This essay is focused on gender inequality especially wage gap between male and female. A long history of wage gap has promoted a glass ceiling. It is necessary to review women's competences once again and conceive how the glass ceiling and pay gap could be solved.

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Module Code: LUBS 1765
Module Title: Business and Society (Social Theory)
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What distinct insights do feminist analyses offer to the sociology of work and employment?
The employment rate gap between male and female workers has been gradually shrinking
in recent years, in comparison with the rate in 1970’s. However, there are some elements
that we have to be aware. Feminists provide us with three distinct point of view about the
sociology of work and employment. In this essay, gender inequality by wage gap will be
explored first. After that, the gendered division of labour within households and global
society is explained. Finally, the glass ceilings which inhibit proceeding women’s
promotion will follow afterword.
A number of factors can be think as the major cause of the wage gap between men and
women. Yet, most major factors seem to be related to human capital theories. Razzu
(2014, p.3) illustrates this theory by saying that people who have plentiful work-experience
and desirable career with high length of skills and capacity are likely to be considered as
productive and eventually be successful in the labour market. To put it another way,
employee’s wage depends on the amount of work-experience and knowledge cultivated
through education. Human capital theory itself has often been criticised by some
sociologist and philosophers in that it might be linked to slavery in a negative sense (Tan,
2014). However, it possibly become a central issue for explaining the pay gap. For
example, Maume (1999) points that women’s lack of opportunity to develop as a
professional widen the pay gap in the long run. Razzu (2014, p.3) offer a convincing
argument that the pay gap has shrunk after women’s participation rate in education has
improved since 1960’s. Seeing the factor from the demand-side, on the other hand,
Gottfried (2007) argued that there were not a few female workers who could not earn the
same amount of money as men despite having enough educational background. Then,
massive amount of women sought female-typed jobs such as nurses and flight attendants,
which consequently led to a reduction of average wage for that types of occupations
(Gottfried, 2007). From this point of view, as Cunningham (2007) presents, human capital
theory explains investments in education and work-experience plays a pivotal role in
contributing to minimise gender inequality especially pay gap. Having clarified the
background of gender inequality by wage gap, we may now proceed to the discussion of
the significant matters that alleviate it. Paying attention to the proportion of participation in

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a trade union and a public sector by sex, the evidence shows that the higher rate of
women in a trade union as well as a public sector contributed to raise women’s wages
owing to the tendency for these organisations to aid women than men (Razzu, 2014, p.10).
Moreover, the higher women’s education level is, the less the pay gap, thus raising
women’s education levels should be promoted, which enhance women’s human capacity
and bring work-experience to them.
Women’s production activities have restricted due to its sex and roles as a woman, which
account for the gendered division of labour. It can divide into two possible causes of the
division of labour. Firstly, the amount of income of women has a close connection with the
division of labour within households. This relation could be clarified by introducing the fact
that the higher the income of women in comparison with their husbands, the higher the
frequency of participation in a housework by men (Cunningham, 2007, p.426). Secondly,
Cunningham (2007) point out that the extent of attendance to routine housework by men
depends on women’s employment. Also, these two components make it clear that steady
promotion in education and work-experience for women play a vital role not just in
alleviating wage gap but also in contributing to their housework by male employees based
on human capital theory. The reason for this is that women’s salary and employment hours
are prone to increase as education background or employment experience advances. This
is further backed up by Cunningham’s (2007) expectation that men’s participation in
housework is firmly connected to work-experience piled up by women. As for the
international division of labour, it is essential to consider the real situation of immigrant
workers and its treatment in global cities. Despite the fact that women’s participation in
employment has improved, not all women seem to be blessed with experience equal
division of labour. A large number of women migrate from poor countries which the
average wage is relatively low to developed countries in search of better-pay jobs.
Nevertheless, female immigrants’ options to work are limited in painstaking jobs such as
cleaning, child-rearing, laundry and home care (Gottfried, 2007, p.148). Thus, that they
just offer cheap labour cost, and most of their labour forces result in exploitation by
managers including elite women in rich countries due to its ethnicity and gender as a
consequence (Gottfried, 2007). It may be expected that their ethnicity and gender still

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inhibit equal division of labour in a global world, while the division of labour within
households could be improved by women’s active participation in labour market.
The female employment rate has risen since past decades but they still have difficulties in
achieving the position as an executive (Ezzedeen, Budworth and Baker, 2015). As a
fundamental issue, the research shows that insufficient opportunities to develop have
influenced on their access to executive positions (Davies, 2011). This is identical with a
factor of pay gap and the gendered division of labour which I have discussed so far.
Additionally, Davies (2011) also found that the tendency which women underestimate their
competence including their own skills, experience and accomplishments as a whole. It
might result from the fact that the number of successful role models as female workers is
still small and this causes perceived difficulties to be a leader in a company (Davies, 2011).
Another thing we have to bear in mind is that contemporary young women’s desires to
work at the position of executive has been becoming higher than in the past (Ezzedeen,
Budworth and Baker, 2015). Then, discovering what pre-career women’s career goals are
remains as a matter to be discussed further. It can be classified into three main groups;
women who target their own career goals on family, executive work, and work-family
balance (Ezzedeen, Budworth and Baker, 2015). Firstly, women who aim to establish
family-friendly career put emphasis on flexibility and stability. As a result, they tend to
compromise on the position of part-time or middle management (Ezzedeen, Budworth and
Baker, 2015). Next, those who focus on working as an executive have a strong desire to
achieve that position, however some of them feel guilty about their family (Ezzedeen,
Budworth and Baker, 2015). Therefore, there might be comparatively not a few women
who do not want to have children amongst this kind of women. Regarding those who aim
to balance job and their family, they are likely to have a desire to start their own business
so that they can achieve senior positons and have flexibility to maintain their families at the
same time (Ezzedeen, Budworth and Baker, 2015). Considering these aspects, it is
necessary to create the society that women can return to their position and be able to have
a hope to proceed to senior positions even after having children, which possibly leads to
break the glass ceilings.

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In conclusion, a lot of factors have brought gendered inequality and driven women into
unfair treatment such as pay gap, the gendered division of labour and the glass ceilings.
Amongst these factors, we can find a common factors; lack of opportunities to develop
which lead to inferiority of human capital. The inequality in pay gap can be solved by
increasing the proportion in public sectors and trade unions. In the matter of the gendered
division of labour, men’s contribution to a daily housework relies on women’s earnings and
employment hours. Thanks to an increment of the number of female workers working
outside their home, the division of labour has been equal and men and women tend to
cooperate with each other in recent years. On the other hand, immigrated woman are still
in a severe condition in a workplace in terms of the limited option for occupations and
incomes. Finally, the glass ceilings are also a crucial issue for women and a various things
hamper women’s promotion in a workplace. By and large, making the workplace more
gendered equally and comfortable place by eradicating bias toward women’s ability and
adopting policy that women can work freely after having children. These things we have
covered can be presented by feminists.
References
Cunningham, M. 2007. Influences of Women’s Employment on the Gendered Division of
Household Labor Over the Life Course. [Online]. Volume 28, No.3, p.422-444. [Accessed:
22.01.2016], Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367330/
Davies, M.E. 2011. Barriers to success. Women on boards. [Online]. [Accessed:
22.01.2016], Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/31480/11-
745-women-on-boards.pdf
Ezzedeen, R.S., Budworth, M.H. and Baker, D.S. 2015. The Glass Ceiling and Executive
Careers: Still an Issue for Pre-Career Women. [Online]. Volume 42(5), p.355-369.
[Accessed: 22.01.2016], Available from:
http://jcd.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/01/07/0894845314566943

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Gottfreid, H. 2006. Feminist Theories of Work. In: Korczynski, M. Hodson, R. and Edwards,
P. ed. Social theory at work. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.121-154
Manue, J.D. 1999. Glass Ceilings and Glass Escalators. Occupational Segregation and
Race and Sex Differences in Managerial Promotions. [Online]. Volume 26, No.4, p.483-
509. [Accessed: 22.01.2016], Available from:
http://wox.sagepub.com/content/26/4/483.short
Razzu, G. 2014. The Gender Pay Gap in the UK Labour Market. Gender Inequality in the
Labour Market in the UK. [Online]. [Accessed: 22.01.2016], Available from:
http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199686483.001.0001/acp
rof-9780199686483-chapter-3
Tan, E. 2014. Human Capital Theory: A Holistic Criticism. [Online]. Volume 84, No.3,
p.411–445. [Online]. [Accessed: 22.01.2016], Available from:
http://rer.sagepub.com/content/84/3/411.abstract