Gender, family and employment in comparative perspective: the realities and representations of equal opportunities in Britain and France

Abstract

In this paper, we will explore how contrasting national discourses relating to women, and gender equality have been incorporated into and reflected in national policies. In the first section, we will outline the recent history of EU equal opportunities policy, in which positive action has been replaced by a policy of 'mainstreaming'. Second, we will describe the evolution of policies towards women and equal opportunities in Britain and France. It will be argued that whereas some degree of positive action for women has been accepted in Britain, this policy is somewhat alien to French thinking about equality - although pro-natalist French policies have resulted in favourable conditions for employed mothers in France. In the third section, we will present some attitudinal evidence, drawn from national surveys, which would appear to reflect the national policy differences we have identified in respect of the 'equality agenda'. In the fourth section, we will draw upon biographical interviews carried out with men and women in British and French banks in order to illustrate the impact of these cross-national differences within organizations and on individual lives. We demonstrate that positive action gender equality policies have made an important impact in British banks, while overt gender exclusionary practices still persist in the French banks studied. In the conclusion, we reflect on the European policy implications of our findings.

Fatherhood regimes and father involvement in France and the UK

“…However, the proportion of couples working in a male full-time'female part-time pattern was only 16.3% in France compared with 40% in the UK and, by contrast, the proportion of partners both working full time was 54.5% in France and only 28.6% in the UK. Furthermore, the international attitudinal survey evidence reported by Crompton and Le Feuvre (2000) 4 indicates a strong preference for the full-time breadwinner plus part-time carer model in the UK. On the basis of the lagged adaptation theory expounded above, higher rates of full-time female employment in France might be expected to encourage a greater involvement of fathers in both domestic work and childcare than in the UK.…”

Gender equality in Germany: Comparing policy change across domains

“…In these states, large institutions typically monitor and support equal treatment in public and private employment, housing, consumption, etc. These institutions include the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the USA, the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) in Britain and, to a lesser extent, the Conseil superieur de l'e´galite´(CSEP) in France (see also Crompton and Le Feuvre 2000). Tellingly, these institutions are absent in Germany.…”

Usages et conceptions des organisations syndicales chez les enseignants du second degré : une comparaison France-Angleterre

“…Cet article s'inscrit dans le champ de la sociologie du travail et des théories de la comparaison internationale (Crompton, 1999(Crompton, , 2001Crompton et Le Feuvre, 2000 ;Crompton et al, 2007 ;Falquet et al, 2010 ;Maurice, 1989 ;Maurice et al, 1982) et s'appuie de manière spéci-fique sur les travaux sociologiques portant sur la professionnalité enseignante dans les deux pays considérés (par exemple, Mahony et Hextall, 2000, 2001Malet, 2006Malet, , 2008Ozga, 2005). La valeur heuristique de la comparaison internationale favorise, par effet de contraste, la saisie des logiques sociétales à l'oeuvre lors de la production des phénomènes étudiés.…”