Chapter 7
Employment
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Women’s Employment Rates and
Occupational Choices
Employment rates
Dramatic increase in women’s labor force participation in
recent decades
1970: 30% of married women with children under age 6 in
paid labor force
2007: 62% of married women with children under age 6 in
paid labor force
Explanations for increased participation
Women’s movement
Higher educational attainment
Economic necessity
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Women’s Employment Rates and
Occupational Choices
Occupational choices
20 occupations with lowest percentage of women:
construction, installation, maintenance, repair; production;
transportation
20 occupations with highest percentage of women: health
care, office and administrative work, teaching, caring for
young children
Other dimensions of occupational segregation by gender
Occupational segregation by ethnicity
Ethnic differences among women not as great as gender
differences
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Gender Differences in
Leadership and Job Advancement
Leadership positions
Women constitute half of paid labor force, but very few of top
leadership positions
Glass escalator: Even in female-dominated fields, men
often earn more and are promoted faster
Glass ceiling: Invisible but powerful barriers that prevent
women from advancing beyond a certain level
Glass cliff: Women leaders more likely to be given units with
high risk of failure
Token women often are perceived and treated negatively
Sticky floor: Women have little or no job ladder, or path, to
higher positions
Maternal wall: Women get less desirable assignments,
lower salaries, and more limited advancement opportunities
once they become mothers (Rhode & Williams, 2007)
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Gender Differences in
Leadership and Job Advancement
Barriers that hinder women’s advancement
Limited mentors and social networks
Discrimination: Unfavorable treatment based on gender
Stereotypes
Successful manager seen as having male gender-stereotypic
traits
Discrimination against women managers who are not
“feminine”
In-group favoritism
Perceived threat
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Gender Differences in
Leadership and Job Advancement
Women as leaders
Three types of leaders
Transformational: Set high standards and serve as role models
by mentoring and empowering their subordinates
More characteristic of women leaders
Linked to higher ratings of effectiveness
Transactional: Clarify workers’ responsibilities, monitor their
work, reward them for meeting objectives, correct their
mistakes
More characteristic of men leaders
Laissez-faire: Take little responsibility for managing
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Gender Differences in Salaries
Comparative salaries
In 2009, women earned 77 cents for each dollar men earned
Salary discrepancies by gender and ethnicity
Salary discrepancies by gender and age
Salary discrepancies by gender, ethnicity, and education
Salary discrepancies within selected occupations
Cumulative effect of gender pay gap
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Gender Differences in Salaries
Reasons for differences in salaries
Gender differences in investments in the job
Salaries reflect investments in human capital; because of family
responsibilities, women, relative to men, reduce their investment
in their education and jobs
Occupational segregation
Women’s occupations devalued relative to men’s
Salary negotiations
Women less likely to bargain
Wage discrimination
Differential payment for work that has equal or very similar value
to employer
Motherhood penalty
Mothers earn significantly less than childless women, even with
comparable education, work experience, and job characteristics
Fatherhood wage premium
Fathers earn more than men without children
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Women’s Job Satisfaction
Gender differences in satisfaction
No gender differences in overall job satisfaction
Many sources of satisfaction
Paradox of the contented female worker
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Women’s Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction of sexual minorities
Workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation
Related to lower satisfaction, higher psychological distress
Concerns about coming out
Benefits
Drawbacks
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The Older Woman Worker
Employment rates
Why do older women work?
Entering the workforce in later life
Age discrimination in the workplace
Double standard of aging
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Changing the Workplace
Organizational procedures and policies
Pay equity: pay policies based on workers’ worth, not their
gender or ethnicity
Affirmative action: positive steps taken by employing agency
to ensure that workplace provides equal opportunity for all
Misperceptions of affirmative action
Effectiveness of affirmative action
Other organizational procedures
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Changing the Workplace
Strategies for women
Get access to information
Join with others who experience similar inequities
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Retirement
The retirement decision
Factors that influence the decision to retire
Gender differences in experiences of retirement
Effect of work identity on women’s retirement decision
Reasons for early retirement
Health
Caregiver role
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Retirement
Adjustment to retirement
Initial time of marital conflict
Eventual good adjustment
Women may take longer
Associated with good health, adequate income, high
activity level
Effects of multiple roles
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Retirement
Leisure activities in retirement
Gender differences
Women: social activities, crafts
Men: physical activities, spectator sports
Factors affecting leisure activity
Age
Amount of free time
Availability of transportation and programs
Varieties of leisure activity
Pursue interests or more education
Volunteer
Become an advocate or activist
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Economic Issues in Later Life
Poverty
Income gap between women and men increases in retirement
Lower lifetime earnings for women
Reduced time in labor force
Less accumulated income from savings and investments
Marital status
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Economic Issues in Later Life
Retirement income: Planning ahead
Social Security
Spousal benefits
Dual entitlement
Pensions
Work patterns
Vesting
Nonportability
Spousal benefits
Savings and investments
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