs, values, practices in different
organizational cultures and their implication for womens presence in organizations,
what kind of behavioral organizations are expected from them and how women
leaders are perceived.
Investigations that have addressed the influence of role on the behavior and on
the gender- and role-based expectations of organizational actors have shown that
expectations often do not match. In a given organization, subordinates may expect
those who occupy a position of power to show goal- and task-oriented behavior,
whereas studies indicate that women show interpersonally oriented behavior. As
Eagly has described (Diekman and Eagly 2000; Eagly et al. 2000), the perceived
incongruity between the feminine gender role and typical leader roles tends to create
prejudice that takes two forms:
(1) Less favorable evaluation of womens (than mens) potential for leadership
because leadership ability is more stereotypic of men than women, and
(2) Less favorable evaluation of the actual leadership behavior of women than men
because agentic behavior is perceived as less desirable in women than men.
The first type of prejudice stems from the descriptive norms of gender rolesthat
is, the activation of descriptive beliefs about womens characteristics and the
consequent ascription of female-stereotypic qualities to them, which are unlike the
qualities expected and desired in leaders. The second type of prejudice stems from
the injunctive (or prescriptive) norms of gender rolesthat is, the activation of
beliefs about how women ought to behave. If female leaders violate these
prescriptive beliefs by fulfilling the agentic requirements of leader roles and failing
to exhibit the communal, supportive behaviors that are preferred in women, they can
be negatively evaluated for these violations (Carli and Eagly 2001; Eagly and Carli
2007), even while they may also receive some positive evaluation for their
fulfillment of the leader role.
The role congruity analysis thus suggests that female leaders choices are
constrained by threats from two directions. Conforming to their gender role can
produce a failure to meet the requirements of their leader role, and conforming to
their leader role can produce a failure to meet the requirements of their gender role.

123
484 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

Particularly consequential for leadership style would be the second form of

prejudicethat is, the negative reactions (which can affect future choices and
behaviors) that women may experience when they behave in a clearly agentic style,
especially if that style entails exerting control and dominance over others.
We are thus dealing here with a full-fledged problem of organizational culture. Both
the data and the literature clearly indicate that it is the context that sets the requirements
for the players in the organization, and the more they adapt to the expectations for their
role, the greater will be their chances for success in the organization: congruity or
incongruity with corporate norms, values and goals, as well as with gender roles, can
elicit a positive or negative evaluation, with all of the consequences that this entails
(i.e., advancement to a higher-level position, or a stalled career) (Eagly et al. 2001).
Consequently, women and men who do not conform to the expectations produced by
the organizational culture may not be asked to take leadership roles.
The purpose of the study presented in this article was to investigate the influence
of organizational culture in inclusion and participation in the process of Voluntary
Organizations (VOs). The study focused on organizational culture because of its
suggested potential for fostering inclusion and participation for women in VOs: as
suggested by Pearce, VOs need to adopt the practice to build new member
commitment to the organizations mission. The characteristics of volunteers
activity is the gift, receiving no payment or compensation, and volunteers spend
their time in order to carry out a project to change society (i.e. in search of a third
way, as described by Salomon et al. 2003), to contribute in building a civil society
(as suggested by Dekker and van der Broek 1998, people involved in voluntary
associations are conducive of social cohesion and democracy), and derive enormous
satisfaction (serving others could have great value, as described by Brown 1999).
As shown, previous research in Italyas was found in other studies of the
motivations for volunteer work (Pearce 1993)the attraction of VOs is that they
have rules and patterns of organizational behavior which differ from those of the
for-profit groups with which they are familiar, and thus provide them with an
opportunity to bring skills and know-how into play which would otherwise be
unable to express (IdeaSolidale 2008).
Not surprisingly, national data indicate that women participation to volunteerism
have increased year by year, and actually women who are active in voluntary work
account for 50.8% of Italys volunteer population. Moreover, 30% of these women
are in leadership roles, and in 70% of all cases these roles are performed in
Voluntary Organizations with a predominantly female membership (i.e., at least
60%). Out of all VOs, 30.2% are made up largely or entirely of women, while 40.5%
have an all-male membership. Of the VOs with both male and female members,
37.7% have between 0 and 33% women, while 32.2% have a female membership of
between 34 and 66%. As for the characteristics of the women who provide volunteer
service in largely female VOs, 56.3% are over 45 years of age (in the predominantly
male VOs, this percentage is 40.9%), and 63% are women who turn to voluntary
activities at the end of their working life (i.e., after retirement) or do not have jobs
(students and housewives) (Frisanco 2001; ISTAT 2005). Therefore, the presence of
women in VOs is due to rules, values, and norms which accept, hold, and include all
members and take into account the needs of everybody?

123
Voluntas (2010) 21:481496 485

For us, the response to this question is in accordance to the literature (Pearce
1993), so the hypotheses were as follows:
Hypothesis 1 The organizational culture that governs VOs is necessarily oriented
towards values and norms that promote acceptance and involvement, towards
encouraging men and women to participate in all roles, including management and
leadership roles, and
Hypothesis 2 Values, rules and setting must be orientated towards flexibility and
inclusiveness in order to enable the VO to survive; if VOs do not embrace
flexibility, the volunteers will leave and the organization risks failure.

Methods

The methodology was based on 91 semi-structured individual interviews. Questions

were asked concerning the type of values, norms and rules proposed and cultural
elements that characterize the Italian VO, thus:
The manifestation of organizational culture, as described by Avallone (1994),
such as ways of celebrating important events and rewarding successes, forms of
recognition/awards for volunteers; processes for making decisions and choosing
leaders and managers, distribution of assignments between men and women
(Hypothesis 1);
Inclusion and participation rules (Pearce 1993), in particular for people with
problems (time and skills, etc.) (Hypothesis 2).
The items were as follow:
In your VO, how many volunteers are men? And women?
Who is the leader? In which way have you selected him/her? And about
managers?
Which competences, knowledge, skills has the leader? And the managers?
Are there the same opportunities for men and women to became leaders? And
managers?
How do you take decisions about VO? And about volunteers roles?
Are there ceremonies to celebrate VO success?
Are there forms of rewards?
Who is the person representing your VO better than others? Why? What
competences, skills, knowledge and him/her?
When do you meet? Who takes decision about meeting (time and place)?
All interviews were recorded, transcribed and subjected to statistical analysis.

Participants

To obtain data which would provide the fullest possible description of the Italian
VOs organizational culture, we decided to include both men and women in
investigation. Thanks to the cooperation of IdeaSolidale, a Voluntary Service

123
486 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

Association which maintains a nationwide database of registered VOs, participants

were selected at random from the members of a balanced set of types of VO (13
persons for each types of VOs: organizations engaged in social work, support for
cooperation and development projects, cultural promotion, emergency services,
environmental protection, safeguarding human and civil rights, and health care).
Personnel from the Voluntary Service Association contacted the volunteers and
explained them the aim of investigation. For those who agreed to participate, the
association provided us the information needed in order to contact them personally.
Participants in interviews included 42.86% men, ages ranged from 16 to 73, and the
median was 45 (N = 91). As shown in international research (Hodgkinson and
Weitzman 1996), most part of volunteers have a high school diploma (52.75%;
35.16% women), 30.76% have a bachelors degree (16.48% women). 59.34% spend
less than 10 h per week in volunteerism (30.76% women), 23.07% spend 10/20 h
per week (17.59% women), 17.59% (same percentage of women and men). 38.46%
of participants are volunteers from 15 years (24.17% women), 21.98% from 5
10 years (same percentage of women and men), 35.17% from over 10 years (same
% of women and men), 4.39% from less than 1 year (same percentage of women
and men).

Instrument and Analysis

The Content Analysis methodology was used (Ghiglione 1980). We chose to use a
statistical program to analyze the text obtained. The program is Alceste 4.6
(Analyze de Lexemes Cooccurrents dans les Enonces Simples dun Texteby
Reinert 1987), a software for the qualitative analysis largely used in investigation on
the human science field. This software permits to analyze text collected from
individuals or groups (i.e. interviews and focus group discussions), from documents
and reports (i.e. articles), political discourses, biographies, and so on. The goal of
the procedure used through the software is to analyze the words and find the internal
organization of the discourse. It permits also to better understand the content of the
text corpus through a descending hierarchical analysis. This classification is similar
to the cluster analysis carried out on numerical data, as it decomposes the statements
making up the corpus into increasingly smaller and increasingly homogeneous
classes (Reinert 1993). The finding obtained is a dendogram of the stable classes, in
which it is possible to see the organization of the classes by the affinity of the
content. The program makes it possible to identify the most characteristic words in
textual units or chunks, as well as the frequency of both entire words and their
reduced forms (the words root) (Matteucci and Tomasetto 2002). In the second
stage, the v2 test is performed on the association between words and classes. These
classes represent the lexical worlds (as called by Reinert 1993): the statistical
analysis divides the context units into classes based on a distribution of similar
words; this procedure permits to identify the specific vocabulary of each classes,
composed of simple forms more frequently in a class than in the rest of the corpus
(the measure is the v2 association between words and classes). The program also
indicates the unique words, the hapax legomena that occur only once. The use of
specific words depends on the conceptual context of the discourse of which they are

123
Voluntas (2010) 21:481496 487

a part and the situation in which they are pronounced. Thus, if a specific word is
used frequently, this means that a particular importance is assigned to the concept
underlying it; conversely, the fact that a term is under-used may mean that it is not
relevant to that type of discourse, or even that the speaker is not predisposed toward
that word. The classes obtained by the program are lists of words with the
corresponding v2 to which researchers give an interpretation of content mean. Each
of us then worked independently on the findings of the analysis. Subsequently, the
work done was distributed and revised by each, as suggested by Annese and Mininni
(2002), and discussed so that we could agree on the results obtained. In cases of
doubt or disagreement, we asked a third person to contribute an independent
opinion. Consistency was thus guaranteed by its reproducibility (or inter-code
reliability).

Results

Analysis of the text corpus shows a total of 24,030 occurrences, with 3,011 distinct
forms. Average frequency of occurrence of each form was 8, and there were 1,568
hapaxes. Of the 619 elementary context units or ECUs that were classified, the
program analyzed 413, or 66.72%. On the basis of co-occurrence of forms and
context units, the statements making up the corpus are divided by means of a
descending hierarchical classification into three classes (or lexical worlds, as
Reinert 1993, calls them). Figure 1 shows the dendogram of stable classes which
makes it possible to determine the classes homogeneity and diversity. For each
class, the first ten words (presented in reduced form1) are identified and ranked by v2
association (Table 1).
We identified the most frequent words that characterize the linguistic world to
which the interviewees belong. Shown in Table 1, these words are grouped in
classes I and III, which as Fig. 1 indicates, are more homogeneous than class II.
Classes I and III refer to distribution of assignments in the organization and its
ability to attract and retain members. Class II refers to the forms of recognition and
rewards for participating in volunteer work.

Distribution of Assignments, Attraction, and Retention of Members

Classes I and III contain the words that the interviewees use to describe the process
whereby tasks are distributed in their volunteer organization. Cultural values and
norms emerge that characterize Italian society, and are often reflected in the VOs
organizational culture:

1
The program uses symbols to indicate the type of root. If the word is followed by the symbol \, this
means that only the root of the word is recognized. The ? symbol, on the other hand, means that the
terminations and multiple forms of the same root are recognized. An example of the first type is the word
actual\, which stands for actuality, actualized, actually; for the second type, the word wom? may refer to
women and woman.

123
488 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

Fig. 1 Dendogram of stable classes

Table 1 Text corpus analysis

Words Occurrence Total v2
inside cluster occurrence

Class I
Men 32 36 92.52
Wom? 30 36 77.42
Accord\ 35 52 62.43
Assign\ 24 29 60.05
Differen\ 65 141 59.20
Gender 20 22 57.95
Culture 21 24 57.26
Same 22 26 56.84
Way 51 99 55.55
Leadership 25 33 53.65
Class II
Celebrate 42 64 43.26
Succes? 16 17 33.43
System\ 14 14 32.63
Partecip\ 26 38 27.89
Group? 16 19 26.73
Award\ 11 11 25.45
Moment? 17 24 19.22
Part? 8 8 18.37
Form? 31 57 17.35
Organiz? 6 6 13.71
Class III
Do 18 21 146.21
Know\ 16 18 134.97
Friend\ 18 24 124.27
Signific\ 23 41 112.10
Trough 18 34 79.25
Help\ 17 31 78.12
Person? 20 58 47.43
Begin? 10 18 45.27
Maternity 13 34 34.53
Together 6 9 34.15

123
Voluntas (2010) 21:481496 489

The men are very competitive and less willing to work together, theyre highly
focused on themselves. On the job, competitiveness is linked to productivity,
here in volunteer work other factors come into play. But if theres a bit of
competition they dont leave room for them. (female, age 54)
In some VOs, there are rules and norms that would encourage leadership and
management by women, and when obstacles arise, it is because of mentality or
because roles are assigned on the basis of the type of work, as describing by those
interviewees:
Women have never really shown what theyre worth before now women are
beginning to wake up. Its the same in my VO, they complain but when the
time comes for deciding whos going to lead, they dont step forward, theyve
got sort of an old-fashioned mentality, a different way of looking at things
(female, age 24). How tasks are assigned depends on the kind of work
involved. In some services, its better for girls to be in charge, while in others
its better to have boys. For instance, I cant see a boy heading our eldercare
group, just as I dont see a girl for our football group, even if shes kind of a
tomboy. (male, age 19).
Some of the interviewees report that maternity is as much an impediment to
volunteer work as job responsibilities:
A woman has to show that shes at least ten times better than a man to be
given the same role, its always the same old story its also true that a
woman has family obligations that a man doesnt have raising children, for
instance, isnt as hard as it used to benow you have a right to maternity
leave and all the restbut it still has an impact on your job, and even on
volunteer work I mean, I can hardly leave the baby alone for hours, can I? I
stepped down as president, because I just couldnt keep up with everything I
had to do. (female, age 35)
The interviewees complain of a general lack of help, inside and outside the
family:
My wife is a volunteer, too. Before the baby was born, we said wed take turns
for our volunteer work, but in the end we couldnt manage for the moment,
shes had to give up, and well just have to see how it goes. (male, age 42)
For women who are mothers, support from their family members is especially
important in volunteer work. If such work is not regarded as absolutely essential, it
is not supported:
My family doesnt understand that I like what I do now I dont have anyone
that I have to look after, but Im sure that if I were to have a baby, theyd tell
me to forget about volunteer work: youre a mother now (female, age 37).
From our standpoint, one of the most interesting words is leadership, which the
interviewees indicate as central to the participation and decision-making process.
The leader is required to preside over the VOs values and rules, which may change

123
490 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

over time. In such cases, the leader must be able to adapt to the change and to the
volunteers needs:
The VO had a leadera manwho was very strong, very effective, hes the
one who made it into an association, but since he was the kind of person who
works alone when he finally reached burnout, they way everybody in
volunteer work does sooner or later, the association nearly fell apart. There
were only three of us left, all men, and we were able to keep things going. He
was a very strong figure, deeply committed, something of a father to us but
also a my way or the highway sort. Now that hes gone, were all more
involved, all the men and women whove joined since then. Now, leadership is
split among several people, its better than only one because if somebody cant
do it any more, the organization can still keep on going, and it makes for better
relationships, since youre freer to voice your opinion if you dont agree with
something. We wanted to make things democratic and consensus-based, and
we succeeded. (male, age 42)
The capacity for inclusiveness does not depend on gender, but on the ability to
accept and accommodate the needs of the VOs members:
The group I belong to is led by a woman, but the tone is masculine, because
shes got a very aggressive way of doing things as I see it, if a woman wants
to reach the top, its right that she should be able to do so, because its a
question of making your own choices, but that shouldnt mean that you
necessarily have to have to model yourself after a man, or that you have to run
roughshod over people to reach a certain level, thats an attitude thats not
justifiable for either men or women, but men have always had it. (female,
age 24)
These factors would appear to be linked to the VOs ability to attract and retain
members: since volunteer work is, as the term implies, something that individuals
decide to do on their own initiative and without pay, they look for organizations that
reflect their own desires and needs:
I found out about this VO through a friend of mine, she did volunteer work
with me in another group and changed over to this one. She told me that here
the mentality was different, you have more input about scheduling, it was
more interesting as an experience, there was more opportunity to make
yourself heard and they didnt criticize everything you said about how things
could be improved. (female, age 32)
Organizational culture is thus a decisive factor, not for the individuals decision
to do volunteer work in a particular field, but as regards the organization itself, its
values, its rules, its norms:
The group doesnt offer any kind of strategy for coping with all the demands
of home and family, job and volunteer work, let alone having programs to
make it easier to handle all these responsibilities. Pretty strange for an
association that works with womens problems, isnt it? All they tell me is that

123
Voluntas (2010) 21:481496 491

if you come, thats great, if you cant come, thats OK too. I think thats a
form of coercion, even more than a direct order, because if you say that, it
means you dont need my help anyway. (female, age 47)
If the values and norms are not right for them, the volunteers will abandon the
VO:
I dont understand the VOs that dont show any concern for their own
volunteers, who are these associations greatest resource as a result, some
people just dont come after awhile, and work comes to a standstill. Its no
wonder that people get fed up and go away, and maybe even found another
group, with different rules. (male, age 53)
In some VOs, the problem would appear to lie in how the group is run, with
methods that are too similar to those of for-profit organizations:
In the VO Im in now, we can talk over any problems we might have in a
much more friendly way, in the old group you couldnt do that because it
was like being in a big corporation, with a rigid pecking order. (male, age 48)

Forms of Recognition and Rewards

In class II, we have the words that refer to forms of recognition and rewards for
participating in volunteer work. The interviewees report that these moments of
celebrating participation are essential in the life of the VO, as they are useful in
reminding all members of the shared values that their commitment involves. In
addition, celebrations foster a sense of belonging to the group, of gratification with a
commitment that took time and effort that would otherwise have gone into other
activitieswith family and friends, in many cases, such explain in this interview:
volunteer work gives you a chance to be useful to other people, but it also gives
you personal gratification because were all of us a bit egotistical underneath
(male, age 29), and another volunteer says
Its nice to do volunteer work and its something that should be done, but you
have to get some satisfaction out of it personal gratification is very
important, its the giving thats gratifying, its important because things are
done better and you can see that. (female, age 54)
The VOs celebrations take place mainly at holidays describing as
there are times when we all get together, like the group party every year
during the Christmas holidays we have meeting where we can all socialize
with each other for a bit its important for feeling that were part of the
organization. (female, age 53)
Some groups have more formal ceremonies, where prizes are awarded to some of
the volunteers with symbols of belonging to the VO: in my VO, they give medals
on the basis of the number of activities youve been in, theres an official ceremony
attended by all the big shots and politicos, and our families are invited, we wear our
uniforms (male, age 48). The volunteers emphasis that the lack of such moments

123
492 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

creates considerable disgruntlement: often, Ive had no recognition for what Ive
accomplished its not that I want the medal, but I do want recognition not
having any recognition is demotivating, and once a persons demotivated, all his
potential is destroyed (male, age 37).

Discussion and Conclusion

The data gathered from interviews in the course of the investigation indicate that
Italian VOs can embrace an organizational culture whose rules and norms are
oriented toward attracting men and women to join and encouraging them to
participate in all organizational roles, including leadership and management roles
(Hypothesis 1). An organizational culture of this kind is necessary for VOs, who risk
failure if they do not adopt flexible rules and settings (Hypothesis 2): VOs are seen
as organizations whose rules can contribute to creating an atmosphere that is more
accommodating for everybodys needs.
In VOs, the organizational culture orients the distribution of leadership and
management roles. This distribution takes place on the basis of mens and womens
mentalities, and on the type of work that the VO does (Table 1, classes III).
Mentality is a question of the processes involved in constructing gender identity,
which has long contributed to a male hegemony and hence to a patriarchal culture
(Connell and Messerschmidt 2005). This does not mean that the mentality cannot
change in favor of new rules. However, if VOs do not give women a chance to try
their hand at these roles, there is a risk of estranging them mentally from the
content and context of their work (Kerfoot and Knights 1998, p. 20). As for the
type of work engaged in by the VO, the study described that, as Eaglys work has
shown (Eagly and Carli 2007): leadership is stillat least in Italylinked to
expectations regarding gender roles, and VOs are not exempt from the social and
cultural processes at work elsewhere (Table 1, class I). The data indicate that a
woman is more likely to be chosen as a leader in a womans volunteer group, where
her behavior more closely reflects gender stereotypes and the VOs values and
norms (see Eagly et al. 1992). Not surprisingly, women described an increase in the
number of men as a factor that can disrupt the groups equilibrium: redistributing
assignments restores equilibrium, but there is a risk that women will forgo key roles
in favor of preserving the stereotype that fosters their participation and inclusion
(Martin 2003). The crucial element is thus the organizational culture that determines
which of the volunteer groups members are singled out for roles as leaders and
managers (Table 1, classes IIII). The leader in particular is required to guarantee
and preside over the VOs values, norms, and rules (Pearce 1993; Wood 1981), so
that the vision and mission that have given the organization its character can be
perpetuated (Table 1, classes IIII). It should be noted that some of the volunteers
find the same rules in the VO that they have encountered in for-profit organizations
(Table 1, class III). Nevertheless, participants recognize a change in VOs and in the
peopleboth men and womenwho work with them (Table 1, class I).
In VOs, cultural elements are also transmitted through the recognition for work
done (Table 1, class II). The VOs ceremonies are made up of rites and rituals that

123
Voluntas (2010) 21:481496 493

reinforce the type of conduct for which the volunteers are rewarded by means of
symbols such as medals, building a sense of belonging to the group. This is essential
for volunteers whose work involves responding to medical or environmental
emergencies, and not only for them: belonging to the group strengthens the
processes of inclusion and participation (Farmer and Fedor 2003), enabling
members to express themselves and feel welcome, accepted (Table 1, class II). And
as a result, it empowers them to take on responsibilities, to try their hand at new
roles.
What, then, are the cultural values that can be effective in enabling women to
express their potential in VOs? The answer is to be found in the VOs willingness to
remove obstacles to womens participation, to do everything necessary to accept and
welcome diversity, and to help balance the demands that a dual presence in the
workplace and the domestic sphere can entail. VOs are asked to remove all the barriers
to participation, including the problems involved in balancing an individuals many
responsibilities (work and family, for exampleTable 1, class IIII).
Italian VOslike all organizationscould benefit from greater diversity (in
gender, certainly, but also in knowledge, skills, age, ethnicity, and other areas) in
their leaders and members, and from investing in a decision-making process that
involves their entire membership (Cox and Blake 1991; Gilbert et al. 1999). For
each volunteer, this makes it possible to improve the participatory process, to offer
more creative solutions and make the most of everyones potential (Hackman 2002).
What the VOsand other organizationsare asked to do is to devote more
attention to each individuals capabilities, remembering that all people have the
right to aspire to lead the life which they can and want to do (Singh 2002). One way
of affecting such changes is to reflect on the type of organizational culture adopted
by the group and the resulting efforts to provide support and closure.
It was found that Italian VOs that are not oriented toward acceptance and
involvement, and that do not have flexible and inclusive rules for participation, put
their own survival at risk: their life cycle is likely to be short, and unable to meet
societys current needs, not in terms of mission but of vision. If a VO is unable to
implement rules and settings oriented toward flexibility and inclusiveness, it would
appear to be destined for failure (Table 1, class III): the volunteers move to another
organization, or even create a new one which is more consonant with their own
needs. The volunteers describe the failure of the process of inclusion and
participation as one of the factors that cause the VO to fall apart: in such cases,
change must necessarily be internal (Table 1, class I).
When volunteers do not agree with the rules and norms, they are especially likely
to change to another organization. Thus, change is more likely to take place in VOs
where people are not bound by formal contracts but by affective and emotional ties,
by their own sense of responsibility, and can choose to leave the group, change it, or
create one of their own. And change can be spurred by women, by their needs.
The risk is one of fragmentation,2 but these new organizations can come together
precisely by virtue of a new vision, of strategies for inclusion and participation that

2
In 2003, for each organization that closed down, more than 10 new ones were registered (Source:
ISTAT Italian National Institute of Statistics 2005).

123
494 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

extend to the young people who are the future of volunteer work. The data indicate
that one of the major channels for access to volunteer work are friends and
acquaintances who promote a VO on the basis of their experience with it
(Table 1class III): if this experience is satisfying, the VO is more likely to attract
new people who can contribute to fueling its mission and vision (Mattsson and
Stenbacka 2003).
An aspect that must be monitored from VOs leaders and managers is that of the
cultural elements that characterize the birth of a organization, and how its success or
failure depends on its membership makeup. And when a VO springs from a previous
failure, what is womens role in proposing and stimulating change toward an
organizational style and climate that is more consonant with their needs and desires?
An attempt must be made to understand what organizational models are best for
women, and how they can be adapted to different organizational contexts. VOs
would appear to have considerable promise as a laboratory for testing different
organizational forms, as this investigation indicates that their strong point lies in an
ability to be more flexible and adaptable to their members needs.
Finally, we can say that VOs have the potential to evolve more rapidly than for-
profit organizations, and this process could have a great impact in civil society.
Survey on volunteers showed that in countries where there is a large presence of
VOs there are likely to be successful problems of discriminations, both ethnic, about
gender, social class, religion or politics, and so on. The VOs network allows all
citizens to access the same services, and permits volunteers to get in touch with the
real needs and requirements of society (Edwards et al. 2001). Through volunteering,
you lay down the rules of reciprocity which have repercussions on the sense of
citizenship, thus fostering social innovation evolving civil society (Sirianni and
Friedland 2001). Therefore, VOstheir leaders and managersare invited to try
new approaches to inclusion, participation, and assigning leadership roles to women
that can become examples of good practice for all institutions and enterprises, for-
profit, and other non-profit alike.

References

Annese, S., & Mininni, G. (2002). La focus group discussion tra analisi del contenuto e analisi del
discorso. In B. M. Mazzara (Ed.), Metodi qualitativi in psicologia sociale (pp. 125148). Roma:
Carocci.
Avallone, F. (1994). La psicologia del lavoro: storia, modelli, applicazioni. Roma: Nuova Italia
Scientifica.
Brown, E. (1999). Assessing the value of volunteer activity. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly,
28, 317.
Carli, L. L., & Eagly, A. H. (2001). Gender, hierarchy and leadership. Journal of Social Issues, 57,
629636.
Chatman, J. A., Polzer, J. T., Barsade, S. G., & Neale, M. A. (1998). Being different yet feeling similar:
the influence of demographic composition and organizational culture on work processes and
outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43, 749780.
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender
& Society, 19, 829858.
Cox, T. H., & Blake, S. (1991). Managing cultural diversity: Implications for organizational
competitiveness. Academy of Management, 5, 4556.

123
Voluntas (2010) 21:481496 495

Davidson, M., & Cooper, C. L. (1992). Shattering the glass ceiling: the woman manager. London:
Chapman.
Dekker, P., & van der Broek, A. (1998). Civil society in comparative perspective: Involvement in
voluntary associations in North America and Western Europe. Voluntas: International Journal of
Voluntary and Nonprofit Organization, 9, 1138.
Denison, D. R., & Mishra, A. K. (1995). Toward a theory of organizational culture and effectiveness.
Organization Science, 6, 204223.
Diekman, A. B., & Eagly, A. H. (2000). Stereotypes as dynamic constructs: Women and men of the past,
present and future. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 11711181.
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Women and the labyrinth of leadership. Harvard Business Review,
85, 7685.
Eagly, A. H., & Johannesen-Schmidt, M. (2001). The leadership styles of women and men. Journal of
Social Issues, 57, 781797.
Eagly, A. H., Makhijani, M. J., & Klonsky, B. G. (1992). Gender and evaluation of leadership: A meta-
analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 322.
Eagly, A. H., Wood, W., & Diekman, A. B. (2000). Social role theory of sex differences and similarities:
A current appraisal. In T. Eckes & H. M. Trautner (Eds.), The developmental social psychology of
gender (pp. 123174). NJ: Erlbaum.
Edwards, B., Foley, M. W., & Diani, M. (2001). Beyond Toqueville: Civil society and the social capital
debate in comparative perspective. Hanover: University Press of New England.
Farmer, S. M., & Fedor, D. B. (2003). Volunteer participation and withdrawal. Nonprofit Management
and Leadership, 9(4), 349368.
Frisanco, R. (Ed.). (2001). Terza Rilevazione Fivol 2001 sulle organizzazioni di volontariato. Roma:
Settore Studi e Ricerche Fondazione Italiana per il Volontariato.
Ghiglione, R. (1980). Manuel danalyse du contenu. Paris: Colin.
Gilbert, J. A., Stead, B. A., & Ivancevich, J. M. (1999). Diversity management: A new organizational
paradigm. Journal of Business Ethics, 21, 6176.
Golden, K. A. (1992). The individual and organizational culture: Strategies for action in highly ordered
contexts. Journal of Management Studies, 29, 121.
Gordon, G. G. (1991). Industry determinants of organizational culture. Academy of Management Review,
16, 396415.
Hackman, J. R. (2002). Leading teams. Setting the stage for great performance. Boston: Harvard Business
School Press.
Hatch, M. J. (1993). The dynamics of organizational culture. The Academy of Management Review, 18,
657693.
Hatch, M. J. (1997). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Hodgkinson, V., & Weitzman, M. (1996). Giving and volunteering in the United States. Washington,
D.C.: Independent Sector.
IdeaSolidale. (2008). Osservatorio sul Volontariato. Torino: Idea Solidale.
ISTAT. (2005). Le organizzazioni di volontariato in Italia. Roma: Istituto nazionale di statistica.
Jaskyte, K. (2004). Transformational leadership, organizational culture, and innovativeness in nonprofit
organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 15, 153168.
Kerfoot, D., & Knights, D. (1998). Managing masculinity in contemporary organizational life:
A managerial project. Organization, 5, 726.
Kerr, J., & Slocum, J. W. (2005). Managing corporate culture through reward systems. Academy of
Management, 19, 130138.
Martin, P. Y. (2003). Said and Done versus Saying and Doing: Gendering practices, practicing
gender and work. Gender & Society, 17, 342366.
Martin, J., Feldman, M. S., Hatch, M. J., & Sitkin, S. B. (1983). The uniqueness paradox in organizational
stories. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 438453.
Matteucci, M. C., & Tomasetto, C. (2002). Alceste: un software per lanalisi dei dati testuali. In B. M.
Mazzara (Ed.), Metodi qualitativi in psicologia sociale (pp. 305328). Roma: Carocci.
Mattsson, K. T., & Stenbacka, S. (2003). Gendered social capitalA case study of sports and music
associations in Leksand and Rattvik, Sweden. In: 43rd congress of the European regional science
association, 2131 August 2003, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.
Morrison, A. M., White, R. P., & Van Velsor, E. (1987). Breaking the glass ceiling: Can women reach the
top of Americas largest corporations?. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

123
496 Voluntas (2010) 21:481496

Newman, J. (1995). Gender and cultural change. In I. Catherine & J. Newman (Eds.), Gender, culture and
organizational change (pp. 1129). London: Routledge.
Pearce, J. L. (1993). Volunteers. London: Rotledge.
Reinert, M. (1987). Un logiciel danalyse lexicale : ALCESTE. Cahiers de lanalyse des Donnees, 4,
471484.
Reinert, M. (1993). Les Mondes Lexicaux et leur Logique a travers lAnalyse Statistique dun
Corpus de Recits de Cauchemars. Langage et Societe, 66, 539.
Salomon, L. M., Sokolowski, S. W., & List, R. (2003). Global civil society. An overview. Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins University, Institute for Police Studies, Center for Civil Society Studies.
Schein, E. H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schein, E. H. (1996). Culture: The missing concept in organization studies. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 41, 229240.
Singh, V. (2002). Managing diversity for strategic advantage. A report for the council for excellence in
management and leadership. London: Crowe.
Sirianni, C., & Friedland, L. (2001). Civic innovation in America: Community empowerment, public
policy, and the movement for civic renewal. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Trice, H. M., & Beyer, J. M. (1984). Studying organizational cultures through rites and ceremonials. The
Academy of Management Review, 9, 653669.
Wood, J. R. (1981). Leadership in voluntary organizations. Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

123