Gender issues in work and organizations

Tineke M. Willemsen; Annelies E. M. Van Vianen

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511801921.009

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9 - Gender issues in work and organizations

Tineke M. Willemsen and

Annelies E. M. Van Vianen

Edited by

Linda Steg ,

Abraham P. Buunk and

Talib Rothengatter

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Tineke M. Willemsen: Affiliation:
Tilburg University, Department of Social Sciences
Annelies E. M. Van Vianen: Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology
Linda Steg: Affiliation:
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
Abraham P. Buunk: Affiliation:
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
Talib Rothengatter: Affiliation:
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands

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Summary

Introduction

Gender stands for the expectations of an individual and others about what it means to be a man or a woman. Gender has been extensively studied in all fields of social psychology, for instance, in the psychology of health and mental health, education, criminality and political behaviour, to name just a few topics included in this book. The present chapter is about gender in work and organizational psychology. We first describe the societal context that gave rise to theories and research on gender and work. There are many differences between working men and women that often are disadvantageous for women. On average, women earn less than men for the same work, and have a lower probability of reaching top positions in organizations. We then focus on career-related decision making: women's own decisions and the decisions of others involved in selection and assessment. We pay special attention to women in management and leadership positions. After discussing the influence of the organizational context we finish by briefly discussing interventions that have been applied to change the relative position of men and women in organizations.

Women and men at work

Gender differences in the workplace concern both the amount of work and payment (quantitative differences) and the type of work (qualitative differences) that men and women perform.

Quantitative differences

Four quantitative differences characterize the working life of men and women. First, more men than women hold a paid job or earn an income.

Type: Chapter
Information: Applied Social Psychology
Understanding and Managing Social Problems
, pp. 206 - 225

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801921.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2008

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References

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