Advancing women in times of change: the millennials at the International Rice Research Institute

Date

6-2017

Abstract

This paper explores the challenges faced by millennial women researchers in the place where they work. It aims to contribute to the study of Development Management, particularly in the area of Organizational and Institutional Development. It specifically aims to determine constructs of millennial women working in science at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), explore these emerging constructs and ascertain the meanings that they represent vis-a-vis the themes posed by millennials as important to them, and provide recommendations for Organizational Development (OD) interventions for millennial women employees of IRRI based on their aspirations.

This study collected data from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data was collected from life story narratives drawn out from in-depth interviews. The eleven respondents include one Associate Scientist, four Assistant Scientists, and six Researchers. Guide questions were used for interviews which were conducted at IRRI-Headquarters located in Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines from July 2015 to May 2016. Secondary data was collected from available Human Resource (HR) Policy and Gender Strategy reports where analysis was applied.

The findings show that the respondents have dealt with challenges, being in the still male-dominated world of science and research. From the interviews conducted, and through the coding process, the researcher has identified five themes that are important to millennial women working in the field of science at IRRI: Gender and age-inclusive workplace; Nurturing work environment; Opportunities for growth; Meaningful work; and Job security.

The new knowledge from the findings of this study is that being a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) has had an impact in the respondents' lived experiences, as they feel that the Globally Recruited Staff (GRS) are more valued than them, which brings them to a much more marginalized group of being a female millennial holding an NRS position at IRRI.

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree

Master of Science in in Development Management and Governance

College

Graduate School (GS)

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 995 2017 M17 M46

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS