Gender Inequality in Authority and Autonomy in the Workplace in Japan, Britain, and the United States*

Abstract

This study examines gender inequality in the distribution of various aspects of autonomy and authority in the workplace in Japan, Britain, and the United States. In all three societies, there are clear gender gaps in access to autonomy and authority relations, but the distributions are most unequal in Japan. The main part of this study involves the testing of four hypotheses which attempt to explain gender differences in autonomy and authority. The first hypothesis, which focuses on family responsibilities, receives limited support from the Japanese and British data. Japanese and British women are disadvantaged in obtaining managerial positions and supervising other employees by the presence of children. The human capital explanation of gender inequality in the workplace appears to be supported to some extent in Japan and Britain because gender gaps are reduced when we controlled for Render differences in education, tenure and work experience in these countries. The differential access to managerial positions is an important source of gender inequality in workplace social relations in all three countries. Nonetheless, significant gender gaps remain. especially in the United States. When all these factors (family responsibilities, human capital and managerial positions) are taken together, gender gaps are reduced substantially in Japan. In contrast. persistent gender inequality is found in the United States.

A Social Recognition Approach to Autonomy

“…At first, we performed separate multiple regression analyses for recognition experiences (care, social esteem, and respect) from coworkers and supervisors. Past research indicated that work autonomy and/or work satisfaction were related to age, sex, job tenure, size of the organization, and weekly hours per contract (e.g., Conway & Briner, 2002; Hunt & Saul, 1975; Jaffee, 1989; Kalleberg & Van Buren, 1996). These variables were thus included as control variables (sex was coded as 1 for female and 2 for male; job tenure was coded as 1 for nontenured and 2 for tenured).…”