Sue Williamson

Women, Work and Industrial Relations in 2009

The interplay between women’s work and family lives and public and business policies attracted considerable attention during 2009. In this review we focus on Australia’s new paid parental leave scheme, pay equity, award modernization and the lack of women in senior management and on boards. We conclude that ‘economic efficiency’ arguments to promote gender equality in the workplace became stronger during the year, sometimes displacing gender justice arguments. We also suggest that 2009 was a year of policy wins and losses for women at work and that 2010 will see more attention to gender equitable policies as political parties seek to win the ‘women’s vote’.

Women, Work and Policy Settings in Australia in 2011

Women’s work continues to be an important part of the national debate. We argue that although the focus in 2011 was on policy consolidation rather than new initiatives, a policy platform relating to women, work and family has been set in Australia. A shift to recognizing the implications of policy for men’s work and care roles is also discernible. The year 2011 was the 100th anniversary of the first International Women’s Day but, while celebrated around Australia, gender inequities remain. Coming onto the agenda with greater force in 2011 were the gender-related issues of an ageing workforce, growing elder care needs and sexual harassment. This article reviews selected gender statistics and then moves to the matters that were prominent in 2011: mature workers, care, pay equity, women in the defence forces, and legislative reform relating to sex discrimination, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 and paid parental leave.

Gendering the Bricks and Mortar: Building an Opportunity Structure for Equality Bargaining

Research in the United Kingdom and Europe has found that an ‘opportunity structure’ enabling collective bargaining for the inclusion of family provisions into a workplace agreement occurs when a range of national, industry and organizational factors converge. Limited research in this area, however, has been conducted in Australia. This article addresses this gap by analysing collective bargaining for family provisions (such as paid maternity leave) in two female-dominated organizations in Australia. This article shows that an opportunity structure – built on public policy development and democratic, feminist union leadership – also existed in Australia in 2008 and 2009, making ‘equality bargaining’ possible for public sector workplace negotiations. The case studies also show, however, that factors including the economic environment and a centralized union leadership weakened an opportunity structure for workplace negotiations in the retail sector.

Gender equality bargaining: Developing theory and practice

It has long been recognised that collective bargaining is at the heart of industrial relations. Research on collective bargaining was largely gender blind; however, since the late 1980s, researchers have begun to examine how collective bargaining can progress gender equality in the workplace. The practice of negotiating for terms and conditions of employment to advance workplace gender equality is known as ‘gender equality bargaining’. This article provides an overview of the development and debates around gender equality bargaining over the last 25 years. It shows how definitions and concepts have broadened so that ‘gender equality bargaining’ is now effectively a subset of a wider ‘equality bargaining’ project being implemented by some unions. Just as the concept of equality bargaining has expanded, so too has the range of gender equality bargaining items, reflecting the gendered needs of both male and female employees. This prompts the authors to question whether gender equality bargaining is becoming mainstreamed within collective bargaining and to consider possible attendant implications. This article concludes by framing the following articles in this special edition, highlighting the diverse subject areas which are being negotiated, the multiple approaches being used and the theoretical interdisciplinary approaches being applied to advance both the practice and scholarship of gender equality bargaining.

Bargaining for gender equality in the Australian public service

The concept of ‘equality bargaining’ emerged in Europe and the United Kingdom in the 1990s as an important method to advance womens interests at work. This paper examines ‘equality bargaining’ in the Australian context using a detailed case study of bargaining in an Australian public service agency. In this particular case, increased family provisions were successfully negotiated. The main determinant of successful equality bargaining was found to be the mainstreaming of a suite of provisions in the unions centralised log of claims which aim to achieve equality for female employees. Potentially, the findings from this case study have wider implications for enterprise bargaining in Australia, and suggest how unions can progress an equality agenda.

A case study of regulatory confusion: Paid parental leave and public servants

Australian policy on paid parental leave (PPL) has been highly controversial in recent years. While a universal PPL scheme become operative in 2011 under the Australian Labor Party, alternative policies continued to be proposed by the leader of the Liberal Party. These ranged from an expanded, comparatively generous PPL scheme, to one which would maintain the status quo, to a scheme with lesser provisions than are currently available. This article examines the PPL policy which would have provided the most generous entitlements to employees, and considers how public servants may have fared had it been introduced. The proposal would have meant that public servants would no longer have been able to access PPL provisions in their industrial instruments, but would only have been entitled to the legislated provisions. This article assesses whether public servants may have gained or lost under such a change, and then considers the broader issue of the most appropriate avenues to regulate public sector employment conditions. While a rare opportunity for enhanced PPL has been lost, this may be the best outcome in ensuring that unions can continue to bargain collectively for this important provision and ongoing improvements to it.

Unconscious Bias Training: The ‘Silver Bullet’ for Gender Equity?: Unconscious Bias Training

Western Governments concerned about the lack of gender equity in their workforces are increasingly seeking to address the negative effects of unconscious biases on employment decisions to counter the effects of hidden prejudices. Although unconscious bias has received limited attention in the human resource literature, social psychology literature has identified inadequacies with this practice, including that such training may entrench and normalise unconscious biases. We argue that the popularity of unconscious bias training invites agencies to view this practice as a ‘silver bullet’ to achieve gender equity, but that its effectiveness is likely to be limited unless accompanied by sustained interventions to address discrimination. Further, the impacts of unconscious bias training need to be rigorously evaluated to assess whether government resources are being effectively utilised. Consistent with international research, such an evaluation may reveal that unconscious bias training has unintended negative consequences, but that the training can be improved to reduce these consequences.

Job-sharing among teachers: Positive, negative (and unintended) consequences

The pros and cons of part-time work have attracted considerable attention in recent years, not least because of its presumed potential to enable employees to reconcile paid work and family needs. This article focuses on job-sharing, which is a unique yet underexplored form of part-time work and one which has rarely been analysed in terms of the consequences for all stakeholders. This case study of job-sharing details its positive outcomes for some employees, in assisting them to balance career and family. The study also highlights some previously unexplored and, we argue, unintended negative consequences of job-sharing. In this case, job-sharing contributed to the increased use of temporary employees who were locked out of many of the benefits of quality flexible work. Furthermore, the case study reveals competing interests between permanent and temporary employees, creating a range of challenges for human resource practitioners in managing and developing both groups.

Is independence really an opportunity? The experience of entrepreneur-mothers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how entrepreneur-mothers experience independence in the transition to entrepreneurship, and whether they perceive independence as an agentic, opportunity-maximisation motive or a constrained, necessity-driven response. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a qualitative and interpretive approach, the authors analysed interviews with 60 entrepreneur-mothers to refine conceptual understanding of independence. Findings The authors find that entrepreneur-mothers experience independence not as an opportunity, but as a functional necessity in managing the temporal and perceived moral demands of motherhood. The authors assert that there is a fundamental difference between wanting independence to pursue a more autonomous lifestyle, and needing independence to attend to family obligations, a difference that is not adequately captured in the existing conceptualisation of independence. Consequently, the authors propose the classification of “family-driven entrepreneurship” to capture the social and institutional factors that may disproportionately push women with caregiving responsibilities towards self-employment. Practical implications This paper proposes that a new category of entrepreneurial motivation be recognised to better account for the social and institutional factors affecting women’s entrepreneurship, enabling policymakers to more accurately position and support entrepreneur-mothers. Social implications The authors challenge the existing framing of independence as an agentic opportunity-seeking motive, and seek to incorporate family dynamics into existing entrepreneurial models. Originality/value This paper delivers much-needed conceptual refinement of independence as a motivator to entrepreneurship by examining the experiences of entrepreneur-mothers, and proposes a new motivational classification, that of family-driven entrepreneurship to capture the elements of agency and constraint embedded in this transition.

Does anonymising job applications reduce gender bias?: Understanding managers’ perspectives

Purpose Anonymous recruitment seeks to limit managers’ reliance on stereotypes in employment decisions, thereby reducing discrimination. This paper aims to explore how managers interpret the information embedded in anonymised job applications and how they interpret the organisational priorities driving the adoption of anonymous recruitment. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with 30 managers in two Australian public sector organisations were analysed. Findings The results showed that managers used implicit signals and cues to infer the gender identities of applicants in anonymised applications, reintroducing the possibility of bias. Managers perceived that anonymous recruitment sent positive external signals to prospective employees but were sceptical about its effectiveness. Research limitations/implications The results showed that removing applicants’ names and identifying information from applications may not be sufficient to reduce bias. In organisations where managers are sympathetic to equity and diversity issues, use of anonymous recruitment may provoke resentment if managers perceive organisational distrust or inconsistent objectives. Limitations regarding the size and nature of the sample are acknowledged. Practical implications Organisations seeking to reduce gender discrimination in recruitment may consider adopting standardised application procedures or training managers to understand how stereotypes affect evaluations. Organisations should also assess managerial support for, and understanding of, anonymous recruitment prior to implementation. Originality/value The findings add to existing knowledge regarding the effects of implicit gender signals in managers’ assessments and the effectiveness of anonymous recruitment in reducing gender bias. It also contributes to signalling theory by examining how managers interpret the signals conveyed in organisational policies.