Showing papers in "Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in 2008"

Women on Corporate Boards of Directors

Abstract: Increasing research attention has been devoted to understanding the roles and responsibilities of boards of directors of North American corporations (Gillies, 1992; Lorsch & Maclver, 1989; Fleischer, Hazard & Klipper, 1988). This has resulted, in part, from increased interest in corporate governance. Scholars continue to explore and debate the question of who controls and is responsible for the activities and performance of corporations in a democratic society (Vance, 1983; Worthy & Neushel, 1982). In addition, the veil of privacy that had historically been accorded CEOs and board members is slowly being lifted. As a result, information about the membership and working of corporate boards of directors is starting to accumulate (Gillies, 1992). Corporate boards of directors also came under increased scrutiny and criticism during the 1980s because of specific decisions made by them (e.g. hostile takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, golden parachutes, excessive levels of executive compensation) and the generally low performance levels of North American organisations in the international marketplace. The latter has resulted in several suggestions for improving the effectiveness of corporate boards (Barrett, 1993; Patton & Baker, 1987; Salmon, 1993; Leighton & Thain, 1993). Suggestions have included the separation of the CEO/Board chairman roles, improved selection of directors, training of directors, clarifying roles and responsibilities of directors (and CEOs), and replacing directors who are not performing well.

Women and work‐life balance: is home‐based business ownership the solution?

Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to explore self‐employment through home‐based business ownership as a potential solution to the inter‐role conflict experienced by women attempting to balance dual work and family roles.Design/methodology/approach – Home‐based businesses (n = 626) were surveyed in Western Australia as part of a larger national study. Data were collected on operator and business characteristics, and specific home‐based business issues (e.g. reasons for preferring a home‐base, management and planning, growth facilitators and barriers). Four‐way comparisons investigating the dynamics of home‐based business ownership between male and female operators and operators with and without dependants were made.Findings – The attraction of home‐based business ownership is driven predominantly by the flexibility afforded to lifestyle and the ability to balance work and family. While these advantages were more salient for women than for men, gender per se was not a determining factor in why operators started a ...

Gender, personal values, strategies and small business performance: A Ghanaian case study

Abstract: Purpose – While most studies concerning gender differences in small business performance have emerged from developed countries, how applicable the results are to transitional economies, where there still exist significant differences in the socialisation of men and women, is not clear. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of gender on the performance of small businesses in Ghana by exploring the impact of personal values on business owners' choice of strategies, specifically asking, do women and men pursue different business strategies, how do personal values influence their strategies and how do their strategies affect performance?Design/methodology/approach – A total of 600 owner‐managers of small retail shops in the Greater Accra Region were surveyed. Results were analysed using the partial least squares approach to structural equation modelling.Findings – The results suggest that there are gender differences in personal values, which lead to different strategies adopted by women and m...

Gender stereotypical attitudes: Past, present and future influences on women's career advancement

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a longitudinal study which followed up middle managers who had participated in a survey on attitudes to promotion eight years earlier. The aim was to contact a sample of these individuals to ascertain their current views on women's career advancement in management.Design/methodology/approach – In‐depth interviews were conducted with 30 interviewees (19 male and 11 female managers). Respondents were reminded of their initial response to the question “How long do you think it will take before women in this organisation fill 50 per cent of senior management positions?” Current views were recorded to ascertain if any attitudinal changes had occurred over the previous eight years.Findings – The responses from this sample reflected a pessimistic change in views and were consistent with the view that gender stereotyping of the management role continues, influencing attitudes toward the appropriateness of women in senior management positions. The majority of thes...

Science, technology and risk perception: from gender differences to the effects made by gender

Abstract: Purpose – A longstanding quantitative finding from surveys of public perceptions of hazardous technologies is that women and men respondents tend to express different levels of concern when asked about environmental and technological hazards Traditional psychometric risk perception research has provided extensive empirical descriptions of this “gender effect”, but is criticised for having less success in developing substantive theory linking observations to socio-cultural explanations to explicate this effect The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical platform to account for the existing empirical findings on gender and perceptions of risk Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a critical synthesis, drawing upon theory in contemporary risk research, gender theory, social studies of science and feminist studies of epistemology Findings – A theoretical platform is developed concerning the operation of gender as a regulatory process involving norms and discourse The role is identified of moral discourses, hegemonic masculinities/gender authenticity, and epistemic subjectivities as plausible ways of understanding the gender–risk effect in risk perception Research limitations/implications – A novel theoretical exploration is provided of the relationship between gender and risk perceptions Conceptual development in the gender and risk arena could be further refined by applying the theoretical platform developed here to empirical analyses and, to investigate its relevance to understanding how people discuss, deliberate and reason about risk issues Originality/value – Much of the existing literature fails to offer adequately grounded theoretical explanations for the observed empirical finding on gender and risk This paper is the first to utilise a non-essentialist reading of the gender-risk effect by developing the “effects made by gender” approach

A cultural feminist approach towards managing diversity in top management teams

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to challenge the customary emphasis on masculine values in top management teams (TMTs) and offer a cultural feminist approach to improving women's participation in leadership roles in organisations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on the theory of diversity and “difference”, instead of “sameness”, to demonstrate the relationship between feminine values, team member diversity, and team effectiveness. The paper develops a three-tier approach to making better use of gender diversity in TMTs: unravel masculine hegemony in the workplace; create awareness of distinct values offered by women as team members and team leaders; and progress team diversity from the customary token representation to gender inclusive team structures and routines. Findings – The paper suggests that TMTs benefit when learning to accommodate and integrate feminine values, along with masculine values, into an inclusive work culture that enhances teams’ performing capacities. Research limitations/implications – Token representation is only one dimension of gendered disadvantage. Several complex forms of gendered disadvantage reside at macro-level or extra-organisational layers of life. Therefore, tackling masculine hegemony should involve a multilevel approach that tackles gendered disadvantage in domains as wide as work, organisation, and society. Practical implications – Through the three-tier framework for managing diversity in TMTs, the paper offers a practical way forward, moving beyond the current functional-structured approach towards TMTs. Originality/value – The paper argues that conventional diversity management practices remain influenced by a hegemonic masculine approach towards increasing women's participation in employment. Furthermore, a narrow emphasis on “sameness” instead of “diversity” of women and men reinforces male hegemony, contributing to the perpetuation of low numbers of women in TMTs.

Lament of the ignored expatriate: An examination of organisational and social network support for female expatriates in China

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between gender and the individual and social aspects of expatriate work, emphasising how issues external to the organisation impact on the experience of female expatriates. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 102 male respondents and 44 female respondents were surveyed in order to test the perceived organisational support, career satisfaction, and expatriate social support. Findings – Significant gender-related differences were identified in all three areas with notable contradiction in the perception and practice of how multinational corporations (MNCs) manage their expatriates. While earlier research suggested that organisations perceived their treatment of female expatriates to be equivalent to that of men, the results indicate that female international managers do not perceive equal treatment on international assignments. Research limitations/implications – Although based on a smaller sample than other international studies, the gender breakdown was sufficient for moderated regression testing. Practical implications – As the expatriate social support construct is largely exploratory in nature, future research could examine the effect of perceived expatriate social support on other related workplace behaviours, both domestically and internationally, including work-life balance and diversity management. Originality/value – While other studies have provided a rich descriptive picture of the gendered nature of expatriation, little research has attempted to quantify the reasons behind the phenomenon.

Work experiences, satisfactions and psychological well‐being of female and male managers in the hospitality sector in Turkey

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore gender differences in the work and career experiences of female and male managers and supervisors in the hospitality and tourism sector in Turkey There is a belief that women tend to be disadvantaged in this sector as few women occupy the senior executive positions and those that do receive less pay In addition, managerial and professional women in Turkey, in general, are less likely to achieve senior executive positionsDesign/methodology/approach – The paper reports research examining the work experiences, work and career satisfactions and psychological well‐being of females and males in managerial and supervisory positions in the hospitality and tourism sector in Turkey Data were collected in 12 five‐star hotels operating in the Mediterranean and Agean regionFindings – The paper finds, in answer to the research question – do female and male managers working in the Turkish hospitality and tourism sector report similar personal and work situation demo

Gender, professions and public policy: New directions

Abstract: Purpose – This article aims to provide an overview on key trends in public sector policy and professional development and how they intersect with gender and diversity. It seeks to explore new configurations in the relationship between gender and the professions and to develop a matrix for the collection of articles presented in this volume.Design/methodology/approach – The authors link social policy and governance approaches to the study of professions, using the health professions and academics as case studies. Material from a number of studies carried out by the authors together with published secondary sources provide the basis of our analysis; this is followed by an introduction of the scope and structure of this thematic issue.Findings – The findings underline the significance of public policy as key to better understand gender and diversity in professional groups. The outline of major trends in public sector professions brings into focus both the persistence of gender inequality and the emergence of...

Embodying disability in diversity management research

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce an embodied approach to disability into the field of diversity management research.Design/methodology/approach – The paper critically examines previous diversity management research and it draws on previous disability research in the social sciences to develop an embodied approach to disability for diversity management research.Findings – The paper argues that an embodied approach is required because previous diversity management research on disability ignores important aspects of disability.Research limitations/implications – The embodied approach to disability proposed in this paper expands the understanding of disability in diversity management research, and it discusses implications for future research and for organizations.Originality/value – The paper is unique in proposing an embodied approach to disability in diversity management research.

Gender differences in engineers’ burnout

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in burnout, style of coping and the availability of peer support among high‐tech engineersDesign/methodology/approach – A longitudinal study investigated gender differences in burnout, style of coping and the availability of peer support among high‐tech engineers, an interesting occupational group from a gender perspective both because of the masculine culture of the engineering profession and the many prejudices against women engineers. Both the masculine culture and the prejudices help explain the paucity of women engineers and predict high levels of burnout among them.Findings – The paper's findings supported this prediction. They revealed a significant gender difference in burnout, with women engineers reporting higher levels of burnout than men. The gender differences in burnout were interpreted as related to other findings: women's greater tendency to utilize emotion‐focused coping, their smaller peer support and greater work–f...

Mentoring and preferences: a diagnostic survey for equal mentoring opportunity

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine mentoring experiences and preferences aimed at creating equal mentoring opportunity for male and female employees in the Nigerian work setting.Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 140 randomly selected managers (70 males and 70 females).Findings – Results revealed that mentoring occurrence is entirely informal and more males compared to females served as mentors. Respondents commonly reported and preferred career‐related benefits of mentoring. An examination of preferred mentor gender indicated a significant relationship between gender of respondent and that of preferred mentor and protege. Concern for positive interaction reflects frequently mentioned reasons for this preference among men and women. The preferred qualities of a mentor often cited by respondents were those which enable a mentor to deliver career functions while reverence was the most mentioned protege quality. The distribution of male and female respondents differed on som...

Managing diversity in organisations: Practitioner and academic perspectives: report from a Gender in Management Special Interest Group research event

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a seminar sponsored by the Academy of Management's Gender in Management Special Interest Group, which comprised discussions on aspects of diversity policy, initiatives, and programme development within Bank of Scotland, National Australia Group UK, and BBC Scotland, and also academic and industry presentationsDesign/methodology/approach – The report is based upon observations, notes and discussions on a range of issues relating to diversity in organisationsFindings – The seminar highlighted practitioner perspectives of diversity management – both for staff development and for the development of a customer base in the case of banks, by actively encouraging business from female entrepreneurs and by aiming to make mainstream financial products appropriate for both female and male customersOriginality/value – This report brings together a number of interesting and important themes linked to improvements in female recruitment and development

Unpacking gendered professional power in the welfare state

Abstract: Purpose – Recent scholarship reveals the imagery of the professional as the “ideal citizen”. The linkage between professionalism and citizenship is here approached from the perspective of democratic social justice in order to examine the persistence of gendered inequalities in the health care system. The paper aims to examine the ideas framing professionalism, both in sociological theory and historically, asking what gendered hierarchies mean in modern health care systems, and why and how they persist in the conditions of liberal democracy.Design/methodology/approach – The question is approached through both sociological literature and an analysis of historical framings of professionalism; the Finnish health care system is employed as a case. The reason for keeping the discussion close to a specific case is that different professional fields, countries and historic contexts differ from each other in democratically relevant respects.Findings – Traditional sociological theory assumed that professional privi...

Reconfiguring Finnish welfare service workforce

Abstract: Purpose – This study seeks to examine the reconfiguration of professional groups in welfare service work through the lens of gendered inequalities in order to develop an inclusive research horizon that extends to the middle grade of care workers.Design/methodology/approach – The research design positions workforce change within a wider social and cultural context by highlighting occupational, educational and unionist orders from the viewpoint of Finnish practical nurses.Findings – A weakening anchorage in the welfare state and a differentiation of the patterns of recruitment, employment and industrial relations create segmentation, particular forms of exclusion, and identity instabilities. The article identifies the special vulnerability of the practical nurses institutionally embedded “in‐between” the upper and lower grades, the social and health sector, and the union traditions.Research limitations/implications – The national policy agenda on workforce change mainly follows the sectoral split and focuse...

Connecting fractured lives to a fragmented system: Chicago housing for health partnership

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nation's first hospital to housing for homeless individuals. The Chicago Housing for Health Partnership (CHHP), a Housing First and Harm Reduction model, creates a new comprehensive system of health care, housing and supportive services.Design/methodology/approach – The researchers conducted a year long process evaluation of the housing program using a multi‐method approach, which involved qualitative interviews, focus groups, document analysis and observations. The paper examined the CHHP system at three different levels (the administrative, service provision and the client levels).Findings – The study allowed the organizational participants the ability to better understand their program by visually modeling the system for the first time and documenting its effectiveness. It also furthered the understanding of how and why the housing first model is best accompanied by a harm reduction approach. Finally, the paper was able to show how and why organizat...

Who staffs the US leaning tower? Organisational change and diversity

Abstract: – The paper aims to argue that US colleges and universities resemble a “leaning tower” with ever expanding layers of administrators and managers who control and dominate university life. This set of institutional changes has altered the way that college administrators are recruited., – The paper uses recent developments in institutional theories of organisations to explain the changing environment facing US colleges and universities and the role that college administrators play in this environment. The paper matches data from a sample of administrative positions advertised in the 2004‐2005 Careers section of the Chronicle of Higher Education with web‐based data on incumbents subsequently hired for each position. These data are supplemented with aggregate statistics provided by the Chronicle and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)., – Results suggest that only a small number of administrative positions advertised involve academic appointments with tenure and that the educational qualifications advertised span a surprisingly wide spectrum of credentials other than academic PhD's. Ethnically underrepresented groups and women are most likely to hold jobs requiring PhD's while whites and men occupy most of the positions where qualifications are ambiguous or classic academic qualifications are not called for., – The paper is the first to discuss the growing distinctive labour market for college administrators while providing preliminary data on the diversity effects of this labour market.

Gendering migration flows: physicians and nurses in Portugal

Abstract: – This article aims to explore the gendered dimensions of the heterogeneous path of non‐native graduates in nursing and medicine in the Portuguese National Health Service, including institutional factors like the process of credential recognition, the professional integration and internal labour market segmentation., – Biographical interviews with nurses and physicians (23 males and 35 females) from Spain and from some Eastern European countries who migrated to work in Portugal were conducted, and additionally semi‐structured interviews with 12 institutional participants to contextualise the experiential data., – The research highlights complex intersections between gender and the resources for action. Institutional conditions, like legal frameworks and the self‐regulatory mechanisms of the professions, and individual characteristics shape successful translation of foreign credentials into a new social and cultural context. The specific configurations may create gender traps that push women into low status professional segments and also new forms of inequality in the professions., – The development of successful professional action and agency in a socio‐culturally different health care labour market can be differentiated by gender, place of graduation and citizenship status. The factors identified in this small‐scale qualitative study would need further investigation., – The findings highlight new demands for integration policies for foreign‐trained professionals, such as policies to promote equal opportunities for women and men in the workplace., – The article reinforces women as professional participants in the international migration process and examines the opportunities for successful integration.

Small firms and the challenge of equality, diversity and difference

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers contributing to this special issue and to locate them within the broader questions about the role of small firms in enabling or alleviating issues of equality, diversity, and difference for various groups in society.Design/methodology/approach – The literature dealing with the issues of equality, diversity, and difference pertaining to the operation of and/or working in smaller firms was reviewed prior to drawing out the key points from the submitted papers and considering the contribution they make to this literature.Findings – Overall, one's these five papers contribute to one's understanding of the issues facing those in business or self‐employment, working in small business or wanting to pursue enterprise.Originality/value – Rarely are questions asked about the assumed role small firms play in mitigating social exclusion for a range of groups in society. By addressing questions which explore the challenge of equality, diversity, and differ...

A study of individual values and employment equity in Canada, France and Ireland

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper, in the context of the employment equity (EE) field, is to explore the relationship between individual values/beliefs and simulated hiring decisions of minority candidates in Canada, France and Ireland.Design/methodology/approach – Individual values/beliefs were elicited using Likert type scales; subjects responded to a series of simulated hiring scenarios.Findings – The link between individual value and belief systems and EE‐related HR decision making on recruitment of minority candidates is modestly supported by the findings presented here. The values/beliefs of students from leading business schools influenced, if in part, their simulated hiring decisions on minority candidates presented in the scenarios. National context also matters as EE institutions differ at the societal level of analysis.Research limitations/implications – The subjects were business school students of limited work experience addressing scenario situations, not practicing managers making real hi...

Gendering social work in Russia: towards anti‐discriminatory practices

Abstract: Purpose – This article seeks to uncover the gendered nature of discourses in social services and social work textbooks and their impact on the professional identity of social workers in Russia.Design/methodology/approach – It is based on qualitative methodology, referring to interview material, and discourse analysis of the Russian textbooks used in social care education. It addresses three dimensions of gender: labour market policies and women's work/low wages; identity constructions of the social workers; and the discourse of gender in teaching material and textbooks.Findings – The research shows that, by setting up inadequate wage policies for social workers, the state has reinforced the societal assumption of cheap women's labour. In addition, power relations in social work practice reinforce social inequalities. The ideology of a specific female work‐capacity is reproduced in social work, as in other forms of care work.Research limitations/implications – The findings highlight that gender differences...

A Focus on gender similarities in work experiences in senior management: a study of an Australian bank builds the case

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a shift in emphasis from gender differences to gender similarities in the explanations of the findings of future gender in management research. The results from a study in a major Australian bank help build the case. Such a focus on gender similarities (FGS) hopefully will bring about positive organizational change that might stimulate an increase in women's representation in senior management in the future.Design/methodology/approach – To make a case for the proposed FGS approach the paper uses results from a survey of 178 senior managers and interviews with 14 executives in one Australian bank. The paper draws on the masculine culture and organizational silence literatures to explain how women and men in senior management can have similar work experiences and hold similar views of their organizations.Findings – The paper finds that male and female respondents held similarly unfavorable views of the organization's culture, but men felt constrained in rais...

Small firms, the paid maternity leave debate in Australia and the business case

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the management of maternity leave in small firms and particularly to explore the perceived costs and benefits of paid maternity leave (PML). PML is a universal right in some countries (i.e. the UK), but not in Australia where most private sector female employees only have access to 12 months unpaid maternity leave. It also aims to explore how the business case for (or against) PML is constructed in small firms.Design/methodology/approach – The study was limited to smaller firms operating in the business services sector in the same regional area. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with eight employers and female employees in six of these firms. Analysis by theme was undertaken within and across interview transcripts.Findings – Not one of these small firm employers offered PML and the cost of doing so was not considered to outweigh the benefits already realised through the (legislated) unpaid maternity leave scheme. In these firms maternity leave was ...

Constraints on women politicians in Northern Cyprus

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the specific reasons for the Turkish women in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus not reaching the same level of achievement in the political sphere as their male counterparts. The aim is to draw attention to the extremely low participation of women in politics (6 per cent) and suggest possible solutions to increase it.Design/methodology/approach – The study consists of interviews with seven women who played an active role in politics and who are still in the political arena as parliamentarians or ministers.Findings – It was found that the major political problem of the island, “the Cyprus problem”, has had a significant impact on the confinement of women in the private sphere. In addition, the divided land constitutes a higher restriction on women. Moreover, gatherings in coffeehouses and the time of such meetings are important difficulties. Furthermore, the women's branches of the political parties constitute a serious barrier.Research limitations/i...

Is there a male advantage in the effects of feedback and leadership on leaders’ occupational self‐efficacy?

Abstract: Purpose – The focus of this paper is on the effects of transformational/charismatic leadership and feedback on the occupational self‐efficacy (OCCSEFF) of male and female managers. Given that transformational/charismatic leadership fits the female role better than other leadership styles, it seems likely that female leaders benefit from leading transformationally. However, the feedback they receive may not reflect their actual leadership behaviour and, thus, transformational leadership may not enhance female leaders’ self‐efficacy.Design/methodology/approach – The results of three different studies are reported.Findings – Results indicate that women prefer charismatic leadership and that charismatic leadership is rated more female than male. The feedback female and male leaders receive, however, does not differ. There is a moderating effect of gender on the relationship between individualized consideration and OCCSEFF but none on the relationship between feedback and OCCSEFF.Research limitations/implicati...