Organizational Citizenship Behavior: What's Gender Got to Do With It?

In this paper we present a feminist reading of the concept of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and its components. We propose that although the OCB discourse in the literature is presented as gender-neutral, gender is deeply embedded within the concept. We reveal the gendered nature of the concept in two ways. First, drawing on a poststructural feminist perspective, the analysis examines the rhetorical nature of the text, the language and metaphors used in the definition of the concept of OCB and its different dimensions. Second, using a critical post liberal perspective, which considers gender as socially constructed and focuses on gender/power relations, the analysis explores how the constructs of the OCB concept are defined and enacted in ways which culturally differentiate men and women, and reveals the dynamics through which the use of this concept reproduces the gendered division of labor and inequality between women and men in organizations. The importance of this critique is that it highlights the theoretical concepts themselves, and shows that they not only reflect existing organizational work structures, but also contribute to the nature of these structures and help stabilize and reproduce the existing order. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the possible negative aspects of OCB for both men and women, consider the implications of our analysis and point to future directions