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2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 541-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Lundsgaard Ottsen

Purpose As organizations aim to become increasingly diverse, it is important to understand how perspectives of potential future leaders vary across culture and gender. This study aims to advance the understanding of the persistent gender gap in management. Design/methodology/approach Samples from the gender-segregated Qatar and the co-ed Denmark present a unique opportunity to investigate the potential effects of gender. Here, 115 Middle Easterners and 121 Scandinavians rated perceived importance of job-related skills, networking upward and serendipity in leadership acquisition. Findings Effects of gender showed that compared to men, women across cultures expected that serendipity has less to do with leadership acquisition. Middle Eastern women also showed low expectations regarding networking with people in powerful positions. Nevertheless, both genders showed conviction of meritocracy by rating job-related skills as the most important factor in leadership acquisition. Cross-culturally, Scandinavians presumed job-related skills to be more important than Middle Easterners. Research limitations/implications Despite meritocracy beliefs, it appears that gender differences in perceived possibility of leadership acquisition contribute to the gender gap in management. Scandinavian women relied more on networking than Middle Eastern women, but still lacked faith in serendipitous opportunities compared to male peers. Perceived luck enhances achievement motivation. If men rely more on luck than women, then they are more confident in succeeding and more ambitious about pursuit of leadership. Women’s lack of faith in serendipity might affect their career ambitions negatively even in societies emphasizing equality. Originality/value This is the first study that directly focuses on gender differences in perception of opportunities for leadership acquisition through serendipity.

2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen’nan Ghazal Read ◽  
Megan M. Reynolds

This article draws on theories of gender inequality and immigrant health to hypothesize differences among the largest immigrant population, Mexicans, and a lesser known population of Middle Easterners. Using data from the 2000-2007 National Health Interview Surveys, we compare health outcomes among immigrants to those among U.S.-born whites and assess gender differences within each group. We find an immigrant story and a gender story. Mexican and Middle Eastern immigrants are healthier than U.S.-born whites, and men report better health than women regardless of nativity or ethnicity. We identify utilization of health care as a primary mechanism that contributes to both patterns. Immigrants are less likely than U.S.-born whites to interact with the health care system, and women are more likely to do so than men. Thus, immigrant and gender health disparities may partly reflect knowledge of health status rather than actual health.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 835-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Wei Luke Chu ◽  
Susan Linz

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find whether non-cognitive traits contribute to the gender gap in supervisory status and promotion. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a large employer-employee matched data set collected from six former socialist countries to assess the link between non-cognitive traits and upward mobility. Findings Controlling for workplace heterogeneity, the authors find that gender differences in locus of control, the preference for challenge vs affiliation, and adherence to work ethic together can explain about 7-18 percent of the gender gap in supervisory status and promotion. Originality/value Overall, non-cognitive traits provide an important, though modest, explanation for the gender gap in upward mobility.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 497-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Shaw ◽  
Catherine Cassell

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a piece of empirical work that examines gender differences in how academics make sense of performance within university business schools in the UK.Design/methodology/approachThe research reported draws on data collected using a life history and repertory grid methodology with male and female interviewees from two university business schools.FindingsThe findings are discussed in relation to how academics understand what is valued about their role and what they believe the organisation rewards and values when it comes to promotion. Gender differences are shown to exist in the ways women and men define the academic role and in what they think is important both to themselves and the institution.Originality/valueThe paper presents original data on gender differences within a business school context.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aristides Isidoro Ferreira ◽  
Joana Diniz Esteves

Purpose – Activities such as making personal phone calls, surfing on the internet, booking personal appointments or chatting with colleagues may or may not deviate attentions from work. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences and motivations behind personal activities employees do at work, as well as individuals’ perception of the time they spend doing these activities. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 35 individuals (M age=37.06 years; SD=7.80) from a Portuguese information technology company through an ethnographic method including a five-day non-participant direct observation (n=175 observations) and a questionnaire with open-ended questions. Findings – Results revealed that during a five-working-day period of eight hours per day, individuals spent around 58 minutes doing personal activities. During this time, individuals engaged mainly in socializing through conversation, internet use, smoking and taking coffee breaks. Results revealed that employees did not perceive the time they spent on non-work realted activities accurately, as the values of these perceptions were lower than the actual time. Moreover, through HLM, the findings showed that the time spent on conversation and internet use was moderated by the relationship between gender and the leisure vs home-related motivations associated with each personal activity developed at work. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on human resource management because it reveals how employees often perceive the time they spend on non-work related activities performed at work inaccurately. This study highlights the importance of including individual motivations when studying gender differences and personal activities performed at work. The current research discusses implications for practitioners and outlines suggestions for future studies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 179-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Lambert ◽  
Koon Leai Larry Tan ◽  
Kenneth Prandy ◽  
Vernon Gayle ◽  
Manfred Max Bergman

PurposeThis paper aims to present reasons why social classifications which use occupations should seek to adopt “specific” approaches which are tailored to the country, time period and gender of the subjects under study.Design/methodology/approachThe relative motivations for adopting a specific approach to social classifications are discussed and theoretical perspectives on specificity and empirical evidence on the contribution of specific approaches are reviewed. Also the practical costs of implementing specific social classifications are evaluated, and the authors' development of the “GEODE” data service (grid‐enabled occupational data environment), which seeks to assist this process, is discussed.FindingsSpecific approaches make a non‐trivial difference to the conclusions drawn from analyses of occupation‐based social classifications. It is argued that the GEODE service has reduced the practical challenges of implementing specific measures.Research limitations/implicationsThere remain conceptual and pragmatic challenges in working with specific occupation‐based social classifications. Non‐specific (“universal”) measures are adequate for many purposes.Practical implicationsThe paper argues that there are few excuses for ignoring specific occupation‐based social classifications.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates that recent technological developments have shifted the balance in the long‐standing debate between universal and specific approaches to occupation‐based social classifications.


2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 410-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inmaculada Carrasco

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to contribute to knowledge on innovation from a gender perspective, and to investigate how environment affects the process of innovation by women. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical study uses a Structural Equations Model of a Partial Least Squared (PLS) technique. Data of 40 countries from around the world were collected from 2008. Findings – Institutional environment matters for innovative activity by women. An innovative thinking is required for integrating the gender perspective in innovative milieus in order to enrich, diversify and promote stronger innovation activities, mobilising unexploited opportunities for managers in the business sector, and for policy makers in the public one. Research limitations/implications – A new sex-disaggregated dataset will allow us to enlarge and improve upon this study. A longitudinal study would be extremely useful, but for the moment, there are no available data of this kind. Practical implications – Policies designed to reduce the gap for women in innovation activities have to fight against gender segregation in the job market and gender differences in education and training. They must increase flexibility in the workplace, provide more help to conciliate family and working lives, and reduce the gap in family responsibilities taken on by women. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the cross-over of knowledge between innovation and gender, and reduces the lack of information on how external factors may impact innovative behaviour by gender.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Medhat Endrawes ◽  
Shane Leong ◽  
Kenan M. Matawie

Purpose This study aims to examine whether accountability and culture have an impact on auditors’ professional scepticism. It also examines whether culture moderates the effect of accountability on auditors’ professional scepticism. Design/methodology/approach Three of the Big 4 firms in Australia and Egypt participated in an audit judgement experiment, which required them to indicate their beliefs about the risk of fraud and error at the planning stage of a hypothetical audit and evaluate the truthfulness of explanations provided by the client management. The authors examined whether their professional scepticism was influenced by accountability. Findings The results indicate professional scepticism differs significantly between cultures in some situations. The fact that culture influences scepticism suggests that even when auditors use the same standards (such as ISA 240 and ISA 600), they are likely to be applied inconsistently, even within the same firm. The authors, therefore, recommend that international bodies issue additional guidance on cultural values and consider these cultural differences when designing or adopting auditing standards. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines whether culture moderates the impact of accountability on auditors’ professional scepticism using Egyptian and Australian (Middle Eastern and Western) auditors. Prior literature suggests that individuals subject to accountability pressure increase their cognitive effort and vigilance to detect fraud and error. As the authors find evidence that culture moderates accountability pressure and as accountability affects scepticism, they add to the literature suggesting that culture can influence professional scepticism.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Paul Louis Veissière

Purpose This paper aims to take the “toxic masculinity” (TM) trope as a starting point to examine recent cultural shifts in common assumptions about gender, morality and relations between the sexes. TM is a transculturally widespread archetype or moral trope about the kind of man one should not be. Design/methodology/approach The author revisits his earlier fieldwork on transnational sexualities against a broader analysis of the historical, ethnographic and evolutionary record. The author describes the broad cross-cultural recurrence of similar ideal types of men and women (good and bad) and the rituals through which they are culturally encouraged and avoided. Findings The author argues that the TM trope is normatively useful if and only if it is presented alongside a nuanced spectrum of other gender archetypes (positive and negative) and discussed in the context of human universality and evolved complementariness between the sexes. Social implications The author concludes by discussing stoic virtue models for the initiation of boys and argues that they are compatible with the normative commitments of inclusive societies that recognize gender fluidity along the biological sex spectrum. Originality/value The author makes a case for the importance of strong gender roles and the rites and rituals through which they are cultivated as an antidote to current moral panics about oppression and victimhood.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farinaz Fassa

Purpose – Discussing the Swiss case, the purpose of this paper is to examine how gender equality policies deal with the present requirements for scholars to be considered “excellent”. It aims to pinpoint the lines of tension or coherence between excellence, meritocracy and gender politics. Design/methodology/approach – In order to specify the norms of academic careers and their different renditions, the author draws on two studies (at local and national levels) to illustrate where the changes and resistances are taking place. Findings – The translations of a number of demands of feminist movements into the policies set up to favour equality between the sexes may combine to challenge the norms of academia as a gendered realm. Nevertheless, without strong pressure from feminists at local level and the conduct of research pursuing the enterprise of deconstructing norms, top-down policies may prove less “corrective” than affirmative action. This pressure is not only useful to build gender equality in science but also to broaden the spectrum of knowledge that can become a common good. Research limitations/implications – As neither the names nor the positions of the experts who select the candidates at national level are made public, we had to opt for other, less satisfactory means. Originality/value – The originality of the paper lies in the link made between the enhancements brought by Equalities policies and the changes they bring. It attempts to bring to light the extent to which gender equality policies conform to the neo-managerial order or challenge its norms to build a world that is more just.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tavleen Kaur Dhandra ◽  
Hyun Jung Park

Purpose This paper aims to examine the ethical beliefs of consumers with regards to their levels of mindfulness. Furthermore, it aims to investigate if mindfulness is related to gender differences among respondents in their ethical beliefs about consumer unethical practices. Design/methodology/approach University students in India were surveyed with self-administered questionnaires comprising the consumer ethics scale and mindfulness attention awareness scale. Mediation analysis was conducted to test whether gender differences in ethical judgements are due to the different levels of mindfulness. Findings The results indicate that mindfulness is not only a predictor of ethical beliefs but also a mediator of the relationship between gender and ethical beliefs. Individuals with greater mindfulness reported greater acceptance towards the five dimensions of consumer ethics scale. Indian male participants were found to be more mindful and lenient in ethical judgements than female participants. Originality/value The present work is a novel attempt in examining the effect of mindfulness on the relationship between gender and ethical beliefs of consumers. The results of this study can have positive implications for organizations, managers, public policy makers and consumers.


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