What does a military officer, a performer acting as Santa Claus, and a tech employee in Silicon Valley have in common? They all work in fields where their bodies are intentionally governed by organizational systems intent on shaping them into an idealized image of a worker. Indeed, every single body engaged in work is encouraged to undergo body work in order to be employable in their chosen industries and maintain their roles. However, body work affects different bodies disproportionately. How does organizational body work impact equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace? And how can we improve systems of body work in organizations to create better working conditions? 

On the Delve podcast, Professor Rohini Jalan from Desautels Faculty of Management explains the concept of organizational body work as “purposeful efforts to shape bodies, embedded in organizations”. She further explains that workplaces and “its managers, its employees, its organizations have systems that exert efforts intentionally to shape bodies in some form or fashion”. In some industries, body work is explicitly expected and performed, such as the military, sports, and sex work industries. However, in other industries, such as academic institutions, STEM fields, and the creative industry, body work is implicitly carried out on a daily basis. 

This episode of the Delve podcast is produced by Delve and Robyn Fadden. Original music by Saku Mantere.

Delve is the official thought leadership platform of McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. Subscribe to the Delve podcast on all major podcast platforms, including Apple podcasts and Spotify, and follow Delve on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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