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Gender Inequalities
Can you think of any specific gender
inequalities?
Male / female pay gap Domestic activities
Parenting / child careTypes of job
Education
Health
Crime patterns
Religion
Do you think any of these might be
changing?
Gender inequalities in the
labour market
Male / Female Pay Gap
Read the following article and point out any
differences in male and female pay
Government Statistics show...
• Female full time employees are paid 10.2% less than male full time employees (2010)
• In 2009 this figure was 12.2%
• This is the biggest drop since 1997
• Can we say the pay gap is getting smaller?
What has been done to counter gender inequalities in pay?
The Equal Pay Act 1970
“equal pay for work of equal value”
to end wage discrimination on basis of gender
BUT...
• Many companies avoided the Act by re-grading the work traditionally done by women so they could suggest women were doing less skilled work than men
• This allowed them to pay women less
The type of work men and
women doRead the following article
and point out any differences in the types of
work males and females do
Government Statistics show...
• 2008: half of jobs done by women were part time
• Compared to just 1/6 of men’s jobs
• Women more likely to have temporary or casual jobs
Reasons for women doing part time work...
• Beechey (1987)– Women carry major domestic and childcare
responsibilities. After having children many women take up part time work so they can cope with their domestic responsibilities
– Many part time jobs have been designed especially for married women. Flexible and part time work has been increasing in recent years, especially in the service sector
The ‘glass ceiling’• Women often get so far in a job and then
encounter the ‘glass ceiling’
• This is where they can see there they want to go next in their career but something stops them from getting there
For example....
At the end of the twentieth century, women made up only...
18% of hospital consultants7% of university lecturersless than 5% of company directors
Childcare responsibilities = women more likely to work
part time
Why is there this ‘glass ceiling’?
Time taken out of career to start a family
Means women can miss out on promotion
opportunities
Not taken seriously as managers/supervisors?
Horizontal Segregation
• Men and women work in different types of jobs in different sectors of the economy
• Women under-represented in:• Primary sector (agriculture, mining)• Construction, transport and manufacturing
• Women over-represented in:• Hotels, catering, finance and insurance
Is horizontal segregation in decline?
Men entering traditionally female
jobs
Women entering traditionally male
jobs
• Some men going into traditionally female professions such as nursing
• And some women going into traditionally male professions such as the armed forces
Vertical Segregation• Men and women are in found at different job levels
within each industry or occupational group– i.e. women make up 60-70% of all teachers, but only 16% of
secondary school head teachers were female in 1983
• Women tend to be over-represented at the lower level jobs and under-represented in the most senior or higher status positions
• Women are also more likely to be paid less than their male counterparts
What about men?
• Generally have a greater range of work opportunities, more status and pay
• Is this experience changing?• Economic recession and unemployment in
traditional industries and manufacturing• Marginalised masculinity?• Frustration at being unable to fulfil traditional
role as breadwinner and protector
This is just made worse by the fact women seem to be more successful at getting the jobs that have replaced manufacturing
i.e. the new service sector
Women taking over from men as breadwinners?
Mac an Ghaill (1996) ‘crisis in masculinity’?
Willott and Griffin (1996)– Look at this ‘crisis in masculinity’– Researched a group of long term unemployed
men in the West Midlands– The respondents were marginalised and had little
hope of finding a steady job– The role of provider/breadwinner was
undermined– BUT their other masculine characteristics (esp.
Sense of authority in family) remained– Not a crisis in masculinity!– Just a weakening of certain elements of traditional
masculinity