Transcript How Gender is influenced by the Work Place?

How does the Workplace
Influence Gender?
What is Work?
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Work is a secondary socialising agent.
It comes later on in life when a person has
grown up.
People learn the disciplines of work and how to
behave within their roles.
There are 2 types of labour markets primary
and secondary.
Primary labour markets consists of work in a
large corporations, industries or governments
agencies. Workers receive relatively high
wages and enjoy good job security.
Secondary labour markets include forms of
employment, which are unstable, where job
security and wages are low and there are
fewer opportunities for promotion.
Women in the Workplace…
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Women’s jobs are more concentrated in secondary
labour markets.
Waitressing, retail sales work and secretarial jobs
carried out by women fall into this category.
Women in their 20’s and 30’s, today, have lives that
are profoundly different from those of their
mothers. Today’s women are better qualified than
ever before. In 1963 only a quarter of
undergraduates were female. This had increased
to a third by the mid 1970’s, and is now slightly
over half.
Women are entering the workforce in larger
numbers than ever before, but the job market is
still heavily segregated by gender. And the sad
fact is that, the larger the proportion of women in
an industry, the lower the status and pay.
Sociologists find it convenient to use occupational
scales which sort people into social classes on the
basis of their particular occupations. However this
approach presents certain difficulties as far as
women are concerned.
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1. Full-time housework or child-care does not count
as an ‘occupation’. Even part-time female workers
pose a problem because their domestic duties may
have forced them to take a job at a lower level than
they otherwise would have achieved.
2. Sexual segregation in the workforce means that
men and women do different types of jobs. Even if
they are in the same social class they may not even
share the same work and market situations. Within
any given class, women’s jobs tend to be rated as
lower in status than men’s.
3) Occupational classifications make finer
distinctions amongst men’s jobs tend to be under
estimated.
4) Male clerks often see their present position as a
stepping stone to management, whereas female
clerks are much less likely to entertain ambitions of
promotion. Also, the manual/ non manual divide is
less significant for women, since they are mostly in
service work.
Men in the Workplace differences
in behaviour at work…
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Men are more linear and factual thinkers,
while women on the other hand, tend to
think more conceptually and with
associations.
Men tend to be more direct, while women
give orders using softened demands and
tag lines.
Men can work with people they don’t like.
Women generally can’t.
Some of these factors could be linked with
the Gray and Buffery study of Brain
lateralization. Men supposedly use the right
side of their brain more and women use the
left side more this could affect some
differences in behaviour at work.
Statistics!!
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Most men have a higher status in the workplace.
E.g. Most primary school teachers are female while
most head teachers are men.
50% of working women (and only 12% of men) are
still mainly employed in administration, secretarial,
personal care and customer services.
Less than 1 in 3 managers are women.
43 companies in the FTSE 100 index have no
female directors.
Occupational gender segregation refers to the fact
that men and women are concentrated in different
jobs based on what is appropriate ‘male’ and
‘female’ work.
Women workers have traditionally been
concentrated in poorly paid and routine
operations. Such as nursing, social work and child
care. These jobs are referred to as ‘feminine’
occupations.
What has feminism done to
influence the workplace?
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The Liberal Feminists believe that
people should have equal rights and that
people should be treated according to
their individual merits.
This is how the Equal Opportunities
Commission came into place in the UK.
This means Britain has removed several
gender discrimination barriers including
in the workplace so that women can
achieve the rights that men already
possess.
What rights have been put in
place for both men and women?
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The Equal Opportunities
Commission works to end
Gender discrimination in the
workplace.
The Equal Pay Act 1970 entitles
men and women to equal pay.
Thank you for listening
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