The dramas of navigating hypermasculine organisations: Negotiating the researcher-participant relationship in ethnographic fieldwork practice and the use of collaborative ethnographic sensemaking

Abstract

This paper explores the methodological challenges and opportunities of conducting ethnographic fieldwork within hypermasculine organisational settings through two empirical cases: a prison and a police organisation. We examine the dramas and negotiations involved in managing researcher–participant relationships in environments where gendered power dynamics and idealised masculinities shape everyday organisational life. Drawing on these cases, we offer three methodological contributions. First, we provide reflexive considerations for organisational scholars undertaking ethnographies in hypermasculine contexts, illustrating how gender, power and vulnerability surface during field interactions. Second, we advance understandings of ‘ideal bodies’ in fieldwork, demonstrating the importance of leaning on relatable or shared identities with participants to navigate access, trust-building and positionality without collapsing critical distance. Third, we develop the concept of collaborative ethnographic sensemaking as an analytical tool, involving critical reflexivity with fellow ethnographers during and after fieldwork to interrogate how positionality shapes the researcher, the research outcomes and the participants. We argue that collaborative ethnographic sensemaking enhances analytical rigour while supporting the emotional and ethical complexities of researching hypermasculine organisations. This paper contributes to ethnographic methodologies in organisational studies, offering practical and conceptual guidance for researchers engaging critically within gendered institutional environments.