Firm Specific Formalisation Structures and their Impact on the Job Satisfaction and Health of Women and Men – Analyses with the SOEP-LEE
Final Report Abstract
The research project focuses on the determinants of social inequalities at the firm level. The project examines these determinants on the basis of the Linked Employer–Employee Study of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-LEE). First, binding measures of formalization (works and staff councils, collective agreements) are distinguished from less binding measures of formalization (bureaucratic structures, formally defined procedures for hiring, and guidelines on equal opportunities). Second, company measures to reconcile family and work are further differentiated into measures of working (time) flexibility (flexible working hours, working from home as well as the possibility to adjust the duration and location of working time) and those to support childcare (company kindergartens, financial support for childcare as well as parent- child workplaces). It turns out that female employees benefit from less binding measures of formalization if the organizational culture of the company is oriented toward cooperation. This finding can be theoretically explained by the assumption of the contact hypothesis. Thus, frequent non-competitive contact could help company members form heterogeneous networks that are supportive. However, such an organizational culture in combination with childcare measures is associated with lower earnings for women, which speaks in favor of the theoretical assumption that reconciliation opportunities are (have to be) traded off against earnings losses here. The results of further analyses of the research project also support the assumption of the contact hypothesis, showing that women tend to report a high average level of job satisfaction in mixed-gender companies rather than in companies that are strongly dominated by women or men. In the second funding period of the project, the relationship between the formalization of workplaces and employee well-being was examined in more detail. Here, we followed up on conceptual work that assumes a relationship between the degree of company formalization and employee job satisfaction and further argued that formalization may represent a type of social support that can buffer or strengthen the associations of unfavorable working conditions with employee job satisfaction and subjective health. Following theoretical references, the research project hypothesizes a gender-specific supportive effect of, for example, employee representations. The results show that the negative association of unfavorable working conditions with job satisfaction is strengthened for men if a company is not included in a collective agreement. Bureaucratic company structures, on the other hand, buffer this negative association for men, while strengthening the association for women. This pattern of bureaucratic structures is also evident with regard to subjective health. Finally, in line with the project's assumption, it is shown that women with unfavorable working conditions benefit from company policies on equal opportunities and diversity.
Publications
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(2018): Geschlechterungleichheit in Erwerbsorganisationen. Zur Verschränkung von „Struktur“ und „Kultur“. Arbeit. Zeitschrift für Arbeitsforschung, Arbeitsgestaltung und Arbeitspolitik, Vol. 27, No. 1: 49–75
Busch-Heizmann, Anne; Rastetter, Daniela; Rinke, Timothy
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Der Einfluss betrieblicher Strukturen auf die Verdienste von Frauen und Männern. Ergebnisse der Betriebsbefragung des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP-LEE). WSI- Mitteilungen, Vol. 2/2018: 114-123
Busch-Heizmann, Anne; Rinke, Timothy
