Questions
Maged
Lecture11HRM3014.pptHRM 3014: Contemporary Issues in Managing a Workforce
Lecture 11:
Dimensions of Diversity I – Gender and Age
Learning objectives for today:
To examine the employment patterns and experiences of women, older workers, and younger workers
To understand the difference between horizontal and vertical occupational segregation, and how these relate to the gender pay gap
To identify some explanations for different employment trends and outcomes among these social category groups
*
Women’s employment rates
in the UK
(ONS, 2013)
1979: 25% of women returned to work after childbirth
2010: 77% of women returned to work after childbirth
1971: 92% of working-age men employed, 53% of women
2017: 79.4% of men, 70.8% of women
*
Vertical sex segregation
At the current rate of progress in the UK, it will take another:
- 30 years to achieve an equal number of women senior police officers
- 70 years to achieve an equal number of women directors in the FTSE 100
- 45 years to achieve an equal number of women in the senior judiciary
- 14 elections, or up to 70 years, to achieve an equal number of women MPs
EHRC, 2011
Men over-represented at higher levels of organisations & occupational hierarchies: managers & senior officials (66% men), professionals (58% men)
*
Vertical segregation in the European
Union
Data from latest Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey
Vertical segregation broken down by
EU nation
Data from latest Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, conducted every four years
Global vertical segregation
World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index 2017
Why vertical segregation?
In lab-based studies of hypothetical leaders:
- Women leaders evaluated less favourably
- Liked less than male leaders
- Penalized for using masculine leadership styles
Reading list: See Ibarra et al. (2013) for a discussion of barriers to women assuming leadership positions
*
Role congruity theory
Traditional female gender role: communal (nurturing, caring, sensitive)
Traditional male gender role: agentic (ambitious, assertive, direct)
Successful leader role: agentic or communal?
For women, discrepancy between gender role and leadership role
Descriptive bias
- Female leaders stereotyped as having less leadership potential than men
Prescriptive bias
- Female leaders evaluated less favourably because leadership seen as a better fit for men than for women
Double bind: if women conform to traditional gender role, they are not seen as having potential for leadership.
If they adopt agentic characteristics associated with successful leaders, then they are evaluated negatively for being ‘unfeminine’.
*
Who would you prefer to work for?
Female boss: 13%
Male boss: 33%
No preference: 54%
Reading list: See Elsesser & Lever (2011) for a large-scale study of gender bias against women leaders
Most common justification for
preferring male manager was
disliking female managers (74% of women respondents, 50% of men)
Too “emotional”, “moody”, “catty”, “gossipy”, “bitchy”, “backstabbing”, “dramatic”, “jealous”, “petty”
Gender bias less evident in real-world settings. But, it doesn’t disappear entirely.
Study of over 60,000 individuals
*
The gender pay gap in the UK
- Gender pay gap (mean earnings): 15% for full-time work
- Gender pay gap (median earnings): 9.6% for full-time work
(ONS, 2013)
| Sector | Full-time gender pay gap |
| Accommodation & food service activities | 7.2% |
| Administrative & support service activities | 2.0% |
| Construction | 11.2% |
| Education | 11.8% |
| Financial & insurance activities | 36.7% |
| Human health & social work activities | 18.1% |
| Information & communication | 18.4% |
| Professional, scientific & technical activities | 20.5% |
The EHRC’s inquiry into sex discrimination and unequal pay in the financial services sector in 2009 revealed that women in the finance sector working full-time earned up to 55 per cent less annual average gross salary than their male colleagues. This compared to the economy-wide gender pay gap of 28 per cent
*
The gender pay gap in managerial occupations in the EU
Data from latest Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, conducted every four years
Disparities in pay and leadership
roles can’t be attributed solely to education
Why do women earn less than men?
Characteristics of individuals
Characteristics of jobs
Discrimination
Economists calculate that approx. half of the gap is due to characteristics of individuals and jobs
The rest is possible discrimination
*
Characteristics of individuals
Attachment to the labour force (LF)
Each year in the LF increases pay by app. 3%
Each year out of LF decreases pay by app. 3%
So if a woman has 10 years in LF and 10 years out, she will be 20 years behind male equivalent when returns
Lower human capital
Not really true now, according to economists (Blau & Kahn, 2106: http://ftp.iza.org/dp9656.pdf )
Higher turnover and absenteeism?
Caregiving responsibilities
*
Characteristics of jobs
Horizontal gender segregation (UK stats)
- Clustered in occupations / industries: administrative & secretarial (81% women), personal services (84% women), sales & customer service (69% women)
- Dominate low-paid jobs: receptionists (95% women), cleaners & domestics (76% women), waiting staff (74% women)
Women more likely to work in:
Smaller plants
Service sector
Non-union
Women (and ethnic minorities) “crowd” into certain occupations, causing increase in supply relative to demand depressing market wages
*
Percentage of workers in each
occupation group that are women
April-June 2013, UK
Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics
Percentage of working men and
women in each skill level group
April-June 2013, UK
Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics
Field experiments related to horizontal segregation
Golding and Rouse (2000)
Blind orchestra auditions increased the chance of women advancing out of preliminary rounds by 50 per cent in the US Symphony orchestra
Riach and Rich (2006)
In an experiment in Britain using fake CVs, men were discriminated against for the position of ‘secretary’, while women were discriminated against for the position of ‘engineer’
Booth and Leigh (2010)
In another experiment in Britain using fake CVs, men were discriminated against in low-skilled service work in female-dominated workplaces (servers in restaurants; data entry employees)
Lab experiments related to horizontal & vertical segregation
Ruben et al. (2014)
When hiring candidates to perform a mathematical task that both genders perform equally well, both men and women were twice as likely to choose a male rather than female candidate; discrimination is reduced, but not eliminated, by providing full information about previous performance on the task
Bowles et al. (2007)
Women who initiated negotiations for pay received systematically poorer evaluations by male evaluators than men did
Jung & Vranceanu (2015)
A lab experiment on team dynamics found that underperforming women were sanctioned more often and more heavily by fellow team members than were underperforming men
Evidence on discrimination
in pay gaps (1)
- Levanon et al. (2009): research using US census data from 1950-2000,
- When women moved into occupations in large numbers, those jobs began paying less (even after controlling for education, work experience, skills, race and geography)
- Substantial evidence that employers placed a lower value on work done by women
Ticket agent - wages fell 43 percentage points
Designers - wages fell 34 percentage points
Housekeepers - wages fell 21 percentage points
Biologists - wages fell 18 percentage points
- Reverse was true when a job attracted more men
- e.g., computer programming used to be dominated by women
- When male programmers began to outnumber female ones, the job began paying more and earned prestige
Evidence on discrimination
in pay gaps (2)
Discrepancies in job requiring similar education and responsibility, or similar skills, but divided by gender
e.g., information technology managers (mostly men) earn 27% more than human resources managers (mostly women) (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
e.g., janitors (usually men) earn 22% more than maids and housecleaners (usually women)
“Once women start doing a job, it just doesn’t look like it’s as important to the bottom line or requires as much skill. Gender bias sneaks into those decisions.” (Prof. Paula England, NYU)
Older people’s employment
Growing proportion of labour force, growing rate of employment
But… more long-term unemployment, underemployment.
Why?
Education & training issues?
No formal qualifications: 14% of older workers vs. 6% of younger ones
University degrees: 20% of older workers vs. 27% of younger ones
(DWP, 2011)
*
Chart1
| Aged 50+ |
| Aged 16-64 |
Sheet1
| Working-age population | |
| Aged 50+ | 28% |
| Aged 16-64 | 72% |
| To resize chart data range, drag lower right corner of range. |
Ageism
“Funky Web developer needed. Dynamic and youthful team – fun working environment. It’s time to work for a company that knows how to work hard and play hard!” (startup travel firm in Australia)
“At Lemon Tree Hotels we are looking for high energy and dynamic people who make it their business to succeed. Youthful, fresh, fun and spirited, Lemon Tree Hotels are India's first, finest and largest chain of moderately priced, upscale, full service, business and leisure hotels”.
“We are looking to hire 8 Customer Support Advisors to join our dynamic and fun team. If you are looking for a job in a youthful, ever-changing environment, please apply!” (ecommerce company in Canada)
The most 'dodgy' terms: Energetic, Dynamic, Mature, Young, Strong, Experienced, Young spirited, Just finished school/School leaver, Recent graduate, Newly qualified
*
Intersectionality: Older women
Gender pay gap:
- 9.6% for overall working population
- 15.3% for workers aged 40-49
- 18.4% for workers aged 50-59
Sexualised element to age discrimination for older women
“One senior team member sent an e-mail when I forgot to sign a form… ‘Tell the dried up old maid to get her teeth in’”
“A coach asked us which was greater, our team’s combined ages or the company’s bank balance.”
Focus on appearance for some jobs
Employers’ ideal age for clerical / reception staff: 25 years (see Handy & Davy, 2007)
Duncan, C., & Loretto, W. (2004). Never the right age? Gender and age‐based discrimination in employment. Gender, Work & Organization, 11(1), 95-115.
Continuing gender-based occupational segregation over life course
*
How to explain discrimination against women, older workers? (1)
Economic theories: Statistical discrimination (Arrow):
Basic logic is that imperfect information means employers do not know how an employee will actually perform with great certainty at point of interview
So use observed markers to predict behaviour
e.g., if young(ish) woman, employer believes high chance she will take time out to have children, so employs a man instead
e.g., if older person, employer believes high chance s/he will have health problems, be resistant to change, etc., so employs younger person instead
A more colloquial way of saying this is stereotyping
The widespread negative stereotyping of older workers has led to many managers believing without a scrap of scientific evidence to support it, that older workers:Have poorer health and thus greater absenteeism and lower productivity Have shorter job tenure, demand higher salaries and pension benefits and hence are more expensive Are less technologically competent Are more rigid and resistant to change And last but not least, are less innovative and creative in the workplace and their jobs.
Research example
Hoobler, J. M., Wayne, S. J., & Lemmon, G. (2009). Bosses' perceptions of family-work conflict and women's promotability: Glass ceiling effects. Academy of Management Journal, 52(5), 939-957.
Bosses’ perceptions of employees’ family-to-work conflict
and women’s promotability
How to explain discrimination? (2)
Psychological theories: Implicit discrimination (Bertrand)
Implicit discrimination is based on psychological evidence which suggests that discrimination may be unintentional and outside of the discriminator’s awareness
This model suggests that people can think, feel, and behave in ways that oppose their explicitly expressed views, and even, explicitly known self-interests
Explains pay gaps?
How to explain discrimination? (3 )
Primary sector: good pay, security, advancement, working conditions (white, male)
Secondary sector: low pay, security, advancement, working conditions (women, older workers, non-white)
Women choose secondary sector jobs for low penalties for intermittent employment
Difficult to move from secondary to primary due to lack of human capital
Dual labour market theory
Younger workers
(CESI, 2011; DWP, 2011)
Wilkinson v Springwell Engineering Limited ET/2507420/07
An employment tribunal has held that the reason for the dismissal of an employee was not for capability, as the employer claimed, but on grounds of her age. The tribunal found that the employer had made a stereotypical assumption founded on age to the detriment of the employee, who was 18 at the time of her dismissal, and had assumed a relationship between experience and age and capability.
The tribunal went on to award the employee loss of earnings up to the tribunal hearing and future losses of 26 weeks, together with an award for £5,000 for injury to feelings. The tribunal also applied an uplift to the compensation on the basis that the employer had failed to follow any procedure before dismissing her.
| Age range | Employment rate | Unemployment rate |
| 16-24 | 50.9% | 20.3% |
| 25-49 | 80.0% | 6.3% |
| 50-64 | 64.5% | 4.9% |
*
Key takeaways
Women dominate lowest-paid occupations, while men dominate highest-paid
Gender pay gap increases with age
Women and older workers subject to stereotypes re: ability and commitment to perform on the job
For the seminar…
Read the following case (available on MyLearning): ‘When should a rising star make her pregnancy public?’
Answer the questions and bring your notes to the seminar.
