Men's Allyship for Workplace Gender Equality: The Roles of Argument Framing and Perceived Motivation in Shaping Opinions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain progress, or the lack of it, in achieving workplace gender equality goals prescribed by affirmative action regulation by using concepts from soft regulation and organizational learning.Design/methodology/approachThe research design is a longitudinal study (2002-2012) of a critical case, that of a single large organization in the male-dominated steel manufacturing, distribution and mining industries. The case focusses on the evidence about organizational learning to be found in that organization’s reports to government on its activities to promote workplace gender equality.FindingsWhile other factors play a role, the apparent failure of the soft regulation to generate a significant shift in gender equality outcomes may also be attributed to ineffective organizational learning, demonstrated by the absence of systematic reflection within the organization on how to improve workplace gender equality, and the lack of firm targets and external benchmarking.Research limitations/implicationsSelf-reported data may be overstated or incomplete. More research is needed to confirm the nature of the specific learning processes occurring within organizations.Practical implicationsAbsent the advent of hard sanctions in workplace gender equality regulation, the responsible government agencies may find it valuable to focus on ways to encourage target organizations to develop competence in organizational learning.Social implicationsMore effective gender equality regulation may change organizational policy and practice and improve work opportunities for women.Originality/valueRather than concluding that the only alternative, when soft regulation is unsuccessful, is hard regulation, this paper shifts the focus to ways that soft regulatory processes might be improved to strengthen their effect.

New ways of organizing businesses, such as the freelance and sharing economies, may bring entirely new meaning to those fundamental ideas that are believed to underpin business exchanges. Through the lens of social and economic ties, this paper sets to address how these new ways of organizing business change the view on business exchanges. The purpose of the paper is to discuss the role of social ties in the freelance and sharing economies. The paper adopts a multiple case study approach to illustrate the structural, cognitive, and relational dimensions of social and economic ties in the freelance and sharing economies. Findings point at how networks are increasingly emphasized, while at the same time, the relational dimension of social ties is altered for transactional platforms. There is also the disconnection between the economic ties and the social ties as the payment and delivery solutions become more and more complex. Un-socialization, a new meaning of trust, and a second platform-driven cycle of entrepreneurship indicate new ideas to current understandings of business exchanges and entrepreneurship.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and accelerated many gendered labour market inequalities in Australia and around the world. In this introduction to our special issue, ‘Workplace Gender Equality: Where are we now and where to next?’, we examine the impact of the pandemic on women’s employment, labour force participation, earnings, unpaid care work and experience of gendered violence. We identify five key areas where action is urgently required to create a more equitable post-pandemic recovery: addressing gender-based labour market segregations and discrimination; building access to mutually beneficial flexibility; ensuring a more gender-equitable distribution of unpaid care; confronting gender-based violence at work and beyond; and mobilising union action through gender equality bargaining.

Senior leaders are usually understood to be ideally positioned to drive the organizational changes needed to promote workplace gender equality. Yet seniority also influences leaders' values and attitudes, and how they interpret evidence of inequalities, determine organizational priorities, and design and implement remedies. This article examines leaders' perceptions of workplace gender equality using system justification theory to explain survey data from Australia's public sector (n = 2292). Multivariate analysis indicates that male and female leaders more positively rate the gender equality climate in their agencies, compared with lower‐level staff, and that male leaders show most propensity to defend the status quo. Findings call into question the effectiveness of change strategies that rely on leadership and buy‐in of those whose privilege is embedded in existing arrangements, and problematize dominant organizational approaches casting senior leaders as effective change agents for gender equality. The article helps to explain gendered power dynamics, which produce and sustain organizational inequalities and make workplace equality so hard to achieve, and points to ways to strengthen practical approaches to promote equality in organizations.

Background: The field of physical therapy, traditionally dominated by women, is experiencing a shift towards greater gender diversity. However, gender disparities in career advancement, workplace equality, and perceptions of sexism persist. This study explores these dynamics among physical therapists in Karachi, Pakistan, assessing the presence of the glass escalator effect where men are perceived to advance faster in female-dominated professions.Objective: To investigate gender disparities in career advancement, workplace gender equality, and ambivalent sexism attitudes among physical therapists in Karachi, and to assess whether the glass escalator effect influences these dynamics.Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted from September to December 2023 across various hospitals and universities specializing in physical therapy in Karachi, Pakistan. The sample included 462 male and female physical therapists, aged 22-55 years, with at least two years of professional experience. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires comprising the Career Advancement and Associated Factors (CAAF), Workplace Gender Equality and Organizational Culture Perception (WGEOCP), and Ambivalent Sexism Attitude Perception (ASAP) scales. A pilot study validated the questionnaires with validity scores of 0.6, 0.65, and 0.68, respectively. Ethical approval was obtained in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 25, employing descriptive statistics and independent t-tests to compare perceptions between genders, with significance set at p < 0.05.Results: The study included 462 participants (50.6% male, 49.4% female). Females scored higher on the CAAF scale (mean = 3.3053) compared to males (mean = 3.1265), showing a significant difference (t = -9.826, p = 0.000). Males scored higher on the WGEOCP scale (mean = 3.0736) versus females (mean = 3.0172) with a significant difference (t = 4.969, p = 0.000). On the ASAP scale, males also reported higher scores (mean = 3.0689) compared to females (mean = 2.8993), indicating significant differences (t = 8.422, p = 0.000). These results highlight a nuanced view of gender disparities, where female physical therapists perceive greater career advancement opportunities, but males experience higher levels of ambivalent sexism.Conclusion: The study did not find evidence of the glass escalator effect favoring men in physical therapy in Karachi. Instead, it identified significant gender differences in perceptions of career advancement and ambivalent sexism, underscoring the need for targeted interventions to promote gender equity within the profession. Addressing these disparities through policy reforms and continued research is essential for fostering an inclusive work environment for all physical therapists.

Workplace gender equality remains a critical global challenge despite decades of legislative and policy interventions. This study employs a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to explore the evolving landscape of research on the role of government and policy in promoting gender equality in the workplace. Drawing on a dataset of 261 documents using Scopus publications from 1990 to 2024, the analysis reveals key trends, influential works, and thematic developments that have shaped the field. The findings underscore the central role of government policies, including public policy frameworks, socioeconomic considerations, and corporate governance reforms, in advancing gender parity. Notably, the study identifies emerging areas of interest, such as the intersection of gender equality with environmental sustainability and socioeconomic factors that signals new directions for future research. Despite significant progress, the persistence of gender disparities in various sectors highlights the need for continued scholarly and policy efforts. This study provides a robust foundation for understanding the impact of government interventions on workplace gender equality and offers critical insights for shaping future research and policy agendas.

This research is a quantitative study which aims to obtain empirical evidence regarding the influence of the external auditor's social ties with the CEO / CFO, the external auditor's social ties with the audit committee, audit tenure, and audit fees on audit quality. The sample of this research is 166 manufacturing companies which are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in the period 2017 to 2018. The data collection uses the purposive sampling. The data analysis technique used multiple regression statistical tests and T statistical tests. The results of this study indicate that the influence of the auditor's external social ties with the CEO / CFO on audit quality shows no significant effect (0.594> 0.1). The second hypothesis is that the effect of the auditor's external social ties with the audit committee shows no significant effect (0.946> 0.1). The third hypothesis, the effect of audit tenure on audit quality, shows no significant effect (0.217> 0.1). The fourth hypothesis, the effect of audit fees on audit quality, shows that there is no significant effect (0.331> 0.1). It can be that the external auditors have worked professionally and independently which, despite the existence of social and economic ties, it does not affect the assessment of an external auditor.

This study examines the status quo of workplace gender (in)equality research in the Chinese context. By reviewing 173 articles from 96 English journals throughout 1988–2020, it reveals that various forms of discrimination still exist against women in the labour market and workplaces. In particular, the persisting, and arguably widening, gender pay gap reflects not only the sticky floor, but also the glass ceiling, effects. The review also shows that researchers have tended to favour quantitative more than qualitative methods. While a range of theoretical perspectives has been mobilized to explain manifestations of gender inequality, a critical feminist approach has been rare for political, institutional, cultural, and research capability reasons. Moreover, there is limited interest in the notion of (gender) diversity management, suggesting that diversity management has not yet become part of the strategic HRM research in the Chinese context. Similarly, extant HRM and organizational behaviour research rarely treats gender (in)equality as a key construct to illuminate the potential effect of such a (perceived) form of organizational injustice on the well-being of female and minority male employees. Based on our review analysis, we identify several opportunities for future research to advance workplace gender scholarship and practice.

Although men are commonly viewed as unaware, uninvolved and even obstructive regarding their partner's abortion access, those who accompany women to an abortion appointment may be more supportive. A better understanding of men's motivations could inform clinic policies regarding their involvement. In 2015-2016, data were collected from male partners of women seeking an abortion at two clinics in a large Midwestern city. Twenty-nine interviews were conducted to explore how men wanted to be involved in the abortion and why they accompanied their partners. Thematic content analysis was used to examine these data, and emergent themes informed a survey, completed by 210 men, that focused on perceptions about and reasons for accompaniment. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the survey data. Four in 10 interviewees were aged 25-34, as were half of survey respondents. Overall, most had at least some college education and were in long-term or committed relationships. Interviewees described providing primarily instrumental (e.g., transportation and financial) and emotional (e.g., companionship and reassurance) support during the abortion process. While 57% of survey respondents would not have chosen to terminate the pregnancy if the decision had been their own, all wanted to support their partners. Notably, 70% viewed the appointment as an opportunity to receive contraceptive counseling. Positive narratives regarding men's support for the abortion decisions of their partners provide a counterpoint to commonly held negative narratives. Future research should explore how supportive men who accompany partners at the time of an abortion may improve women's abortion experiences.

ABSTRACTIn this article, I argue that second-generation migrants can engage in cross-border ties as a result of first-generation migrants mediating relationships between their children and those abroad. This paper draws on interviews with second-generation Filipino-Americans to demonstrate how and why respondents engage in mediated social and economic cross-border ties collectively with first-generation migrant parents. Second-generation Filipino-Americans feel an obligation, not necessarily to those in the Philippines, but to parents who request that their children engage in transnational social and economic ties. Just as parents serve as the means and reasoning for why these transnational connections persist among their children, parents play a role in why ties fail to manifest. By looking into why some engage in social and economic cross-border ties while others do not, I provide insight into how the children of migrants participate in the transnational social field.

Collective bargaining and workplace gender equality

Workplace gender equality as a human right: the ILO approach

This Note explores the global problem of gender-based labor inequality as exemplified in China. China’s historic and cultural framework, the efforts the Chinese government has made to coordinate with the global community on women’s rights initiatives, and recent legislation passed at both national and local levels in China provide an interesting case study for countries facing gender inequality in the workplace. The items of legislation, though sometimes drafted using international treaties as a framework, contain unique provisions that provide protections for Chinese women that are not seen elsewhere in the world. Additionally, the Chinese government’s current political goal of achieving a harmonious society signals potentially forthcoming advancements in workplace gender equality.

This paper examines the role of first managerial experiences in shaping women top executives’ impact on workplace gender equality. Connecting literature on change agency with career imprinting, we present novel theorizing on how the representation and power of women in leadership experienced in the first managerial role shape women leaders’ impact on differences in outcomes between men and women. We used longitudinal register panel data on employee wages and linked them to the executive careers of the directors of Dutch organizations between 2006 and 2019. Fixed-effects panel regression analyses demonstrated that women executives exposed to same-gender peers in directorate boards and a woman CEO during their first executive role are more likely to become agents of change by furthering women employees’ wage progression and chances of receiving a permanent contract. Our study enriches the agents of change literature by drawing attention to the influence of early career experiences on women leaders’ impact on gender equality in workplaces.

Interest in women’s labour force participation, economic security and pay equity received substantial media and public policy attention throughout 2019, largely attributable to the federal election and the Australian Labor Party platform, which included a comprehensive suite of policies aimed at advancing workplace gender equality. Following the Australian Labor Party’s unexpected loss at the polls, however, workplace gender equality largely faded from the political agenda. In this annual review, we cover key gender equality indicators in Australia, examine key election promises made by both major parties, discuss the implications of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety for the female-dominated aged care workforce, and provide a gendered analysis on recent debates and developments surrounding the ‘future of work’ in Australia.