Segregation along gender lines - Essay Example

? Business Essay One of the most persistent features of the labour market in industrialised countries is that it is highly segregated along gender lines, both vertically and horizontally. In terms of vertical segregation, women are overrepresented in low grade occupations at the lower end of the career hierarchy. Horizontally, women are disproportionately clustered into a narrow range of jobs that are regularly regarded to be ‘ghetto occupations’. Ghetto occupations have been classified as those which are female dominated and of low status, poor pay, with narrow job content, and that have few prospects of promotion. Introduction Occupational segregation is an obstacle used in the workplace to prevent women from realising their full potential in the market. It can also prevent employers from finding the most qualified personnel to fill job vacancies. Occupational segregation negatively affects the national as well as global economy. In Britain, many female workers are affected by vertical as well as horizontal segregation. This basically means that female workers tend to hold different jobs from the male workers which are of lower status and have lower pay packets. Female workers also tend to be directed towards industries that have a huge demand for workers who only work part time. Occupations which are usually peopled by female workers, and which tend to have low pay are often referred to as ‘pink-collar’ jobs or even ‘ghetto’ occupations. Causes of Segregation in the Workplace Limited Access to Career Options Gender stereotyping experienced by women during their formative years can affect their choice of occupation (Van Langen, Bosker and Dekkers, 2006). Gender stereotyping includes implicitly and explicitly expressed social attitudes within a person’s community. It has been expressed that in many nations, many women will choose to study towards occupying positions such as nursing or teaching which are low paying even when they have the option of choosing other more rewarding careers in technical fields (Schoon, Ross and Martin, 2007). However, the fact is that women have been socialised for centuries to accept and occupy lower positions than their male folk. Societal attitudes on the socially acceptable jobs for women are reinforced, unconsciously and consciously by a woman’s parents, teachers, colleagues, and even the media. Even in developed nations like Britain, these attitudes are still present. When women are socialised to take on the ‘helping professions’ such as teaching, nursing, and secretarial work, it affects their decisions about the type of university courses they choose (Tracey and Nicholl, 2007). There are other institutional as well as structural barriers like biased marketing which discourage women from taking advantage of measures such as vocational training programmes for traditionally male jobs. Corporate culture and practice Other realities that compel women to choose to work in occupations that may not afford them large salaries or even a chance for promotion is because of the lack of the implementation of female-friendly practices in many corporate organisations. There are many organisations today that have instituted the acceptance of progressive employment agendas as one of their main objectives (Wynarczyk, 2007). However, this is not often implemented in the corporate culture. Many women working in corporate organisations have to handle the reality of long hours which leave the worker with no time for his or her family, for example. The abilities of women are also not often viewed as strengths but as good personal skills. For example, the role of teaching young children has traditionally been occupied by women. Pre-school teachers play a very important role in society and are virtually responsible for teaching children all the social skills that are necessary to function in society. However, their importance is downplayed and their salaries are not at par with their services. This means that female workers face constraints in being employed in positions that are commensurate with their abilities. The expression “pink-collar ghetto” refers to the condition in which female workers are concentrated in largely mundane sectors that are not well-paying due to their sex (McTavish, Miller and Pyper, 2006). The word “Ghetto” evokes the thought of an urban precinct where citizens are marginalised due to social as well as economic reasons. The expression, ‘pink-collar’ describes occupations like waitressing, of being a maid, that were traditionally the province of women. Occupational ghettos are sectors that have mostly female workers who hold low paying jobs that do not give much promise of the workers ever benefiting from promotions. Most ‘pink-collar’ occupations are found in high-stress but low-paying fields. Even though there are many female worker who sincerely enjoy their jobs, the vast majority opt for them because they do not feel that they have the option of opting for better paying jobs which will ultimately offer advancement and recognition. According to Sappleton and Takruri-Rizk (2007) almost 55% of British female workers are in occupations that fall under this employment category. Moreover, the highest concentrations of male workers are found in industries like transport and engineering. Within the workplace, the segregation of labour can be effected through vertical or horizontal means. Horizontal Segregation Horizontal segregation is descriptive of the concentration of female workers in definite economy sectors such as teaching, and secretarial work. In the past, before women were allowed to work outside the home, the only job opportunities open to them were nursing, manual worker, or ‘governess’ positions. These occupations required lower abilities than were required for male workers functioning in many other diversified occupations. This marked the first instance where there was horizontal segregation; even though it was not then recognised. In horizontal segregation, women are crowded into occupations that have few if any workers of the opposite gender. During the period of the industrial revolution, the population working in the tertiary sector increased. Working women today have been swept into positions in the service sector which is thriving. However, the jobs that women are encouraged to apply for, such as restaurant workers or administrative assistants, do not offer much pay or chances of promotion. Vertical Segregation In Vertical segregation, on the other hand, both male and female workers may work in identical industries. However, the male workers tend to occupy the positions which require more skills and, therefore, offer better pay. Women, on the other hand, occupy the junior positions which may require a lot of repetitive work with little pay. For example, among the workers in a school, the female workers may all be ordinary teachers, while the male workers function as headmasters or supervisors. According to Powell and Dainty (2006) female workers in Britain have a better chance accessing these positions if they have can have better qualifications. It is common for vertical segregation to be referred to as the “glass ceiling” which would appear to indicate that there are factual obstacles that hinder even qualified female workers from gaining access to positions of leadership in public associations, enterprises, and organisations while compelling them to remain at the lowest ranks in the organisational pyramid (Miller and Clark, 2007). Both the horizontal as well as vertical segregation of the female workforce is a reality within the British market. Women continue to perform the bulk of unpaid care in the British economy. Women also tend to opt for part-time jobs as this allows them to be able to cater to their other responsibilities to their families. Due to the fact that a lot of part time work is found in service sectors and is low paying, choosing part time employment to guarantee flexibility puts a downward pressure on the earnings of female workers when compared to the wages of men. Women may not be forced by corporations to take low paying part-time jobs; however, if they realise that going for senior positions is something that will leave them with less flexibility where their families are concerned, they are likely to opt for the part-time jobs- even if they pay less. Gender Discrimination in the UK In Britain, 60 per cent of the workforce consists of female workers; however, they are disproportionately represented in low paying, part-time, and low-grade occupations. According to McTavish, Miller and Pyper, (2006) 89.5% of British female workers are employed as administrative assistants, teachers, clerks, nurses, secretaries, or in the hospitality industry in low paying jobs. In the civil service, 62% of the workforce is made up of female workers who function as administrative personnel. Only 34.8% of the managerial positions in the civil service are held by female workers. More recent studies have revealed that there has been a decline in the number of female workers at the senior level of the civil service (Bawden, 2007). These revelations show that there is a serious gender gap in the civil service sector’s leadership positions. There is vertical gender segregation with a lopsided representation of male workers at hierarchical leadership as well as managerial positions. While female workers have made some movement in the direction of occupying leadership positions in the civil service, they are yet to deal with the prospect of horizontal gender segregation since there is a large concentration of female workers in conventionally feminine roles such as in the areas of education and health (Bawden, 2007). The low level of the practical representation of female workers as well as the vertical and horizontal gender segregation of women in the British public sector puts women at a disadvantage while putting the public administration in a quandary about how to tackle this inequality. The lack of female workers in the public sector’s leadership positions reverses the substantive representation of female workers in service delivery as well as public policy processes (Lovenduski, 2005). This lack also negatively impacts the British government’s attempts to bring about public sector reform through the implementation of social inclusion programs. Discrimination in Science-related Disciplines Female workers in technical fields are also not exempt from the problems that face their colleagues who work in the public sector. According to Mastekaasa and Smeby (2008) vertical segregation is quite prominent in the choice of science professors who are selected to work in prestigious universities. Even though there are literarily thousands of female students who have PhDs’ in technical subjects such as engineering and science, only 8% of British professors are female (Griffiths, Keogh, Moore, Richardson and Tattersall, 2006). This vertical segregation could be the result of a generational effect. There were fewer female professors a decade ago than there are now. It could be that there have not been more capacities created due to the obvious addition of qualified female professors. This trend is obvious even in female dominated fields such as in the social sciences. According to Garforth and Kerr (2008) even though the majority of students who take social science courses are female, less than 20% of the professors who teach this subject are female. This trend of the achievements of female workers not being recognised is something that affects women who have different educational achievements. According to Fletcher, Boden, Kent and Tinson (2007) there are discrepancies evident in the type of first-time jobs acquired by British male and female workers who have the same identical qualifications. Women who have MBAs tend to have post-MBA jobs that are of lower status than their male counterparts. This is the case for women who have children as well as those without children. Conclusion There are different ways in which the British government can seek to deal with this problem. The political leadership has to commit to ensuring that the female workforce is adequately represented in the leadership positions in the public sector. There is also a need for the public sector to be modernised. There are different ways in which female workers would benefit from changes made to certain sectors. For example, in the hospitality industry, women do not usually get lower pay than their male counterparts within the British market. However, all the workers get less pay than they are entitled to. This means that the realisation of ‘equal opportunity’ policies within this industry does little to address the needs of women. There is a need for the British government to instead recognise that the work done in the service industries is as important as that which is done by predominantly male workers in the manufacturing or technical sectors. Recommendations According to Crompton and Lyonette (2007), though, female workers in the British hospitality industry are less likely than their male colleagues to be offered training opportunities that will help them to qualify for promotions (Webster, 2007). This means that there is still some work that has to be done to correct the attitudes of workers towards female leadership in this sector. Moreover, the hospitality industry, due to the large numbers of women who work in it, has effected more agendas for the comfort of its female workers than traditionally masculine industries such as the technical and manufacturing sectors. For example there are many British hotels as well as restaurants that offer their female employees flexible working hours, and paid maternity leave. In some hotels, the workers are even offered the employer provided option of child care services, or the option of choosing to operate according to a timetable that allows the workers to be able to meet and share time with their children. Such programmes are yet to be implemented in traditionally male-dominated sectors. Moreover, there are certain realities that female workers also have to face in order to ensure that they are well qualified to take over positions of leadership when the chance avails itself. Many women are unfamiliar with the technical aspects of jobs in sectors that require a lot of skill-such as the manufacturing sector. Their lack of knowledge may not just be due to disinterest. There are ways in which men will mentor younger men while leaving female workers unmentored. However, there is a need for female workers to strive to acquire the skills that are necessary for various high-level occupations. Upgrading their skills will bring them in line with any existing market requirements; thus removing all reasons for them not to benefit from promotions. According to Beck, Fuller and Unwin (2006) women do not move up the hierarchical workplace ladder into places of seniority for a number of reasons. One common reason is that women cannot access line positions where they can exhibit their skills in occupations that have a clear objective. This is not just because women are often rejected for line jobs, but also because they do not volunteer for them. Line jobs basically include a lot of risk taking. However, they also offer the worker a chance to showcase his or her abilities to the senior management. To gain access to senior positions, women have to be ready to take risks to showcase their talents. Female workers also tend not to engage in career planning to the same comprehensive extent that male workers do. Women often have to balance between work and family concerns because the bulk of household responsibilities are left to them. Moreover, women can learn the importance of planned job assignments and careful planning that shows that they have the broad experience that assures the management of their reliability when they seek for senior positions. Another reason why women are often passed over for senior positions is that they may not even be thought to be in the running for them. It is not uncommon for female workers to be excluded from the informal channels of communication through which male corporate executives communicate about company prospects or discuss matters regarding the company’s operations. Many executives will casually mention potential chances for transfers as well as promotions to their hearers. This cannot be said to be strictly counterproductive behaviour, though, because the men are not opportunely seeking to leave out female workers. However, it does mean that factors such as the preservation of the ‘Old Boy’s Network’ as well as methods of communicating to a diversified workforce have to be revised by leaders who are committed to ensuring that women are offered a fair chance to compete for the existing positions of leadership (Caven, 2006). This also calls for organisations to come up with mentor-ship programs that are meant for women who wish to reach positions of leadership. In the past, there have been problems with mentoring women, particularly young female workers, as other workers or even family members of both the older male executive and the female worker may presume that there is a personal relationship developing between the two. Many men in leadership positions have, therefore, not been keen to mentor female workers. Mentoring, though, is a critical process that reassures the worker being mentored of his or her abilities. In all organisations, all leaders in executive positions are people who have benefited from some type of mentoring provided by a senior executive who believed in their abilities and encouraged them to go forward. Women need to benefit from this type of program. That is why it is necessary for mentoring programs to be created for their sake. Organisations can also provide programs that are specifically designed for female workers such as career support programs, flexible training programs, recruitment programs for senior leadership positions, and sponsorship programs. This is likely to convince the female workers of the seriousness with which the organisation takes their careers. It could prompt them to opt for leadership positions in order to realise their career objectives References Bawden, A. (2007). Where are the female leaders of the future? Public, March, 20-21. Beck, V., Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2006). Increasing risk in the 'scary world of work: Male and female resistance to crossing gender lines in apprenticeships in England and Wales. Journal of Education and Work, 19(3), 271-289. Caven, V. (2006). Career building: women and non-standard employment in architecture. Construction Management and Economics, 24(5), 457-464. Crompton, R., & Lyonette, L. (2007). 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