Trade Unions, Gender and Claims under Irish Employment Equality Legislation

Numerous equality programmes have been launched with the aim of promoting a more gender equal work life, yet little substantial action has been reported. This article presents a study of the Women to the Top programme in Sweden, supported by the European Union (EU) and aimed at promoting more women into top management positions. The research suggests that large-scale projects assembling such heterogeneous actors as industry representatives, politicians and scholars tend to generate further reflection and discussion rather than promoting adequate and highly needed action. Drawing upon Brunsson's distinction between action rationality and decision rationality, the relatively modest effects of large-scale equality programmes are examined, not in terms of a lack of commitment or competence on the part of the participants but as a matter of the disjunction between reflection and action. Reconciling reflection and action, that is, emphasizing not only reflection on gender inequality but also privileging various forms of practical action (such as new policies, the appointment of female managers, restructuring gendered wage inequalities or new recruitment procedures), is therefore a top priority for policymakers desiring more substantial changes in the gendered outline of industry.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming the Glass Barriers: Reflection and Action in the ‘Women to the Top’ Programme

Eriksson‐Zetterquist

Styhre

2007

“…When reforming organizations that are inherently conservative and loosely coupled (Orton and Weick, ; Pfeffer and Salancik, ; Weick, ), i.e., designed to accommodate external pressures, change must derive from many sources and not just from the top or from individual, enterprising actors. Feminist scholars and gender theorists have demonstrated over the years that social reform and organization change only happen slowly and over time, and only after significant efforts have been made (Cunningham et al ., ; Helms Mills, ; Kantola, ; Martin, ; Philips, ; Quinn, ; Webb, ; Wilson et al ., ). While the autonomous and visionary agent of change is an appealing figure in storytelling, and deeply embedded in the managerialist folklore, it is still, in many cases, a deceiving image of agency in institutional fields, characterized by multiple responsibilities, long‐term traditions and organizational histories, and deep‐seated professional domains of jurisdiction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Equality as Institutional Work: The Case of the Church of Sweden

Styhre¹

2013

Institutional theory predicts that organizations respond to external changes in their environment to be able to safeguard their long‐term viability. One of the most significant institutional changes in the last century has been the entry of women into both labour markets and professions; however, an extensive literature reports that gender inequality and various forms of sexism still structure and influence the everyday work of organizations. Drawing on the recent literature on institutional work, the article reports on a study of how the Church of Sweden has managed to relatively successfully institutionalize female ministers as legitimate and widely respected members of the professional category of ministers ordained by the Church. Female ministers believe they are, by and large, respected in the Church, but suggest that gender remains an issue as women are at times expected to embody certain interests and have to answer some questions that their male colleagues may have been spared. The findings describe institutional work as an ongoing process with no fixed end‐point, stressing agency as the distributed and collective capacity to question established beliefs and norms.

“…The issue of implementing gender‐related changes is a recurring theme in projects focused on the promotion of gender equality in organizations. Yet numerous studies have reported unsuccessful such projects (Crawford and Mills, ; Cunningham et al , ; Duke, ; Helms Mills, ; Phillips, ; Quinn, ; van den Brink and Benschop, , ; Woodward and Winter, ). A question then arises: can planned changes result in visible and sustainable change in the ways gender is constructed in organizations?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Changes to Gender Equality Be Sustained?

Eriksson‐Zetterquist¹,

Renemark²

2016

The aim of this paper is to discuss how changes to gender equality in organizing can be made sustainable. Numerous studies have reported on projects which have not succeeded in their efforts to implement gender equality. In this paper, we analyse the results from two programmes which aimed to increase equal opportunities among private and public sector organizations. Theoretically, the study is based on the framework of doing gender, which is combined with insights from studies using the translation model of organizational change. The translation model of organizational change enables investigation of formal and informal processes within an institutionalized setting. By studying those aspects that were stabilized into an institution within these two programmes, as well as those which were not, the approaches that had become sustainable for the programmes in the long term could be discerned. When comparing the two programmes, it became apparent that complications arose at the point at which the theoretical aims of gender equality were translated into actions. The analysis of the outcomes of these programmes indicates, however, that, even though the formal goals were not reached, equal opportunities within the participating organizations did benefit from these programmes.