The analysis of discourses produced by managers and subordinates shows that male style and values are deeply rooted in organisational culture, and that a presentation of women in managerial positions as authoritarian men is prevalent. In consequence we find a ‘double discourse’, which, on the one hand, promotes democratic models of management, consistent with prevalent democratic and egalitarian ideologies, but, on the other, mask the permanence of traditional models, only partially and superficially updated.