1. Gender diversity and equality in the workplace
People and Organizations
Dr Christina Evans

2. Session Outline Tracing the roots of the Equal Pay Act 1970
Some broader explanations for the lack of progress on gender equality
Specific approaches aimed at increasing women’s representation in the ITEC sector

3. Getting Gender Equality on the Agenda
Made in Dagenham Clip
Equal Pay Act 1970

4. Equal Pay Act 1970
An equality clause is a provision which relates to terms (whether concerned with pay or not) of a contract under which a woman is employed (the “woman’s contract”), and has the effect that— (a)where the woman is employed on like work with a man in the same employment— (i)if (apart from the equality clause) any term of the woman’s contract is or becomes less favourable to the woman than a term of a similar kind in the contract under which that man is employed, that term of the woman’s contract shall be treated as so modified as not to be less favourable, and (ii)if (apart from the equality clause) at any time the woman’s contract does not include a term corresponding to a term benefiting that man included in the contract under which he is employed, the woman’s contract shall be treated as including such a term; (b)where the woman is employed on work rated as equivalent with that of a man in the same employment— (i)if (apart from the equality clause) any term of the woman’s contract determined by the rating of the work is or becomes less favourable to the woman than a term of a similar kind in the contract under which that man is employed, that term of the woman’s contract shall be treated as so modified as not to be less favourable, and (ii)if (apart from the equality clause) at any time the woman’s contract does not include a term corresponding to a term benefiting that man included in the contract under which he is employed and determined by the rating of the work, the woman’s contract shall be treated as including such a term. Ref:

5. How diverse is the workforce?
Forbes (2012) report, contains data on most/least diverse workforces:
Countries: Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands least Poland, Pakistan, Hungary, Turkey, Czech (UK, ranked 24)
Sectors: healthcare, hotels, catering, education, least – construction, mining
Occupations: human resources, least – IT., especially software engineers

6. Female economic activity rate
Forbes (2012) report, contains data on Female economic activity rate:
Top five:Iceland (78%), Denmark (75%) and Norway (71%), Sweden and China.
Bottom five:Pakistan (22%), Turkey (25%), Italy (39%), Chile (39%) and UAE (42%).

7. Gender pay gap
Pay gap (for those in full-time employment) shifted from 17.4% (1997) to 9.4% (2014)
But if include full and part time workers – pay gap is 19.1%
Ref: BBC (2014)

8. Women in top decision-making roles?
In the USA, only 4% of Fortune 500 CEOs are female (Pedulla and Thébaud, 2015)
In the UK, 15.6% of FTSE 250 board members are female (Female FTSE Board Report 2014)

9. How might we explain the slow progress on gender equality?
Macro
Education
Legislation and policy – voluntarist approach e.g. voluntary code aimed at increasing women on boards - goals/targets, not quotas
Societal values, cultural norms
Meso
Institutional constraints – organizational structures, career paths, ways of working, notion of the ‘ideal male worker’
Occupational segregation
Micro
Gender-differentiated familial roles
Choice and agency (Catherine Hakim, 1996), women choose to ‘opt out’ – prioritise family over career

10. Increasing gender diversity in ITEC
Against a context of reported skills shortages, ratio of F/M in 5 key ITEC roles 18%/82%
Gender pay gap – 20%
Job segregation:
Software15% vs 85%
Managers 20% vs 80%

11. Increasing gender diversity in ITEC contd.
Organizational solutions:
Education and training for hiring managers
Outreach to widen the pool of applicants
Revising selection criteria (e.g. type of degree needed, focus on behaviours, not just technical skills)
Flexible working
Mentoring
Supporting returners

12. Persistent challenges
Organizational cultural norms:
Despite legislative changes - long hours culture persists, especially in managerial/professional roles
Discourse of meritocracy - affects women’s career trajectories
Assumptions about men and women’s career choices – men prefer competitive work environments, women prefer less demanding ones (Pedulla and Thébaud, 2015)
Obstacles: glass ceiling

13. Questions for you to discuss
Why has legislation alone been insufficient to bring about gender equality in the workplace? What other factors need to be considered?
It has been suggested that as we reach a critical gender mass, (e.g. 40% of women in senior roles) that women’s prospects in the workplace will be radically different. What are your thoughts on this – is this too optimistic a view?

14. References
BBC (2014) Gender pay gap shrinks to record low, says ONS Forbes (2012) Global Diversity Rankings by Country, Sector and Occupation diversity_rankings_2012.pdf Pedulla, D.S. and Thébaud, S. (2015) Can we finish the revolution? Gender, Work-Family Ideals, and Institutional Constraints, American Sociological Review, 80(1), Vinnicombe, S. Dolder, E and Turner, C. (2014) The Female FTSE Board Report ftse-board-report-2014