8.4b Gendered Substructures
A mesosociological approach to studying workplace gender stratification could examine how the policies and norms of a workplace reinforce gender stratification. For example, Acker (2012) argues that work organizations have gendered substructures that intentionally or accidentally reinforce gender inequality in the workplace. Gendered substructures are policies and norms that are gender-neutral on the surface but that advantage or disadvantage people in practice, based on their gender.
A work organization has gendered substructures when it views workers as individuals without obligations outside of paid work. However, most workers have lives outside of their jobs, and many have families to support. As a result, research reveals lower wages for mothers, referred to as the motherhood penalty, and a pay bump for fathers, often called a fatherhood bonus.
In a nationally representative longitudinal study of 4,730 women between 1968 and 2003, Kahn et al. (2014) found that as mothers age, the motherhood penalty for wages weakens for women with one or two children but persists for women with three or more children. In other words, wages for mothers of one or two children recover. Wages, however, serve as the basis for retirement income. Therefore, all employed mothers face both short- and long-term economic consequences because wages are correlated with parenthood.
More recently, Van Winkle and Fasang (2020) expanded this research by taking a more intersectional approach. They examined how parenthood affected wages for Black, Hispanic, and White men and women (Van Winkle & Fasang, 2020). They also used nationally representative longitudinal data. They found that White women with many children experience a persistent wage gap over the life course. Other groups are temporarily penalized, but their wages recover.
Photo 8.12
Employed Women Experience a Motherhood Penalty on Their Wages
Busy mom working on laptop [Photograph]. Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels via Canva Pro.
Work organizations that do not accommodate parenthood is one of the invisible barriers that make up the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is the set of invisible barriers that prevent most women from reaching the top of their occupations. Other barriers include decision-making that occurs in settings where women are excluded or not invited, such as private clubs and locker rooms. The lack of women heading Fortune 500 companies illustrates the persistence of the glass ceiling. In 2024, women headed a record 52 (or 10.4%) Fortune 500 companies (Hinchliffe, 2024). Twenty years ago, only three CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were women (Hinchliffe, 2021). Women have made progress in corporate America, but there are still significant barriers to promotion into corporate leadership.
A related phenomenon is the glass escalator. The glass escalator refers to the invisible support that men receive in women-dominated occupations, leading to faster promotion for them compared to women. For example, in women-dominated fields such as nursing and social work, men are promoted more quickly into supervisory roles, which carry higher status and wages (Williams, 1992).
More recent research finds that White men benefit the most from the glass escalator. Wingfield (2009) interviewed 17 Black or African American nurses, finding that these men experienced barriers to reaching the glass escalator. These included unfriendly coworkers and their colleagues’ belief that they were unqualified. For example, coworkers and patients mistook Black men nurses for janitors.
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Black Men in Women-Dominated Fields Face Barriers to Promotion
Man nurse helping senior… [Photograph]. South_agency from Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro.
Schilt (2006) interviewed 29 racially diverse trans men who had transitioned from female to male after entering the labor force. These men reported that others recognized them as having more authority and competence, and being given more respect and workplace rewards, such as promotions and pay increases, after their transition.
Like Wingfield, Schilt also found that race matters, because trans men of color did not experience the same workplace advantages that White trans men did. These studies provide more evidence that work organizations are gendered and racialized.