Work is a social institution that is not gender neutral. Certain types of work and expectations of work differ between sexes. Work is often understood as a masculine institution, where a man's identity and status is tied to his employment, while women face greater stigma if they work rather than care for family. There are also wage gaps between men and women, with women earning less even with similar qualifications and experience. Organizational structures are often not gender neutral and can disadvantage women through issues like segregation of work and unequal pay and status.
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Cms498.chapter9
1. The Institution of Work
& Gender
Chapter 9
Garret McAlpine
CMS 498
7/24/2012
2. Work as a Social Institution
The meaning of work is not universal. Certain types of
work exist that are not really gender neutral.
The notion of “work” as something that occurs outside of
the home is a Western bias.
Work expectations are not consistent across sexes. It is not
a gender or sex-neutral institution.
3. Masculine VS Feminine
Work is best understood as a masculine
institution.
In some ways, a man is not considered a
man unless he is gainfully employed.
Work persists across time, composed of
distinct social practices that recur.
4. Masculine VS Feminine
The work or job a man does is a major part of his identity
and defines his level of manliness.
Every male U.S. citizen is expected to work, to become a “tax
paying citizen.”
Predominantly, male occupations possess more social value as
indicated by things like higher pay, more authority, prestige
and greater opportunities for advancement.
5. Masculine VS Feminine
While many men and women who are parents also choose to work, there is
less stigma around the father going to work every day as opposed to the
mother who must put her children in day care and therefore open to greater
criticism.
Women who have had to rely on welfare to raise their children are considered
“bad mothers” because they remain at home and collect a check from the
state instead of work full-time, even though full-time work may not be an
option.
6. Masculine VS Feminine
Many job titles often have unnecessary gender labels assigned to them. Even
if the job is considered gender neutral, there are societal expectations that the
majority of workers in these various positions are predominantly either male
or female, depending on the work.
Things like “male nurse”, “landlady” (instead of landlord), “female judge”,
“male model” and so on. Each of these jobs as they stand alone do not define
gender expectations in their respective roles. However, some feel it’s necessary
to identify the gender specifics when discussing work labels so as not to
confuse the recipient of the wording. It is not necessarily true that nurses or
flight attendants are mostly female, therefore it creates the necessity to
identify individuals who choose to work in those fields who do not fit gender
expectations.
8. Gender & Work
“Female” Judge
“Female” Construction Worker
“Female” Fire Fighter
9. Work VS Family
There is an intersection in the U.S. between
work and family, often the cause of conflict.
Work and family are two separate institutions
with differing goals, values and demands.
Rapidly increasing time stress in U.S. culture
causes many to choose work over family for the
rewards it often promises.
13. Gender & Wage
The Census Bureau recently released updated state data on the gap between women’s
and men’s earnings. In 2008, median earnings for women were $35,471, or 77.9
percent of men’s earnings, which totaled $45,556.
Women earned less than men in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia
— but slightly more than men in Puerto Rico, where the median woman made 101.1
percent of what the median man made. Within the 50 states and the capital, the
District of Columbia had the highest ratio of women’s-to-men’s earnings (88 cents on
the dollar), followed by California, Arizona, Maryland and New York.The biggest
wage gap was in Wyoming, where women earned 64.3 percent of men’s earnings.
14. Top 10 Facts About The Wage Gap
1. In 2010 women who worked full time, year round, still only earned 77 percent
of what men earned.
2. The gender wage gap does not only affect individuals—entire families are
impacted by women’s earnings
3. Women earn less than men within all racial and ethnic groups.
4. Even though women are outpacing men in getting college degrees that’s not
enough to close the gender pay gap.
5. Women are more likely to work in low-wage, “pink-collar” jobs such as
teaching, child care, nursing, cleaning, and waitressing.
15. Top 10 Facts About The Wage Gap
6. The wage gap accumulates over time. Over a 40-year working career, the
average woman loses $431,000 as the result of the wage gap.
7. As women age the wage gap continues to grow. For working women between
the ages of 25 to 29, the annual wage gap is $1,702.
8. Single women are even more adversely affected by the wage gap than married
women. Single women earn only 78.8 percent of what married women earn,
and only 57 cents for every dollar that married males earn.
9. More than 40 percent of the wage gap cannot be explained by occupation,
work experience, race, or union membership.
10. Mothers earn about 7 percent less per child than childless women. For
women under 35 years of age, the wage gap between mothers and women
without children is greater than the gap between women and men.
16. Work & Gender Constraints
Evidence of unequal pay and treatment based
on sex is undeniable.
Joan Acker pioneered a study of the way work is
gendered through structure.
Her research concluded that “organizational
structure is not gender neutral.”
17. Acker’s Five Reasons for Gender & Organization
1. The sex segregation of work, including which work is paid and
unpaid.
2. Income and status inequality between women and men and how
this is created through organizational structure.
3. How organizations invent and reproduce cultural images of sex
and gender.
4. The way in which gender, particularly masculinity, is the product
of organizational processes.
5. The need to make organizations more democratic and more
supportive of humane goals.
18. Acker’s Five Reasons for Gender & Organization
Represent five intersecting processes that make
issues of power, control and dominance
gendered.
Her pioneering research focused on the way in
which work is gendered through organizational
structure.
19. Conclusion
There is a direct correlation between gender and an unequal pay scale. The difference has
existed for a very long time, even with factors like higher education, the fact remains that men
statistically earn more than women for the same job.
Perceptions and expectations of gender play a role in how a hierarchy of power is formed.
Who plays what role is determined by gender before other things, and expectations and
relationships with co-workers and boss/employee can change based on that.
Despite equal ability, education, intellect and proficiency, race also plays a role in the gender
wage gap. Work can constrain as well as liberate.
Everyone works, despite their gender identity. “If one does not work, that in itself is a basis for
judgment.” (pg. 215) However, race and gender and being a parent all affect income levels
across various jobs and industries.
What we choose to do for a career is a large part of our identity, and gender plays a vital role
in that. The work itself “genders and is gendered”.
