Women & Men in Management

1. Women & Men in Management Chapter 4 – Making Employment Decisions

2. Nondiscriminatory Hiring Practices • Motivations • To hire the best talent possible • To stay within legal requirements • How do sex and gender influence the decisions of both job seekers and organizations?

3. Self-Selection Decisions • Self-selection decisions • The decisions of individual job seekers during the job search process • Assessing the fit between yourself and employment opportunities • How do sex differences in self-selection decisions affect employment?

4. Reactions to Jobs • Job attribute preferences • The extent to which an individual views different qualities and outcomes of paid work as desirable • Sex differences • Women value job attributes… • That allow for the demands of a homemaker • Such as benefits, availability of openings, and feelings of accomplishment • Men value job attributes… • Such as income, autonomy, leadership, and promotions

5. Influences on Job Attribute Preferences • Family structure • Mothers vs. childless women • Married men and fathers vs. single, childless men • Cultural factors • Example: Japanese workforce • Preference for work activities • Six activities: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional • Occupational preferences

6. Influences on Occupational Preferences • Gender socialization • Sex segregation of occupations • Idea that success requires personal characteristics associated with the dominant sex in an occupation • Gender identity

7. Reactions to Organizations • Organizations’ selection processes serve as signals about working conditions • Factors which affect job seekers’ reactions: • Inclusive diversity policies** • Work-family initiatives** • Sex of the job recruiter • Recruiting practices • Evaluating the fairness of selection procedures** **Especially important to women

8. Job Search Behavior • Men: • Devote more time and effort to the job search • Have more work-centered networks • Have more geographically dispersed networks • Often adopt an external labor market strategy • Expect more pay than women • Women: • Have more kin-centered networks • Have more geographically concentrated networks • Often adopt an internal labor market strategy • Expect and accept less pay than men

9. Factors in Pay Expectations • Women have lower pay standards • Statistical evidence • The value placed on pay and compensation • The use of different reference groups by men and women • Limited business contacts create less accurate knowledge of pay levels for women

10. Selection Decisions • Selection decisions • Decisions of organizations and their representatives during the hiring process • How and when does sex discrimination occur in selection decisions? • Who discriminates against whom?

11. How & When: Sex Discrimination • Formation of mental prototypes • Selection process • Jobs that are associated with one sex • Amount of information about applicants • Conspicuousness of applicants’ sex

12. Who Discriminates Against Whom? • Decision-makers • Personality traits are important • Adherence to gender roles • Rejection of individuals who do not follow traditional gender stereotypes and role • Rejection of traditional gender stereotypes • May lead to discrimination by favoring women over men

13. Who Discriminates Against Whom? • Applicants • Physical attractiveness • Higher attractiveness linked to competency and suitability for hiring • Is more important in the evaluation of females • Weight • An indicator of self-control and conscientiousness • Overweight individuals seen as lazy and less stable • Overweight bias particularly strong for women • Pregnancy • Women in later stages of pregnancy receive more bias

14. Improving Employment Decisions • Looking at how job seekers and organizations make employment decisions… • What can individual job seekers do to improve prospects for a satisfying and rewarding job? • What can organizations do to improve recruitment and selection decisions?

15. Improving Self-Selection Decisions: Individual Action • Explore and identify individual preferences in occupations & job attributes • Devote considerable time and effort to the job search, and use a broad range of methods • Be prepared to make good impressions in job interviews; Practice • Research potential employers and their organization’s values • Select a job that best matches preferred job attributes • Be prepared for salary negotiation when taking a job

16. Improving Selection Decisions: Organizational Action • Distribute promotional materials to school systems that send a message of diversity • Publicize employees who hold jobs atypical for their sex • Develop job descriptions that include the full range of activities associated with the job • Seek applicants from multiple sources • Screen recruiters to determine endorsement of traditional gender stereotypes • Train recruiters to avoid bias and discriminatory behavior • Formalize and standardize selection and promotion practices • Assess effectiveness of all selection practices • Reward recruiters for effectiveness based on long-term results • Implement diversity and work-family policies to enhance organizational attractiveness

17. Chapter 4 Terms • Self-selection decisions • Job attribute preferences • Preferences for work activities • Occupational preferences • Inclusive diversity policies • Work-family initiatives • Recruiting practices • Fairness of selection procedures • Job search behavior • Formal job search methods • Informal job search methods • Networks • Internal labor market strategy • External labor market strategy • Pay expectations • Selection decisions • Mental prototypes • Impression of management tactics