Is a widening gender wage gap necessarily caused by a glass ceiling? a case study from Uganda

Irene van Staveren, null

doi:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.6.1.0121

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 6, Issue 1

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Is a widening gender wage gap necessarily caused by a glass ceiling? a case study from Uganda

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Author(s): Irene van Staveren

Publication date (Print): Spring 2012

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

Contrary to what is generally assumed, the gender wage gap and the glass ceiling may not necessarily be positively related. An exploratory analysis of aggregate public service personnel data for Uganda shows that the gender wage gap is small at the middle level of management, whereas it is twice as high at the top. At the same time, the share of women in top positions appears to be twice as high as at the middle ranks. Hence, it seems that in the context of a very patriarchal culture, women ‘have to pay’ for being promoted to the top rather than that there is a linearly thickening glass ceiling that would drive a widening gender wage gap. The exploratory data analysis suggests that the glass ceiling effect may have an equally vicious partner in the shape of a glass ceiling trade-off.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Spring 2012

Volume: 6

Issue: 1

Pages: 121-130

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.6.1.0121

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.6.1.0121

SO-VID: 51ec6af0-e50b-4574-83a9-459950aa9f45

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

Albrecht, J., A. Björklund & S. Vroman (2003) ‘Is There a Glass Ceiling in Sweden?’, Journal of Labor Economics , 21 (1):145–177.
Anker, R. (1998) Gender and Jobs. Sex Segregation of Occupations in the World , Geneva: ILO.
Arulampalam, W., A. Booth & M. Bryan (2006) ‘Is there a Glass Ceiling over Europe? Exploring the Gender Pay Gap across the Wage Distribution’ Industrial and Labour Relations Review 60 (2):163–186.
Government of Uganda (1997) Uganda Gender Policy , Kampala: Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
Government of Uganda (2007) Uganda Gender Policy 2007 , Kampala: Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
Heilman, M. E., A. S. Wallen, D. Fuchs & M. M. Tamkins (2004) ‘Penalties for Success: Reactions to Women Who Succeed at Male Gender-Typed Tasks’, Journal of Applied Psychology 89 (4):416–427.
HRI (2002) Uganda. Reports to Treaty Bodies. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women , Human Rights Internet. Accessed on 12 September 2006 from: http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2002/engtext/vol2eng/ugandatb.htm
Kagundu, P. & O. Pavlova (2007) Gender Wage Differentials in Uganda: Evidence from the Uganda National Household Survey , Working Paper 07–25, Atlanta: Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research Paper Series.
Kee, H. J. (2005) Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor? Exploring the Australian Gender Pay Gap using Quantile Regression and Counterfactual Decomposition Methods , Discussion Paper no. 487.
Canberra: Centre for Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University.
Ridgeway, C. (2001) ‘Gender, Status, and Leadership’, Journal of Social Issues 57 (4):637–655.
Rubery, J., F. Bettio, C. Fagan, F. Maier, S. Quack & P. Villa (1997) ‘Payment Structures and Gender Pay Differentials: Some Societal Effects’, International Journal of Human Resource Management 8 (2):131–149.
Sebaggala, R. (2007) Wage Determination and Gender Discrimination in Uganda , Kampala: Research Series no. 50. Economic Policy Research Centre.
UN (2004) Republic of Uganda Public Administration Country Profile . Geneva: United Nations DPADM/DESA.
Wirth, L. (2001) Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management , Geneva: ILO.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Albrecht, J., A. Björklund & S. Vroman (2003) ‘Is There a Glass Ceiling in Sweden?’, Journal of Labor Economics , 21 (1):145–177.

[2] Anker, R. (1998) Gender and Jobs. Sex Segregation of Occupations in the World , Geneva: ILO.

[3] Arulampalam, W., A. Booth & M. Bryan (2006) ‘Is there a Glass Ceiling over Europe? Exploring the Gender Pay Gap across the Wage Distribution’ Industrial and Labour Relations Review 60 (2):163–186.

[4] Government of Uganda (1997) Uganda Gender Policy , Kampala: Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

[5] Government of Uganda (2007) Uganda Gender Policy 2007 , Kampala: Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

[6] Heilman, M. E., A. S. Wallen, D. Fuchs & M. M. Tamkins (2004) ‘Penalties for Success: Reactions to Women Who Succeed at Male Gender-Typed Tasks’, Journal of Applied Psychology 89 (4):416–427.

[7] HRI (2002) Uganda. Reports to Treaty Bodies. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women , Human Rights Internet. Accessed on 12 September 2006 from: http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2002/engtext/vol2eng/ugandatb.htm

[8] Kagundu, P. & O. Pavlova (2007) Gender Wage Differentials in Uganda: Evidence from the Uganda National Household Survey , Working Paper 07–25, Atlanta: Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research Paper Series.

[9] Kee, H. J. (2005) Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor? Exploring the Australian Gender Pay Gap using Quantile Regression and Counterfactual Decomposition Methods , Discussion Paper no. 487.

[10] Canberra: Centre for Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University.

[11] Ridgeway, C. (2001) ‘Gender, Status, and Leadership’, Journal of Social Issues 57 (4):637–655.

[12] Rubery, J., F. Bettio, C. Fagan, F. Maier, S. Quack & P. Villa (1997) ‘Payment Structures and Gender Pay Differentials: Some Societal Effects’, International Journal of Human Resource Management 8 (2):131–149.

[13] Sebaggala, R. (2007) Wage Determination and Gender Discrimination in Uganda , Kampala: Research Series no. 50. Economic Policy Research Centre.

[14] UN (2004) Republic of Uganda Public Administration Country Profile . Geneva: United Nations DPADM/DESA.

[15] Wirth, L. (2001) Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management , Geneva: ILO.