Gender labor inequalities in the public sector: the interplay between policy and micro-politics
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-06-2020-0306 |
| Published date | 24 May 2022 |
| Date | 24 May 2022 |
| Pages | 96-112 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Eva Bermúdez-Figueroa,Beltrán Roca |
Gender labor inequalities in the
public sector: the interplay
between policy and micro-politics
Eva Berm
udez-Figueroa and Beltr
an Roca
Department of General Economics, Area of Sociology, Universidad de C
adiz,
Jerez Frontera, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to describe and explain women’s labor participation in the public sector,
particularly at the local level. The paper analyses the representation of women employees in the public sector
through a case study of a city council in a mid-sized Spanish city. The authors delve into the extent of gender
labor discrimination in public administration, exploring a diversity of situations, experiences, and perceptions
of women workers in female, neutral, and male-dominated areas in the local administration.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors have applied a combined methodology of quantitative
analysis based on an exhaustive analysis of the list of job posts, and qualitative analysis from the narratives of
women workers in biographical interviews, in women-dominated, neutral and male-dominated areas.
Findings –The authors conclude by providing a clear description of women’s representation in local
administration. Despite the institutional efforts in applying gender equality norms and public policies in
administration, employment and labor market, this article shows the persistent inequality in employment
within the administration. The paper demonstrates that public administrations can be seen as gender regimes
that tend to reproduce inequality by formal and informal dynamics. This inequality gender reproduction in a
supposedly gender-neutral administration reflects discrimination in a labor market. The paper details
phenomena relating to horizontal occupational segregation, glass ceilings, sticky floors, and the undervaluing
of women’s work, among other phenomena.
Practical implications –The administration should consider two essential factors that endanger gender
equality: (1) the demonstrated regression of gender mainstreaming and the effects on women’s employmentas
a consequence of the crisis, and (2) neoliberal governments and extreme right-wing parties (or neoliberal
governments and extreme right-wing parties’support, as is the case with the current Andalusian regional
government), whose agenda includes the fight against what neoliberal governments and extreme right-wing
parties call “gender ideology”.
Social implications –The gap between the effectiveness of gender legislation and actual working practices
within the administration has been highlighted. This fact should be a wake-up call for the administrations to
strictly comply with gender legislation, given that local administrations are the closest to the citizens. Future
research should focus on changes to detect any regression and to prevent losing the improvements already
achieved, which can still be very much strengthened.
Originality/value –This article helps to fill the gap in the literature on gender discrimination in the labor
market, which often omits the public sector, especially in local administration, which is the closest
administrative structure to citizenship respecting public policies. The article contributes to highlighting the
need for an egalitarian labor market in order to achieve optimal performance, commitment and efficiency in
egalitarian labor relations in local administration.
Keywords Local administration, Public sector, Gendered organizations, Women employment,
Gender inequalities in labor market, Gender occupational segregation
Paper type Research paper
ER
44,7
96
© Eva Berm
udez-Figueroa and Beltr
an Roca. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is
published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce,
distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial
purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence
may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
This article has been supported by the INDESS Social and Sustanaible Development Institute of
Cadiz University (Instituto para el Desarrollo Social y Sostenible).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 30 June 2020
Revised 19 August 2021
3 May 2022
Accepted 6 May 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 44 No. 7, 2022
pp. 96-112
Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-06-2020-0306
1. Introduction
This article aims to shed light into the academic and political debate over women’s
representation in the public secto r by focusing on the empirical study of a local
administration. In July 2019, Roc
ıo Ruiz, Minister of Equality, Social Policy, and work–
family balance of the regional government of Andalusia (Southern Spain), denied the
existence of a gender pay gap in the public sector. Accepting the ideas of their allied party of
the far right, in her statement she asked universities for evidence regarding different salaries
between men and women. Today, not only in Spain but also around the globe, important
sectors of the population still neglect the existence of gender discrimination. In fact, the
rejection of gender inequality is one of the key elements of conservative and far right political
discourse. Research, however, demonstrates that gender inequality is a reality in different
ambits, including public administration. Numerous authors, drawing on their research on
gender, administration, and public policy have conducted empirical analyses, pointing out
the difficulty in achieving true gender equity in those ambits (Alfama, 2015;Barr
ere Unzueta,
2008;Batista Medina, 2013;Chappell, 2010;Chappell and Waylen, 2013;Gelamb
ıTorrell,
2015;Otero Hermida and Bouzas Orenzo, 2012;Huguet and Gonz
alez Mar
ın, 2008).
In spite of the scientific progress in available knowledge on gender inequality, a literature
review in the field of public administration reveals that there are significant topics that are
still understudied. While there is a growing body of research on gender representation in
political institutions and policing (Brown et al., 1993;Conley and Page, 2017;Verge and
Pastor, 2018;Johansson Sev€
a and €
Oun, 2019), women labor participation in the public sector
remains much less explored.
This article aims to fill this gap by analyzing women’s representation in a municipal
administration. The article focuses on the case of a city council in a mid-size Spanish city.
Although quantitative data cannot be generalized, the exploratory analysis will allow
identification of the formal structures and informal practices and cultural representations
that are intertwined, generating what Acker (1992) called an “inequality regime,”which refers
to gendered beliefs and values entangled with organizational structures to create stable
systems of stratification based on gender, and that has been demonstrated to be a useful tool
for pushing the scope of the intersectional approach (Healy et al., 2019).
Drawing on a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques, the article sheds
light into the formal and informal dynamics that produce and reproduce gender inequality in
a particular administrative context. Although the article puts emphasis on qualitative
research, which is more appropriate for the intersectional study of gendered beliefs and
informal practices (Rodriguez et al., 2016), quantitative research will help to contextualize the
analyzed narratives. This type of analysis is paramount for informing policies aimed at
promoting social justice and equity in the public sector.
The article is structured as follows. First, it includes a literature review on existing
research about women’s representation in public administration. Second, the article provides
an overview of the Spanish gender equality legislation. Third, it explains the methodological
approach of the research. Fourth, it provides a general overview of gender inequality in
administrative units, bureaucratic levels, and occupational categories of the selected
municipal administration. Fifth, the article analyzes the experiences and perceptions of a
sample of female public employees of the city council under scrutiny. Finally, it discusses the
main empirical results and implications of the research.
2. From representation theory to intersectionality in public administration
research
Traditional analysis of women’s participation in public administration has applied the
perspective of representative bureaucracy, whose claims about social equity were initially
Inequalities
faced by
women in
public sector
97
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