Women and Work

1. Women and Work A. Obstacles in the Workforce

2. Sexual Segregation • Men and women typically inhabit different types of jobs.  The female dominated professions typically make less money when matched on level of education (i.e., blue collar vs. white collar jobs). • Examples. • “Pink collar” professions. • Part-time jobs with low pay and few benefits.

3. Women, Women, Men, Early Late or No Early Babies Babies Babies Tenured Professors 53% 65% 77% Second Tier Part-Time, 2-Year Faculty, Non-Ten. 47% 35% 23% Track, Acad. Researchers, and Still Tenure Track Heads and Necks of Science PhD Recipients* N=2848 N=3057 N=13058 *PhDs from 1978-1984 Who Are Working in Academia 12 to 14 Years Out from PhD Source: Survey of Doctorate Recipients. Sciences, 1979-1999. Note: The use of NSF Data does not imply the endorsement of research methods or conclusions contained in this report.

6. Sexual Segregation (cont.) • Reasons? • Stereotypes • Role of women in general. • Qualities required for certain professions. • Eccles’ Expectation x Value model. • Guidance Counselors • Null environment = women are not encouraged or discouraged, but ignored

7. Sexual Segregation (cont.) • Women in Non-Traditional Fields • Characteristics • Greene & Stitt-Gohdes (1997) • Tokenism • When there is less than 15% of the employees are members of a certain group (e.g., women). • Problems that arise include over-accentuating differences and sexual harassment

8. Hiring • Gatekeepers = the people in charge of hiring. • Predictors of discrimination in hiring • Buttner and McEnally (1996).

9. Pay inequity • Women still 77 cents for every dollar men make. • http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/01/business/20090301_WageGap.html

10. Explanations • Human capital perspective = Salaries reflect human capital (e.g., education and work experience) (Bergmann, 2007) • Salary Negatiation (Babock & Laschever, 2008) • Less likely to do. • Has a sizeable effect on earnings long term. • Job segregation. • Comparable worth = people should be paid equally for jobs with equivalent responsibility, ed. requirements, level Of organization, and required experience

11. Women's Earnings as a Percentage of Men's, 1951–2007 (for year-round, full-time work)

12. The earnings gap in selected professions (annual median salaries)Source: U.S. Department of Labor, 2006

13. In Promotion • The Glass Ceiling. • A woman can generally expect to be promoted only up to a certain point. She then “hits her head on a glass ceiling.” • Sample Evidence? • In 2008, 2.4% of Fortune 500 companies ran by women. • In 2008, 17% of Senate and House seats were occupied by women (vs. 83% men).

14. In Promotion (cont.) • Causes? • A training and experience catch 22? • Social-networking and mentoring. --Agency vs. Communion double-bind. • Women w/ both characteristics tend to fare best (Eagly & Carli, 2007). • Role Strain? • Emotional or physical health problems resulting from attempting to simultaneously meet the competing demands of multiple roles.

15. Women and Work B. The Second Shift (Horschild, 1989)

16. The Second Shift • Because of continued division of labor, women on average work 15 hours more than men. • Gilbert & Rader (2001).   • Scarcity hypothesis = excessive role responsibilities can lead to stress. • Enhancement hypothesis = each added role provides added benefits (e.g., social status, self-esteem, etc.) I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career.  - Gloria Steinem

17. Research on Scarcity vs. Enhancement Hypotheses • Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001. • The less husbands are involved in childcare and chores, the more the employed mothers report stress and depression. • Crosby & Sabbatini, 2006. • Multiple roles provide a buffer against stress and depression.

18. Solutions? • Parental leave. • Egalitarian divisions of labor. • Housework. - Gordon & Whelan-Berry, 2005 • Childcare. • Percentage of childcare tasks (Hoffman, 2000) • Daycare. • Daycare and attachment style (Sagi et al., 2002):

19. Gordon & Whelan-Berry, 2005