Gender Division

Conceptual Overview

Different explanations are offered to understand gender division. At the micro level, role theory, socialization theory, and psychoanalytic theory are salient. Socialization theory and role theory draw attention to expectations and norms, and how both influence the individual. By accepting culturally agreed-upon rules and norms, people are “forced” to internalize them and live up to their expectations. Stereotypes about women and men even make it seem natural that they perform different jobs. Furthermore, gendered socialization of girls and boys is believed to subsequently influence choices made in education and work. A result of this socialization is that women and men apply for different jobs, thus acknowledging an acceptance of different gender roles and positions. Many jobs are characterized by roles that are associated with either females or males, and there are strong norms prescribing the “proper” place for women and men. According to Nancy Chodorow, the gender division of labor found in parenting is also an important influencer in the development of the child's self-perception and helps us understand women's greater interest in social relations and social/humanistic jobs while men's interests tend to lie in technical and managerial jobs.

Meso-level theories include structural explanations, organizational policy, and organization culture theory. A seminal work within the structural approach is from Rosabeth Moss Kanter who emphasizes that gender per se does not matter as much for individual career aspirations as it does for individual structural situations, i.e., opportunity structures, structures of power, and proportional representations. Other studies, for example, Christine Williams's 1993 study, have raised some doubts about Kanter's claim that the number of people in a certain category is significant in order to understand what advances people's careers. It is argued that the person's gender may be more important, for employers may (re)produce the gender segregation of labor through organizational policies in which employers act as gatekeepers, recruiting people and deciding who does which job. Gender or job-based stereotypes underpin this explanation. The maledominated power structures and a tendency toward homosocial reproduction contribute to the gendered division of labor. The third explanation within this meso level relates to organizational culture. Here, it is the meanings, ideas, values, and beliefs that are shared by a collective of people that underpin the explanation for gender segregation. Actions and other externalized phenomena such as formal structures and positions are seen as manifestations of these socially shared beliefs, ideas, and definitions.

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