See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/235307867

Measuring the gender gap in organizations

Article in Gender in Management An International Journal · June 2011

DOI: 10.1108/17542411111144292

CITATIONS READS
17 3,066

5 authors, including:

Ann Sörlin Ann Ohman

Umeå University Umeå University
26 PUBLICATIONS 247 CITATIONS 81 PUBLICATIONS 2,444 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Yulia Blomstedt Hans Stenlund

Umeå University Umeå University
28 PUBLICATIONS 634 CITATIONS 218 PUBLICATIONS 14,696 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Ann Sörlin on 09 January 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1754-2413.htm

Measuring the
Measuring the gender gap gender gap
in organizations
Ann Sörlin, Ann Ohman, Yulia Blomstedt,
Hans Stenlund and Lars Lindholm 275
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine,
Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå Centre for Global Health Research,
Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a register-based index that could provide a practical
tool for gathering information and increasing our knowledge on gender equality at organizational level.
Design/methodology/approach – Based on Swedish gender policy and information available in
public registers, six variables were chosen. For each variable, a gender gap was calculated as the ratio
between the sexes, with the larger figure always treated as numerator. The study population consisted
of 11,471 persons in 46 companies working in the computer sector, and 32,151 individuals in
77 companies employed in the grocery production sector.
Findings – The results show indices of 1.43-2.09 for the computer sector and of 1.13-2.14 for the
grocery production sector, both with a normal distribution (one is considered fully gender equal and
three least gender equal). Added together, the selected variables provide results that are sufficiently
different to enable ranking. The variables vary in importance in the two sectors compared.
The smallest index variation was for education and salaries; the largest was for parental leave and the
number of men and women employed at the companies.
Originality/value – The index is based on public registers, treats men and women symmetrically,
and the results generated by the index are easy to communicate to all stakeholders. This research
could provide a useful tool for investigating the extent to which men and women differ in certain
variables at company level.
Keywords Gender, Equality, Organizations, Business, Policy, Sweden
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
This paper describes the work of creating a gender equality index, based on register
data and used at organization level, above all in companies. The idea originates from a
call in 2004 by VINNOVA (the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems)
for “Gender perspectives on innovation systems and gender equality – research and
development for sustainable growth”.
The labour market is one important sphere where gender is reproduced (West and
Zimmerman, 1987; Eveline and Bacchi, 2005; Connell, 2006). Men and women work in
different professions and different positions and do not have equal career opportunities or
possibilities to combine work and family (Acker, 1999; Artazcoz et al., 2004). The injustice
and inefficiency that results from the gender-based division of labour affects virtually all
women, men, and children in a society, though not all in the same way (Abrahamsson, Gender in Management: An
2002; Connell and Wood, 2005). Consequently, diminishing the gender gap should be a International Journal
Vol. 26 No. 4, 2011
priority for human resource management in many kinds of organizations. pp. 275-288
There are several mechanisms for successful gender-aware management. q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1754-2413
The starting point is gender analysis, involving the collection and analysis of DOI 10.1108/17542411111144292
GM sex-disaggregated data in order to understand whether and why a gender gap exists.
26,4 This should be complemented by raising gender awareness, by gender planning, and by
using gender-sensitive indicators for monitoring and evaluation (Commonwealth
Secretariat, 1999).
The paper is organized as follows: first, the labour market in Sweden as a gender
reproducer is characterized. Second, the meaning and measurement of gender gaps are
276 discussed and international indices reviewed. The third section gives an operational
definition of gender equality and describes the public registers available. The results of
our pilot study of two sectors are presented in the fourth section and, finally, the idea,
methods, and results are discussed.

Does working life perpetuate gender?

Men and women have different positions and opportunities in working life (Charles
and Breadly, 2002; Brandl et al., 2008). Explanations for these differences vary from
biological determinism to social constructivism (Berik et al., 2009). Suggestions on how
to respond to them have also varied over time (Hultin and Szulkin, 2003). Gender
equality policies attempt to intervene and shape – at a concrete and practical level –
the consequences of these gendered systems.
There is already a great deal of information on gender inequality in the Swedish
labour market (Abrahamsson, 2002; Acker, 2006; Hultin and Szulkin, 2003; Plantega and
Remery, 2006). For example, men work in the private sector to a larger extent than
women (81 percent compared to 48 percent) (Statistics Sweden, 2010a). For various
reasons, few women make it to the top of the hierarchies, and this means that we can also
see a difference in positions held by men and women in organizations (Hultin and
Szulkin, 2003; Huffman and Cohen, 2004; Statistics Sweden, 2007). In addition, financial
differences remain: women’s earnings are 80-90 percent of men’s (Statistics Sweden,
2010a) and this difference can also be seen within groups (Cohen et al., 2009). While
historically the differences in positions and earnings were explained by men having a
longer education and thus better meeting the demands of the workplace (Statistics
Sweden, 2007), this is no longer the case.
A Swedish act on the equality of women and men in working life became law in 1980,
about three decades ago (The Swedish Code of Statutes, 1991). The Act prohibited sex
discrimination in the labour market and required all employers, public, or private, to
actively promote equal opportunities in the workplace. All employers with ten or more
employees were required to draw up an equal opportunities plan, as well as a plan for
equal pay. Since January 2009, employers with more than 25 employees are obliged to
draw up an action plan for gender equality, which must be renewed every three years.
Closely linked to the gender differences in the labour market are domestic decisions
on childcare and other family duties. The decisions made by couples impact both the
man and the woman over a long period. The Parental Leave Act (The Swedish Code of
Statutes, 1995), first introduced in 1974, currently permits either parent to stay at home
with their newborn child for 480 days while receiving benefits. Research has found that
78 percent of the days available for parental leave are still taken by women (Statistics
Sweden, 2010b). However, this coexistence of gender-equal policies and contested
differences in outcomes for men and women in working life can vary between
organizations. While the existing legislation, availability of social support, and other
political and societal measures provide external support to reduce gender gaps in the
labour market, it is the internal work of organizations, gender-aware human resource Measuring the
management that is crucial to achieving this goal. Differences in leadership, various gender gap
types of management and diverse sectors are some of the factors that could affect the
degree of gender equality in an organization (Brandl et al., 2008; Broadbridge, 2008; Paris
et al., 2009; Tienari et al., 2009). However, regardless of leadership, management style
and sector affiliation, all organizations in Sweden have a responsibility to reduce gender
differences. 277
Measuring the gender gap
Since the official objective of Swedish national policy (SOU 2005:06/155) is gender
equality, in this study, we will apply a model for measurement of a “symmetrical” gender
gap. We argue that any given gender system affects everyone, regardless of sex,
ideology, position, or values. Therefore, it is important to measure not only female
subordination, as is commonly the case, but also the gender gap. “Gender gap” is defined
as deviations from the ideal, which is a genderless society, i.e. a society in which men and
women would participate in more or less equal numbers in every sphere of life, from
infant care to high-level politics. Susan Moller-Okin liberal feminist philosopher states:
A just future would be one without gender in its social structures and practices, one’s sex would
have no more relevance than one’s eye colour or the length of one’s toes (Moller-okin, 1989).
Measuring the gender gap means quantifying differences between groups of men and
women regarding rights and duties, opportunities, and burdens, for instance
representation in the political system and working life, incomes, education, health, and
parental care.
An ability to measure gender gaps in organizations and sectors, and make useful
comparisons between them, could be an effective way towards reducing gender
inequality. Consequences of organizational gender inequality are likely in several
spheres of life, such as profits, incomes, economic growth, health and working
environment, and people’s sense of fairness.
A considerable amount of work has already been conducted on the measurement of
gender equality in, and between different settings. All indices are limited by the way,
they are constructed – they can only take into account and give information on what is
actually measured. Nevertheless, they can serve as a starting point for gender analysis
and help us to understand the gender gap.
Table I lists some of these indices, which differ in targets, methods, and variables.
They describe their subject focus well and are relatively easy to use. We were unable to
find any index using register data to describe gender equality at company level.
Typical indexes postulate a normative ideal: equality between men and women.
However, equality in what respect is not self-evident and varies depending on the
purpose of the index. A general pattern seems to be to include those spheres assumed
to be most important for a successful, fulfilling, and prosperous life, such as political
power, education, health, and economic resources. In the next step, the included
spheres must be assigned a relative weight and collapsed into a single measurement
scale. Both the choice of aspects to measure – indirectly the aspects to leave out – the
weights assigned to each aspect, are inevitably subjective and controversial decisions.
The construction of every index is based mainly on normative rather than statistical
views.
 GM
26,4

278

Table I.

gender equality
Indices measuring
Name Provider Measures Content Sources

Global gender gap index
Gender-related development
index (GDI)
Gender empowerment
measure (GEM)
EqualX
Gender equity index (GEI)
Gender equity in public
institutions (GEPI)
Father friendliness index (FFI) Haas/Hwang
World Economic Gaps between men and women by Economic Statistical data ILO, UN World Bank,
Forum country Education WHO
Political
Health
UNDP The loss of human development due Life expectancy National official, aggregated
to gender differences Illiteracy statistical data
Education level
Income
UNDP The extent to which women have Political power National official, aggregated
access to specific levels of power Legislation statistical data
Skilled workers
Economic resources
Statistics Sweden, Comparison of regions and 13 variables Individual register data aggregated
NUTEK municipalities Education for municipalities
Income
Unemployment
Political power
The Social Watch Gender-based inequities by country Education National official, aggregated
Economy statistical data
Empowerment
Connell Schofield Relations Power Gender division of Statistics
labour Interviews
Gender relations and Participating observations
power
Feelings and human
relations
Gender culture and
symbolic
A broad index of corporate Formal policy Mail survey
responsiveness towards fathers in Formal programmes
companies Informal support
Informal flexibility
Two of the indices look at working life, the “Gender Equity in Public Institutions” and Measuring the
the “Father Friendless Index”. However, the methods of data collection, such as gender gap
interviews, observations, and mail surveys, are relatively expensive. Neither index
seems to be suitable for data retrieved from public registers (Connell, 2006; Haas and
Hwang, 2007; Schofield, 2009).

Materials and methods 279

Defining gender equality
Our definition is based on two aspects: first, equality between men and women in the
sense of both Moller Okin and Swedish policy (SOU 2005:06/155), and second, spheres
included according to the interim objectives of the policy. These policy goals are
supported by all political parties in the Swedish parliament and are widely accepted in
Swedish society. The main objective of the policy is for women and men to have equal
power to shape society and their own lives. A prerequisite is that women and men
should have the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.
Relevant interim objectives include:
.
Equal distribution of power and influence. Women and men should enjoy the
same rights and opportunities to be active citizens and to shape the conditions
for decision making.
.
Economic equality between women and men. Women and men should have the
same opportunities and conditions regarding education and paid work providing
life-long economic independence.
.
Equal distribution of unpaid care and household work. Women and men should
take equal responsibility for household work and be able to give and receive care
on equal terms.

Public registers
Data used in the construction of the organizational gender gap index (OGGI) were
derived from two Swedish databases:
(1) the longitudinal integration database for social insurances and labour market
studies (LISA); and
(2) wage statistics descriptions (WSD).

The LISA database integrates annual data from the labour market, including the
education and social sectors. Although the prime focus of LISA is the individual (e.g. his
or her education, occupation, and various types of income including parental leave, sick
leave, pension, and so on), there are also links to the family and the workplace (type and
geographical location). The WSD was utilized to complement the data on the same
individuals with information on their employment, age, income, occupational grade,
form of employment, and company sector (commercial, public, industrial, or other).
Information for 1999-2004 from the LISA and WSD databases was merged using the
unique, coded social registration number assigned to each Swedish resident. This
resulted in a dataset of information on about 2.4 million unique individuals, all employed
Swedish residents. This paper is based on cross-sectional data on individuals employed
in the private sector in 2004. By linking individuals to their workplaces, we were able to
measure differences in gender equality between companies.
GM For this explorative study, two sectors – the computer sector and the grocery
26,4 production sector – were chosen for comparison between companies and sectors.
The choice of sectors was influenced by earlier research, which has shown
differences between white and blue-collar workers regarding views on working
environment, employment and earnings, differences in sickness absence, and health
complaints (Hu et al., 2009; Schwerdt et al., 2010; Lund et al., 2009; Schreuder et al.,
280 2008; Väänänen et al., 2008; Krantz et al., 2005). We chose the computer sector as
representative of the white-collar sector, as it is a fairly modern and expanding sector,
employing both men and women.
We chose the grocery production sector to represent the blue-collar sector for partly
the same reasons, namely, because both men and women are employed in this sector.
As mentioned previously, the Swedish labour market is strongly gender segregated,
with women often working in the public sector (Statistics Sweden, 2010b). However, in
this study, we wanted to compare two different branches of the private sector.

Construction of an OGGI
The OGGI is based on three underlying premises: first, it measures gaps; second, it uses
registers that are already available; and third, it ranks companies according to gaps. The
basic idea is to calculate ratios as a measurement of the gender gap. This is a familiar
concept in for instance demographics, where it is known as the sex ratio. For example, if
average incomes are equal for women and men independent of income level, the ratio will
be 1; if the ratio is 1.1, this means that men earn 10 percent more than women, or vice
versa. This method of measurement is easy to comprehend and corresponds to the
everyday presentation and understanding of gender differences. If the larger figure is
made the numerator, then the wider the gap, the higher the ratio will be.
As Swedish companies with fewer than ten employees were not obliged to draw up
a gender equality plan (The Swedish Code of Statutes, 1991) prior to 2009, smaller
companies were excluded from this study. We also consider the inclusion of very small
companies in the index to be unfair, as we cannot know whether the measured
variables are unequal by chance (a company with only three employees has an
unavoidably unequal male/female ratio) or a sign of a lack of balance, i.e. a gender gap,
between men and women. The inclusion of any company employing only men or only
women would also lead to undefined sex ratios. Thus, after excluding companies with
the above profiles, the remaining study population consisted of companies employing
both men and women, and with more than ten employees.
Variables used to measure “equal power and influence” were the number of
employees, the proportion of employees working full time, and employee educational
level. We assume simply that the optimal condition in a company for equal power and
influence, regarding the proportion of men and women, is 50/50. We also assume that
the converse, being a small sex minority in a company, reduces that gender’s power,
the same way as assumed in political bodies (Dahlerup, 1988; Chesterman et al., 2005).
Regarding full and part-time employment, we assume simply that the more a person is
present in a company, the greater the person’s power and influence. Level of education
is of course, clearly connected to power, not least since many leading positions require
a long education. Good education also indirectly affects power since those with a
higher level of education can easily dominate formal and informal discussions.
 An obvious variable for measuring “economic equality” was income, which is also Measuring the
partly influenced by working time (full or part time). The variables used to measure gender gap
“equal distribution of unpaid care and housework” were days on parental leave and
days on temporary parental leave. An equal right to physical integrity was the last
interim objective; however, almost all violations of this principle occur behind closed
doors and no reasonable indicator could be found in the registers.
Means for companies, by sex, were calculated for each variable. The ratio for each 281
variable was calculated irrespective of whether it favoured one sex or the other, and
the larger number was always taken as the numerator. Some ratios were very high:
one extreme example is parental leave, with a ratio of 42 in one company. To avoid
giving one variable unreasonable weight, we set 3 as the maximum, i.e. twice the
ratio limit of 1.5 for equality (see section below). Thus, the figure for each variable
could range from 1 to 3. The variables were added using equal weight and divided
by 6. This gave a continuous scale from 1 (full gender equality) to 3 (least gender
equality).
We further calculated a dichotomous version of the index. One reason was to avoid
the problems of extreme ratios. This dichotomous version is based on the well-known
40/60 rule often implemented for gender equality; for example, if each sex has at least
40 percent of the seats in parliament, this is considered a reasonable level of equality.
This means that all ratios between 1 and 1.5 (60/40 ¼ 1.5) are treated as gender equal,
yielding a score of 1 point. The most gender-equal company can thus receive 6 points,
while the least equal receives 0 points.

Findings
The index was tested in two different sectors. In total, 11,805 people in 128 companies
worked in computer sector; grocery production sector comprised 34,602 individuals
working in 984 companies. After excluding small companies and companies
employing only men or only women, the study population was as follows: Sector 1
comprised 46 companies with a total of 11,471 employees, and Sector 2 comprised
77 companies with a total of 32,151 employees. Although there were some single-sex
companies with more than ten employees, these were rare in the sectors studied.
A summary of each sector is given in Table II, calculated at company level and
aggregated by sector. The lowest means (i.e. the most equal situation) are for the classic
gender equality targets of education and income. It should also be noted that for most
variables, companies with full equality (i.e. a ratio equal to one) do exist. The most
unequal situation was for the two variables (a) number of employees and (b) parental
leave; however, for both of these variables, there were companies with perfect or

Computer sector Grocery production sector

Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD

No. of employees 1.22 3.00 2.6684 0.51717 1.00 3.00 2.0791 0.76744
Income 1.00 1.61 1.1299 0.12435 1.00 3.00 1.1683 0.23141 Table II.
Parental leave (PL) 1.05 3.00 2.4202 0.70906 1.07 3.00 2.2162 0.69274 Minimum, maximum and
Temporary (PL) 1.15 3.00 1.9063 0.64980 1.00 3.00 1.7331 0.61038 mean values for the
Full time 1.01 3.00 1.3535 0.31836 1.03 3.00 1.3758 0.42981 variables used in the
Education 1.00 1.50 1.0467 0.10311 1.00 1.60 1.0640 0.09764 continuous index
GM almost perfect equality, demonstrating that it is possible to implement a gender equality
26,4 standard.
The continuous index for the computer sector varied between 1.43 and 2.09 and for
the grocery production sector between 1.13 and 2.14. Both sectors showed normal
distributions across the index.
In the dichotomous version, computer sector companies ranked between 5 and 3,
282 and grocery production sector companies ranked between 6 and 2. These, too, were
normally distributed.
Comparison of large companies (with more than 100 employees) with companies
with 11-99 employees showed no difference in index value.

Comparison of the continuous and dichotomous index versions

We ran a Spearman ranking correlation test between the two different measurement
methods, obtaining for the computer sector a coefficient of 0.637 ( p , 0.01 two-tailed)
and for the grocery production sector a coefficient of 0.537 ( p , 0.01 two-tailed).
An important feature of the index is its ability to identify companies at either end
of the scale (the best and worst examples). We thus ranked all 77 companies in
the grocery production sector according to the continuous ratios (1.13-2.14). The top ten
companies scored between 1.13 and 1.33. On the dichotomous index, the top ten
companies scored from 6 (all variables equal) to 4 (four variables equal). The bottom
ten (ranked on the continuous scale from 1.87 to 2.14) scored between 2 and 3 points.
Three example cases below (Companies “A”, “B” and “C”) can illustrate the two
versions of our index further. Of the companies that scored 5 points, the company that
was assigned the lowest rank on the continuous scale was ranked 24th (Company A in
Table III). It is evident from the table that the continuous model penalizes unequal
take-up of parental leave more severely. All the other ratios are below 1.5 and thus
yield 5 points. Three ratios in Company B are close to the equality limit of 1.5, but this
is not accounted for in the dichotomous score, which was 3 for this company. Company
C shows more or less the same phenomenon though in the opposite direction: the
dichotomous index score is 3, while the continuous index punishes inequality more
seriously because of the two high ratios.

Discussion
In this paper, we have shown that it is possible to measure gender equality gaps at
company level using register data. This could be a cost-effective way of bringing to
light-gender equality circumstances that must be either further investigated or tackled.

Company A Company B Company C

Continuous Score Continuous Score Continuous Score

No. of employees 1.2609 1 1.1250 1 2.1250 0

Table III. Income 1.2337 1 1.1559 1 1.4268 1
Comparison between Parental leave (PL) 3.0000 0 1.6011 0 3.0000 0
the continuous and Temporary (PL) 1.2139 1 1.6003 0 3.0000 0
dichotomous indices Full time/Part time 1.2596 1 1.6002 0 1.1429 1
in randomly selected Education 1.1197 1 1.0524 1 1.0294 1
companies Total 1.5146 5 1.3558 3 1.9540 3
We showed two different methods of counting the index, a continuous model and a Measuring the
dichotomous model. Using Spearman rank correlation, we found significant correlation gender gap
between the two models at 0.01 level (two-tailed). We prefer the continuous model,
which we found rewarded companies for even small steps towards gender equality.
The variables in the index can of course, be used separately if the aim is to study a
specific aspect of gender inequality.
It is a challenge to measure gender equality adequately, and criticism of existing 283
attempts are often well formulated and forceful (Bardhan and Klasen, 1999; Charmes
and Wieringa, 2003; Dijkstra, 2002; Klasen, 2006). Nevertheless, many believe that such
indices could contribute to a better understanding of this issue and as a basis for policy
(Bridges, 2003; Dijkstra, 2006).
We have been relatively narrow in our description of gender equality, and have used
it to indicate a relationship between men and women which, in a way, suggests a form
of balance. The term “gender” should be understood as the dynamics of everyday
interaction between people – doing gender (West and Zimmerman, 1987). By
measuring income, education, parental leave and other characteristics, we hope to
capture the “outcomes” of everyday interaction and decision making.

Applications of the index

The movement towards a gender-equal society is a long-term process, consisting of
short steps. However, one lever could be regular measurement of gender gaps in
working life, as hard data seem to have an (irrational) capacity to catch people’s
attention and possibly even to trigger action. Stakeholders in working life such as
owners, managers and unions, who are more or less committed to gender equality, are
likely to find data produced on a regular basis useful. The data should be simple to
communicate and understand, and should allow comparisons between (groups)
companies and over time.
The differences between the computer and the grocery production sector show that
this index can be used not only to compare companies, but also to compare sectors.
Comparison of sectors using our index could be an additional way of studying
differences at the structural level, i.e. differences in social and cultural patterns that
depend on the organizational systems rather than on individual companies. Comparing
sectors could facilitate studies on how the structural level of social life through
organizations and organizational culture prevails differently in different sectors, some
being more competitive and career oriented, others more a matter of bread and butter.
According to existing research in this area, sectors in which progression is important to
many employees could lead to self-selection, i.e. in terms of who works in related
organizations (Peterson, 2005). From this could follow that women choose to work in
organizations where they can more easily combine work and family (Nordenmark, 2004).
We also believe that the suggested model can easily be used in a single company,
populated with current local data (Table IV). A company human resources department
can provide the data and perform the calculations annually, both as a basis for local
plans to improve gender equality and as an evaluation of implemented actions.

Are the content (the chosen aspect) cultures dependent?

Gender equality is a concept used worldwide, but one that might mean different things
in different parts of the world. Therefore, the validity of this index will of course,
GM Variable Male Female Ratio Score points
26,4
No. of employees 300 330 1.1 1
Income USD 50,000 USD 48,000 1.04 1
Parental leave (PL) 8 days 14 days 1.75 0
Temporary (PL) 6 days 21 days 3 0
Full time/part time 98 percent 96 percent 1.02 1
284 Education 14 years 16 years 1.14 1
Total average ratio 1.509 4
Table IV.
Score card Notes: Light grey – Criteria are met; dark grey – Criteria are not met

depend on the content and definition of the concept itself. We have been very explicit in
connecting each variable used with Swedish national policy on gender equality.
We have found that some of the variables employed by us are also used in other
indices, the proportion of male and female employees, length of education and income
being the most common (Haas and Hwang, 2007; Hausmann et al., 2009; Statistics
Sweden et al., 2006) The proportion of male and female employees is a useful indicator
globally, as it is reasonable to assume that a small number of either women or men
could feel outnumbered in an organization.
Income and educational attainment are general means to economic equality – the
second interim objective of the national policy – reliable information on both is likely
available in registers in almost all high-income countries.
The third interim objective is an equal distribution of unpaid care and housework,
for which the selected register variables were full- or part-time work, days on parental
leave and days on temporary parental leave. We argue that the working conditions in
these respects lay the ground for the division of household work, even if they not are
direct measures. In the Swedish context, working full time or part time reveals a lot
about responsibilities for the family and the home, and this is also true for the division
of days on parental leave. High levels of economic freedom, i.e. paid work, appear in
one index to better promote and enable gender equality than high levels of political
rights (Stroup, 2007). This shows how important it is to be explicit when deciding what
to include in an index.
The policy and practice of parental leave varies greatly between countries and
might, because of variation, be a useful indicator revealing to what the degree, a society
has been willing and able to solve a gender-preserving mechanism.
In line with other studies, we found that the greater proportion of parental leave
is taken by women. For future development of gender equality, it is crucial to highlight
this division of labour in the household, as it probably reflects a lifetime gender pattern.
It is possible that responsibility for the child remains with the mother even as the child
grows and throughout its life, for both economic and cultural reasons. In the present
study differences in working hours (full vs part time) were quite small, perhaps due to
the relatively high-mean ages in the companies. In contrast, other studies show that
young Swedish women work less than men in terms of paid work (Enberg et al., 2007),
which may also relate to lifetime gender patterns and women’s greater responsibilities
for children and the household. Conversely, if they do not take advantage of the system,
fathers are deprived the chance to build a good relationship with their children. Fathers,
who experienced both – i.e. taking advantage of parental leave by staying at home with
one child but not staying at home with another – state that they do indeed have a better Measuring the
relationship with their children if they stayed at home with them when they were small gender gap
(Magnusson, 2006). Research has also shown that fathers that take their part of the
parental leave have better health (Månsdotter et al., 2006).

Limitations
The definition of gender equality is the starting point of this index calculation. The 285
credibility and usefulness of the index is determined by how well accepted the definition
of gender equality is in its context. The quality of the information source is also crucial
for reliable comparison between organizations. This index is built on official Swedish
registers, a country well known for its collection of data, and where registers are
complete, extensive, and accessible for research. The access to the same kind of linked
data in other settings might be limited. Research using register data will, we believe, be
better accepted if it is recognized as the first step in an analytical process aiming to better
understand and change gendered structures in organizations.

Conclusions
Using the index, we are able to compare organizations and their provision of a
gender-equal workplace for employees. The index appears to distinguish between
companies regarding gender equality. The method is simple to manage, systematic and
economically viable. Measurement of the differences between men’s and women’s
working conditions can also be used in several ways. Having available the same basic
data on one’s company or sector can be an important prerequisite for future managerial
interventions.

References
Abrahamsson, L. (2002), “Restoring the order: gender segregation as an obstacle to
organisational development”, Applied Ergonomics, Vol. 33, pp. 549-57.
Acker, J. (1999), Gender and Organizations. I: Handbook of the Sociology of Gender,
Kluwer Academic Press, Boston, MA.
Acker, J. (2006), “The gender regime of Swedish banks”, Scandinavian Journal of Management,
Vol. 22, pp. 195-209.
Artazcoz, L., Artieda, L., Borrell, C., Cortes, I., Benach, J. and Garcia, V. (2004), “Combining job
and family demands and being healthy: what are the differences between men and
women?”, European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 14, pp. 43-8.
Bardhan, K. and Klasen, S. (1999), “UNDP’s gender-related indices: a critical review”, World
Development, Vol. 27, pp. 985-1010.
Berik, G., Rodgers, Y.V.D.M. and Seguino, S. (2009), “Feminist economics of inequality,
development and growth”, Feminist Economics, Vol. 15, pp. 1-33.
Brandl, J., Mayrhofer, W. and Reichel, A. (2008), “Equal, but different? The impact of gender
egalitarianism on the integration of female/male HR directors”, Gender in Management:
An International Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 67-80.
Bridges, W.P. (2003), “Rethinking gender segregation and gender inequality: measures and
meanings”, Demography, Vol. 40, pp. 543-68.
Broadbridge, A. (2008), “Guest editorial: contemporary views in gender and management”,
Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 465-8.
GM Charles, M. and Breadly, K. (2002), “Equal but separate? A cross-national study of sex
segregation in higher education”, American Sociological Review, Vol. 67, pp. 573-99.
26,4
Charmes, J. and Wieringa, S. (2003), “Measuring women’s empowerment: an assessment of the
gender-related development index and the gender empowerment measure”, Journal of
Human Development, Vol. 4, pp. 419-35.
Chesterman, C., Ross-Smith, A. and Peters, M. (2005), “The gendered impact on organisations of a
286 critical mass of women in senior management”, Policy and Society, Vol. 24, pp. 69-91.
Cohen, P.N., Huffman, M.L. and Knauer, S. (2009), “Stalled Progress? Gender segregation and
wage inequality among managers, 1980-2000”, Work and Occupations, Vol. 36, pp. 318-42.
Commonwealth Secretariat (1999), Gender Management System Handbook, Commonwealth
Secretariat, London.
Connell, R. (2006), “Glass ceilings or gendered institutions? Mapping the gender regimes of public
sector worksites”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 66, pp. 837-49.
Connell, R.W. and Wood, J. (2005), “Globalization and business masculinities”, Men and
Masculinities, Vol. 7, pp. 347-64.
Dahlerup, D. (1988), “From small to a large minority: women in Scandinavian politics”,
Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 11, pp. 275-98.
Dijkstra, A.G. (2002), “Revisiting UNDP’s GDI and GEM: towards an alternative”, Social
Indicators Research, Vol. 57, p. 301.
Dijkstra, A.G. (2006), “Towards a fresh start in measuring gender inequality: a contribution to
the debate”, Journal of Human Development, Vol. 7, pp. 275-83.
Enberg, B., Stenlund, H., Sundelin, G. and Öhman, A. (2007), “Work satisfaction, career
preferences and unpaid household work among recently graduated health-care
professionals – a gender perspective”, Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, Vol. 21,
pp. 169-77.
Eveline, J. and Bacchi, C. (2005), “What are we mainstreaming when we mainstream gender?”,
International feminist Journal of Politics, Vol. 7, pp. 496-512.
Haas, L. and Hwang, C.P. (2007), “Gender and organizational culture – correlates of companies’
responsiveness to fathers in Sweden”, Gender & Society, Vol. 21, pp. 52-79.
Hausmann, R., Tyson, L.D. and Zahidi, S. (2009), The Global Gender Gap Report 2009,
Word Economic Forum, Geneva.
Hu, X., Kaplan, S. and Dalal, R.S. (2009), “An examination of blue- versus white-collar workers’
conceptualizations of job satisfaction facets”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 76,
pp. 317-25.
Huffman, M.L. and Cohen, P.N. (2004), “Occupational segregation and the gender gap in
workplace authority: national versus local labor markets”, Sociological Forum, Vol. 19,
pp. 121-47.
Hultin, M. and Szulkin, R. (2003), “Mechanisms of inequality unequal access to organizational
power and the gender wage gap”, European Sociological Review, Vol. 19, pp. 143-59.
Klasen, S. (2006), “UNDP’s gender-related measures: some conceptual problems and possobles
solutions”, Journal of Human Development, Vol. 7, pp. 243-74.
Krantz, G., Berntsson, L. and Lundberg, U. (2005), “Total workload, work stress and percieved
symptoms in Swedish male and female white-collar employees”, European Journal of
Public Health, Vol. 15, pp. 209-14.
Lund, T., Kivimäki, M. and Christensen, K.B. (2009), “Socio-economic differences in the
association between sickness absence and mortality: the prospective DREAM study
 of Danish private sector employees”, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 66, Measuring the
pp. 150-3.
gender gap
Magnusson, E. (2006), Hon, han och hemmet. Genuspsykologiska perspektiv på vardagslivet
i Nordiska barnfamiljer. [She, he and their home; Gender and Psychology in the everyday life
of Nordic couples and their children], Natur och Kultur, Stockholm.
Månsdotter, A., Lindholm, L., Lundberg, M., Winkvist, A. and Ohman, A. (2006), “Parental share
in public and domestic spheres: a population study on gender equality, death, and 287
sickness”, Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, Vol. 60, pp. 616-20.
Moller-okin, S. (1989), Justice, Gender and the Family, Perseus Books Group, Basic Books,
New York, NY.
Nordenmark, M. (2004), “Balancing work and family demands – do increasing demands increase
strain? A longitudinal study”, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 32, pp. 450-5.
Paris, L.D., Howell, J.P., Dorfman, P.W. and Hanges, P.J. (2009), “Research note: preffered
leadership prototypes of male and female leaders in 27 countries”, Journal of Internatonal
Business Studies, Vol. 40, pp. 1396-405.
Peterson, H. (2005), “Gender, power and post-bureaucracy: work ideals in IT consulting”,
Sociological, Uppsala University, Uppsala.
Plantega, J. and Remery, C. (2006), The Gender Pay-gap. Origins and Policy Responses.
A Comparative Review of 30 European Countries, European Commission, Luxembourg.
Schofield, T. (2009), “Gendered organizational dynamics: the elephant in the room for Ausralian
allied health workforce policy and planning?”, Journal of Sociology, Vol. 45, pp. 383-400.
Schreuder, K.J., Roelen, C.A.M., Koopmans, P.C. and Groothoff, J.W. (2008), “Job demands and
health complaints in white and blue-collar workers”, Work, Vol. 31, pp. 425-32.
Schwerdt, G., Ichino, A., Ruf, O., Winter-Ebmer, R. and Zweimuller, J. (2010), “Does color of the
collar matter? Employment and earnings after plant closure”, Economics Letters, Vol. 108,
pp. 137-40.
SOU 2005:06/155 (2005), Makten att forma samhället och sitt eget liv – jämställdhetspolitiken mot
nya mål [Power to shape society and your own life – towards new gender policy objectives],
JÄMSTÄLLDHETSDEPARTEMENTET, Fritzes, Stockholm.
Statistics Sweden (2007), “Parental leave and working life. A study of mothers’ working life
careers”, Level of Living Survey, SCB, Stockholm.
Statistics Sweden (2010a), Statistical Yearbook of Sweden 2010, SCB, Stockholm
(Communications dept, Ed. unit).
Statistics Sweden (2010b), Women and Men in Sweden, Facts and Figures 2010, SCB, Stockholm.
Statistics Sweden, Nutek & Region Västra Götaland (2006), Equal for Municipalities and for
Countries, Statistics Sweden.
Stroup, M.D. (2007), “Separating the influence of capitalism and democracy on women’s
well-being”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (corrected proof) in press.
The Swedish Code of Statutes, S.F.S. (1991), Act on Equality between Women and Men, SFS
1991:433, Swedish Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality, Ministry of Culture,
Stockholm.
The Swedish Code of Statutes, S.F.S. (1995), “Parental Leave Act, SFS1995:584”, Swedish
Ministry of Employment, Stockholm.
Tienari, J., Holgersson, C., Meriläinen, S. and Höök, P. (2009), “Gender, management and market
discourse: the case of gender quotas in the Swedish and Finnish media”, Gender, Work and
Organization, Vol. 16, pp. 501-21.
GM Väänänen, A., Kevin, M.V., Kouvonen, A., Kumpulainen, R., Ala-Mursula, L., Kivimäki, M.,
Toivanen, M., Linna, A. and Vahtera, J. (2008), “Work-family characteristics as
26,4 determinants of sickness absence: a large scale cohort study of three occupational grades”,
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 13, pp. 181-96.
West, C. and Zimmerman, D.H. (1987), “Doing gender”, Gender & Society, Vol. 1, pp. 125-51.

288 Corresponding author

Ann Sörlin can be contacted at: Ann.sorlin@epiph.umu.se

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

View publication stats