Innovation, Insight, and Influence: Success Strategies in the Careers of Top R&D Technologists Who Are Women

138 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009.Navigating the technical, social, and political complexities of technology R&D organizations can be a challenge in any innovation effort. The challenge may be quantitatively and qualitatively different for members of underrepresented groups in these organizations. Appreciating that members of underrepresented groups may approach innovation activities differently and be influenced by the organizational context differently, the study focuses on twenty technologists who are women in the upper R&D ranks of a large corporation. The technologists were interviewed about the ways in which they approach the technology, manage their careers, and influence the organization in order to achieve success in technology innovation. Using an interactionist career approach, a common narrative of women's progress has been developed. Themes of organizational position and movement and perfectionism are also explored.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD