Women in Work∼. an equal opportunities audit
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb054924 |
| Published date | 01 January 1979 |
| Pages | 19-23 |
| Date | 01 January 1979 |
| Author | Barrie O. Pettman |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Women
in Work˜
on equal
opportunities audit
by Barrie O. Pettman
Director of the International Institute of Social Economics
and Lecturer in Industrial Relations, University of Hull
During the last few dacades, most nations have seen a
significant growth in the number and proportion of
women, especially married women, in the labour force.
However, the cultural norms of many of these countries
remain ambivalent about the employment of women out-
side the home. Rarely, outside socialist countries, do na-
tions fully accept or endorse the employment of women.
Political constraints reinforce ambivalent social and cul-
tural attitudes and generate resistance to the acceptance
of the costs involved, and benefits to be gained, in ad-
justing society's structure to the changing roles of women
and assisting in the integration of women into the lab-
our force without discrimination [1].
A significant difference between men and women in
employment is that most women combine their job with
a domestic role. A growing proportion of women at work
are married, many of them with children. Such a pattern
has an immense effect on the responsibilities that women
can assume at work, on their mobility, their hours of
work and their behaviour at work. On the one hand,
many married women leave the labour market for a
period of years to bring up their children and then re-
turn to it. On the other hand, there are some women who
have few domestic ties and are available for employment
on similar terms to those of men. Thus there is no single
employment pattern for women. However, the opposite
view is more often than not taken by management and
this blinkered approach results in an increasing under-
utilisation of a valuable human resource [2].
The purposes of this article are two-fold; firstly, the
recent progress towards the elimination of such dis-
crimination is discussed, and secondly an equal oppor-
tunities policy is proposed.
Progress in Reducing Sex Discrimination
The Equal Pay Act and the Sex Discrimination Act
both came into force at the end of 1975 and while this
was only three years ago some progress has been made.
Practical applications of this legislation are examined
by both Buckingham and Pettman [3].
Progress towards equality of opportunity for male and
females in employment could be analysed via numerous
criteria. However, the major ones examined here are
earnings, education and training, and industrial and oc-
cupational distribution.
Earnings
The combination of the Equal Pay Act and the pay poli-
cies of successive governments since 1970 has enabled
some progress to be made towards the equalisation of
earnings between men and women in employment. For
example, between 1970 and 1975 the average gross hourly
earnings of women increased from 63.1 to 72.1 per cent
of men's earnings. By 1976 they had increased to 75.1
per cent. However, it is clear from the latest inform-
ation [4] that this rate of progress has now slowed down
considerably in that the relevant 1977 figure was 75.5
per cent.
(A\erage gross hourly earnings, excluding the effects of overtime
pay and overtime hours, of employees aged 18 and over. Source—
Department of Employment, New Earnings Surveys.)
There is thus a slowing down in the rate of progress
towards equality in this respect as the emphasis shifts
from ensuring equal pay for like work to enabling women
to acquire the skills and promotion opportunities neces-
sary for further progress.
Education and Training
Given the deeply rooted nature of many of the prob-
lems of discrimination in this area instant progress is
not to be expected although many initiatives have been
made particularly in the areas of:
— transitional exemption orders to enable single-sex
educational establishments in the private sector grad-
ually to become co-educational
— removing discrimination in the provision of curricu-
lar options in co-educational schools
— careers guidance and literature
However, as far as employment is concerned the imbal-
ance in the number of girls in the 16-19 age group receiv-
ing day-release from their employer is as great as ever.
On the training side the largest increase has come under
the Government's Training Opportunities Scheme
Employee Relations 1,1 1979 19
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