Internationalisierung: Ausgangspunkt einer Neuformierung der Geschlechterverhältnisse in der Unternehmensberatung?

The paper conceptualises processes of economic internationalisation as strong triggers for restructuration. The branch of business consultancies, a knowledge intensive service activity with recently expanding employment of women, is taken as an example to document and analyse rearrangements both of the sector and inside the companies that are related to the trends of internationalisation. A survey of empirical studies indicates processes of continuity as well as of change in gender relations (although the state of the art - in Germany and internationally - is full of gaps). Thus the sector of business consultancies confirms the more general results of feminist research: It is an open question whether social change will decrease or increase the relevance of gender relations. Moreover, 'difference' may or may not be transformed into discrimination. This is why the paper winds up with a strong argument for contextualising concepts for empirical research.