Gender at Work in the UK - Essay Example

?Gender at Work in the UK Introduction It was believed, in the not too distant past, that women had distinct outlooks toward paid employment in comparison to men. Traditionally, studies on employed women fully included the premises of the ‘breadwinner’ paradigm (Watson 2008), wherein while the social identity and positioning of men has been believed to be largely influenced by their role as breadwinners the ‘core life interest’ of women has been viewed as having more of a concentration on domestic responsibilities or family life (Crompton, Lewis & Lyonette 2007). In current studies, this quite generalising practice has long been surpassed. However, the belief remains that women’s attitudes towards work are, in totality, unlike those of men, and that most women will prioritise their families (Charles & Harris 2007) when looking for jobs. However, the general trend today, particularly in the UK, is the increasing participation of women in the labour force and their increasing importance in organisations (Bonney 2007). The growing participation of women in the labour market has called forth the connection between the domestic domain and paid employment. There has been growing attention on the work-life balance, according to Charles and Harris (2007), specifically, in making sure that the requirements of paid employment do not negatively affect family life and domestic responsibility, and vice versa. The objective of this essay is to discuss gendered employment in the UK. The discussion will include essential components such as proportion work, horizontal segregation, vertical segregation, Equal Pay, arguments for and against a gendered policy in the UK, etc. This essay will be founded on the assumption that “management and managing are characteristically gendered in many respects” (Broadbridge & Hearn 2008). Current Situation of Gender at Work in the UK Opportunity 2000 is perhaps the most promising programme recently for all women in the UK, but specifically for managers (Porter & Sweetman 2005). It is the very first countrywide programme of its kind. It has a remarkable reputation as the media persistently remark on development, or absence of it, sustaining it in the public attention (Porter & Sweetman 2005). Considerably, the national media currently discloses these issues on the lifestyle and business sections. The projected segmentation of new batches of members and well-publicised commentaries will contribute to the preservation of the profile (Vosko, MacDonald & Campbell 2009). Majority of organisations in the UK have preferred female managers as their ‘indicator’ jobs to evaluate the influences of their behaviours and to assess progress towards the objectives they have formed (Geyer, Mackintosh & Lehmann 2005). Several member organisations have made use of the programme to refocus or re-introduce their tasks regarding the development of women. Others have made use of it to initiate such processes (Geyer et al. 2005). In all of them, the programme’s focus on involvement of the board, line managers, and HRM managers has implied that women’s welfare is being taken into account, usually for the first time at the utmost degree (Lewis 2009). Almost every member of Opportunity 2000, consisting of those who are condensing personnel, can generate proof of enhanced adaptability, improved accessibility of training and development, and evaluation if not concrete provision of assistance with various types of care (Lewis 2009). Evidence from earlier studies showed that women in the UK had less commitment to work compared to men even in the 1980s (Perrons, Fagan, McDowell, Ray & Ward 2006). Nevertheless, by the 1990s, a significant transformation had occurred in women’s dedication to employment (Crompton et al. 2007). Furthermore, women are spending longer hours at work, even though men are working longer hours than them. Even though the working hours of men have actually dropped to some extent, this has been compensated by an increase in women’s working hours, and as more women enter the labour market, the overall hours laboured by families have increased (Crompton et al. 2007). There has been a boost in work stress as well. This growth in levels of work stress is considerably connected to a yearning for more quality time with the family (Perrons et al. 2006). Current research in the UK, such as Rosemary Crompton and Clare Lyonette’s (2002) study of Gender, Attitudes to Work, and Work-Life Balance in Britain, does not show any constant dismissal of the employment domain, or any enormous change in work attitudes. Nevertheless, it does seem that employees are experiencing more work stress, and that they want to have more quality time with their loved ones and significant others. Hence possibly ‘work-life’ guidelines should have a more informed emphasis on easing tensions and stress at work, instead of merely, as in the case of current government guidelines, encouraging ‘adaptability’ (Beveridge & Velluti 2008). Furthermore, other studies have shown that ‘adaptability’ can frequently, in reality, be one strategy of employers through which work productivity is attained (Charles & Harris 2007). Given the growing level of women’s employment, it could be assumed that as well as improving flexible employment for both genders, an improved work-life balance will be likely attained if there were a decrease in work amount for both genders as well. Proportion Work A lower proportion of women than men in the UK were employed in 2008 (Watson 2008). Men’s employment rates have been increasing since the latter part of 1971, stabilising in the recent decades (Vosko et al. 2009). Throughout the same interlude the employment rates of women have normally grew, even though nearly half are part time status. Rates of employment for both women and men were greatest among those under 25 to 34 years of age (Vosko et al. 2009). The presence of a dependent family member has a significant effect on the employment of women (Equality and Human Rights Commission Sex and Power 2008). Nevertheless, over the recent decades there has been a significant growth in the number of job positions occupied by women in the UK. Horizontal Segregation Horizontal segregation is defined as the concentration of women in specific economic sectors. This trend is specifically marked for employed women (Watson 2008). Women have only participated in customary male occupations in those economic sectors which have enlarged. Somewhere else, in sectors in the UK with a secure labour force, segregation between genders has remained unchanged or even enlarged (Watson 2008). Likewise, when the number of jobs has grown in the largely feminised quarters, this growth has specifically promoted women (Bonney 2007). The proportion of women in these occupations has hence enlarged and women in the UK are currently more highly prevalent in occupations which were formerly categorised as ‘female’ (Bonney 2007). When the dimension of an employment sector traditionally dominated by men has decreased or remained secure, the correlation between women and men in these sectors is almost unaffected (De Vita 2008). There are a number of nationwide definite exceptions to this common trend. In countries, such as the UK, which have experienced a remarkable growth in the employment rates of women over the 1980’s; there has been a growth in women occupation in the industrial or secondary sector (Geyer et al. 2005). Vertical Segregation Vertical segregation is defined as the concentration of women in particular echelons of the occupational hierarchy (Watson 2008). This domain of gender segregation of labour must be studied in consideration of the access of women to higher education and training opportunities. Even though the contribution of formal qualification in acquiring the most important positions differs from country to country, ‘credentialism’ has become a major factor in women’s access to important occupations (Porter & Sweetman 2005). In all countries in Europe, the access of women to higher education enables their access to important occupations in the professional and social hierarchy (Vosko et al. 2009). The most affluent member countries of the European Union have a higher percentage of individuals employed in these sectors and this consequently affects the number of women who have the opportunity to occupy these prestigious positions (Vosko et al. 2009). Nevertheless, there is no available statistical support of a positive relationship between the employment rates of women and their access to important positions in the professional hierarchy (De Vita 2008). It does not follow that countries which have the utmost women employment rates or in countries where employed women are predisposed to take on permanent career patterns, that the access of women to the most important position in the professional hierarchy is the greatest (De Vita 2008). The comparatively privileged status of women employed in the occupations just includes 19% of employed women in the labour market of European countries (Beveridge & Velluti 2008). This opportunity to acquire the most important positions of the labour market must be studied relative to another basic feature of women’s employment, such as the traditional over-representation of women in the caring occupations, particularly in the public domain (Watson 2008). Even when women occupy top positions attributed to their credentials, they do not essentially get employed in the same occupations as men (Watson 2008). Education is an appropriate case in point of the segregated distribution of women and men within a certain professional sector. Nevertheless, one still discerns that men visibly prevail in university education in the UK, whilst women are mostly over-represented in primary and secondary education (Lewis 2009). This expresses the assumption that the natural skills of women are strengthened and passed on from the private domain to the educational training of children as an expert duty. Levels of compensation are a major variable in describing the number of men employed in the education sector (Charles & Harris 2007). Women are more determined than men to teach, even when the levels of compensation of this sector are generally low (Lewis 2009). It would appear that the low wage levels of an education profession put off highly educated men from working in this sector. The appeal of this line of work for women cannot be described in relation to the match between family duties and teaching (Perrons et al. 2006). Not simply do teachers’ working hours differ remarkably from country to country, but men usually prevailed among educators with the shortest working hours as well (Crompton et al. 2007). In the UK, women are ever more acquiring opportunity to occupy positions which were formerly classified as ‘male’, but it is important to take this into account with respect to the current enlargement of qualified occupations in the public domain (De Vita 2008). The access of women to the most important positions in the professional hierarchy is positively connected to the number of occupations in the sectors of education, health, and social services (Crompton et al. 2007). An illustration of the access of women to the management classifications of the public domain is the outcome of several core and at times opposing predispositions (Perrons et al. 2006). Primarily, as long as access to management positions in the public sector in majority of European countries relies on comparatively objective standards, such as passing staffing exams, or holding a degree, women are less prone to encounter the same level of actual gender discrimination in gaining opportunity in prestigious public sector positions as they could experience in the private domain, where staffing protocols are less formal (Geyer et al. 2005). In the UK, the State has contributed mostly in executing its own policy on equal opportunity (Vosko et al. 2009). Furthermore, working conditions in the public domain provide several benefits to women who want to merge domestic and family duties with professional career, such as child-care leave, and flexible working hours (Watson 2008). Nevertheless, employment in the public sector also has its drawbacks. The absence of strong competition with men for opportunity in most prestigious positions in this sector is attended with lower fringe benefits and compensation rates than for similar posts in the private domain, which men usually like better (Watson 2008). For instance, the improved access of women in the UK to top public sector positions is accompanied by a reduction in public sector compensation rates in comparison to the private domain (Bonney 2007). This over-representation of highly competent and experienced women in the public domain has both favourable and unfavourable implications; even though they could find better jobs and chances of promotion in the public domain, it is at the expense of lesser compensation for their academic and expert skills (Bonney 2007). Another illustration of the gender stereotypes in the social creation of male employment and female employment is that of bar crew (Lewis 2009). In the UK and Ireland, the percentage of women employed as cooks and bar crews is similar, but women embody 70% of bar crews in the UK and 20% in Ireland (Beveridge & Velluti 2008). This similarity of various kinds of gender differentiation in the labour market shows the continuities all over Europe (Lewis 2009): Women’s jobs are characterised by the roles of carers and educators, while men have a monopoly on heavy manual, technical and management tasks. Overall, women have increased their proportion of work in positions which have grown in size in the 1980’s, especially in the areas of management, intellectual professions and administration. Highly qualified women have entered the professions and reduced male domination in these areas. This shows a positive tendency towards desegregation in all the member States, regardless of the national female employment rate. At the same time segregation within the professions is evident, with women more oriented towards the caring professions and the public sector. The male/female ratio has hardly changed in professions where the levels of employment have remained the same or decreased (ibid, p. 104). The inclination towards a reinforced over-representation of employed women in specific sectors and at specific hierarchy levels helps to clarify, at least partly, the magnitude of wage gaps between women and men (Vosko et al. 2009). Horizontal and vertical segregation significantly make successful execution of legislation for wage equality between genders difficult (Charles & Harris 2007). Since the execution of the 1975 Equal Pay Act, the salaries of women have increased (Vosko et al. 2009). A survey of pay in London in 1990 showed that most of the highest-paying positions are occupied by men (Vosko et al. 2009). Only in the more recent enterprises (i.e. investment banking) did women have higher salaries than their male counterparts (Porter & Sweetman 2005). Another variable contributing to wage differentials is that women in management positions have less priority and are compensated at a lower rate (Crompton et al. 2007). Gender as a Biological, Social and Structural Construct Woman, man, female, male, feminine, masculine are applied in the discourse of gender themes is psychology, social science, anthropology, biology, and management theories (Beveridge & Velluti 2008). Biology separates living things according to sex and these sex groups are largely ignored. The biological dualism offers its structure to a recent paradigm of gender research, the ‘sex role theory’ (Watson 2008). As stated by this theory, being a woman or a man implies performing a common role as a duty of one’s sex. However, this theory also makes use of the terms feminine and masculine, claiming that the feminine personality particularly is created by socialisation into the role of a female (Watson 2008). As argued by this model, women gain much sex role training during childhood, and this can result in an outlook that raises problems later, at some point in their working lives (Crompton et al. 2007). Majority of sex role theory is formed not on the observation field but on investigation of usual cases or situations. Role theory is frequently viewed by psychologists as equating to a kind of social determinism through which people are caught in stereotypes, which individuals then prefer to preserve as traditions (Beveridge & Velluti 2008). Gender is clearly a social creation. While sex is the concept applied to express biological distinction, gender is the concept applied to express cultural, social, and psychological difference (Beveridge & Velluti 2008). Even though still regarded an unused asset, women in the UK are currently claimed to be received in management due to the values they convey (Crompton et al. 2007). In cultures characterised by femininity, values customarily regarded feminine, like social and communication abilities, and intuition are already considered components of management style in general (Porter & Sweetman 2005). However, one of the explanations usually given for the comparative absence of women from senior or highest management posts is the manner women behave and respond in organisations, in negotiations, in decision making, etc. (Watson 2008). Lipsey and colleagues (1999 as cited in Perrons et al. 2006) regard sex role socialisation as one of the primary factors contributing to the low representation of women in senior management: The causes of gender differences in labour-market attachment have attracted attention from both social psychologists and from economists. There is ample evidence that sex role socialisation is an important factor. To the extent that women and men are socialised to accept the view that women should be the primary caretakers of young children, some social scientists argue that differences in labour force attachment arise from a form of indirect discrimination (ibid, p. 97). This particular culture trap works at various stages: the centre of control, anxiety over success, expression, low expectations, and the aiming for authority. A Concluding Statement about Gendered Policy in the UK More debates involve the consequences of the male ‘breadwinner’ paradigm than the prospect of the ‘dual earner’ paradigm in the UK (Vosko et al. 2009). These could be evaluated into approaches founded on various intervention levels in gendered policies in the UK. The most prominent, embodied currently by Britain, provides women the human right to gender equality in employment, but inadequate public accountability for the costs of child care generates issues of negative effects to children, problematic child care set ups, gender inequality, time and income poverty (Vosko et al. 2009). Conclusions While the capability to initiate and manage change is becoming ever more vital, communication serves a key function. However, a major source of discontent in organisations nowadays is the shabby systems and structures for disseminating and mediating experience, values and knowledge within the organisation. The taking over of many women in the UK of managerial posts is a basic component in the transition from the conventional, structured or hierarchical organisation to an organisational rooted in teamwork and enterprise. This means that organisations in the UK have to form a favourable environment cultivating the feminine and masculine paradigms to mutually exist and work in synergy. Given that the managerial abilities of the future seem to be leaning into a merging of feminine and masculine characteristics requiring strategic communication and thinking abilities, both men and women could learn and benefit from cooperation. The final outcome of this development in needed managerial abilities should help transform organisations into more thriving and competitive entities in the UK. References Beveridge, F. & Velluti, S., (2008). Gender and the Open Method of Coordination. UK: Ashgate. Bonney, N., (2007). ‘Gender, employment and social class’, Work, employment and society, 21(1). Charles, N. & Harris, C., (2007). ‘Continuity and change in work-life balance choices’, British Journal of Sociology, 58(2). Crompton, R., Lewis, S. & Lyonette, C., (2007). Women, men, work and family in Europe. 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