Gender-Word-Identity conflict and perceived equality at the job level: Implications for diversity management

Research shows that values inherent in some professions such as medicine, law and government are directly in conflict with those associated typically to women (Fox and Hesse-Biber, 1984); explained by traditional labour divisions defined by the two sexes where those roles more higher up in these organisations require more ‘masculine’ traits including less prioritisation for out of work family time (Sacharin et al, 2009). The salience of masculine-work-gender identity traits would increase gender work identity conflict for those in the minority identities in these cotexts (i.e. for women). It is well understood that a felt sense of discrimination can arise when there is an incompatibility or conflict in gender and work identity (Meeussen et al, 2016; Branscombe and Ellemers, 1998; Tajfel and Turner’s, 1979; Turner et al, 1987). And can have an imapct on career success (Sacharin et al, 2009) wellbeing (Ashforth and Meael, 1989), improved job satisfaction (Veldman et al, 2017) and group belonging (Driscoll and Goldberg, 1993) at the job level. Therefore we argue that the reduction in gender work identity conflict at the job level can decrease perceived discrimination generally; that this can be achieved at the job-level through organising aspects of work to be congruent with one’s preferred gender. This can also improve wellbeing and perceived equality and a system of emic equality practices to help reduce hidden inequalities at the individual level (Syed 2007, Groutsis, Ng et al. 2014, Öztürk, Tatli et al. 2015, Knappert, van Dijk et al.
2019; Wimalasiri, 2021). To investigate this, we undertook a study in IT sales work where traditional gendered roles are
known to co-exist in jobs and are identifiable (i.e. Masculine: Feminine) (Leidner, 1991). We wanted to understand perceived equality and other consequences when people had agency over their gendered-work identities. And how this influences perceived inequality at work and career progress.
Method:
We interviewed 24 participants from a large IT sales company in the UK (N= 24; M: 13 F:11 ) Our questions focused on perceived gender-work identity (Veldman et al, 2017) (e.g. typical gendered ideals in society and career choices; perceived work identity in the current job. And perceptions of gender balance in IT sales; perceived equalities; societal influences on gender). Questioning laddered down to the job on a daily basis (i.e. how does perception of gender-work identity conlfict impact daily work?).
We used Organisational Discourse Analysis (ODA) (Fairhurst and Cooren, 2018) to understand how narratives of participants were shaping their gender identities, their relationships with others and how these in turn influenced the way they organised their daily work and how these created and diminished inequalities related to gender at the local level. ODA also allowed us to understand the
wider societal influences on gender narratives in the organisation which was an advatnage of using this method.
Findings:
Our findings show that when there is a choice, people chose gendered roles congruent with their personal-gender identity. For example, those who identified as women tended to focus on job roles aligned more to characteristics considered feminine including higher levels of emotional intelligence and sensitivity to others (Comer, 1998). Whereas those who identified themselves as masculine tended towards work which needed more aggressive ‘lad’ approaches, such as skills needed for securing new sales contracts; regardless of the dominant gender -identity group. Those aspects of jobs that conflicted with personal gender identities, when most aspects were congruent, were adapted by each worker at the job-level to create a minority advantage. For example, women used flirtation to win large contracts and gain advantage over men in their section and create a niche for themselves. A third theme described a change in the attitudes to parenting that reflect changing societal norms where those identifying as men showed work-life-balance preferences which were closer to the those who identified as women, than trends in findings a decade ago in this area (i.e. Meussen et al, 2016; Allen et al, 2000).
Conclusion:
Findings provide empirical support to show that diversity can be influenced at the job level by workers; influencing the overall felt sense of equality in this group of workers and create emic equality practices in organisations (Öztürk, Tatli et al. 2015). Insight emerged on how gender equality in organisations are affected by wider societal frameworks and can be subject to change in
tune with changing norms.