Authority Gap

In every human endeavor, from two-person relationships to societal-level institutions, the acquisition and use of authority are concerns subject to the participants’ ideas about social convention, legitimacy, and the fairness of mechanisms for granting power. An authority gap exists to the extent that access to power is reserved for a disproportionately few people or categories of people. How power and authority are distributed varies tremendously among national cultures and ethnic groups, according to values and practices that have evolved over the course of each society's development. In the United States, a gender gap remains. Women's wages still hover around 77 percent that of men's, and access to power, as signified by the percentage of women in corporate and political leadership positions, is as disproportionate today as when identified by Gail McGuire and Barbara Reskin in 1993.

The picture in middle management looks better for the future, however, since women now constitute a majority in most professional graduate school programs. In many Arab societies, for example, gender is a powerful discriminator for both occupational choice and relative status within institutions and work organizations. Among the most conservative societies—for example, Saudi Arabia—women are assigned a subordinate role to men in most environments, and the genders are mostly kept separate in public. Women's dress and behavior are highly controlled. In northern European societies, on the other hand, gender equality is an element of public policy and is operationalized in the workplace. In those countries, notably Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden, women are approaching virtual parity with men in most institutional settings. Gender is only one significant determinant of the authority gap in the workplace derived from societal practices.

In terms of in-workplace distinctions, there are several persistent gaps of note between those who have authority and those who do not. Among the smallest workplaces, those characterized as family businesses or other small businesses, such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and professional practices, the owner(s) have all authority and responsibility, and the authority gap between the owner and employee(s) is total. The employee may have certain responsibilities assigned by the owner, but all legal authority (and accountability) in the execution of those responsibilities lise with the owner(s). Even when authority is delegated that allows the employee to exercise personal judgment with wide discretionary latitude, the legal position of the owners remains unchanged. In these situations, whether or not employees have a chance of acquiring significant authority and the rewards that accrue for its successful execution, the owner(s) and legal considerations solely determine the extent of the authority gap.