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Are men-dominated offices the future of the workplace?
(Image credit: Alamy)
By Hannah Hickok6th May 2021
Workers are heading back into the office, but men and women may not return to their desks equally. This could impact gender equality and advancement, keeping women behind in the workplace.
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As workers trickle back into offices, some will face tough choices about when and how to return to their desks. Although certain familiar faces and routines may reappear – it’s back to bumping into Iain from accounting at the coffee machine – the composition of the workplace could also be significantly altered. With many companies expected to offer employees newly flexible and hybrid formats, given the option, women and men may make different decisions.
A recent UK-based poll of 2,300 leaders, managers and employees showed that 69% of mothers want to work from home at least once a week after the pandemic, versus just 56% of fathers. If more men opt to go back to work in-person while more women choose to work remotely, offices might become increasingly dominated by men.
And although it’s unlikely that office workers will comprise only men, these figures point to a possible scenario in which women truly could occupy relatively few desks. This scenario could intensify gender inequality across the spectrum by reinforcing domestic roles, and stalling women’s earning potential and prospects for career advancement – many of which are positively correlated with in-person work.
While there are certainly benefits to giving flexible options to workers who can do their jobs from home, there’s also a risk of widening the long-standing gender gap in housework and caring responsibilities that’s already been exacerbated by Covid-19. Understanding the challenges that lie ahead may help mitigate the harmful effects of a post-pandemic gender imbalance at work and home.
A gender gap that’s primed to grow
While unpaid household labour has always been a barrier to women advancing at work, Covid-19 has aggravated the situation. Recent studies of British and American households showed that working women have continued to shoulder the lion’s share of childcare and household burdens during the pandemic, and more working mothers than fathers have reduced or adapted their working hours to accommodate childcare.
Yet for many women who work remotely, the situation isn’t as simple as going back to the office as soon as the option arises.
Women may not feel ready to return to the office, where they need to hide [their] stress as a working professional – Seulki “Rachel” Jang
“Women may feel responsible for handling family-related matters and being away from home may create a feeling of guilt,” says Seulki “Rachel” Jang, an assistant professor of industrial-organisational psychology at the University of Oklahoma, US, who has studied gender roles at work. “Researchers also found that women experienced more psychological stress during the pandemic as compared to men, so women may not feel ready to return to the office, where they need to hide that stress as a working professional.”
The wage gap is also likely to play a major role in keeping women at home. “Among dual-earner couples, a person who makes less money is more likely to take time off and handle urgent family demands than the person who makes more money,” says Jang. “Due to this inequality, women may be more inclined to choose a remote-work option, reduce work hours or even quit a job.”
Meanwhile, men may be less likely to suspend or alter their careers if they’re the higher earner – or if they feel pressured by societal gender expectations that “men belong at the office and women belong at home”, she adds.
The cost of women working from home
Given women’s disproportionate share of family responsibilities, it makes sense that they’re particularly drawn to the benefits of remote work, such as less time commuting and a more flexible schedule. Yet for all its appeal, working from home also comes with a price tag that’s especially steep for women, who already lag behind men in key career metrics like salary and leadership representation – a discrepancy that’s likely to grow if men outnumber women in the office.
“Working from home may dilute one’s presence at work and attachment to the workplace by limiting interactions and hindering learning, collaboration and creativity,” say Claudia Hupkau, an assistant professor of economics at CUNEF, Madrid, and Barbara Petrongolo, a professor of economics at the University of Oxford, who have jointly researched Covid-19’s impact on gender roles. “Another question is to what extent high-profile jobs will be doable from home.”
If more women take the option to work remotely, men may have the chance to benefit from being in the office, which could chip away at gender equality (Credit: Alamy)
Jang echoes these concerns, saying if more men return to the office than women, women’s career prospects will no doubt take a hit. “Men who return to the office are likely to show higher job performance and recognition, more favourable HR decisions like promotions and raises, more social interactions, more influence and power than women who are working from home,” she believes. “These factors can certainly exacerbate gender inequality at work and home.”
If more men reap the career benefits of returning to the office, while more women’s careers suffer for working from home, we could see a dynamic play out that bears an eerie resemblance to an established phenomenon known as the “fatherhood boost and motherhood penalty”, says Annelise Thim, manager of women’s empowerment at global sustainable business nonprofit BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), who has researched barriers to women’s economic empowerment.
“When men become fathers, their salary increases due to gender bias, with employers [viewing] them as more dependable, and fathers may work longer hours after having kids,” explains Thim. “On the flip side, women face a motherhood penalty when they have children, and experience a decrease in their earning potential – one that’s most pronounced for low-income women of colour.”
In short, if more men return to the office than women, the negative cycle women have been battling for decades – that had begun to slow in the years before the pandemic – may regain steam. Women could lose hard-won traction in their fight for workforce equality.
Fighting the remote work gender gap
In spite of the influx of new challenges the pandemic has unleashed on gender roles at work and home, it’s not all bad news.
One benefit of the last year has been the rapid normalisation of remote work, which could ultimately work in women’s favour. “The pandemic has made working from home less stigmatised, thus more men than before are willing to make use of it,” say Hupkau and Petrongolo. The more this happens, the better, as it can make remote work an increasingly gender-neutral realm.
If more men return to the office than women, the negative cycle women have been battling for decades may regain steam
In addition to men joining the remote workforce, there are proactive strategies workers can take to fight inequitable gender roles at home and work. “Dual-earner couples should consider adopting gender-egalitarian strategies in remote work decisions and division of labour,” says Jang. “For example, couples may want to alternate their workdays to have a fair division of labour at home.” Research shows that tactics like these can also improve such couples’ performance and wellbeing, she adds. Of course, not all households are headed by heterosexual couples, nor couples at all, which may complicate this approach – and any steps taken by individual workers will only realistically go so far, given the deep-rooted systemic failures that cause gender inequality.
That’s one reason why experts emphasise that the onus is largely on organisations to reduce the forces contributing to an office gender gap. Effective strategies could include imposing a uniform policy in which all employees take an equal number of work-from-home days, providing more workplace childcare options and facilitating cohesion and trust among remote and office workers.
On a societal level, there should be laws preventing discrimination against remote employees, and public-care services that support parents in balancing family and career. These may all seem like minor battles in the war against gender inequality and ingrained biases, but each win matters.
“Educating and bringing attention to enlarged gender inequality during the pandemic can take us one step closer to reducing unconscious bias in gender roles,” says Jang. “I am hopeful that the gender stereotypes that women should do more household chores and take care of children at home can be mitigated in due time. Unconscious bias is strongly ingrained in us, but that doesn't mean that we can't overcome it.”
포스트 팬데믹 시대, 일터에서의 성별간 격차가 커질 수도 있다?
2021년 9월 16일 | By: eyesopen1 | 세계 |
BBC
코로나19 팬데믹으로 인해 재택근무가 일반화되었다가 또 폐쇄됐던 일터가 다시 열리면서 많은 변화가 생기게 되었습니다. 어떤 변화는 다시 적응하면 그만인 것들이지만, 일터의 구성이 근본적으로 달라질 수도 있다는 예측도 나옵니다. 회사가 재택근무를 어느 정도 허용하는 유연 근무제를 시행하게 되면, 여성과 남성의 선택이 달라질 수 있기 때문입니다.
2,300명을 대상으로 한 영국의 설문조사 결과에 따르면, 자녀를 둔 여성의 69%는 팬데믹이 끝나도 일주일에 최소 1회는 재택근무를 하고 싶다고 응답했습니다. 반면, 같은 답을 한 아버지의 비율은 56%로 더 낮았습니다. 팬데믹 후 (전통적인 의미의) 사무실은 남성 중심적인 장소가 될 수 있다는 뜻입니다. 이러한 변화는 나아가 가정에서 여성의 가사 부담을 증가시키고, 일터에서 여성의 승진 가능성을 저해할 수도 있습니다.
코로나19를 거치며 여성의 무급 가사노동이 여성의 경력에 짐이 되는 현상이 더욱 악화된 것은 익히 알려진 사실입니다. 영국과 미국에서 팬데믹 기간 중 여성의 육아 및 가사 부담이 늘어났고, 육아를 위해 일을 줄이거나 조정한 쪽은 부부 중 여성이라는 사실이 여러 연구 결과를 통해 드러났습니다. 단순히 팬데믹이 종식되고, 출퇴근이 가능해진다고 해서 여성들이 재택근무를 곧장 접을 수 있는 상황이 아닙니다.
일터에서의 성 역할을 연구하고 있는 오클라호마대학 장슬기 교수는 “여성들이 가족 관련 일들을 수행해야 한다는 책임감을 느끼고, 집에서 멀리 떨어져 있는 데 죄책감을 느낄 수 있다”며, 팬데믹 기간에도 여성이 남성보다 더 많은 스트레스를 받았다는 연구 결과를 보면, 그와 같은 스트레스를 감추고 일터로 돌아가는 것에 더 큰 부담을 느낄 수도 있다고 말합니다.
임금 격차 역시 여성을 가정에 머무르게 만드는 요인이 될 수 있습니다. 부부 중 돈을 덜 버는 사람이 가족 관련 급한 일들을 처리하게 되는 경향이 있으므로, 선택지가 주어졌을 때 여성이 재택근무를 택하거나 일을 줄일 가능성이 크다는 것입니다. “남성이 있을 곳은 일터, 여성의 자리는 가정”이라는 사회적인 통념이 이 상황에도 요인으로 작용할 수 있습니다.
재택근무에는 출퇴근 시간을 줄이고, 시간을 유연하게 쓸 수 있다는 장점이 있지만 대가도 따릅니다. 그리고 그 대가는 이미 남성에 비해 커리어, 임금, 승진 면에서 불리한 위치에 있는 여성에게 더 크게 다가옵니다. 성 역할에 미치는 코로나의 영향을 연구해온 옥스퍼드대학의 바바라 페트롱골로 교수와 마드리드 CUNEF 클로디아 헙카우 교수는 ”재택근무를 하게 되면 일터에서 존재감이 흐려지고, 동료들과의 교류가 제한되며, 교육이나 협업의 기회도 줄어든다”며, “중요도가 높은 일의 경우 어느 정도까지 재택근무로 가능할지도 따져봐야 한다”고 지적합니다.
장슬기 교수는 여성들은 계속 집에서 근무하는 동안 남성들이 먼저 일터로 돌아갈 경우, 여성들이 앞으로 경력을 관리하는 데 타격을 입을 수밖에 없다고 말합니다. 일터에서 일해야 더 눈에 띄고 인정이나 승진의 기회, 영향력을 행사할 기회도 더 많이 잡을 수 있기 마련입니다. 이는 남성이 자녀를 두면 커리어에 도움이 되지만, 여성에게 자녀가 생기면 페널티가 되는 기존의 경향을 그대로 연상시키는 장면입니다. 비영리기구 BSR(Business for Social Resonsibility)에서 여성 경제권 부문을 담당하고 있는 애널리스 팀은 “남성이 아버지가 되면 고용주는 그를 더 믿을 수 있는 사람으로 여기고 근무시간도 길어지지만, 여성이 아이를 가지면 오히려 소득 잠재력이 떨어진다. 이러한 이중잣대는 저임금 노동을 하는 유색인종 여성에게 더 강하게 적용된다”고 설명합니다. 여성들이 일터에서 수십 년간 맞서 싸워온 현상이 팬데믹으로 인해 강화될지 모르는 상황입니다.
물론 나쁜 소식만 있는 것은 아닙니다. 팬데믹으로 재택근무가 좀 더 일반화되면서 과거 재택근무에 붙던 낙인이 어느 정도 사라졌고, 이에 따라 더 많은 남성이 재택근무를 선택하게 될 수도 있습니다. 장슬기 교수는 맞벌이 부부가 좀 더 적극적으로 재택근무 선택과 가사에 있어 양성 평등한 접근법을 취함으로써 일터에서의 성별 격차를 줄일 수 있다고 제안합니다. 그와 같은 접근법이 부부의 업무 성취와 웰빙에 실제로 도움이 된다는 연구 결과도 있습니다.
물론 모든 가정이 부부나 이성 커플로 이루어진 것도 아니고, 구조적인 불평등 속에서 개인이 취할 수 있는 조치에는 한계가 있는 것이 사실입니다. 전문가들이 기업과 조직의 역할을 강조하는 이유입니다. 어느 정도의 재택근무를 모든 직원에게 동일하게 허용하고, 사내 보육 시설을 강화하고, 사무실에서 근무하는 직원과 재택근무 중인 직원들이 신뢰를 바탕으로 협업할 수 있는 구조를 만들어야 한다는 것입니다. 사회적인 차원에서도 재택근무에 대한 차별을 금지하는 법안을 도입하고 공공 보육을 강화하여 직장과 가정의 균형을 도모할 수 있도록 해야 합니다. 뿌리 깊은 성차별과 편견을 해소하기에는 부족해 보이지만, 작은 진보 하나하나가 모두 중요합니다.
장슬기 교수는 “팬데믹 시대에 강화된 성 불평등에 대해 주의를 환기하고 인식을 높여가야 한다”며, “무의식적인 편견이 우리 안에 뿌리 깊게 자리하고 있지만, 그것을 극복하는 것이 불가능은 아니”라고 목소리를 높였습니다.
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