Men's place The incomplete integration of women in workplace authority

While the representation of women in positions of workplace authority has generally increased over time, changes in the broader gender system have been limited. Likely as a result of the persistent cultural and institutional devaluation of work done by women, women have moved into jobs traditionally associated with men like authority jobs to a much greater extent than men have left such jobs or paid employment altogether. At the same time, cultural beliefs about gender and work continue to shape various work outcomes and ideal worker norms prevail in many work organizations. Based on quantitative analyses of data on large samples of employees and work organizations, this dissertation addresses a number of questions regarding women’s and men’s representation in workplace authority in light of these limited changes of the gender order. What do women’s authority jobs look like compared to those of men? Where do dominant work devotion norms leave us with regard to the gender gap in workplace authority when coupled with the fact that in heterosexual relationships, presently dominant in most cultures, women bear more responsibility than men for childcare? And how does the cultural view on men as more suitable for authority than women translate to men’s disproportionate access to authority positions in organizations?