Page 421 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

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female workers in industry and services earned 25% less than males in
the European Union in 1995. In only four countries (Belgium, Denmark,
Luxembourg, and Sweden) was the average woman's wage as high as 85%
of a man's wage, and it was as low as 67% in Portugal, (Clarke, 2001). After
adjusting for age (as an indicator of seniority), occupation and economic
activity of employers, the average proportion of the gender earnings gap
was further reduced to 15% (Benassi, 1999). In practice, organizations are
allowed to justify their policies of pay inequity on the grounds of differ­
ential requirements for each gender. For instance, the courts in France and
Switzerland ruled that the gender disparity in pay in two specific law­
suits was lawful because it was based on objective factors (e.g., the men
had more skills, training, and experience than the women) and not gen­
der (International Labour Organisation, 1989). The French case involved
13 female workers who sued their employer for paying them at a lower
rate than 3 male employees working in the same job category (Court of
Cassation, 1988). The Swiss case involved a professional actress who was
paid 2,500 francs for her performance whereas other actors in the same
play received 4,000 francs (Federal Court, 1988).
Systematic Reasons for Discrimination Societal beliefs or cultural/
religious considerations often set the stage for the prevalence of discrim­
inatory attitudes and behaviors. For example, Japanese management tra­
ditionally regards women as secondary and supplementary employees,
calling them shokuba no hana ("office flowers"; Knapp, 1995) and discharg­
ing them whenever there are labor downturns (Brown, Nakata, Reich, &
Ulman, 1997). Such treatment is rooted in typical gender-role stereotypes in
Japan's postwar economy (e.g., men are economic warriors and breadwin­
ners; women are mainly responsible for household matters). In Indonesia,
the responsibility of women as citizens traditionally ranks last, after kodrat
wanita (wifely duties; Sullivan, 1983), burdening female managers with
significant work-family conflicts. In terms of work-related cultural values,
a typical Indonesian organization is strongly collectivistic, having high
power distance, high tolerance for uncertainty, and relative low masculin­
ity (Hofstede, 1979). This culture disapproves of ego motives, assertive
and competitive behaviors in women, and this fact is compounded with
emphasized values attached to marriage and motherhood. Therefore, In­
donesian career women tend to be judged as more selfish and neglectful
of family lifestyle than their male counterparts.
In Muslim countries, gender equality and equal treatment before the law
are not commonly practiced. Women in Malaysia are socially, politically,
and economically disadvantaged to men, generally being excluded from
many areas of public and private life (Hutchings, 1998). Despite the fact that
women have constitutional rights to work for pay, Yemen's governmental