My capstone research is titled ‘Women Who Work: Meaning-Making of the Indonesian Culture and Its Impact on Career Advancement’. In Indonesia, culture is a dominant factor sustaining the gender gap in the corporate environment, particularly influencing how women make meaning of their career progression. This research uses various theoretical lenses to explore three primary themes: cultural norms and expectations; gender roles; and communication & perception. The Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) acts as the main interpretative framework for exploring underlying needs and interests of stakeholders in the corporate environment.

Communication and perception are the key to fully understanding the way Indonesian entry-level managers make meaning of cultural norms which impacting on their professional advancement. And CMM theory provides the best lens to understand the patterns of communication, which lead to a better grasp on how Indonesian female entry-level managers “make better social worlds in varying contexts and levels of systems—from intimate conversations to global questions” (Creede, Fisher-Yoshida & Gallegos, 2012, p. 37).

Different cultural influences also contribute to individuals within the same social interaction creating different meanings, with conflict often resulting as a consequence. Existing models within the CMM framework were useful in understanding these communication difficulties and complexities. The LUUUUTT Model offered a way to identify multiple co-existing stories and uncovering those that were hidden while the Daisy Model help to make sense of multiple concurring conversations (Creede, Fisher-Yoshida & Gallegos, 2012).

These two CMM models have greatly helped me in breaking down data and uncovering hidden ‘stories derived from surveys and interviews conducted with various entry-level managers. As a consequence I was able to propose a three-pronged intervention strategy with the overarching goal of raising the consciousness of stakeholders. Overall, I believe that CMM models are applicable in all types of research and projects as an effective method to better understand the data collected, to discover patterns, and to recognize entry points for intervention.

Cornelia Budiman  cpb2146@columbia.edu

Creede, C., Fisher-Yoshida, B. & Gallegos, P. (2012) CMM as transforming practice. IN C. Creede, B. Fisher-Yoshida & Gallegos, P. (Eds) The reflective, facilitative and interpretative practice of the Coordinated Management of Meaning. (23-42) Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.