Carpenter, Christopher S.

Frank, Jefferson

Giray Aksooy, Cevat

Huffman, Matt L.

LSE Research Online

The	gay	glass	ceiling	in	the	UKEmpirical	research	on	sexual	orientation	and	work-related	inequality	has	focused	on	earnings	and	income.	Severalstudies	have	found	that	gay	men	earn	significantly	less	than	similarly	situated	straight	men,	while	lesbians	earn	morethan	similarly	situated	straight	women	(e.g.,	see	Badgett	1995;	Carpenter	2007;	Aksoy	et	al.	2018;	and	others).In	contrast	to	earnings	and	income,	little	known	about	sexual	orientation	gaps	in	access	to	managerial	autonomy	andauthority:do	sexual	minorities	face	barriers	in	accessing	jobs	with	supervisory	and	managerial	workplace	authority?once	on	the	managerial	ladder,	do	sexual	minorities	face	glass	ceilings	that	block	them	from	higher-level	posts?Why	does	workplace	authority	matter?Managerial	authority	at	the	workplace	is	important	for	three	reasons	given	by	Wright	et	al.	(1995).	First,	workplaceauthority	is	one	of	the	main	determinants	of	labor	market	earnings.	Second,	these	jobs	are	desirable	in	their	ownright,	since	they	typically	have	relatively	high	occupational	prestige	and	recognition.	Third,	inequalities	in	authorityacross	gender	or	ethnic	groups	may	be	key	mechanisms	that	generate	and	sustain	inequalities	in	workplaceoutcomes.	Having	more	female	senior	managers,	for	example,	may	lead	to	more	equitable	treatment	of	womenthroughout	the	organisation	(Cohen	and	Huffman	2004).	The	presence	of	high-status	female	managers	has	a	largeimpact	on	mitigating	gender	wage	differentials	(e.g.,Bell	2005,	and	Kunze	and	Miller	2014).	Finally,	positions	ofauthority	in	the	workplace	may	allow	individuals	from	underrepresented	groups	to	sidestep	personal	discriminationand	potential	harassment.Nationally	Representative	Dataset	with	Direct	information	on	Sexual	OrientationIn	Aksoy	et	al.	(2018),	we	analyse	the	responses	of	more	than	645,000	working	age	adults	(more	than	6,000	self-identified	sexual	minorities)	to	the	annual	U.K.	Integrated	Household	Survey	from	2009	to	2014,	which	askedindividuals	directly	about	their	sexual	orientation,	as	well	as	containing	a	raft	of	individual,	household	and	workplacequestions.Measures	of	Managerial	Authority	in	the	WorkplaceLSE Business Review: The gay glass ceiling in the UK Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-09-05Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/09/05/the-gay-glass-ceiling-in-the-uk/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/There	are	two	independent	avenues	by	which	we	can	examine	workplace	authority.	We	use	direct	questions	onwhether	or	not	individuals	have	managerial	and/or	supervisory	authority	in	the	workplace.	A	different	question	alsoasks	about	the	occupation	held	by	the	individual	and	codes	this	by	the	National	Statistics	Socio-economicClassification”	(NS-SEC).	Importantly,	the	NS-SEC	occupations	include	‘managers	and	professionals’.		We	use	boththe	direct	questions	and	the	occupation	codes	in	our	analysis,	and	we	find	that	our	results	are	robust	to	the	measure.The	NS-SEC	measure	has	the	advantage	that	it	differentiates	between	higher-level	managers	(which	have	moreprestige	and	higher	pay)	and	lower-level	managers	(which	have	less	responsibility	and	authority).	This	allows	us	toinvestigate	the	existence	of	possible	glass	ceiling	effects	(Cotter	et	al.	2001).What	the	data	say?Our	analysis	yields	clear	and	surprising	findings	for	gay	men.	Specifically,	we	provide	the	literature’s	first	evidencethat	gay	men	are	significantly	more	likely	than	otherwise	similar	heterosexual	men	to	report	managerial	authorityand/or	supervisory	responsibilities	in	the	workplace.	Using	the	NS-SEC	measure	(i.e.	occupation	measure),	we	alsofind	that	they	are	significantly	more	likely	to	have	a	managerial/professional	post.	However,	we	find	strong	evidencefrom	the	NS-SEC	that	there	are	glass	ceilings:	the	managerial	advantage	experienced	by	gay	men	stems	entirelyfrom	the	fact	that	they	are	more	likely	than	heterosexual	men	to	be	low-level	managers.	In	fact,	gay	men	aresignificantly	less	likely	than	otherwise	similar	heterosexual	men	to	attain	the	highest	level	managerial	positions	thatcome	with	increased	status	and	pay.The	results	for	lesbians	are	less	clear-cut.	Lesbians	are	significantly	more	likely	than	heterosexual	women	to	havemanagerial	authority.	But	they	are	significantly	less	likely	than	comparable	heterosexual	women	to	have	any	NS-SECmanagerial/professional	occupation,	notably	including	the	highest-level	managerial	posts.	Bisexual	men	and	womenare	both	significantly	less	likely	than	otherwise	similar	heterosexual	adults	to	have	any	of	the	types	of	workplaceauthority	(regardless	of	the	measure),	though	these	differences	are	not	always	statistically	significant.Is	it	discrimination?We	perform	decomposition	analyses	to	understand	the	sources	of	the	gay	male	disadvantage	with	respect	toworkplace	authority	and	find	that	the	majority	of	the	difference	is	due	to	differential	returns	to	observed	characteristicsand	skills	(such	as	education)	as	opposed	to	differential	endowments.	That	is,	the	evidence	is	most	consistent	withdiscrimination	explaining	differential	access	to	top	managerial	positions.	Furthermore,	we	document	evidence	ofintersectionality:	the	‘gay	glass	ceiling’	effect	whereby	gay	men	have	significantly	lower	access	to	top	managerialposts	is	much	stronger	for	racial	minorities	than	for	whites.ImplicationsAccess	to	managerial	authority,	and	particularly	high-level	managerial	posts,	is	not	just	about	the	individual.	Thoseholding	these	posts	are	the	exemplars,	the	mentors	and	the	decision-makers	on	who	will	be	the	next	generation	ofsenior	leaders.	Bringing	more	sexual	minorities,	women	and	non-whites	into	managerial	posts	potentially	increasesthe	access	for	those	further	down	the	managerial/supervisory	ladder	–	with	similar	characteristics	–	to	be	promoted.As	with	representation	of	women	and	minority	groups	on	Corporate	Boards,	there	is	the	potential	to	shift	to	a	morerepresentative	outcome	more	broadly	within	the	organisation.♣♣♣Notes:This	blog	post	is	based	on	the	authors’	paper	Gay	Glass	Ceilings:	Sexual	Orientation	and	Workplace	Authorityin	the	UK,		Discussion	paper	No.	11574.	Institute	for	the	Study	of	Labor	(IZA).The	post	gives	the	views	of	its	author(s),	not	the	position	of	the	institutions	they	represent,	the	LSE	BusinessReview	or	the	London	School	of	Economics.Featured	image	credit:	Photo	by	fsHH,	under	a	CC0	licenceWhen	you	leave	a	comment,	you’re	agreeing	to	our	Comment	Policy.LSE Business Review: The gay glass ceiling in the UK Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-09-05Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/09/05/the-gay-glass-ceiling-in-the-uk/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/Cevat	Giray	Aksoy	is	a	principal	economist	in	the	Office	of	the	Chief	Economist	at	the	EuropeanBank	for	Reconstruction	and	Development	in	London,	and	a	research	associate	at	IZA	Institute	ofLabor	Economics	and	at	LSE’s	Institute	of	Global	Affairs.	His	main	research	interests	are	inequalitiesin	the	labor	market,	female	labour	supply	and	economics	of	fertility.	He	tweets	at	@cevatgirayaksoy.	Christopher	S.	Carpenter	is	a	professor	of	economics,	law,	education,	medicine,	health	and	society,and	health	policy	at	Vanderbilt	University.	He	is	an	empirical	labour	and	health	economist	by	trainingand	has	published	widely	on	the	effects	of	public	policies	on	health	outcomes	and	on	labour	marketoutcomes	for	sexual	minorities	in	the	United	States,	Australia,	Canada	and	United	Kingdom.	He	isassociate	editor	at	the	Journal	of	the	European	Economic	Association	and	the	Journal	of	HealthEconomics	and	sits	on	the	editorial	boards	of	the	Journal	of	Policy	Analysis	and	Management,American	Journal	of	Health	Economics,	and	Industrial	Relations.	He	holds	a	PhD	in	economics	fromUC	Berkeley	and	a	BA	in	mathematics,	economics,	and	public	service	from	Albion	College	(MI).	His	research	hasbeen	supported	by	the	American	Cancer	Society,	the	National	Institutes	of	Health,	and	the	Robert	Wood	JohnsonFoundation.Jefferson	Frank	is	a	professor	of	economics	at	University	of	London,	Royal	Holloway	College.Professor	Frank	obtained	his	PhD	from	Yale	and	has	previously	taught	at	Essex	University,	BirkbeckCollege,	Sussex	University,	Harvard	University	and	the	University	of	California	(Berkeley	and	SanDiego).		Matt	L.	Huffman	is	a	professor	and	chair	in	the	department	of	sociology	at	the	University	of	California,Irvine.	He	also	hold	a	joint	appointment	in	the	Paul	Merage	School	of	Business.	His	research	interestscentre	on	patterns	of	gender	and	racial	inequality	within	and	across	organisations	and	labour	markets.Among	other	things,	his	current	research	addresses	changes	in	women’s	access	to	managerialpositions	and	the	implications	of	those	changes	for	gender	inequality.	His	recent	work	also	examineshow	the	changing	nature	of	public	sector	employment	has	affected	racial	inequality.	LSE Business Review: The gay glass ceiling in the UK Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-09-05Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/09/05/the-gay-glass-ceiling-in-the-uk/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/

The gay glass ceiling in the UK

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/91664/1/Giray-Aksooy_The-gay-glass-ceiling_Author.pdf

The gay glass ceiling in the UK

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