%0 Journal Article
%T Failure in welfare partnerships ¨C A gender hypothesis: Reflections on a serendipity pattern in Local Safeguarding Children Boards
%A Adina I Dudau
%A Laura McAllister
%J Public Policy and Administration
%@ 1749-4192
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0952076717751037
%X This article examines the roles that occupational segregation and gender bias in the welfare professions play in persistent failures in inter-agency and inter-professional collaborations. Drawing on case study evidence from a Local Safeguarding Children Board in England, a ¡®serendipity pattern¡¯ of gender dominance is identified within professions affecting inter-professional collaborations such as those prevalent in Local Safeguarding Children Boards. As we assign this pattern ¡®strategic interpretation¡¯, we suggest that policy measures taken to augment the effectiveness of welfare partnerships have, so far, paid insufficient attention to the critical variable of gender, due to over-emphasis on the organisations, rather than the professions, involved. The article¡¯s contribution to practice is unravelling the potential of this oversight to contribute to failure to establish a collaborative mind-set. Our contribution to theory is highlighting specific cultural barriers to inter-professional collaborations, unravelling the power differentials rooted in gender inequity in public sector workforces and challenging professional and organizational traditionalism. In doing so, we offer empirical evidence of the ¡®gender hypothesis¡¯ in welfare partnerships and indicate how future investigations might be pursued in this area
%K Culture
%K gender
%K Local Safeguarding Children Boards
%K partnerships
%K professions
%K serendipity pattern
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0952076717751037