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9 - Gender issues in work and organizations
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- By Tineke M. Willemsen, Tilburg University, Department of Social Sciences, Annelies E. M. Van Vianen, University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology
- Edited by Linda Steg, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands, Abraham P. Buunk, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands, Talib Rothengatter, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
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- Book:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Published online:
- 05 June 2012
- Print publication:
- 11 September 2008, pp 206-225
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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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.