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