Female Career Success: Institutions, Path Dependence and Psychology

Henrekson, Magnus; Dreber, Anna

doi:10.2139/ssrn.996873

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…This conclusion has now been drawn simultaneously by several scholars working independently (Charles & Grusky, 2004;Hakim, 2004a;Hunt, 2002;Jacobs & Gerson, 2004). In particular, Sweden's generous family-friendly policies have created a larger glass ceiling problem than exists in the USA, where there is a general lack of such policies (Albrecht et al, 2003;Henrekson & Dreber, 2005). Women are more likely to achieve senior management jobs in the USA than in Sweden: 11% versus 1.5%, respectively (Rosenfeld & Kalleberg, 1990; see also Henrekson & Dreber, 2005;Wright et al, 1995).…”

Section: The Limits To Social Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, Sweden's generous family-friendly policies have created a larger glass ceiling problem than exists in the USA, where there is a general lack of such policies (Albrecht et al, 2003;Henrekson & Dreber, 2005). Women are more likely to achieve senior management jobs in the USA than in Sweden: 11% versus 1.5%, respectively (Rosenfeld & Kalleberg, 1990; see also Henrekson & Dreber, 2005;Wright et al, 1995). There is no doubt that familyfriendly policies help women to combine paid jobs with family work.…”

Section: The Limits To Social Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Women, careers, and work-life preferences

Hakim

2006

British Journal of Guidance & Counselling

383

309

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There are no sex differences in cognitive ability but enduring sex differences in competitiveness, life goals, the relative emphasis on agency versus connection. Policy-makers' and feminist emphasis on equal opportunities and family-friendly policies assumes that sex discrimination is the primary source of sex differentials in labour market outcomes *notably the pay gap between men and women. However, some careers and occupations cannot be domesticated *examples are given *and this also poses limits to social engineering. Recent research shows that high levels of female employment and family-friendly policies reduce gender equality in the workforce and produce the glass ceiling. Preference theory is the only theory that can explain these new trends, the continuing pay gap and occupational segregation. Preference theory implies that there are at least three types of career rather than one. However, the differences between men and women's career goals are smaller than sometimes thought.Society is man-made [1], and human beings are malleable, in the sense of responding to incentives and sanctions, at least in the short run (Levitt & Dubner, 2005). It does not follow that social engineering [2] works on a completely blank slate (Pinker, 2002). Many differences between men and women that were believed to be fixed, and probably innate (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974), have recently been shown to be socially constructed and artificial. Most notably, once women gained access to higher education after the equal opportunities revolution, sex differences in cognitive abilities evaporated. Today, females regularly outperform males in educational qualifications obtained at secondary school level, especially during compulsory schooling (EOC & OFSTED, 1996). Sex differences in verbal, mathematical and spatial abilities have now shrunk to small and insignificant levels (Hyde, 1996). However, some sex differences remain unchanged*notably in attitudes to sexuality, and what is often labelled as 'aggression' but extends to and includes rivalry and competitiveness as well as physical violence (Dabbs, 2000; Hyde, 1996 p. 114; Archer, 2004). A widely admired book by Gilligan (1982) argues that there are important sex differences in moral judgements affecting behaviour, which are sometimes summarised as differing emphases on agency versus connection. Reviews

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Section: The Limits To Social Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Limits To Social Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women, careers, and work-life preferences

Hakim

2006

British Journal of Guidance & Counselling

383

309

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“…For instance, Sweden has a more pronounced wage glass ceiling than the United States (Albrecht et al, 2003) and the United Kingdom (Petersen and Meyerson, 1999). Additionally, in a study ranking 22 countries according to their share of women in leading positions, Sweden came eleventh (Mandel and Semyonov, 2005, 2006; see also Bygren and Gähler, 2012; Henrekson, 2004; Henrekson and Dreber, 2004; Nermo 1997; for more on the Swedish situation, see Rosenfeld and Kalleberg, 1990; for a comparison with the US, see Wright et al, 1995). Swedish elite studies find that women comprise approximately 5 per cent of the national business elite (Göransson, 2007a; Holgersson, 2001; Regnö, 2003; Renstig, 2003), and studies in labour market sociology suggest that Swedish women are less likely than men to be upwardly mobile (Bihagen and Ohls, 2006; Hultin, 1998; cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The gender gap in the business elite

2013

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Using unique Swedish register data on all employees in large private companies, we study trends in the gender composition of top wage employees from 1993 to 2007. The analyses reveal that the likelihood of women holding top wage positions has more than doubled since the early 1990s, but men are still markedly over-represented in this group of employees. We focus on educational choices, considering level and field of study as well as university attended. One important conclusion is that, although education is important in reaching a top wage position, field of education and university attended only marginally explain the gender gap. However, relative to other women, having a career signalling degree (i.e. economics, law or engineering) from a more prestigious university helps women. Dividing the sample into different cohorts indicates that the gender gap is partly a cohort effect, i.e. it is smaller among those born in the 1960s compared to cohorts born in the 1940s and 1950s. It should be noted that there is still a gender gap among employees born in the 1960s and that the gap widens after age 30. Future studies should focus more deeply on this family-related ‘period of divergence’.

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“…The concept of mental model is connected with a series of other concepts such as "beliefs" (Greif 1994;Weymouth & Broz 2006), "psychology factors" (Henrekson & Dreber, 2005), "values" (Scarritt, 2006), "ideas" (Zweynert, 2005), "culture" (Williams, 2005;Greif, 2006). This section aims to illustrate what mental models can add to these concepts.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Do mental models influence economic outcomes? Evidence from agricultural policy negotiation in Costa Rica

d'Hôtel¹,

Cotty²

2014

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Female Career Success: Institutions, Path Dependence and Psychology

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

Women, careers, and work-life preferences

Women, careers, and work-life preferences

The gender gap in the business elite

Do mental models influence economic outcomes? Evidence from agricultural policy negotiation in Costa Rica

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