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Masterthesis Marlou de Jong_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Index

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter one: women in the labor market

- Women’s participation in the labor market

- Level of women’s pay

- Gender segregation

- Feminization

- Women in decision-making positions

Chapter two: the metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’

- The origin of the metaphor

- Is the metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’ still relevant in the 21st century?

Chapter three: diversity in the workspace

- Research on diversity in the workspace

- Is gender diversity in the workspace related to organizational performance?

Chapter four: promoting women in management

- Affirmative action programs: quotas

- Coaching

- Networking

Chapter five: women in the museum sector

- What are the differences between the cultural sector and other sectors?

- Women and museums: a historical overview

- Feminization of the museum field?

PART TWO: RESEARCH

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Chapter one: quantitative research

- How is the gender balance in the top of the Dutch museums?

Chapter two: qualitative research

- What is the experience of women in the top of the Dutch museums?

PART THREE: CONCLUSIONS

Chapter ??:

diversity

Gender segregation in sectors

Feminization

Pipeline theory

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Introduction

“De meeste feministes zijn halve kerels en zeuren eindeloos door over ingebeelde

problemen. Vooral types die de term ‘het glazen plafond’ nog steeds gebruiken zou ik wel

op de beha-brandstapel willen gooien.” (Most feminists are half chaps who linger

continuously about imaginary problems. Especially the types that still use the term ‘the

glass ceiling’ I would like to throw on the bra-stake.) I noticed this quote at the start of

January 2010 in the column of Hadjar Benmiloud in the daily free newspaper ‘Metro’.

As some argue, the metaphor of the glass ceiling might be the most familiar

metaphor to emerge from the previous century. The term ‘glass ceiling’ is defined in

1991 by the U.S. Department of Labor as ‘artificial barriers based on attitudinal or

organizational bias that prevent qualified individuals from advancing upward in their

organization into management-level positions’. The ‘ceiling’ refers to a barrier that

makes it difficult to climb up the organizational ladder. The ‘glass’ refers to the

transparency of this barrier; this barrier is not necessarily visible to the observer.

The columnist Benmiloud is obviously not a big fan of the term ‘the glass ceiling’.

She implies that the term is old fashioned and not valid anymore in our current society.

Is she right? Fact is that the number of women in the workplace has never been as

extensive as it is today. Also the percentages of women in leading positions are ever

growing. But are we there yet? Has the glass ceiling been scattered? In their book ‘The

Glass Ceiling in the 21st Century’, researchers from over the world published their

research results on this topic. The question raised in the introduction is if the glass

ceiling is still relevant in the 21st century. As they argue, the public opinion about the

advancement of women in the work place is mixed. A striking example that

demonstrates the mixed opinion about the existence or absence of the glass ceiling, are

articles published by the U.K. newspaper the Guardian. In one week time, the Guardian

published three articles on the glass ceiling: the first one claimed that the glass ceiling

was still ‘firmly in place’, the second stated that ‘Britain leads glass ceiling breakers’ and

the third one argued that ‘women struggle to shatter glass ceiling’ (Barreto, M. 2009).

The museum sector

As a student in cultural studies I’ve always been fascinated by the gender balance in my

classes. Without a doubt I can say that during my years at the University of Amsterdam

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and the Erasmus University, I never sat in a classroom with more male than female

students. The number of female students has always exceeded the number of male

students. Official numbers confirm my experience: more than 55% of the university

students of language, history and art-education is female (emancipatiemonitor, 2008).

(WHAT NUMBERS FOR ART RELATED STUDIES ALONE??? MUST BE HIGHER..) (NEEDS

MORE….)

Therefore, my research question is: Is the metaphor of the glass ceiling (still)

relevant in the museum sector in the Netherlands, and if yes, would a quota be a good

solution to break this glass ceiling? To get a good insight in the ‘status quo’ and also

because literature on the cultural sector specifically is limited, I will have to draw from

literature on the overall labor market. Furthermore, my research is limited to the

museum sector in the Netherlands, however, also literature that is not (primarily)

focused on the Netherlands will be used for the literature review. Especially in the

United States and the United Kingdom a lot of research has been conducted in this

research field.

Even though literature on the overall labor market is of great value to this

research, there are considerable difference between the cultural sector and other

sectors in the labor market. In my research I will devote attention to these differences

and similarities.

Structure of this thesis

In the first part of this thesis I will reflect on the existing literature on this topic. In the

first chapter of part one, I reflect on the discussion whether the metaphor of the glass

ceiling is still valid in the 21st century. I will combine literature from the U.S. and U.K.,

where gender studies remain high on the research agenda, with literature from the

Netherlands. One of the Dutch sources that I will include in the discussion is the book ‘De

Mythe van het Glazen Plafond’ (the Myth of the Glass Ceiling) by Marike Stellinga. In her

book, which is published only last autumn, Stellinga declares that in the Netherlands

there is no such thing as a glass ceiling. With her blunt statement, Stellinga kicked some

dust in the debate on the advancement of women in the labor market in the Netherlands.

Furthermore, I will devote a chapter on affirmative action programs. Firstly I will

explain what the purpose of affirmative action programs are and in what way they are

different from equal opportunity policies. Then I will reflect on research that has been

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conducted on the effectiveness of affirmative action programs: in what ways have

affirmative action programs been effective and in what ways did it shortfall? In close

relation to the effectiveness of the programs, I will conclude this chapter with the

arguments of advocates and opponents on the implementation of affirmative action

programs.

In the second part of this thesis I will present the results of my research on the

position of women in the top of Dutch museums. The research is a combination of both

quantitative as well as qualitative research. In the quantitative part I will collect

numbers on the percentage of female directors in Dutch museums. As previous research

has shown that the size of the museum is related to the amount of women in top

positions (Fischer, 2002), I will make a distinction between small, middle and large

museums. In the qualitative part of the research I will present the results of several

interviews with experts in the museum field.

Finally, in the last part of this thesis I will come to a conclusion on my research

question: is the metaphor of the glass ceiling (still) relevant in the museum sector in the

Netherlands, and if yes, would a quota be a good solution to break this glass ceiling?

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Chapter one: Women in the labor market

-Women’s participation in the labor market

-Gender segregation

-Feminization

-Level of women’s pay

-Women in decision-making positions

In the last 25 years much has changed to the advantage of women. Discrimination on

basis of sex has disappeared, to a large extent, from law and regulations. Women are no

longer underrepresented in education, and educational levels have drawn equal.

Women’s participation on the labor market

Statistics that can be interpreted as showing great gains, are the numbers on female

participation on the labor market. Women’s participation on the labor market has risen

tremendously in the previous century. From 1900 to 2005, the percentage of women

working outside the house rose from 20% to 59% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). These

numbers are comparable to those in European and other Western nations. In the

Netherlands, the percentage of women working outside the house rose from 35% in

1987 to 57% in 2007 (Emancipatiemonitor, 2008).

Gender segregation

Besides the metaphor ‘glass ceiling’ also the term ‘glass walls’ is used in the literature to

explain the situation of women on the labor market. This metaphor refers to the

concentration of women in certain sectors of the labor market.

Gender segregation is the phenomenon that women and men are not equally

divided on both education and related to this in the labor market. Some educations and

professions are more popular among men; others are more popular among women.

Women are for example outnumbered in the services-industry, such as the health sector

or education: in England 86% of primary and nursery teachers were women (EOC

2001a). These percentages from the English labour market are comparable to the

Netherlands. In 2007 more than 80% of the employees in the health and welfare sector

are female. Also in the educational professions female employees outnumber their male

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colleagues: in 2007 around 60% of the educational professions was occupied by women

In contrary, men dominate the technical, economical and agricultural studies and

professions. Women are least represented in the construction industry: in 2007 less

than 10% of the employees in this sector was female (emancipatiemonitor 2008).

The organization ‘Statistics Netherlands’ (in Dutch: Centraal Bureau voor

Statistieken) collects and publishes statistics that can be used for scientific research.

Every year ‘Statistics Netherlands’ publishes a segregation-index; a way to measure

segregation in different professions, sectors and levels on the labour market. The

segregation-index varies from 0 to 1. The index is 0 when women and men are equally

divided over the different professions, sectors and levels; the index is 1 when all women

are engaged in different professions, sectors and levels than men. ‘Statistics Netherlands’

states that the segregation-index based on profession and sector has risen in the past

years. ‘Statistics Netherlands’ states that the increasing number of women entering the

labour market from 2001 to 2007 resulted in a further segregation of men and women

in the different professions and sectors. The intake of women on the labour market

especially took place in the professions and sectors that are traditionally regarded as

female jobs and sectors (Emancipatiemonitor, 2008).

Why does this gender segregation arise? Gender segregation is linked to

stereotypical views of the role of women in society. Women are regarded to be more

‘caring’ than men, and this would direct them towards professions such as teaching or

nursing. Whether these stereotypical views arise out of genetic differences between men

and women, or are imparted by education is a different issue that I prefer to leave

untouched.

Others argue that gender segregation is linked to salary differences in different

sectors of the society (Beverung, 2007; Turner, 2001). Women happen to be

outnumbered in sectors that are poorly paid. One explanation for this is that

traditionally, men are seen as the breadwinner, and the payment of the women’s job is

considered as subordinate. Men therefore were more attracted to professions with

higher payment, what left the poorly paid jobs for the women. Secondly, research has

shown that men and women tend to associate job satisfaction with different things. Men

tend to associate job satisfaction with the level of salary and benefits they receive.

Women however, tend to attach value to other aspects than level of salary and benefits.

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They tend to value social interaction and the ability to help people in a job more than its

payment (EOC, 2000).

Others do acknowledge the link between gender segregation and salary

differences, but reverses the causal effect. In the explanations above gender segregation

is seen as a result of salary differences: because some jobs are poorly paid, men tend to

avoid these jobs and left them for the women. Some argue that it is actually the other

way around: salary differences are a result of gender segregation. They argue that due to

an increasing number of female employees the level of salary for certain jobs decreased.

I will examine this matter further in the chapter ‘feminization’ (Beverung, 2007).

Feminization

The term ‘feminization’ refers to the concentration of women in certain professions and

sectors. When women are highly segregated in a certain sectors, the sector is said to be

‘feminized’. ‘Statistics Netherlands’ argues that the educational professions in the

Netherlands are in the process of feminization.

The feminization of professions and sectors is often said to imply negative

consequences. It is argued that the feminization of a profession or sector is related to

salary stagnation and a general loss of respect for the job. As a result men, who in

general tend to associate job satisfaction with the level of salary and benefits, loose their

interest in working in the profession or sector. This starts the vicious circle as more

women will be employed due to the decreased male interest for the job. (Beverung,

2007).

Level of women’s pay

More statistics that can be interpreted as showing a ‘frustrating status quo’ are numbers

on the level of women’s pay. Although the wage gap between male and female

employees became smaller in the past decades, women’s pay level is still below that of

men. In the Netherlands, the hourly wage of female employees is on average 18% lower

than that of male employees. These wage disparities can be partly explained out of

occupational segregation.

Women in decision-making positions

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Also the statistics that show a significant rise in female managers look promising: in

1972 only 18% of the managers was female, in 2005 women occupied 42% of the

managerial positions (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006). The percentages of female

managers in the Netherlands are lower than in the U.S. In the year 2007 women

occupied 26% of the managerial positions in the Netherlands. Although this percentage

seems little compared to that of the U.S., statistics show an increase in female managers

in the past decades (Emancipatiemonitor, 2008).

However, other statistics can be interpreted as showing a ‘frustrating status quo’

(Barreto, 2009): the representation of women in the most powerful positions of society,

such as leading positions in the government or top organizations. In 2008, the European

Professional Women’s Network (EPWN) conducted research on the gender of the

members of boards of the 300 top organizations in Europe. There was no country, either

in Europe or outside it, where women occupied at least half of the positions in boards of

directors. In the Netherlands, 12% of the positions within the boards of top

organizations was occupied by women (Board Women Monitor, 2008).

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Chapter two: the metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’

-Origin of the metaphor

-Is the metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’ still relevant in the 21st century?

The origin of the metaphor

As mentioned in the introduction, the metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’ is maybe one of the

most famous metaphors to emerge from the 20th century. The term is first used in 1979

by two women working for ‘Hewlett-Packard’, the company producing electronic

devices. Those women used such term to describe the situation they found themselves

in: although it seemed that they had equal changes to get promoted to better positions,

they hit a certain point beyond which they seemed to be unable to progress. The ‘ceiling’

refers to a barrier that makes it difficult to climb up the organizational ladder. The ‘glass’

refers to the transparency of this barrier; this barrier is not necessarily visible to the

observer (Barreto, 2009; .

Although used earlier, the term ‘glass ceiling’ became popularized in 1986 by an

article in the Wall Street Journal (Hymowitz, Schellhardt, 1986). In 1991, the term is

officially acknowledged by the U.S. Department of Labor. They defined the ‘glass ceiling’

as: ‘artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified

individuals from advancing upward in their organization into management-level

positions’ (U.S. Department of Labor, 1991, p.1.). Generally spoken, the glass ceiling

refers to the discrepancy of women, but as clearly stated in the definition of the U.S.

Department of Labor, the term can also refer to other social groups that might encounter

hidden barriers on their way up the organizational ladder. Also disabled people,

homosexuals or cultural minorities can be restrained by a glass ceiling. For the hidden

barrier that might restrain homosexuals from reaching top positions I encountered the

term ‘pink ceiling’, derived from the ‘glass ceiling’ (Barreto, 2009; Irwin, 1999).

“The house of disparity”

Besides the ‘pink ceiling’, I encountered many other metaphors derived from the ‘glass

ceiling’. Since the metaphors all refer to parts of a building, I collected them under the

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heading ‘the house of disparity’; glass walls, sticky floors, pink- and celluloid ceilings,

glass escalators and glass cliffs.

Glass walls refer to the concentration of women in certain sectors: gender

segregation. For example, statistics show that women are more pulled towards health-

and education professions than men. But gender segregation not only takes places

between different sectors; gender segregation also occurs between different functions

within the same sector. Women are for example concentrated in functions as marketing

or human resources. Thus, the metaphor ‘glass walls’ refers to horizontal, rather than

vertical barriers. It refers to the barriers women encounter when they try to work in

different sectors or different positions than those that are traditionally occupied by

women. In the following chapter I will go more in depth about gender segregation.

The metaphor of the ‘sticky floor’ refers to another barrier that women might

encounter on their way up the organizational ladder. A power that makes them ‘stick’ to

the floor and hinders them in their way to top positions. This power is the care of

children or a household.

The metaphor of the pink- and the celluloid ceiling are also variation on the ‘glass

ceiling’. As mentioned earlier, the ‘pink ceiling’ refers to difficulties encountered by

homosexuals while climbing up he organizational ladder. The ‘celluloid ceiling’, first

used by sociologist Martha Lauzen, is specialized on barriers encountered by women

who wish to promote to top positions in the creative professions in Hollywood.

I also encountered the metaphor of the ‘glass escalator’, which refers to the

accelerated process of men to top positions in especially female-dominated sectors such

as the health- or educational sector.

Finally the metaphor of the ‘glass cliff’ refers to the phenomenon that women are

more likely to be recruited than men for leadership positions that imply a high risk of

criticism and failure.

Is the metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’ still relevant in the 21st century?

In the meantime the metaphor of the ‘glass ceiling’ exists more than 30 years and is

introduced into other sectors than the business sector where the term originated. The

rise of t

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‘However, despite continued political lobbying, legislative reform, and the almost 50

years that have passed since the second wave of the feminist social and political

movement, the extend of women’s advancement is unclear.’ Media and public opinion is

mixed about the question whether or not the ‘glass ceiling’ is still in place. ‘Such

uncertainty also resonates in the available statistics on women’s representation in the

workplace. Indeed, as many of the chapters in this volume attest, the statistics may be

interpreted as showing great gains or a frustrating status quo’.

The existence of the ‘glass ceiling’ has always been debatable. Recently, the Dutch

journalist Stellinga argued that the ‘glass ceiling’ is a myth and she blamed women for

lacking in ambition to reach top positions

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Chapter three: Gender diversity in the workspace

-Research on diversity in the workspace

-Is gender diversity in the workspace related to organizational performance?

Research on diversity in the workspace

The first research on diversity at work was conducted in the 1960’s. In the past 50 years

research on this topic became more and more popular due to changes in the labor

market. Originally research on diversity was focussed on the way organizations deal

with differences in ethnic background, race, gender and age. In the last decade however,

research on diversity also included differences with respect to their skills, beliefs,

attitudes, values and knowledge. We can say that the concept of diversity has broadened

out from demographic differences such as ethnic background, race, age and gender, to

‘acquired’ characteristics such as skills, beliefs, attitudes, values and knowledge. In the

literature these two levels of diversity are often classified as ‘surface-level’ and ‘deep-

level’ diversity. Demographic differences, as they can be seen on first sight are classified

as ‘surface-level’ diversity; characteristics as skills, values and knowledge are classified

as ‘deep-level’ diversity as they can not be detected on first sight (Harrison, 2002; Rink,

2009).

This division in the concept of diversity is closely related to a second division that

is often used in research on diversity: less job-related and highly job-related diversity

(Pelled, 1996; Simons, Pelled & Smith, 1999). Highly job-related diversity is based on

attributes such as education, captured experiences, and skills. Less job-related diversity

is based on attributes such age, gender and race. The latter therefore finds more

interface with ‘surface-level’ diversity whereas highly job-related diversity is more

related to ‘deep-level’ diversity. As research on diversity is broad and my time limited, I

will only focus on research on gender diversity and will therefore leave ‘deep-level’

diversity and highly job-related diversity aside.

Is gender diversity in the workspace related to organizational performance?

One of the main questions raised in research on diversity is whether diversity is

beneficial for the functioning of the organization. Advocates of diversity in the

workplace promote the positive effect that diversity will have on the functioning of the

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organization. Slogans as ‘Diversity Works’ and ‘It’s all in the Mix’ contribute to this idea

(Memory Magazine, 2010). However, research has mixed outcomes whether diversity is

beneficial for the functioning of organizations: some research results suggest that

diversity has a positive influence on the organizational performance; other research

results suggest the opposite. Therefore, diversity in the workspace has often been

referred to as the ‘double-edged’ sword (Milliken & Martins, 1996). To give an insight in

the unsettled debate what the relationship is of diversity and organizational

performance, I will discuss some results of previous research.

Numerous studies found that there is a positive relation between high

proportions of female board members and superior organizational performance. So

bringing more women in top positions is ‘not just the right thing, but also the bright

thing’, as advocates of women in top positions state (Women on Boards, report May

2002). Literature discusses many arguments why it beneficial for the organizational

performance to have more women in top positions. Rosener divides these arguments in

the labor pool argument, the market argument and the governance argument (Rosener,

2009).

The labor pool argument argues that women are in the workplace to stay. Many

women are well educated and talented, and ‘looking for careers instead of jobs’ as

Rosener names their ambition. Companies want to attract talented employees on all

levels of their organization. An equal percentage of women in boards positions sends out

a message to all women employed or the women interested in working in that

organization, that this company values diversity. In contrary, Rosener suggests that:

‘When potential female employees and key existing employees see no women on a

board, it raises questions about the corporate culture and a woman’s chances for

advancement’ (Rosener, 2009). McKinsey suggests that the image that an organization

values diversity can have an even further spread effect: a corporate culture that values

diversity can also appeal to (female) investors and customers (McKinsey, 2008).

The market argument is based on the increasing power of the female consumers:

research shows that women are the driving force behind more than 70% of the

household purchases. The car producer Nissan argued that even for traditionally male-

orientated products as cars, women now have a major influence on purchase decisions:

in Japan, women influence 60% of new car purchases. As a successful company knows

how to tune its products to its consumers, the diversity within the board of an

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organization should be a reflection of the consumer base (McKinsey, 2008; Rosener,

2009).

The third argument mentioned by Rosener is the governance argument. This is

based on the idea that diversity can boost creativity. Within a workgroup, demographic

differences such as gender, leads to a larger variety in knowledge, values and beliefs that

the workgroup possesses together. This can lead to unique insights that could have been

overlooked by more heterogeneous workgroups (Rink and Ellemers, 2009). As Rosener

puts it, ‘Women tend to ask different questions than men because they come from a

completely different environment and vantage point’ (Rosener, 2009).

Numerous studies support the above-mentioned theories with concrete numbers.

For example in 2001, the scientist Adler conducted research on the relationship

between women in senior positions and the performance of the organization. To

compare performance of the organization, he used the Fortune 500. This is a ranking list

published annually by the American magazine Fortune of the 500 American

organizations with the highest revenue. Adler concluded that the 25 firms with the

highest number of women in senior positions listed on the Fortune 500, were highly

positioned on the ranking in terms of return on assets and return on investments (Adler,

2001).

More recent studies confirm Adler’s research results. In 2007, the international

consultancy agency McKinsey conducted research on the impact of gender diversity on

the performance of organizations. In their research rapport ‘Women Matter’, McKinsey

stated that organizations with three or more women in senior management positions,

outperformed companies with no women in top positions on several organizational

criteria such as innovation, motivation, vision and coordination and control. Also

studies on financial performance show that organizations with more women in top

positions outperform other companies in their sector: the 89 companies in Europe with

the most gender-diverse management teams performed financially better than their

industry average (McKinsey, 2007).

These research results are positive for the promoting of more women in

management positions. However, the causal relationship between women in top

positions and organizational performance is often questioned. Do more women in top

positions lead to better organizational performance, or do organizations that perform

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well “allow themselves the luxury of attending to social issues such as board diversity”?

(Schumpeter, 2010).

Other research provides contradictory results by arguing that board and

workgroup diversity can also have a negative influence on the organizational

performance. In his research on social categorization and the self-concept, Turner forms

the social identity theory. This theory suggests that people categorise themselves into

social groups with whom they share relevant features. Members of highly diverse work

groups, share less relevant features together (Turner, 1985). Research shows that

diversity can threaten the cohesion of work groups. In highly diverse work groups there

can be a lower level of group identification, which leads to a lower level of cohesion in

the work group. A lower level of cohesion will lead to decreased cooperation within the

work group and can result in worse performance of the organization.

There is also research that could support the above-mentioned theory by

providing numbers that show that diversity is not always beneficial for the

organizational performance. In 1996, Siciliano found that gender diversity in the board

of an organization has a positive influence on the social performance of the organization.

The social performance of an organization was measured by looking at its social mission

and provision of charitable or community services. Contrary, Siciliano argues that

gender diversity can have a negative influence on the financial performance of the

organization. Siciliano concluded that more women in the board of organizations is

related to a lower level of raised funds (Siciliano, 1996).

In conclusion, it is not possible to conclude whether gender diversity in the

workspace is beneficial or adverse. Research on this topic has contradictory results as

organizational performance can be defined in many ways.

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Chapter four: Promoting women in management

-Coaching

-Networking

-Affirmative action programs

What are affirmative action programs?

Positive or affirmative action programs are developed to increase the proportion of

women in certain sectors, functions or training programs. Affirmative action programs

are different from policies that try to achieve equal opportunities for every individual.

This is because these equal opportunity policies depart from the notion that fairness has

achieved once intentional discrimination has been prohibited. Affirmative action

programs however, go one step further and assume that it is not sufficient if intentional

discrimination is fought. Affirmative action programs assume that there also such thing

as unintentional discrimination: a set frame of stereotypes and views that are

unconsciously contributing to a system of inequality. To achieve an equal gender

balance on the workplace, also the unintentional discrimination needs to be fought: ‘Real

equal opportunity does not exist just because formal barriers are removed. Direct

discrimination and hidden barriers prevent women from getting their share of

(political) influence’ (www.quotaproject.org). Advocates of affirmative action argue that

through the implementation of targets and quotas, the set frame of stereotypes and

views that endure gender inequality, can be changed. Furthermore affirmative action

will lead to a direct increase in the representation of target groups (Wirth, 2001; Iyer,

2009).

In affirmation action programs, different measures to achieve the goal of an equal

gender balance on the workplace can be applied. This can be the application of targets or

quotas. There is an important difference between targets and quotas. Targets are often

set by the employer himself, and therefore offer some degree of flexibility. Quotas, often

imposed by a higher body, are less flexible. The higher body, for example the

government, can impose a fine if the quota is not met (Wirth, 2001; Iyer, 2009).

Many organizations across the globe have launched affirmative action programs.

Especially in politics, affirmative action programs are very common: today, more than

half of the countries of the world makes use of affirmative action programs to form their

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parliament. The reason why especially in politics there is such a strong emphasis on an

equal gender balance, can be found in the public character of the politics. An equal

gender balance in politics can have a positive effect on other sectors of society: ‘if the

leading party in a country uses a quota this may have a significant impact on the overall

rate of female representation’ (www.quotaproject.org). In this sense, the politics carry

the responsibility of having an exemplary role (www.quotaproject.org; Iyer, 2009).

But also in other sectors of societies, affirmative action programs are used. In

some cases governments impose these affirmative action measures by legislation; but

more often the companies undertake the measures on voluntary basis. The United

States, Canada, Australia and Norway are some known examples of countries in which

the government has been actively involved in the application of affirmative action

measures. Examples of large multinational companies that undertook affirmative action

measures voluntarily are Xerox, Pepsi-Cola, American Express and Lucent Technologies

(Iyer, 2009).

Although quotas for women in decision-making positions have been around for

quite some time, quotas are still a topical subject: last March, Deutsche Telekom, one of

Germany’s biggest companies, declared that they will voluntarily implement a gender

quota for its middle and upper management positions (Moore, 2010). Also in the

Netherlands the discussion whether or not to apply quotas is vivid. An important event

that stirred up the debate, wa

Norway, where quotas for women on boards originated. In 2005, Norwegian

government gave listed firms two years to put women in 40% of board seats.

The effectiveness of affirmative action

An important question is whether or not affirmative action has proved to be an effective

measure for increasing the representation and status of women in certain sectors,

functions or training programs. Several studies have been conducted to measure the

effectiveness of affirmative action programs. However, the effectiveness of such

programs be measured in different ways. Results are therefore contradictory.

One way to measure whether or not affirmative action programs have been

effective, is to focus on the representation of women in certain sectors, functions or

training programs. Several studies in the U.S. as well as in other countries where

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http://www.quotaproject.org/


affirmative action measures has been applied, show that female employment increased

at a faster rate in organizations where affirmative action measures where applied than

in comparable companies where these measures were not applied. Therefore we can

conclude that affirmative action programs are effective in increasing the representation

of women in certain positions.

Another way to measure the effectiveness of affirmative action is to look at the

productivity and efficiency of companies that applied affirmative action measures. How

do organizations that apply these programs perform economically? Various studies

were conducted on the question whether affirmative action measures effects the

productivity and efficiency of the companies that applied them. These studies concluded

that the implementation of affirmative action measures did not disadvantage

organizations: the studies showed that affirmative action measures do not lead to a

decrease in performance or productivity (Iyer, 2009).

A third way to measure the effectiveness of the programs is to focus more on the

experience of affirmative action beneficiaries once they’ve entered an organization.

Studies focused on these aspects found that affirmative action programs may harm the

well-being and status of female employees after they’ve entered the organization.

Women, who believe that they are hired for a certain job only because of the affirmative

action, can feel stigmatized by it (Iyer, 2009). Experimental research found that female

leaders who believe to be selected because of their gender had a more negative

perception of their own competence, selected less challenging tasks and reported higher

levels of stress than female leaders who believe to be selected based on their merits.

Studies with this focus therefore conclude that affirmative action programs are not

effective to improve the status of women in certain positions (Heilman, 1987; Iyer,

2009).

Furthermore, other studies found that women’s feeling of stigmatization by the

affirmative action programs is also reflected by their external social context: women

who are believed to have benefited from the affirmative action programs are perceived

and treated differently by their social environment. Studies were conducted in which

male and female employees of organizations had to evaluate their colleagues. These

studies found that the evaluation of presumed affirmative action beneficiaries is more

negative than the evaluation of men and women who were selected merely because of

their merits (Iyer, 2009).

19


In conclusion, studies conducted on whether or not affirmative action programs

are effective measures for increasing the representation and status of women in certain

positions, have mixed outcomes. Affirmative action programs are effective in increasing

the representation of women in certain positions. Furthermore, the programs do not

have a negative influence on the organizational performance. However, the programs

may harm the status of the female employees once they’ve entered the organization.

Both their reflection upon themselves can be deteriorated as well as the evaluation of

their colleagues. However, I have to place some remarks with the research results

presented in the previous paragraphs. The effects reported in the studies are found in

experimental lab settings. In reality, the effects seem to be limited.

Criticism on positive action programs

Advocates of affirmative action programs argue that the program should be seen as a

‘temporary catch-up strategy’. Affirmative action measures should therefore only be

applied within a fixed time frame to correct gender imbalances in certain sectors and

professions. After this balance is achieved, the measures can be discharged (Wirth,

2001).

Opponents of the affirmative action programs often argue that the programs are

based on reserve discrimination.

The economist Schumpeter, argues that the quota that the Norwegian

government imposed on its listed firms, had leaded to a big loss of ‘boardroom

experience’. The women who benefited from affirmative action programs had, averagely

spoken, less experience as the men they replaced: the new, younger female directors

were less likely to sit on other boards, more likely to come from middle management

and had spent less time running companies (Schumpeter, 2010).

According to Schumpeter, the biggest barrier for women to enter the boardroom

is a lack of hands-on experience of a firm’s core business. As discussed earlier in the

chapter on gender segregation, women are more likely to occupy positions into

functional roles such as marketing, human resources and accounting. Starting from

these positions, it becomes more difficult to advance to the boardroom than for

positions in other segments of the organization. WHY IS THIS SO???? Therefore

Schumpeter concludes that imposing a quota for women in boardrooms will only tackle

the symptom of discrimination but not the cause. To tackle the cause of the problem,

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organizations have to ensure that more women gain the right experience before they

enter the boardroom: ‘That may be a slower process than imposing a quota, but it is also

likely to be a more meaningful and effective one.’ (Schumpter, 2010).

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Chapter five: women and museums

- A historical overview

- Cultural education

- Women’s participation in the museum sector

- Women in decision-making positions in the museum sector

- Feminization of the museum field?

A historical overview

The connection between women and museums is reverberated in the origin of the word

‘museum’. The term ‘museum’ comes forth from the Greek word ‘mouseion’, where the

museum was home to the Muses. The nine Muses were the daughters of Zeus and his

mistress Mnemosyne. They are seen as the goddesses of the arts and culture.

Every since the rise of the museums as we know them now, women played a

significant role in the museum world. From the 19th century there were many women

who initiated the founding of major museums. Some examples from the United States

are Lizzie Bliss, Mrs. Cornelius J. Sullivan and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller who founded the

Museum of Modern Art in New York. Or Gertrude Vanderbilt and Juliana Force who

founded the Whitney Museum of American Art. Who were these early women who acted

as pioneers in the museum field? Often the women were daughters or wives of rich

fathers and husbands. They shared an interest in history and art, and wanted to do

something beneficial for the society (Schwarzer, 2007; Taylor, 1994).

Before the close of World War II and in the years after that, the power that the

early museum women had achieved receded due to an increasing male interest in

museum work. As Schwarzer argues ‘many women were pushed to the margins of

institutions they had founded and led’. Women stayed involved in the museum field, but

this time as volunteers. These volunteer associations organized by women were often

reduced to ‘white-glove social clubs’: associations of women from well-established

families who sip tea and speak ‘proper’ English. However, these volunteer associations

played an important role in the daily operations of the museum and fund-raising.

(Schwarzer, 2007). On a conference on the changing role of women in museums, Weber

distinguished four generations of women in the 20th century who were involved in the

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museum field. Weber distinguishes the women who organized volunteer associations as

the first generation of women in the museum field (Weber, 1994).

At the end of the 1960’s a new generation of women entered the museum field.

Growing up in the years leading to the feminist movement, these women had a different

attitude as the previous generation. Many of them participated in the feminist

movement and were willing to fight for an equal treatment in the workplace. These

years were also characterized by a major expansion in museum activity and many

women were happy to fill these vacancies. This generation of women was idealistic and

dreamed of having it all: education, family and a career. That many of these women

suffered from a burn-out therefore doesn’t come as a surprise (Schwarzer, 2007; Weber,

1994).

During the 1980’s the third generation of women entered the museum field. This

was the first generation that had advanced academic and professional training. In the

year 1982, for the first time in the history of the United States, there were more women

than men that graduated with a bachelor degree (Weber, 1994). Unlike the first

generation that worked unpaid, or the second generation that fought for acceptance in

the workplace, the third generation women regarded the museum work as a

professional career. They have had the same education as their male colleagues, and

created ‘old-girl networks’ as the counterpart of the existing ‘old-boy networks’

(Schwarzer, 2007; Weber, 1994).

The fourth and final generation that Weber distinguished are the women that ‘are

‘aware of ‘burnout’ and unrecognized overachievement.’ As Weber argues, this group is

increasing in number and these women become just as persistent as men in demanding

their basic safety nets such as retirement plans, overtime pay, physical and ethical

safeguards in the workplace (Weber, 1994).

Cultural education

In the previous paragraph I mentioned that from the 1980’s an increasing amount of

women with academic backgrounds entered the museum field. In the past 40 years,

cultural education programs have experienced an impressive increase in female

students. At the end of the 1960’s there was still a considerable difference in the

Netherlands between the sexes in regard to participation in cultural education: the

percentage of women was less than half the percentage of men. During the 70’s, inspired

23


by the feminist movement, Dutch women began ‘playing catch-up’. From 1990 the

number of female students even exceeded the number of male students. In 1990 more

than 60% of the language, history and art students on both college as well as on

university level were female. (Emancipatiemonitor, 2008; Rengers, 2001).

These figures of the Netherlands correspond with figures from abroad. In 2001,

59% of the English undergraduate students in the area ‘creative arts and design’ where

female.

Women’s participation in the museum sector

Is there a strong gender segregation in the cultural sector? ‘Statistics Netherlands’

publishes the percentage of men and women occupied in the cultural sector and

remaining services. In 2007, 53% of the employees in the cultural sector and remaining

services was female. However, since the cultural sector and remaining services are

joined together in the same category the accuracy of this number is questionable

(emancipatiemonitor, 2008).

The cultural sector covers different art disciplines. In her research on the glass

ceiling in the cultural sector, Fischer divides the cultural sector in 5 segments: the visual

arts, the performing arts, cultural heritage, music and media (Fischer, 2002). In my

research I will focus on only segment of the cultural sector: the visual arts.

Within a sector there can be gender segregation for different positions. Turner,

who conducted research on the position of women in museums in England, found that

there is a job segregation in the museum field. Women are highly represented in the

following occupations: office and administration; development and educational;

marketing, PR and fundraising. In contrast, men are better represented in the jobs that

are occupied with conservation and technique; and maintenance and security. The

situation in England corresponds with the Netherlands: research on the

Women in decision-making positions in the museum sector

In 2001 Fischer conducted research on the glass ceiling in de cultural sector in the

Netherlands. For her research Fischer divided the cultural sector in 5 subdivisions: the

visual arts, performing arts, cultural heritage, music and media. In each of these

divisions, she calculated the percentage of women working in decision-making

positions. In all sectors the percentage men exceeded the percentage of women in

24


decision-making positions. In the visual arts sector, it came closest to a balanced

situation: 43% of the decision-making positions was occupied by women. Out of the 5

subdivisions, the media sector was most distant from a balanced situation: 21% of the

decision-making positions was occupied by female employees (Fischer, 2002).

Furthermore Fischer divided the cultural organizations according to their size.

She concluded that the size of the cultural organization is related to the amount of

women in decision-making positions: the larger the cultural organization, the smaller

the percentage of female employees in decision-making positions. In small

organizations, with less than 10 permanent staff members, Fischer found an almost

equal amount of men and women in decision-making positions. In large organizations,

with more than 100 permanent staff members, she found less than 20% of the decision-

making positions occupied by women (Fischer, 2002).

In the same year, Turner conducted research on women’s success in museum

careers in England and found similar results. On average 61% of the museum directors

was male. For the national museums, which are usually large organizations 86% of the

museum directors was male. Turner concludes that ‘although women are well

represented in the profession as a whole, they are not attaining the top jobs in a similar

proportion’ (Turner, 2002).

Feminization of the museum field?

In her research on the gender representation of museum collection positions in the

United States, Beverung observes that there is an increasing number of female curators

in the American museums. She argues that: ‘because of changing roles and

responsibilities, qualifications, and salaries associated with museum collection

positions, the museum community may be experiencing a ‘feminization’ of the

profession’.

According to Beverung this is a cause for concern. Due to feminization, the

museum collection positions might experience a further decrease in payment and

respect, which might drive away talented male (and female) professions. This might lead

to a general decline in quality and prestige of the collection positions in the museum. A

second concern is related to the task of museums to reach out for a diverse public

audience. The American Association of Museums states that for museums to fulfill its

mission: ‘the museum staff, including collections personnel, must be composed of a wide

25


variety of individuals’ (American Association of Museums, 1992). A further feminization

of the museum personnel could therefore become a threat for the museum community’s

goal (Beverung, 2007).

Richie, who conducted research on gender patterns in art museums, found a

relation between the gender of the people working in the museum and its visitors. Richie

stated that when male curators at art museums organized exhibitions of cars and

motorcycles, the number of male visitors rose significantly. ‘But the art museum world

was cynical. Is it so wrong for art museums to admit that certain themes appeal more to

one gender than another?’ (Schwarzer, 2007; Beverung, 2007).

In earlier research on the Dutch museum field we can not recognize Beverung’s

concern. In her research on the glass ceiling in the Dutch cultural sector, Fischer

distinguished 5 decision-making positions: business director, general director, artistic

director, head artistic department and head organizations and communication. She

concluded that women are best represented in the positions of business director and

head organization. The positions of business director and head organizations in the

cultural sector in the Netherlands are almost equally divided over men and women. In

contrary, women are not so well represented in the positions as general director, artistic

director and head artistic department. Based on Fischer’s research results, we could

conclude that in the cultural sector in the Netherlands, the positions that are responsible

for the artistic content are still dominated by men. This is in contrast to Beverung’s

statement that the artistic positions are becoming ‘feminized’. An important remark that

I have to make, is that Beverung’s research was only focussed on the museum sector

while Fischer research covers the whole cultural sector (Fischer, 2002; Beverung, 2009).

In the book ‘Culture Gates’, the research centre ‘ERIC arts’ published the results

on their research on power positions in the cultural sector. The research was conducted

in several European countries and covered the music sector and new media arts. The

researchers of the project distinguished different types of power: economical or political

power and symbolic power. With economic or political power they referred to positions

as CEO’s of broadcasting companies, directors of national opera houses and museums or

heads of city cultural departments. With symbolic power they referred to positions that

can define the content and can control the gates that guard a diversity of ideas, styles

and information. These people are often referred to as ‘gatekeepers’ (Alexander, 2003)

and include positions as art critics, programme directors, editors in chief of newspapers

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etc. The ERIC arts scientists concluded that although women are very well represented

in the cultural sector both the economic and political positions as well as the symbolic

positions are filled by men: ‘these different ‘power positions’ remain in the hands of men

and therefore we are still a long way from achieving equality of presence and influence

in determining quality’ (ERICarts Report, 2003).

27


Literature on the position of women in the labor market in general:

Aarti, I. ‘Increasing the representation and status of women in employment: the

effectiveness of affirmative action’ in: Barreto, M. The glass ceiling in the 21st century:

understanding barriers to gender equality. Washington: American Psychological

Association, 2009.

Adler, R. Roy D. Adler, Pepperdine University, quoted in the Harvard Business Review (Nov. 2001), p.30.

Barreto, M. The glass ceiling in the 21st century: understanding barriers to gender equality.

Washington: American Psychological Association, 2009.

Barreto, M. Ryan, M. and Schmitt, M. ‘Introduction: Is the Glass Ceiling Still Relevant in

the 21st Century?’ in: The glass ceiling in the 21st century: understanding barriers to

gender equality. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2009.

Eagly, A. and Sczesny, S. ‘Stereotypes About Women, Men, and Leaders: Have Times

Changed?’ in: The glass ceiling in the 21st century: understanding barriers to gender

equality. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2009.

Hill, C. and Jones, G. Strategic Management. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Schumpeter, J. ‘Imposing quotas for women in boardrooms tackles a symptom of

discrimination, not the cause’ in: The Economist, 13th March, 2010.

Stellinga, M. De mythe van het glazen plafond. Amsterdam: uitgeverij Balans, 2009.

Toomey, C. ‘Quotas for women on the board: do they work?’ in: The Sunday Times, 8 June

2008.

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Turner, J. ‘Social categorization and the self-concept: A social cognitive theory of group

behaviour’ in: Lawjer, E. Advances in group processes: Theory and research. Greenwich,

CT: JAI Press Vol. 2, pp. 77-122.

McKinsey, Women Matter: gender diversity, a corporate performance driver, 2007.

Conducted from:

http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/paris/home/womenmatter/pdfs/

Women_matter_oct2007_english.pdf

Memory Magazine, april-may, 2010.

Moore, T. ‘In Germany, a Quota for Female Managers’ in: Time. March 22, 2010.

Morgan, G. Images of Organization. London: Sage Publications, 2006.

Wirth, L. Breaking through the glass ceiling: women in management. Geneva:

International Labour Office, 2001.

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Literature on the position of women in the cultural sector:

Beverung, M. Evaluation of Gender Representation of Museum Collection Positions in the

United States, 2007.

Cliche, D. Pyramid or Pillars: Unveiling the Status of Women in Arts and Media Professions

in Europe. Bonn: ARCult Media, 2000.

ERICarts Report. Culture-Gates: Exposing Professional ‘Gate-keeping’ Processes in Music

and New Media Arts. Bonn: ARCult Media, 2003.

Hamersveld, I. van. ‘Vrouwen gezocht: De sociaal-economische positie van vrouwen in

de culturele sector’ in: Boekman, vol. 44, 2000. Pp 131-141.

Hamersveld, I. van. ‘Breaking the Barriers. Women in Arts and Media Professions: The

Netherlands’ in: Pyramid or Pillars: Unveiling the Status of Women in Arts and Media

Professions in Europe. Bonn: ARCult Media, 2000.

Rengers, M. ‘Op vleugels van succes’ in: Ach, dat doe ik wel even, Theater Instituut

Nederland, 2003.

Schwarzer, M. ‘Women in the temple: Gender and Leadership in Museums’ in: Museum

News, May/June 2007.

Struyk, I. ‘De feminiene en masculiene dimensies van het kunstbedrijf’ in: Ach, dat doe ik

wel even, Theater Instituut Nederland, 2003.

Turner, V. ‘The factors affecting women’s success in museum careers: a discussion of the

reasons more women do not reach the top, and of strategies to promote their future

success’ in: Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies, no. 8, November 2002.

Valk, van der. S. ‘Feminien leiderschap: de eerste onder gelijken’ in: Ach, dat doe ik wel

even, Theater Instituut Nederland, 2003.

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Valk, van der. S. Coaching in de de kunsten: Carrieres of barrieres in de kunsten. 2001-

2002.

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