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Women and Underachievement at Work: A Study of the Internal Labour Market of the Civil Service
Author(s) -
Bagilole Barbara
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9515.1986.tb00255.x
Subject(s) - disadvantage , civil service , work (physics) , promotion (chess) , service (business) , paid work , tertiary sector of the economy , labour economics , business , political science , public relations , economics , working hours , marketing , engineering , public service , law , mechanical engineering , politics
This article describes some of the major results of a study 1 which examines the complex problem of women's underachievement in paid work. Through an investigation of female clerical staff and their experience of one major Civil Service department, an analysis is made of the internal organization and processes and their effect on women's promotion success. The conclusion is that the internal labour market of the Civil Service is structured to men's conventional employment patterns and both formal and informal factors combine to keep the majority of women at a disadvantage in paid work. The very few women who do achieve have to accept and adopt conventionally male characteristics in both their work situation and their family life.