Search results

Women pursuing male-dominated careers face well-documented barriers to career success (e.g., stereotypes, sexual harassment, limited access to professional networks, and mentoring), which have the potential to be exacerbated or diminished by the increasing prevalence of work from home (WFH). In this chapter, the authors first review key career obstacles for women in male-dominated fields and analyse the impact of WFH on these barriers and, second, provide actionable strategies for organisations to implement WFH in a way that promotes rather than hampers the success of women in these fields. Both career obstacles and WFH remedies are considered through an overarching framework focussed on the significance of work–family boundary management, inclusion, and career advancement. Drawing on the extant research, the authors provide evidence-based, actionable guidance to help organisations and supervisors leverage WFH to support the career success of women in male-dominated careers.

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether or not political skill helps women working in a male-dominated environment to obtain positions with authority.

Surveys were emailed to female lawyers working full-time in a variety of law firms across the USA. Participants were 140 lawyers with an average of ten years of practicing law.

In support of their hypotheses, the authors found that when working in male-dominated organizations, women with high levels of political skill fared better than women with low levels of political skill in terms of obtaining positions with authority.

Because the research design was cross-sectional, direction of causality cannot be established. Second, common method bias may have affected the observed relationships.

Given that women with political skill may be able to recognize and break down the barriers that are especially present in male-dominated organizations, women and managers alike should consider training to help women understand and enhance their political skill.

This research highlights the particular challenge of workplace politics for women and presents political skill as a potential solution.

This research is the first to demonstrate the benefit of having political skill for women working in male-dominated organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify mental health interventions within male-dominated industries.

A systematic literature review was undertaken, examining mental health interventions within male-dominated industries. Major electronic databases, grey literature and reference lists for English language studies published January 1990-June 2012 were searched. Independent extraction of the studies was completed by two reviewers using predefined data fields including study quality measures.

Five studies met inclusion criteria. The available evidence suggests that effective interventions to address anxiety and depression in male-dominated industries include: improving mental health literacy and knowledge, increasing social support, improving access to treatment, providing education for managers and addressing workload issues.

Working conditions and the workplace can have a significant impact on a worker's mental health. Work-related factors including working conditions, job demands and social support in the workplace are particularly important for the mental health workers. Indeed, poor work conditions have been associated with poorer mental health outcomes in particular anxiety and depression, however, little work has been conducted on mental health interventions in the workplace and further the impact on male-dominated industries.

Overall, the body of evidence supporting effective interventions for mental health problems among workers in male-dominated industries is limited. Nonetheless, the evidence does suggest that mental health interventions in male-dominated industries is logistically feasible and can have some positive impact on the mental health of workers, particularly for high prevalence low severity disorders such as anxiety and depression.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a competency framework that incorporates the key leadership competencies required of female leaders working in male-dominated industries by putting particular emphasis on the male leaders’ point of view.

This qualitative research combines a thorough literature review on important leadership competencies with ten in-depth, semi-structured interviews with male leaders from the Telecommunication and ICT industry, two typically male-dominated industries in Germany. All the interviews were transcribed and analysed through qualitative content analysis based on Mayring.

Findings revealed that success of female leaders within male dominances is shaped by not only their exceptional professional expertise but also the complex mix of behaviours on a professional and interpersonal level.

This study contributes to the academic debate on why only a few women reach the top of organisations in male-dominated industries by considering the perspective of male leaders. A competency model is proposed that incorporates both professional competencies and expected behaviours on a personal and interpersonal level and therefore enables leadership professionals to better understand the male leaders point of view on the complex mix of competencies expected from female leaders operating in male-dominated industries.

The need for more women in leadership has become a global business imperative, yet little is known about the competencies required to succeed in environments shaped by male leadership styles and the understanding that women are less capable leaders. Assessing the point of view of male leaders, who dominate these working environments, provides new and valuable insights into the complex issue of women in leadership for the academic debate and the practitioners’ point of view.

Steady progress has been achieved with implementing legislated public sector equal employment opportunities (EEO) policies and programs to fulfil the aim of increasing the representation of EEO groups in public employment. However, there remain areas of significant gender differences in the public sector labour market. One of the most persistent problems has been segregation by gender and this characteristic employment pattern can be discerned across industry, occupation, firm and type of employment contract. This research compares and contrasts the effect of gender domination on the gender composition of tiers of management and numbers in the Senior Executive Service across a state government public service in Australia. The career progression of males and females in female‐dominated and male‐dominated agencies are examined to determine whether different career outcomes can be discerned under conditions of significantly greater numbers of one gender being employed. Findings indicate that men in female‐dominated agencies have different employment profiles and career patterns to those of women in male‐dominated agencies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the issues affecting successful employment outcomes for young women in male-dominated careers, focusing on those generally accessed via a traditional Australian apprenticeship model. Current patterns of participation in trades-based fields of education and training reinforce the highly gender segregated nature of the Australian Labour Force. Women are particularly under-represented in the large industries of construction, mining and utilities, where female employees account for only around 12, 15 and 23 per cent of employees, respectively, an issue of concern both in terms of increased economic participation of women and girls, and gender equality more broadly. The foundations for transition from education and training to employment are established during school. It is during these formative years that young men and women have notions of what is possible for them, and what is not possible, reinforced. Unfortunately, gendered stereotypes and perceptions around certain career options for young women are still reinforced within schools and create barriers to widening young women’s participation in a range of careers, particularly in fields traditionally dominated by males. The paper discusses strategies supporting initial apprenticeship opportunities for young women, and supportive structures to help women and girls build careers in these industries.

This paper draws from a mixed method study, involving a national electronic survey of educators, industry and community groups, and a range of semi-structured interviews. Whilst the major study focused primarily on career exploration in relation to young women taking on careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and non-traditional industries, this paper focuses on one aspect of this study, young women taking up an apprenticeship in a male-dominated career. The research around career exploration was undertaken in 2014, and this paper has placed it in the current context of falling apprenticeships and increasing pressures to increase the number of women and girls employed in a wider range of careers.

The findings of this particular study consider the barriers to young women taking on apprenticeships and identify strategies that hopefully will produce more successful pathways. This paper can be seen as adding to the public discourse to address the Australian Government’s stated reform objective in vocational education and training (VET), that trade apprenticeships are appropriately valued and used as career pathways.

This paper can be seen as adding to the public discourse to address the Australian Government’s stated VET reform objective, that trade apprenticeships are appropriately valued and used as career pathways.

This paper examines the relationship between the gender wage gap and occupational gender segregation in Sweden. The results show that the gender wage gap varies substantially across occupations. It is small in male-dominated occupations and relatively large in female-dominated occupations. Further, as much as 30% of the overall gender wage gap in Sweden can be attributed to occupational segregation by gender. Finally, the return to work experience for women is substantially higher in male-dominated occupations than in female-dominated occupations, suggesting that the cost for work interruptions are lower in female-dominated occupations than in male-dominated occupations. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that women choose occupations in which the penalty for work interruptions is low. Thus, occupational segregation may arise because of gender differences in preferences for occupational characteristics and not necessarily because of discriminatory practices by employers.

Risky alcohol use can reduce productivity at work and impact employees’ mental health and wellbeing. Several risk factors converge in male-dominated industries, which can increase risky drinking and deteriorate mental health. This paper aims to explore the prevalence of risky drinking and psychological distress in a male-dominated industry compared with that in the general population.

Data were collected from four manufacturing sites in Australia. In total, 450 workers were invited to participate in a survey that measured drinking behaviours using AUDIT-C and psychological distress using the K10, along with demographics including age, gender, job role and ethnicity. The observed outcome measures were compared with general population data available through publicly available data sets.

Surveys were returned by 341 employees, of which 319 completed AUDIT-C. AUDIT-C and K10 scores were significantly correlated (R = 0.31, p < 0.0001). Hazardous drinking was more prevalent among workers than in Australian general population (66.1% vs 23.6%). Binge drinking was greater among workers than in the general population (25.4% vs 26.5%). The difference was higher among female workers than among male workers (35.1% vs 10.8%).

The findings of this study show a significantly greater risk of alcohol-related harm among workers in male-dominated industries compared with that in the general population. This risk is more pronounced among women, who also experienced greater rates of moderate and high psychological distress compared with those experienced by the general population. A fitness-for-work approach is proposed to minimise alcohol-related harm among workers in male-dominated industries. Moreover, male-dominated industries are proposed to consider the interconnectivity of other workplace health and safety factors.

Given South Africa's apartheid history, studies have primarily focused on racial discrimination in employment outcomes, with lesser attention paid to gender and context. The purpose of this paper is to fill an important gap by examining the combined effect of macro- and micro-level factors on occupational sex segregation in post-apartheid South Africa. Intersections by race are also explored.

A multilevel multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the influence of various supply and demand variables on women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations. Data from the 2001 Census and other published sources are used, with women nested in magisterial districts.

Demand-side results indicate that service sector specialization augments differentiation by increasing women's opportunities in both white-collar male- and female-dominated occupations. Contrary to expectations, urban residence does not influence women's, particularly African women's, placement in any male-type positions, although Whites (white-collar) and Coloureds (blue-collar) fare better. Supply side human capital models are supported in general with African women receiving higher returns from education relative to others, although theories of “maternal incompatibility” are partially disproved. Finally, among all racial groups, African women are least likely to be employed in any male-dominated occupations, highlighting their marginalization and sustained discrimination in the labour market.

An analysis of women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations by race provides practical information to design equitable work policies by gender and race.

Sex-typing of occupations has deleterious consequences such as lower security, wage differentials, and fewer prospects for promotion, that in turn increase labour market rigidity, reduce economic efficiency, and bar women from reaching their full potential.

Very few empirical studies have examined occupational sex segregation (using detailed three-digit data) in developing countries, including South Africa. Methodologically, the paper uses multilevel techniques to correctly estimate ways in which context influences individual outcomes. Finally, it contributes to the literature on intersectionality by examining how gender and race sustain systems of inequality.

Meta‐analytic evidence exists that the numerical dominance of one gender group among employees can affect the behaviour of female and male leaders. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesis that leaders will show more transformational behaviour when they hold a minority status. Transformational behaviour might help to mitigate discrepancies between male leaders' gender and the feminine context, as well as between female leaders' gender and the masculine leadership role.

N₁=455 team members answered questionnaires about their work satisfaction and their team leaders' transformational leadership, whilst N₂=142 team leaders answered questions regarding their teams' goal fulfillment.

Female and male leaders are rated more transformational in economic sectors and working groups where they hold a minority status. The paper finds a positive interrelation between transformational leadership and followers' work satisfaction for male leaders, but not for female leaders.

Future research should compare female and male leaders from extremely gender‐typed economic sectors and from higher levels of the organisational hierarchy. This would provide evidence whether the findings could be generalised to other samples.

The findings point to the potential advantage of being a high‐transformational male leader in female‐dominated contexts. Irrespective of the numerical dominance of one gender group, followers of low‐transformational female leaders are more satisfied than those of low‐transformational male leaders.

The paper uses sector‐level (gender‐typicality of economic sectors) as well as group‐level data (gender‐composition of working groups) to account for the numerical dominance of female and male employees.