SOCI 321 FINAL
Pat and Hugh ARMSTRONG - Preface to the Wynford Edition and Women's Work in the Labor Force
- despite improvement of women's conditions in the labor force since the 1970s the data they show demonstrates that there are still barriers and that women remain segregated in most jobs. Most do part time, or temporary work, with irregular hours and few benefits. - Aboriginal, black, Filipino women more disadvantaged. - Women still remain responsible for house labor 90% over 79% for men - Women are still in low skill jobs, low pay jobs - segregated into the least attractive jobs - historically they have replaced men when they have not been able to work - times of war. - women tend to work where manual labor is needed. - a lot of women in clerical work - their labor seen as cheaper. - House work keeps women out of the workforce, something men do not often deal with as much - women are segregated into the low paying jobs - immigrant women have less access to opportunities make the most in janitorial services. - wage gap is the largest in the oldest groups of women. - women in part time jobs because of their children - women's work has been undervalued - this is power men have over women
BENARD AND CORRELL - Normative discrimination and the motherhood penalty
- mothers fare worse in the labor market than women without children -- status discrimination - employers see mothers as not competent or committed - normative discrimination - when mom's assert themselves as competent and committed (characteristics deemed to be only masculine) they are discriminated because people expect them to be warm and nurturing. - as a result of this believe mom's receive less work benefits, less salary. -mother's wages have grown more slowly over time than those of women without kids. Descriptive and Prescriptive gender stereotyping - descriptive - cultural beliefs about what men and women CAN do. - prescriptive - cultural beliefs about what men and women SHOULD and SHOULD NOT DO. (norms) when broken this is bad. women in high status positions can be seen as competent and not likeable or likeable but not competent - DOUBLE BIND A mother who shows evidence of success in the labor market is in violation of the norm of intensive mothering discrimination based on prescriptive stereotypes often takes the form of excluding women from the workplace. other women might perceive other women as threatening. Something that does not happen between men. study carried out - mothers were less likely to be recommended for hire and offered lower salaries. highly successful men were perceived as possessing more positive interpersonal qualities when they had children women might feel threatened by mothers discrimination against mothers is a structural problem and there is a need to change social norms.
ENGLISH AND HEGEWISCH - Still a Man's labor market
1983-1998 longitudinal study - women earned 62% less than men women more likely to interrupt careers because of family life this also has to do with unchanged division of family labor both men and women who worked in male jobs earned more than men and women in female jobs top tier women jobs like nursing and teaching pay way less than top tier men jobs women were more likely to experience growths in earnings - but pay gap remained large. need for policies that reduce sex discrimination in labor market, policies that make it easy to combine paid work with family work, education and training to increase women's presence in higher paying jobs, increase support for women headed households, tackle the low wage labor market. progress has stalled in the gender pay gap since the 1990s.
RAMPBELL - US women on the rise as family breadwinner
4 in 10 households with children under 18 - mothers are the sole or primary earners. Highest on record since 1960s. what are the reasons? - changing family dynamics, single women 2/3, more acceptable for married women to work - recession pushed women in manufacturing jobs 2012 32% of women said that their ideal situation is to work full time. divided views on whether this is good... some say (50%) that kids benefit from having their moms at home. But others say that having them work does make life more economically comfortable. 24% married women are earning more than their husbands. this used to be rare. wives with better education and stronger earning potential than their husbands are less likely to work - women are more likely to stay at home if there is a big risk that they earn more than their husbands. when wife earns more couple report less satisfaction with the marriage she may be seen as a threat or feel that she is emancipating her husband for the future: women are becoming more and more educated than males, changing norms in which both partners accept that the woman earns more, society now more accepting of single mothers who continue to be mostly of racial and ethnic minorities.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
APRIL 5
WRAP UP: POWER AND CHANGE
April 10
THE GLASS CEILING, CONCRETE WALL AND STICKY FLOOR
FEB 22, MARCH 6 AND 8
PURCELL, MACARTHUR, SAMBLANT - Gender and the Glass Ceiling at Work
GLASS CEILING: artificial barrier based on attitudes or organizational biases that prevent qualified women from advancing upward in their organization into management level positions. women despite being 50% of the labor force, being equally skilled as males, in desire of positions of power are still not being promoted to high-paying management roles. women of color more affected by it hard to measure STICKY FLOOR: women face systematic disadvantages in terms of vertical mobility, authority and low-income, lower-status jobs. Glass ceiling is created and maintained through the idea that women are opting out from paid work - in reality they are being FORCED OUT due to ideologies with femininity, lack of support at home, burnout, marriage problems. women continue to face it because less time to network, as misunderstood and face hostility when succeed in traditional male occupations, gender institution that reinforces distinctions between males and females creating more inequality, women are discriminated, segregated, the way the company hires might also be problematic. how to solve this? gender is an institution, more data on how this plays out needs to be public, more women and males in the same positions, analyze how inequality is created.
BELL AND NKOMO - Barriers to Advancement
Glass ceiling - blocks women's advancement to top level positions in corporate America - managers trying to reach the top. But it is not good to explain the additional barriers that women of color face. Face more sexism and stereotyping. - although there were no differences in educational attainment and skills white women earned more and were able to secure top level management positions more often than white women. - African American women felt they had to compete with both males and females, did not feel support at work. No policies for them. Concrete wall - for African American women manifests in ways: 1. daily doses of racism - normalization of racism 2. held to a higher standard - "flower blooming in winter" having to constantly outperform others, fighting stereotypes. 3. the invisibility vise - having discomfort with their own AA identity. Assimilation 4. exclusion from informal networks - mentorships exclusion, no support from colleagues 5. challenges to authority - their peers, employers and bosses constantly challenge them 6. hollow commitment to advancement of women and minorities - skepticism, white women seen as better perceptions of their career progress - white women compared their successes to earlier versions of themselves, while black women compared it to the success of white males. White women felt they were ahead and blacks felt behind.
THE WAGE GAP
MACH 22 AND 27
THE QUESTION OF WORK LIFE
MACH 30
THE GLASS ESCALATOR AND THE GLASS CLIFF
MARCH 13 AND 15
GENDER BIAS IN EVALUATION
MARCH 20
OPTING OUT?
MARCH 29
WELSH - Gender and Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment - has to have discrimination composed on 2 forms of behaviour - pro quo harassment so like threats or bribery that are made a condition of employment - hostile environment - with sexual jokes, touching, etc. need to develop better strategies of measuring sexual harassment since it is so multidimensional sex roll spill over - when femaleness in a job is more visible or more easily seen , also when women compete with men for jobs. women avoid acknowledging when they have been sexually harassed
GIUFFRE AND WILLIAMS - Boundary Lines: Labeling Sexual Harassment in Restaurants
Sexual harassment - occurs when submission to or rejection of sexual advances is a term of employment, is used as a basis for making employment decisions or if the advances create a hostile or offensive work environment. This article examines - how one group of employees (restaurant workers) distinguishes between sexual harassment and other forms of sexual interaction in the workplace. sexual harassment but all of them had to do when the action was done By the manager or someone with more power Perpetrated by someone of another race or ethnicity Or if perpetrated by someone of a different sexual orientation. Powerful position - if bosses or customers cross the line is seen as harassment, same behaviour by a co-worker is seen as normal Race/ethnicity - Each woman in the study identified the sexual advance of the minority men in their restaurants as sexual harassment, but not the identical behaviours of their white male co-workers / if they come from a different race or class - they might be racist and more likely to see it as sexual harassment. Protects white men from being denounced. Sexual orientation - Straight men may perceive gay men as potential harassers, Straight men feel a sense of not being in control of the situation and this may make them feel as sexually harassed violence - if the behaviour is violent it will likely be labeled as sexual harassment. but this is problematic if it is only labeled as such in these cases because it diminishes the other instances But findings do suggest that more attention needs to be placed in the interaction of sexual harassment and gender, race, occupational status, and sexual orientation of the assailant and the victim. Unless we acknowledge the complex double standards people use in "drawing the line" then sexual domination and exploitation will undoubtedly remain the normative experience of women in the workforce.
WILLIAMS
So overall, women tend to see themselves as educators, supporters or helpers rather than leaders. Yet changing the system requires women to get power, meaning that they must aspire to be leaders. They need to "quit helping people - and start changing the world".
WILLIAMS - Opt-Out or Pushed Out?
belkin arguments that women chose to opt out is too general - not all women choose this. this opt out narrative is also common in the media this story is not true it only focuses on what PULLS women to be home and not enough on what is actually PUSHING them out - it leads to a believe that nothing needs to change - it is just for the elite and ignores everyone else who do not have this choice. women are hitting the maternal wall that keeps them from progressing opting out - is said to be because they need to because of biology or predilection - many women experience loss of identity and depression when leaving women opting out actually experience a loss of status, vulnerable economically f also belkin too much focus on white women ignoring race intensive mothering now a days - it has changed a lot from the past but these standards are outside of the poor families alcanze Even though studies have shown that "...pushes play a more important role than pulls in most mothers' decisions to leave the workforce" the media still focuses on the pulls of family life workplace discrimination in the form of maternal wall is very common for women who chose to stay working sometimes they are fired mothers face the most gender based discrimination in the workplace fathers and husbands working a lot is another push factor for women not enough support for maternity leaves or childcare options increasing their incomes = more taxes to be paid ultimately women and mothers do not need special accomodation but they need policies that reflect the reality of today's family life media needs to cover the real story - women are being discriminated against and pushed out of the workforce.
WILLIAMS - The Glass Escalator: hidden advantages for men in the "female" professions
do men in female-dominated occupations experience discrimination in the form of laws, sexual harassment, sabotage, hostility from co-workers, stigmatization? study done on males, mainly white, in the professions of librarians, nurses, teaching and social work. hiring: - males preferred in these occupations - token advantage for hiring and promotions - the more it was female dominated the more preference for males - "kicked upstairs" even if they did not want the promotion - GLASS ESCALATOR working environment: - not much hostility - women like when men join - supervised by other males - over represented in administrative and managerial positions discrimination from outsiders - happen more often when dealing with professions that were related to dealings with the public. - assumed that they are gay, wimpy, asexual, feminine, passive - had to alter their behavior in order to avoid sexual abuse charges - lower self-esteem, second guess - joining these is seen as a step down for them - this is also part of the glass escalator - because it pushes them to seek more masculine jobs that often come with greater advantages. yea they are token too but their negative experiences are much different than women's
BLAU AND KAHN: Have Women Gone as Far as They Can?
evidence that although discrimination against women in the labour market has declined some discrimination continues and this is aparent in the gender pay gap women are more likely than men to work part time economists say that the gender pay gap continues due to - qualifications - discrimination qualification that matters the most - is not education because women have gone to college, but rather WORK EXPERIENCE. women have less time to work due to continuous house work also because of discrimination - severe in firms, segregation. skills - technology - women able to work but still their occupations receive less wages. 1980s trends: gender pay gap decreased; perhaps because of laws against discrimination, changes in social attitudes that made discrimination less acceptable, demands of the market demanded more women. 1990s trends: gender pay gap convergence slowed down. Smaller decline in discrimination, more unions, the market did not demand much from women, no longer rising female labor force participation, wife and husband now work outside the home = expectation. But this subtle revolution is now slowing down. future? not much change in gender pay gap Labour market discrimination, now that the most open and egregious forms of sex discrimination have been greatly reduced or eliminated and discrimination increasingly becomes more subtle and possibly even unconscious, future large declines in discrimination in the labour market may become more difficult to attain. women still retain primary responsibility for housework and childcare chance in policies so that women can combine work and family and that males start sharing more household chores.
ROTH - The Myth of Meritocracy: Gender and Performance Based Pay
gender influences if one is to reach high level positions. Even if one reaches them there are too few women at the top and therefore woman becomes a token. Those that do make it do it because of a "stepford wife" quality. the bonus system reproduces inequality by concealing information about criteria for determining bonus amounts and about others pay and by holding women to higher standards than men. men preferences of males allows them to have higher rewards. wall street is dominated by males so men will have more advantages even when women perform in the same way. women became tokens - expected to represent all women while at the same time meeting standards set by the male majority. so bonus and rewards are not given because of merit - this is a myth. Gender biases influence the reviews and the compensation. women do not challenge this solutions: - evaluate the real reasons why is not equal pay for equal work - make room for family life - women who leaver are being pushed out and pulled towards the home - women should receive rewards proportional to their contributions
MURRAY - Quotas for Men: Re-framing Gender Quotas as a Means of Improving Representation for All
gender quotas - introduced as a means of correcting imbalances in representation - in favor: enhance representation of women - opposed: not all women deserve to be there - disregard for merit author argues that focusing on women's under representation is problematic - frames MEN as the NORM and WOMEN as the OTHER the author proposes a shift from under representation of women to looking at the over representation of males. shifts the focus and make males prove their worth and to justify their place in politics. this would be good to actually represent the interest of males and females, and about the true qualities needed. quotas for women: favor promotion of inferior women, assumes that over representation of men is okay, males are still regarded as the norm, women have to prove themselves, have to offer something unique. TRIPLE WAMMY: Expected to be as good as men on traditional male oriented criteria, while also providing added values, but still may be seen as inferior, and have their competence constantly questioned. quota for men: indicates maximum percentage of men who could be present in legislature. makes the selection more competitive and meritocratic. what is actually needed in a politician: fair mindedness, critical trust building, good gatekeeping. right now too much focus on privilege instead of character. Focused on how much money they have and where they went to school. males are also excluded from politics - those that are not as masculine are often excluded.
VALIAN - Evaluating Women and Men in why so slow? the advancement of women.
gender schemas or assumptions negatively affect the evaluation of women in the workforce compared to men by having negative repercussions on their perceived leadership skills and competence. Assertiveness: women must work hard to assert authority - but often seen as bossy if she is too feminine or too masculine - both have negative consequences. physical attractiveness - too attractive is disadvantageous for women, good for men. Being attractive is connected to femininity which is seen as undermining competence. the size - the more women the better and less biased their evaluations and vice versa. perceptions of leadership - both males and females perceive males as being leaders more often than women. perceptions of competence - males seen as more competent perceptions of assertiveness - if women are assertive = bossy. Harder for them to gain attention or be listened to cost of a woman being masculine: women are expected to be polite more than men and are penalized if they show same degree of politeness as males. costs for a women being too feminine: seen as less competent. Seen as succeeding for their attractiveness and not their competence. OR seen as not competent at all. when in a woman field - evaluators are undistracted by gender and can judge based on merit.
RYAN AND HASLAM - The glass cliff: evidence that women are over-represented in precarious (insecure) leadership positions
glass escalator: men more likely to use this to arrive at management positions when women do make it to leadership roles their performance is scrutinized - if they perform too masculine they are seen as less effective leaders. "think manager - think male" bias. attitudes that show that workers still prefer male managers over females. they go on to analyze JUDGE's arguments that women leaders are having a negative impact on company performance. authors argue: it is equally plausible that a company's poor performance could be a trigger for the appointment of women on the board. = GLASS CLIFF women are appointed in conditions of relatively poor company performance Contrary to Judge's intimation, the appointment of a woman to the board of directors was not associated with a subsequent drop in company performance in a time of financial downturn in the stock market companies that appointed a woman actually experienced a market increase more women are seemed to be appointed when the company was not performing well putting women in a more dangerous position - face more criticism and in greater danger for being blamed for other's mistakes, negative evaluations, etc. Reputation can be tarnished.
WAITE AND DENIER - Gay Pay for Straight Work: mechanisms generating disadvantages
hetero men earn more than everyone else hetero women experience the motherhood penalty gay men earn less and lesbians earn more than hetero women. gays and lesbians perceive masculine occupations as less tolerant wage gaps for Canadian visible minorities = concentrated in private sector and reduced in public sector being unmarried is the primary source of gay men's lower wages marriage in heterosexuals signals stability and responsibility - not the same in marriage in homosexuals. parenthood: wage penalty for women and wage premium for men differential treatment for gays pay advantage for lesbian women vs hetero women who is the most rewarded: hetero male, married with children - hegemonic masculinity lesbians closer to the above than gays or hetero women gays and lesbians more educated than hetero gay men receive no premium for marriage or fatherhood while educational attainment allows sexual minorities to sort into highly paid occupations, industrial sorting has the opposite effect wage gaps are eliminated or reduced in the public sector gay men earn less than hetero men but still more than all women lesbian wage advantage relative to hetero women was almost entirely explained by differences in characteristics - lesbians appear to choose education, occupations and industries that increase their earnings.
SIMPSON - Masculinity at Work: the experience of men in female dominated occupations
males interviewed: librarians, cabin crew, nurses, and primary school teachers. might actually be easier for women to push into male jobs than vice versa - women might have increased status and pay - man upsets the gender assumptions but this is seen as wrong assumption by Simpson - she uses the view of women as tokens in male jobs - more discrimination, lack of career progress, hostile environment, sexual harassment like in the firefighter careers. For males - being a token can be good because it is assumed that they have additional skills and can be leaders. they still feel left out when it comes to emotional labor - fear of stigma and feminization study - arrived at three reasons why males join female jobs. - seek - interest in it like cabin crew wanting to travel and meet people - finders - those that found the occupation when looking for a career. (librarians) - settlers - tried other careers typically masculine, but were not satisfied. Settled. (nurses, teachers) advantages: career effect, assumed authority effect, special consideration effect, zone of comfort effect welcomed into nursing. Some were assumed to have authority so they were often forced into leader roles, some did not like this because they had more responsibilities, experienced more relaxed rules and expectations, and felt good working with women, felt supported and not marginalized. in terms of their identity - the relabelled their profession or the characteristics linked with it, and distanced themselves from feminine. anxious of judgement from male friends. Women more accepting of their choice. minority status for men has mainly positive outcomes males still do internalize masculinity and norms tied to it
HIRSCHMAN- Homeward Bound
scarcity of women in corporate and political leadership relates to the striking proportion of ivy-league educated wives and mothers who are "letting their careers slide to tend the home fires" she argues that public achievement is more important than raising families child rearing was a shameful waste of human capital she interviewed high class women - who were happy - but author claims that what they were doing by staying at home with their babies was bad for them and for society. she blames gender inequality in women's lack of focus she says that this is a waste of time and that success is in prestige and earning potential a lot of them seem to think they have "chosen" this role when in fact it has been defined for them she says that this highly educated women should not be doing this because it leads to more men leading and therefore creating the already unequal and disadvantageous rules that affect them directly it is not about choice - because women are not choosing to do all of the housework and it isn't fun either.
WILCOX - Women's wages are rising: why are so many families getting poorer?
since the 1970s there has been an increase in women's income and labor force participation but yet family income is falling for the bottom 40 percent - so the poor/working class families. this is because less marriages, so more single moms, decline in male employment and earnings, and maternal labor force participation ' Causes: median income for married families = 81,000 compared to 25,000 for single moms marriage gap = women's work helps mens personal income has fallen - but specially in working class and poor men - mothers also not getting married because of this...dont see them as marriage material. mothers are still not working full time - discrimination, inflexible hours, lack of childcare, mothers dont like full time most dad do.
MILLER - Is the Professor Bossy or Brilliant? Much depends on gender *****
study done from 14 million student reviews on rate my prof people tend to think more highly of males than women in professional settings praise men for the same things they criticize women for "a man who does not help is busy, a woman who does not help is selfish" on tech company performance review - women seem to get more critical reviews, leaders to be more aggressive and emotional. Students biased against female profs. the researcher was surprised that women were more likely to be described as role models and rarely anyone commented on their clothes or looks. Men: knowledgeable, awesome, best prof, intelligent, brilliant. Women: bossy, disorganized, helpful, annoying, playing favorites. Equal: easy, lazy, distracted, inspiring.
ENGLAND - The Gender revolution: Uneven and Stalled
the gender revolution had a high impact for women in the 60s: more employment, birth control, more college graduations, gender discrimination became illegal. But it has stalled. Women have had more of an incentive to join male deemed careers, while males have not. There is still a devaluation and poor reward of traditionally female activities and jobs so males do not join these. well educated women are more likely to be employed. due to high reward of male jobs women and men are more incentivized to choose male jobs sex gap in pay has diminished because more women are able to work a man's job. Women face discrimination and coworker resistance but do get higher pay when joining male jobs. Males when joining female jobs suffer cultural disapproval and less pay. desegregation has been more common in middle class than working class jobs. - this is because it is easier for working class women to move up in their gender job than it is to join a male job. - for women in middle class situations is easier to move into male jobs than it is to advance in other middle class jobs that are just females.
BERDAHL - The Sexual Harassment of Uppity women
what is the most common form of sexual harassment? it has been initially thought that it is motivated by sexual desire for those that meet gender ideals BUT NO!! gender harassment is the most common - more specifically those that do not conform to what is expected of their gender experience a lot of harassment. hostility inspires it sexual harassment is primarily targeted at women who violate gender ideals role of sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination that keeps sexes separate and unequal at work sexual harassment aimed at the desirable? - natural feelings by men to women - men economic power over women sexual harassment aimed at the deviant? - target feel unwelcome on the basis of sex not conforming to female ideals is threatening to males and this incites hostility
PADAVIC, ROBIN AND REID - The work family narrative as a social defense
why does work-family persist as the dominant narrative and intervention strategy in organizations, given its uneven success in advancing women's careers? rather than the problem being work life balance for limiting the advancement of women's careers it was more due to LONG HOURS - culture of overselling and over delivery. both sexes likely to quit because of the long hours 25% left equally men and women rewards are given to those that work 24/7 only the work life family narrative is problematic for women: - women asked to do part time more often - believe that mothers are not up to the task - if they are too much at work they are bad mothers, too much time at home bad managers. Tendency to judge a woman for being a mother - this does not happen with men. creates a split identity for ideal worker - differs for both men and women. operation of social defences for men: - men understanding themselves as breadwinners. Idealizing narratives. operation of social defences for women: - narrative that women lack what it takes - how hard it is for them to do both women end up being PUSHED out because the organization is constantly telling them that they are simply not man enough for the job the work family narrative encourages women to see themselves as family primary even if that is not what they want to be. And men as work primary. society and media say that kids benefit from the mom being at home and this persists the idea that women are only good for that.
STONE - The Rhetoric and the Reality of "Opting out"
women are not opting-out but they are being pushed out by a lack of choice and flexibility for a work-life balanced life. this is privileged women who can afford to stay home that opt out or are pushed out...this is not the case for minority or single women. motherhood pulls - now is becoming about organizing and doing many different things that were not done in the past... it has become a nonstop of activities. workplace pushes - no flexible schedules, also husbands not helping out the choice gap - culture, job society are to blame... work is unsympathetic to family needs. Pregnancy is a dirty word now. women failed to challenge the myth that they were choosing... they would say that they were leaving because they were failing to do it all when in reality it is the job's fault and societies' fault for not offering better situations. Employers never question why women left instead of trying to find ways to keep them. all of this makes the choice appear as something real... when they are being forced out. Women 'choose' to be home full-time not as much because of parenting overload as because of work overload (esp. long hours and lack of flexibility)
BELKIN - The Opt-out revolution
women have more university degrees, and many are holding positions of power but still their careers abruptly stop. Stall in the revolution. Less obstacles now faced by women but more faced by mothers. MATERNAL WALL. many women are opening their own businesses maybe women are leaving their careers because they want to maybe women do not rule the world because they don't wan to Sally sears: forced out because she was not given flexible hours Katherine Brokaw: burnout from work and newborn Vicky Benedict: left to be a stay at home mom and is happy with decision these women felt they had to do all - because they were told capable of doing it all some women finding it difficult to go back to work after leaving for maternity author says we need more women in the workforce - employers have to work harder to keep them since they are more willing to leave than men are. Will allow for creation of flexible work schedules. work life balance new revolution - women leaving to be stay at home moms, males also leaving for housework. Feminism has not failed... it is the start of a new revolution. People have the right to choose. women choose to opt out when they have kids
BABCOCK AND LASCHEVER - A Price Higher than Rubies
women still feel at leas as satisfied as men with their salaries, even though they continue to earn less for the same work. Scholars believe this is due to women's low expectations of pay in general. When these expectations are met they are not disappointed. women hold modest expectations for their rewards for their work and time. pay satisfaction lies not with what others are being paid but with your own expectations. due to unpaid labor in the home women unaccustomed to thinking of their work in terms of dollars. lack of awareness of own value or how to negotiate girls assigned chores that are done more often like dishes, while boys are assigned chores that are not done as often like taking out the garbage. boys remunerated girls not much women become grateful to be paid at all - too much focus on what they need and not what they are worth also women only compare their pay to other women who are also underpaid - never with other men males have a sense of entitlement while women wait for someone else to tell them negative effects: depression, poverty, not getting the same jobs or opportunities. when women begin to make clear what they want they perform at higher levels. bonus negotiations dont help women need to learn what people in similar positions earn and not just other women; collect info from outside sources.