Page 194 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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7. GENDER DISCRIMINATION
of the status and pay level of a job is the proportion of women holding
that job (England, Herbert, Kilbourne, Reid, & Medgal, 1994). The more
women found in a particular job, the lower the average pay, the lower its
status (Rantalaiho, Heiskanen, Korvajarvi, & Vehvilainen, 1997), and the
lower the mobility prospects to mid- and upper-level leadership positions
(cf. Martin & Harkreader, 1993).
Occupational sex segregation is increasingly obvious the higher in the
organization one goes. Women are particularly underrepresented in top
management positions (Powell, 1999). For example, women only make up
12.4% of Fortune 500 board directors. When representation in the seven
highest corporate titles (e.g., chief executive officer, president, senior exec­
utive vice-president) is scrutinized, women merely occupied 7.9% of these
positions as of 1999 (Catalyst, 2002). Furthermore, the Federal Glass Ceil­
ing Commission concluded that equally qualified women are being denied
advancement to top levels in organizations on the basis of gender (Cotter,
Hermsen, Ovadia, & Vanneman, 2001). The roots of occupational segrega­
tion are likely to be linked both directly and indirectly to societal definitions
of sex roles. Boys and girls (and later men and women) are bombarded with
messages from numerous sources that define the behaviors that are valued
and expected of men and women. These messages influence choices made
early in one's working life, and even choices before one enters the work­
force (e.g., the decision to take or avoid math classes in high school) that
can in turn affect a wide range of work outcomes. Differences in men's
and women's educational backgrounds, aspirations, and accomplish­
ments may substantially affect their later occupational choices (McCall,
2001).
Structures of Work and Structures of Family Consistent with the notion of
a gendered workplace is the idea that the normative structure of work may
have differential implications for men and women. For example, face time
is an important part of work. Even with technology that allows telecom­
muting, it is still important to be seen at one's workplace. This creates
problems for those (predominantly women) who telecommute in order
to care for young children in their homes. Furthermore, technology has
been instrumental in nurturing consumers' expectations for immediate
turnaround for information, which results is an increasingly 24/7 society
and economy (Presser, 2000). For this reason, many emerging jobs require
nontraditional work hours or shift work. Many of these jobs involve lower
pay and are often held by women. Likewise, the overwhelming major­
ity of part-time work is carried out by women. Nontraditional hours and
part-time work have significant and less positive career implications for
incumbents, including the lack of benefits (e.g., no family leaves, lack of
medical coverage, absence of retirement benefits). Further, the normative