Exploring gendered inclusion in contemporary organisations - ESRC

The last three decades have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of women in work and the mainstreaming of the equal opportunities agenda. In this context, we are also witnessing a growth of postfeminist rhetoric, suggesting that gender workplace equality has been achieved and that women's progress now depends on individual capabilities, such as confidence levels, because structural barriers have been dismantled. In Sheryl Sandberg's words, women simply need to 'lean in' in order to succeed alongside their male colleagues. Despite this optimism, academic research continues to highlight disadvantage experienced by women in the workplace, such as the gendered pay gap, the glass ceiling, women's concentration in lower-paid industries and low representation at senior levels, comprising only 8.6 per cent of directors in large UK firms in 2015.

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