Both books, all 18 articles and notes from the lectures. Categorized per week. First week summaries are in Dutch (notes in English), all other weeks in English.
Gender and Diversity total summary
Week 1: Introduction, background, central notions, critical perspective
Lecture 1
Key concepts for today:
Intersectionality
Inequality regimes
Wage gap
Vertical segregation
Horizontal segregation
Gender
Social identity
Barriers to equality
Diversity
Every week we have to send in a proposition about the texts before Monday 12:00 in groups of 2-3
persons, with a reference to the text and the page number (not as an attachment).
One exam question: you get a proposition and you have to get some pro’s and con’s for this
proposition.
What is diversity?
There has been a change in the discourse of diversity. It used to be equal opportunities, than it
became diversity management. Now we have diversity and inclusion: we are here now.
Why have companies growing stakes in diversity?
1. Changing composition of the workforce, for example more women became available
2. Towards a service economy: legitimacy to customers
3. Talent intensive organizations: gold collar workers (knowledge intensive workers, it is even
above the white collar workers), using all talent available (pink collar workers are women)
4. Diversity improves business performance
Small definition of diversity = center stage for social categories (gender, race/ethnicity, class are the
three core things) (age, sexual orientation, disability, religion are other important categories).
Intersections of identity categories, with roots in equality theories.
Gender is not only person related, but organizations or tasks can also be masculine or feminine. It is a
social construction. Ethnicity is also a social construction, because it consists of so many different
things, like skin color, culture, language, behavior and religion. You could say that age is one of the
least constructed concepts, but it is also subjective (when are people old, there are several ideas
about age groups, like elderly are slow et cetera).
Intersectionality is about the intersection between the social categories crossing each other.
Broad definition of diversity = focus on individuals, we are all diverse and everyone has his or her
own unique qualities. It is about all possible differences. This feels more positive and lucrative for
organizations than thinking in terms of discrimination. This has its roots in differentiation theories
and has a link with meritocracy (you deserve what you get because of your talents or performance,
so the best go to the top, not because they know the right people or they have the right ethnicity).
,There is a paradox in diversity. On the one side diversity is about groups, but there is also a central
focus on individuals. But what is underlying underneath all of this is the notion of identity: who am I?
And in organizations: Who am I at work? There is self-identification and identification by others. So
there are multilevel identities (individual – group – organization – society). These multiple identities
intersect.
What we are talking about are very much foundations of social theory. The social construction of
inequality means that inequality is constructed in interaction and is not a given concept. There is a
mutual influence of structure and agency (what do people want to do themselves). The relevance of
structure: do structure determine positions, rendering people structural dopes? Relevance of agency:
do actions determine positions: blaming the victim for their own inequalities? Like there are no social
structures determining. We are somewhere in between structure and agency.
Article Zanoni
The article by Zanoni et al is an introduction to a special issue about critical diversity studies. This
article describes a broad variety of theoretical frameworks. The key goals from critical diversity
studies are to contest instrumental view of differences, better understanding power relations,
contribute to transforming inequalities. In the article there is a historical overview of development of
diversity research. In the beginning there was mostly research about the inequalities concerning
women and black people. Later on, diversity became a business paradigm. The core points of critique
are the inadequate theorization of identities. We tend to see identity as something fixed. But
identities aren’t fixed: we change over a lifetime. The other point of critique is an emphasis on the
individual and too little about the context and structure. The third point of critique is the inadequate
theorization of power. We do not think about power critically. But we need to look at who benefits
from thinking about diversity and who doesn’t.
Article Acker
Traditionally we study single categories, but in the research about inequality regimes it is about
intersections.
Inequalities = systematic disparities in power and control over goals, resources, outcomes, influence
on decisions, in opportunities, security and benefits and pleasures.
Inequality regimes = interlocked practices and processes that result in and maintain class, gender
and racial inequalities in all work organizations. Organizations produce complex inequalities and
differ in inequality regimes. It is natural, not conscious.
The organization processes named in the article are work arrangements, class hierarchies,
recruitment and selection, wage setting, informal interactions.
A lot of inequalities are invisible and often those privileges are unnoticed. For example the holidays
in the Netherlands are based on Christian beliefs, but that means the Jewish always have to work on
their holidays. Not only it is sometimes invisible, it is sometimes also legitimate. For example, your
supervisor at work tells you what to do and you don’t think it is weird, it is just normal and
legitimate. Some inequalities are good for business, others are only good for the privileged. We tend
to think that we are in meritocratic organizations (ideology of equality) and that makes the practices
of inequality continue, so the ideology of equality covers the practices of inequality.
Changing these inequality regimes is very difficult, because power processes at work are maintaining
the status quo. Key conditions of change are 1) a limited target of change, 2) a multilevel action (so
different parties to support it, not only the organization itself) and 3) a coercion or a crisis (than there
is a need for change). Some changes reinforce inequalities or create new ones. Nowadays some
,inequalities are outsourced, globalized and becoming more subtle. When visibility goes up, legitimacy
goes down and then inequalities may finally change.
Facts and figures
We are going to look at facts and figures. The one that is best documented is gender segregation.
This has a detrimental influence on choices and on the functioning of the labor market.
Horizontal segregation = different sectors
Vertical segregation = different levels
There are also time segregation (the hours worked) and contract segregation (permanent and
temporary jobs).
Participation of women has been growing since 1980. Explanations for this are: growth of the service
sector, fewer and later kids, growth education level, growth part time jobs. The participation of
women in EU is almost 70 percent. For men it is almost 80 percent. For both, the Netherlands is
higher than average. This was in 2017. The Netherlands is the champion in part time work. Almost 75
percent of women are working part time, mostly because of education. Higher education means
more fulltime work. Also for men, the Netherlands is champion (but only around 23 percent).
Fulltime is 35 hours per week. When women get children, they are going to work less hours.
There are a few statistics on ethnicity, but not as much as for gender, because organizations are not
allowed to count it anymore. Some relevant counted categories in ethnicity are colonial past, guest
workers, migration, refugees. There is a strong distinction between Western and non Western. The
high educated minorities have a similar participation as natives. There are also differences for gender
and ethnicity and age and ethnicity (first and second generation).
There is not much statistics about disabled people, but it is around 15 percent in the Netherlands.
That is why there is a quota since 2015. With age we see an ageing population (grey), on the one
hand there are a lot prejudices (that elderly cannot keep up anymore), on the other hand there is a
pressure to participate for them. About sexual orientation it is also not so easy to find reliable
statistics, because this is not very visible. Also, not everyone is open about this, because there is a
risk on discrimination.
What we see here is quite a lot inequalities on the labor market. Disparities are not explained by
education or age only, so there is something else going on. Effects of segregation: influence on liberty
of choice, functioning of labor market as a market and we are not using a lot of talent to its full
potential. That leaves us with quite some research questions in the field. Ideas for the master thesis:
What are the experiences of minorities, active engagement and identity work in
organizations
Identity work of those in power: masculinity, whiteness
Intersectionality studies always remain very interesting
Inclusive leadership (how can you make sure that you can make a change in inequalities)
Strategies and interventions for change (Yvonne does her research in this herself)
Chapter 1: Introduction – what is diversity?
De focus in dit boek ligt op zes dimensies van diversiteit: geslacht, ras/etniciteit, onvermogen
(disability), seksuele geaardheid, leeftijd en geloof.
Wat is diversiteit? Er zijn drie manieren waarop deze term gebruikt wordt:
1. Diversiteit als beschrijving van de variatie binnen het medewerkersbestand (workforce).
Diversiteit kan dan gaan over allerlei verschillen, zowel in groepen als individuele kenmerken,
, zowel zichtbaar als onzichtbaar. Collectieve verschillen hebben de grootste invloed op
medewerkers en op resultaten en daarom zijn we daar het meest in geïnteresseerd.
Bovendien zijn individuele kenmerken vaak gerelateerd aan sociale groepen.
2. Diversiteit als een politieke aanpak om het medewerkersbestand te managen.
3. Diversiteit als een theoretisch paradigma. Diversiteit verschuift richting ideeën van
verschillen tussen mensen in plaats van gelijkenissen tussen mensen, waar sprake van was in
het gelijkheid paradigma.
De discussie over verschillen is gerelateerd aan een ander groot thema in dit boek: de sociale
constructie van identiteit. Hiervoor wordt het raamwerk van Richard Jenkins gebruikt. Hij
onderscheidt drie ordes:
1. De individuele orde: de wereld bestaat uit individuen die bepaalde keuzes maken
2. De interactieve orde: de wereld bestaat uit relaties tussen individuen
3. De institutionele orde: de wereld bestaat uit patronen en structuur, een gevestigde manier
van dingen doen en we kunnen de wereld in een bredere context bekijken
Identiteit kan opgelegd worden (hoe je door anderen wordt gezien) of aangenomen worden (hoe je
jezelf identificeert). Sociale groep lidmaatschap kan beïnvloeden hoe men zichzelf of anderen bekijkt.
Individuen voelen zich aangetrokken tot groepen waar zij zich zelfverzekerd in voelen en zullen
vervolgens groepen die anders zijn ook als minder beschouwen. Dit is de aard van negatieve
stereotypes die dominante groepen hebben ten opzichte van minderheden. Geslacht en afkomst zijn
heel opvallend binnen identiteit, omdat ze erg zichtbaar zijn. Maar ook andere kenmerken kunnen
een grote rol spelen, bijvoorbeeld seksuele geaardheid of leeftijd, hoewel beide kunnen wisselen in
de levensloop van mensen.
Diversiteit en identiteit hebben allebei consequenties voor de arbeidsmarkt en voor individuele
werkervaringen. Er zijn grote verschillen tussen landen op politiek, sociaal, economisch, juridisch en
historisch gebied, wat er voor zorgt dat je in elk land andere patronen en ervaringen ziet. In dit boek
ligt de focus op de UK en Europa, maar veel literatuur is afkomstig uit Amerika.
Chapter 2: Diversity in the labour market
In dit hoofdstuk wordt een beeld gevormd van de arbeidsmarkt op macroniveau, om zo de dynamiek
van het managen van diversiteit in het medewerkersbestand in de twintigste eeuw te begrijpen.
Employment rates of women and men
Na de tweede wereldoorlog is er een enorme toename geweest in vrouwelijke werknemers, met
name onder getrouwde vrouwen en moeders. Er is wel veel verschil tussen de Europese landen. Het
traditionele familiemodel met de man als kostwinner is nog niet helemaal verdwenen in alle landen,
maar is eerder uitzondering dan norm. De toegenomen participatie van vrouwen op de arbeidsmarkt
heeft helaas niet geleid tot een toegenomen gelijkheid. Vrouwen zie je vaak in de slechtst betaalde,
lage status baantjes. Ook werken veel vrouwen parttime.
Gender segregation
Door de sterke gender patronen die je ziet in arbeidsmarkten hebben beleidsmakers en academica
het vaak over mannen werk en vrouwen werk, refererend aan het werk wat mannen/vrouwen
meestal doen. Occupational sex segregation of gender segregation zijn de termen die vaak gebruikt
worden om te beschrijven dat mannen en vrouwen in verschillende banen te vinden zijn. Binnen
Europa is die scheiding het grootst in de volgende sectoren: bouw (91% man), vervoer (80% man),
gezondheid (77% vrouw), industrie (69% man), onderwijs (67% vrouw) en landbouw (65% man).
Vrouwen domineren vooral de service sector, terwijl mannen de professionele sector en de
handmatige sector (manual) domineren. Dit noemen we ook wel horizontale scheiding, maar er
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