Jane Mouton

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Dr. Jane Mouton
Born	April 15, 1930 Port Arthur, Texas
Died	December 7, 1987
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Florida State University University of Texas
Occupation	Management theorist
Spouse	Jackson Mouton

Jane Srygley Mouton (died 7 December 1987) was a management theorist.

Jane Srygley Mouton is not mentioned in the volumes of Who’s Who among American Women, Notable American Women, or even the Encyclopedia of American Biographies. Despite being a woman noted for her intellectual prowess, Mouton was nonetheless a female scholar in the 1950’s and 1960’s (Kleiner, 1996). Like many promising women of the time, her history seems to have been overlooked. In fact, from the 1940’s through 1960’s noteworthy women were generally disregarded, especially in the world of academia (Dubois, 2006). Dr. Cox often tells his COM 585 class the story of how Dr. Landini thought it was so “cute” that he was a department chair at such a young man. Sadly, this seems to have been the general opinion directed toward all female scholars throughout these decades. The research produced by these women may have been revolutionary, but instead of regarded as legitimate, it was seen as a “cute” attempt to be scholarly. Thus, women were patted on their heads for good behavior and sent back to their offices. Unfortunately, there is truth to the statement that there is strength in numbers, and during Mouton’s prime females in the academic world did not yet have the numbers to be heard. In fact, co-ed colleges had only become widely acceptable in the 1950’s. (Miller-Bernal & Poulson, 2004). Thus, at the time Mouton graduated with her Bachelor of Science in mathematics, there were hardly any female faculty members present at universities. She herself was among the original academic pioneers fighting to shift the gender balance, especially in the male dominated field of mathematics. In fact, Jane Srygley Mouton was among the most solid type of mathematician as was proven when she crossed over to furthermore become a scholar of management, psychology, and communication. Mouton was a former student of Robert Blake from the University of Texas, which was a fortunate connection for a female in the 1950’s. Together they are famous for their creation of the aforementioned Managerial Grid which was admittedly composed of Mouton’s creation and Blake’s name (Bokeno, 2007). The Grid came into existence when Blake and Mouton were hired as consultants by Exxon. It was during this time that their supposedly combined efforts produced the grid as a method of finding a median between McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y workers (Capstone, 2003). Originally, their work was reflected upon the National Teaching Laboratories (NTL) who they had worked with as a means of bringing their ideas into the organizations (Kleiner, 1996). In fact, Mouton was among few women to lead one of the NTL’s T-Groups (Training Groups) during the 1950’s. However, Blake and Mouton’s methodology was more focused on treating the organizational issues rather than simply diagnosing them. This was contrary to standard NTL practices. Thus, they separated from the company. Blake had even copyrighted the Grid so that only by franchising with him could someone else use the Grid for training, thus ensuring that everyone would use it in the way Blake and Mouton deemed fitting. Therefore, through their work with NTL leading T-Group’s and the creation of Mouton’s Managerial Grid, Blake became famous and Mouton was seemingly allowed to ride on his coat tails, eventually co-founding Scientific Methods, Inc in 1961 (Ultimate, 2003). On a more personal note, Jane Srygley was born on April 15th, 1930 in Port Arthur, TX (Contemporary, 2004). Her father, Theodore Quarles Srygley, was an educator and her mother, Grace Stumpe Srygley, was a psychologist. She married an investor, Jackson, C. Mouton, Jr. on December 22, 1953. The Moutons had two daughters named Jane Martha and Jacquelyn Cruse. Kleiner (1996) remarked that individuals who knew her well regarded her as someone who loved being outdoors, especially around horses. She was furthermore considered by that group to be highly intelligent, well composed, and devoted to her work. Perhaps if the rest of the world had recognized those same qualities, she would be remembered as a scholar rather than Blake’s assistant. Jane Srygley Mouton received her Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1950 and later returned to complete a PhD in 1957 (Contemporary, 2004). She also received a Masters of Science from Florida State University in 1951. She was certainly loyal to the University of Texas at Austin considering that her working positions include being a research scientist from 1953-1957, a social science researcher and instructor from 1957-1959, and assistant professor of psychology from 1959-1964. She was furthermore vice-president of Scientific Methods Inc. from 1961 -1981 and has presided as president of the company since 1982. Her honors include: • Honorary member of the faculty at the Institute of Business Administration and Management in Tokyo, Japan • Best Writing Award from the American Society for Training and Development (1961-1962) • Book Award from the American College of Hospital Administrators for The New Managerial Grid (1980) • Book of the Year Award from the American Journal of Nursing (1982) for Grid Approaches for Managerial Leadership in Nursing • Book of the Year Award from the American Management Association (1982) for Productivity: The Human Side Thus concludes the story of Jane Srygley Mouton as history remembers her: not as the brilliant mind who created the Managerial Grid, not as one of the first females to received a college degree in mathematics, not as a pioneer for females in higher education, and certainly not as an eclectic mind who was able to crossover as a scholar of multiple fields. Instead, she is remembered as the woman who was once a student of Robert Blake and later allowed to join him in his work with the NTL which was certainly fortunate since he kept her along as a co-founder of his company.