Mechanisms of gender stratification in the organizational structures of technology startups

Many different metaphors that illustrate the mechanisms of gender stratification in the workplace have been distinguished in research dealing with the issues of relationships between gender and organizational structures. However, these descriptions were constructed on the basis of research on hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational structures. Meanwhile, organizations focused on producing innovations, emerging on the basis of the neoliberal model of the economy, are undergoing significant changes. New models of the organization of work (based on flat structures, self-managed teams, or the use of ICT) create space for reconfiguring the gender inequality relationship in the workplace. The aim of the article is to characterize the mechanisms of gender stratification in innovative professional organizations - technology startups. Based on the results of qualitative research, the text indicates the limitations and possible reinterpretations of the metaphors (often present in the sociological literature on the subject) used to describe patterns of gender inequalities in startups (the metaphor of "glass cellar", "glass walls" and "horizontal segregation").