IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v26y2012i5p735-754.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge work: gender-blind or gender-biased?

Author

Listed:
  • Catherine Truss

    (University of Kent, UK)

  • Edel Conway

    (Dublin City University, Ireland)

  • Alessia d’Amato

    (London School of Economics, UK)

  • Gráinne Kelly

    (Dublin City University, Ireland)

  • Kathy Monks

    (Dublin City University, Ireland)

  • Enda Hannon

    (Kingston University, UK)

  • Patrick C Flood

    (Dublin City University, Ireland)

Abstract

Knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) have been the subject of growing interest from researchers. However, investigations into the comparative experiences of men and women in KIFs remain sparse, and little is known about women’s participation in the processes of innovation and knowledge exchange and combination that are core features of KIFs. The article reports on the findings of a study in the UK and Ireland involving 498 male and female knowledge workers in KIFs. Despite equal levels of qualification and experience, women are more likely to be in lower status and less secure jobs. They also predominantly occupy roles featuring less variety and autonomy than men and, despite comparable levels of knowledge exchange and combination, are less likely to be in a position to translate this into the innovative work behaviours necessary for career advancement. The findings suggest that women’s experiences of and participation in knowledge processes within KIFs differ fundamentally from men’s.

Suggested Citation

  • Catherine Truss & Edel Conway & Alessia d’Amato & Gráinne Kelly & Kathy Monks & Enda Hannon & Patrick C Flood, 2012. "Knowledge work: gender-blind or gender-biased?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 26(5), pages 735-754, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:26:y:2012:i:5:p:735-754
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wes.sagepub.com/content/26/5/735.abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Spivack, April J. & Woodside, Arch G., 2019. "Applying complexity theory for modeling human resource outcomes: Antecedent configurations indicating perceived location autonomy and work environment choice," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 109-119.
    2. Dueñas, Diego & Iglesias, Carlos & Llorente, Raquel, 2014. "Do services reduce gender inequality in labor markets? The service sector, knnowledge-intensive services and the gender pay gap," MPRA Paper 61628, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:26:y:2012:i:5:p:735-754. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.