Abstract
Gender inequity is prevalent in the workplace. It violates the principle of equal treatment for all employees, and often leads to problems with retention, morale, and performance. Individuals, however, may have different perceptions of gender inequity. In this study, we examined the relationship between individual and organizational level variables and perceived gender inequity for a sample of church workers. Regression analysis was used to test several hypotheses informed by social psychological theories. The results showed that (1) individuals perceived gender inequity in the workplace; (2) organizational level variables had more effect on perceived gender inequity than individual level variables; and (3) compared to men, women perceived greater gender inequity favoring males. Discussion, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Adams, J. S.: 1965, 'Inequality in Social Exchange', in L. Berkowitz (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Academic Press, New York), pp. 267–299.
Aguinis, H. and S. K. R. Adams: 1998, 'Social-role Versus Structural Models of Gender and Influence Use in Organizations: A Strong Inference Approach', Group and Organization Management 23(4), 414–446
Alessio, J. and J. Andrzejewski: 2000, 'Unveiling the Hidden Glass Ceiling: An Analysis of the Cohort Claim Effect', American Sociological Review 65(2), 311–321.
Barber, A. E., M. J. Wesson, Q. M. Roberson and M. S. Taylor: 1999, 'A Tale of Two Job Markets: Organizational Size and Its Effects on Hiring Practices and Job Search Behavior', Personnel Psychology 52, 841–867.
Bell, M. P. and M. E. McLaughlin: 2002, 'Sexual Harassment and Women's Advancement: Issues, Challenges, and Directions', in R. J. Burke and D. L. Nelson (eds.), Advancing Women's Careers (Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, U.K.).
Bielby, W. T. and J. N. Baron: 1984, 'A Woman's Place is With Other Women: Sex Segregation Within Organizations', in B. F. Reskin (ed.), Sex Segregation in the Workplace (National Academy Press, Washington, DC), pp. 27–55.
Blau, F. D., M. A. Ferber and A. Winkler: 1998, The Economics of Women, Men, and Work, 3rd edition (Prentice-Hall, New Jersey).
Blum, T. C., D. L. Fields and J. S. Goodman: 1994, 'Organization-level Determinants of Women in Management', Academy of Management Journal 37(2), 241–268.
Britton, D. M. and C. L. Williams: 2000, 'Response to Baxter and Wright', Gender and Society 14(6), 804–808.
Cohen, L. E., J. P. Broschak and H. A. Haveman: 1998, 'And Then There Were More? The Effect of Organizational Sex Composition on the Hiring and Promotion of Managers', American Sociological Review 63, 711–727.
Crosby, F.: 1982, Relative Deprivation and Working Women (Oxford University Press, New York).
Daily, C. M., S. T. Certo and D. R. Dalton: 1999, 'A Decade of Corporate Women: Some Progress in the Boardroom, None in the Executive Suite', Strategic Management Journal 20, 93–99.
Deaux, K. and B. Major: 2000, 'A Social-psychological Model of Gender', in M. S. Kimmel (ed.), The Gendered Society Reader (Oxford University Press, Oxford), pp. 81–91.
Elvira, M. M. and L. E. Cohen: 2001, 'Location Matters: A Cross-level Analysis of the Effects of Organizational Sex Composition on Turnover', Academy of Management Journal 44(3), 591–605.
Ely, R. F.: 1995, 'The Power in Demography: Women's Social Constructions of Gender Identity at Work', Academy of Management Journal 38(3), 589–634.
Gilligan, C.: 1982, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA).
Gutek, B. A., A. G. Cohen and A. Tsui: 1996, 'Reactions to Perceived Discrimination', Human Relations 49(6), 791–813.
Gutek, B. A. and B. Morasch: 1982, 'Sex-ratios, Sexrole Spillover, and Sexual Harassment of Women at Work', Journal of Social Issues 38, 55–74.
Ibarra, H. and S. B. Andrews: 1993, 'Power, Social influence, and Sense Making: Effects of Network Centrality and Proximity on Employee Perceptions', Administrative Science Quarterly 38(2), 277–303.
Izraeli, D. N. and E. Tabory: 1986, 'The Perception of Women's Status in Israel as a Social Problem', Sex Roles 14(11–12), 663–678.
Kanter, R. M.: 1977, Men and Women of the Corporation (Basic Books, New York).
Lupton, B.: 2000, 'Maintaining Masculinity-Men Predictors of Perceived Gender Inequity 239 Who Do “Women's Work”', British Journal of Management 11 (Special Issue), S33-S38.
Lyness, K. S. and D. E. Thompson: 1997, 'Above the Glass Ceiling? A Comparison of Matched Samples of Female and Male Executives', Journal of Applied Psychology 82(3), 359–375.
Major, B.: 1994, 'From Social Inequality to Personal Entitlement: The Role of Social Comparisons, Legitimacy Appraisals, and Group Membership', in M. P. Zanna (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 26 (Academic Press, San Diego, CA), pp. 293–356.
McDaniel, C., N. Schoeps and J. Lincourt: 2001, 'Organizational Ethics: Perceptions of Employees by Gender', Journal of Business Ethics 33, 245–256.
McEwan, T.: 2001, Managing Values and Beliefs in Organizations (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, New York).
Mueller, C. W. and J. E. Wallace: 1996, 'Justice and the Paradox of the Contented Female Worker', Social Psychology Quarterly 59(4), 338–349.
Meyerson, D. E. and J. K. Fletcher: 2000, 'A Modest Manifesto for Shattering the Glass Ceiling', Harvard Business Review 78(l), 127–136.
Moorman, R. H.: 1991, 'Relationship Between Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: Do Fairness Perceptions Influence Employee Citizenship?', Journal of Applied Psychology 76, 845–855.
Morrison, A. M., R. P. White and E. Van Velsor: 1987, Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Can Women Reach the Top of American's Largest Corporations? (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA).
Ngo, H. Y.: 1997, 'Women and Employment in Asian Newly-industrialized Countries', International Journal of Employment Studies 5(1), 67–93.
Ngo, H. Y.: 2001, 'Perceptions of Gender Inequity at Work in Hong Kong', Asian Journal of Women's Studies 7(1), 111–132.
Oldham, G. R., C. T. Kulick, M. L. Ambrose, L. P. Stepina and J. F. Brand: 1986, 'Relations Between Job Facet Comparisons and Employee Reactions', Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 38, 28–47.
Pazy, A.: 1986, 'Persistence of Pro-male Bias Despite Identical Information Regarding Causes of Success', Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 38, 366–377.
Phelan, J.: 1994, 'The Paradox of the Contented Female Worker: An Assessment of Alternative Explanations', Social Psychology Quarterly 57(2), 95–107.
Powell, G. N.: 1999, 'Examining the Intersection of Gender and Work', in G. N. Powell (ed.), Handbook of Gender and Work (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA), pp. ix-xx.
Reskin, B. F.: 2000, 'Bringing the Men Back In: Sex Differentiation and the Devaluation of Women's Work', in M. S. Kimmel (ed.), The Gendered Society Reader (Oxford University Press, Oxford), pp. 257–270.
Reskin, B. and I. Padavic: 1994, Women and Men at Work (Pine Forge Press, Thousand Oaks, CA).
Ridgeway, C. L.: 1997, 'Interaction and the Conservation of Gender Inequality: Considering Employment', American Sociological Review 62, 218–235.
Rotundo, M., D. H. Nguyen and P. R. Sackett: 2001, 'A Meta-analytic Review of Gender Differences in Perceptions of Sexual Harassment', Journal of Applied Psychology 86(5), 914–922.
Ruggiero, K. M., J. Steele, A. Hwang and D. M. Marx: 2000, 'Why Did I Get a “D”? The Effects of Social Comparisons on Women's Attributions to Discrimination', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 26(10), 1271–1283.
Sanchez, J. I. and P. Brock: 1996, 'Outcomes of Perceived Discrimination among Hispanic Employees: Is Diversity Management a Luxury or a Necessity?', Academy of Management Journal 39(3), 704–719.
Schminke, M.: 2001, 'Considering the Business in Business Ethics: An Exploratory Study of the Influence of Organizational Size and Structure on Individual Ethical Predispositions', Journal of Business Ethics 30(4), 375–390.
Shah, P. P.: 1998, 'Who are Employees' Social Referents? Using a Network Perspective to Determine Referent Others', Academy of Management Journal 41(3), 249–269.
Smith, A. and V. Rogers: 2000, 'Ethics-related Responses to Specific Situation Vignettes: Evidence of Gender-based Differences and Occupational Socialization', Journal of Business Ethics 28(1), 73–86.
Stroh, L. K., J. M. Brett and A. H. Reilly: 1992, 'All the Right Stuff: Career Progression of Female and Male Managers', Journal of Applied Psychology 77, 251–260.
Sweeney, P. D. and D. B. McFarlin: 1997, 'Process and Outcome: Gender Differences in the Assessment of Justice', Journal of Organizational Behavior 18, 83–98.
Tharenou, P.: 2002, 'Gender Differences in Explanations for Relocating or Changing Organizations for Advancement', in R. J. Burke and D. L. Nelson (eds.), Advancing Women's Careers (Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, U.K.).
Tsui, A. S., T. D. Egan and C. A. O'Reilly: 1992, 'Being Different: Relational Demography and Organizational Attachment', Administrative Science Quarterly 37, 549–579.
Varma, A. and L. K. Stroh: 2001, 'The Impact of Same-Sex LMX Dyads on Performance Evaluations', Human Resource Management 40(4), 309–320.
Wharton, A. S.: 1992, 'The Social Construction of Gender and Race in Organizations: A Social Identity and Group Mobilization Perspective', in P. T. Tolbert and S. B. Bacharach (eds.), Research in the Sociology of Organizations, volume 10 (JAI Press, Greenwich, CT), pp. 55–84
Williams, C. L.: 1992, 'The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the “Female” Professions', Social Problems 39, 253–267.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ngo, Hy., Foley, S., Wong, A. et al. Who Gets More of the Pie? Predictors of Perceived Gender Inequity at Work. Journal of Business Ethics 45, 227–241 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024179524538
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024179524538
- church workers
- gender differences
- gender equity
- job segregation
- perceived gender inequity
- social psychology