Addressing the “gender gap” in the managerial labour market

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 942-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooran Wynarczyk

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the “gender management gap” in the scientific labour market in the North East of England. The paper seeks to compare and contrast employment, ownership, management structure and capacity between men and women in the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) sector.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical investigation is based on a survey of 60 SET‐based small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), operating in the North East of England.FindingsThe results show that women are particularly under‐represented in managerial and senior positions of scientific nature in the private sector in the North East of England. The “glass ceiling” effect appears to be widespread.Research limitations/implicationsThere are very limited empirical data and research on the nature and level of participation of women in the scientific managerial labour market at firm level in the UK. There is a need for more rigorous research at firm and regional levels to examine the cumulative effects of underlying factors that prevent women from progression, beyond the “glass ceiling”, in the scientific labour market.Practical implicationsThis paper builds upon a research project funded by the ESRC Science in Society Programme. The key findings have resulted in a subsequent award from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Grants to establish the “North East Role Model Platform for Innovative Women” in the light of the Science City Initiative.Originality/valueThe “gender management gap” in the scientific labour market in the North East of England has not, empirically, been investigated before and appears to be a highly neglected area of public policy and research.

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 655-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Warren

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that the application of social policy in the North East of England is often characterised by tension and conflict. The agencies and professionals charged with implementation of Westminster driven policies constantly seek to deploy their knowledge of local conditions in order to make them both practical and palatable. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the region via established literature from history, geography, sociology and social policy. The paper gives illustrations via empirical work which has evaluated initiatives to improve the health of long term health-related benefit recipients and to sustain individuals in employment in the region. Findings Central to the paper’s argument is the notion of “biographies of place”. The core of this idea is that places have biographies in the same way as individuals and possess specific identities. These biographies have been shaped by the intersections between environment, history, culture and economic and social policy. The paper identifies the region’s economic development, subsequent decline and the alliance of labour politics and industrial employers around a common consensus that sought economic prosperity and social progress via a vision of “modernisation” as a key component of this biography. Originality/value The paper argues that an appreciation of these spatial biographies can result in innovative and more effective social policy interventions with the potential to address issues that affect entire localities.


Significance Although many recent jihadist attacks have occurred in border regions with Niger (to the north of Borno State) or Cameroon (to the east of Borno and neighbouring Adamawa State), the Maiduguri attack underscores that security in Borno’s major towns is tenuous. Impacts Already faltering efforts to resettle displaced persons could be further complicated if the security situation degrades in Maiduguri. The new service chiefs’ attention will be overstretched as they also attempt to respond to worsening insecurity in the north-west. With general elections in 2023, there is no immediate political outlet for public frustration with authorities’ poor handling of security.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 933-949
Author(s):  
Rosalia Castellano ◽  
Antonella Rocca

PurposeThis paper investigates the causes of the gender gap in the labour market that cannot be explained by classical human capital theory.Design/methodology/approachTo this end, the authors integrate the Gender Gap in the Labour Market Index (GGLMI), a composite index developed in previous research, with further information on some social aspects that could affect the female work commitment, directly or indirectly. In particular, the authors want to verify if family care and home duties, still strongly unbalanced against women, and the welfare system play a significant role in the gender gap.FindingsResults highlight a very complex scenario, characterized by the persistence of gender inequalities everywhere, even if at different degrees, with very strong imbalances in the time spent at work in response to the family commitments.Research limitations/implicationsThe actual determinants of gender disparities in the labour market are very difficult to identify because of the lack of adequate data and the difficulties in measuring some factors determining female behaviour. The additional information used in this research can only partially accomplish this task.Originality/valueHowever, for the first time, this paper uses information on different aspects and causes of the gender gap, including proxies of mainly unobservable aspects, in order to achieve at least partial measurement of this phenomenon.


Author(s):  
Pauline Leonard ◽  
Rachel J. Wilde

This chapter explores the rise of the concept of employability and how it has influenced policy and practical interventions to address unemployment. It explores how the concept has been understood as a threshold for labour market readiness or as a process of continual skills development necessary in a flexible labour market. It argues that employability is frequently utilised in neoliberalising forms of governmentality, shifting responsibility of gaining work onto the individual, rather than considering the various external and structural factors that affect employment prospects. A case study of an employability programme in the North East explores the practices through which the discourse of employability acts upon individuals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (12) ◽  
pp. 3119-3134
Author(s):  
Davide Menozzi ◽  
Corrado Finardi

Purpose A major earthquake and aftershocks have hit the North-East part of Italy in May 2012, and caused 26 deaths and diffuse economic damage in the localised agri-food system (LAFS) of Parmigiano-Reggiano protected designation of origin (PDO), including several dairy warehouses. In the broad mobilization to help the stricken people, the LAFS actors played a primary role, giving rise to the sales of “Parmigiano-Reggiano damaged by the earthquake” (PR-T). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main determinants of PR-T purchasing using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Design/methodology/approach A survey on 200 consumers was performed. Data were collected with face-to-face interviews in stores and markets where the PR-T has been sold, and analyzed by structural equation modelling. Findings The TPB model predictors accounted for 52 per cent of the variance of intentions to purchase PR-T in the future and 21 per cent of the variance of behaviour. Perceived behavioural control is the main predictor of intention and behaviour, indicating that making easier the access to key resources and increasing people’s capability seems a major aspect to reach the intended goals. Trust in producers and retailers communication, positive image of the PDO label, sense of belonging to the region of origin and socio-demographics, i.e. age and educational levels, are correlated with intention and behaviour. The food scare flare up in the media was not a reason impeding purchasing PR-T. Originality/value These findings show the solidarity aspects underlying the collective purchases of PR-T in the aftermath of the 2012 earthquake waves, and the importance of increasing people’s capability and trust to reach the goal of facing dreadful food scares effectively.


1967 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-279
Author(s):  
I. M. Lewis

This seminar was held at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, under the general chairmanship of Dr I. M. Lewis of University College, London. It was organised by Dr Richard Pankhurst and ProfessorJ. Comhaire, with financial assistance from the British Ministry of Overseas Development. The seminar was attended by anthropologists currently engaged in field-work and by members of the Haile Selassie I University's Faculties of Arts, Law, Medicine, Business Administration, and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, as well as staff of the Ministry of Community Development and Public Health. A number of visiting scholars, including Professor V. L. Grottanelli, participated in the meeting. Reports were received on field-work in Somalia and the Sudan as well as in Ethiopia: and the following papers were given: Dr D. Hecht on ‘Sacred Kingship in Africa’Fekadu Gedamu on ‘The Social Organisation of the Kistane Gurage’; J. Stauder on ‘The Social Organisation of the Mahangir’Dr. M. Lewis on ‘Possession Cults in Northern Somalia’A. Orent on ‘The Doce Cult in Kaffa’Virginia Luling on ‘Spirit-possession Cults in Mogadiscio’Terefe Walde Tsadik on ‘The Muyat Cult in Shoa’R. Hallpike on ‘Status of Craftsmen among the Konso’M. Cittadini on ‘Kunama Marriage’and J. Lisowski on ‘Biometrics of N.E. African Migrations’. Development papers were given by P. Sand on ‘Law as a Factor of Social Change’G. Savard on ‘Social Factors in Development’M. de Young on ‘Markets in Ethiopia’S. Messing on ‘Medical Attitudes and Practices in Ethiopia’and R. Bahar on ‘Rural Housing in Ethiopia’.


Significance Boko Haram has been severely weakened by the regional military offensive underway since February. With some assistance from Nigerian soldiers, troops from Chad, Cameroon and Niger have forced the insurgents to retreat from the majority of areas under their control. Completing the defeat of Boko Haram -- at least as a guerrilla force -- will be one of the incoming administration's first priorities. Impacts The incoming government will seek to fund pledges to accelerate reconstruction and rehabilitation of the north-east. However, it is set to inherit a cash-strapped economy, after one of Nigeria's most expensive elections. As laid out by the respected Borno state governor, substantial international aid assistance will be required. Such reconstruction work will also be important to allow the return of tens of thousands of refugees.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 801-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjun Liu ◽  
Tomokazu Nomura ◽  
Shoji Nishijima

Purpose This paper investigates discrimination against women within the Brazilian labour market using firm-level data from the World Bank Investment Climate Survey. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the female employees in the Brazilian labour market are paid less than their productivity warrants due to the existence of discrimination. Design/methodology/approach Based on employer discrimination model proposed by Becker (1971) that considered the proportion of female employees as a proxy for the extent of discrimination, the authors estimate the profit function using OLS analysis, and regress it on the proportion of female employees and other firm characteristics. To address the endogeneity problem caused by unobservable productivity shocks, the authors employed the methods proposed by Olley and Pakes (1996) and Levinsohn and Petrin (2003), respectively. Findings The results indicate that the proportion of female employees has positive effect on firms’ profit in 2002, but has no effect in 2007. This finding gives evidence of the existence of discrimination against female employees within the Brazilian labour market in the early 2000s, while the gender discrimination was reduced overtime. Originality/value This paper’s main contribution is to provide an approach that differs from that of previous research to determine whether discrimination exists within the Brazilian labour market. This paper also provides policy insights for Brazilian labour market.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 746-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Eamets ◽  
Krista Jaakson

Purpose – Recent economic recession has highlighted the role of labour market flexibility as a key factor of competitiveness of a country. Despite the fact that labour mobility can essentially be seen as part of labour market flexibility, there is notable research gap concerning spatial mobility and other facets of labour market flexibility. The purpose of this special issue is to fill these gaps. Design/methodology/approach – The papers in the special issue represent various quantitative methods and databases, whereas mainly micro data (workplace, labour force or immigrant surveys, job search portal, etc.) is used. However, the type of labour market flexibility addressed is both micro- and macro-level. Findings – It is demonstrated that labour occupational mobility is determined by the business cycle, numerical flexibility, occupational categories, and sector. Spatial mobility may have counterintuitive effects on individual occupational mobility depending on gender and it is related to various flexibilities in the workplace. It is also suggested that different types of flexibilities on a firm level are interdependent of each other. Originality/value – The special issue adds to the labour market related knowledge by integrating labour market flexibility and mobility. Individually, both phenomena have been studied before, but not much research is devoted to their inter-linkages. The special issue also contributes by examining labour market flexibility and spatial mobility in the context of different countries, economic cycles, and institutional settings.


1994 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Cumbers

This paper examines the nature of the new forms of work and employment brought to the North East of England by the development of offshore construction activities, serving the North Sea's oil and gas industries in the period since the early 1970s. In particular, it assesses the extent to which these activities differ from traditional forms of work and employment organisation within the region. The results of this analysis suggest the need to interpret contemporary patterns of restructuring, both in a particular local labour market context and more generally, as part of an on-going evolutionary process, rather than as a decisive break (or shift) from the past.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document