Essec Business School

Numerous scholars have studied women in the workplace, with their research and initiatives exploring the pay gap, flexible work, careers, leadership roles, and more, identifying the current challenges and how to reduce inequalities. This research and these initiatives tend to focus on white-collar employees in formal economies - but these issues are also shared by women working in blue-collar roles and informal economies. Their working conditions and challenges too often fly under the radar. Stefan Gröschl, professor of management at ESSEC Business School and associate editor of the Gender, Work & Organization journal, explained why we need to change this in a recent piece for the journal (1). He underlined the importance of shedding light on the working conditions of all women - not just those working in “white-collar” jobs. 

Dr. Gröschl has previously studied informal economies, which are ‘economic activities by workers and economic units that are – in law or in practice – not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements’ (2). He notes that many informal economy workers are female, representing 76.2% of domestic workers in 2021 statistics from the International Labour Organization (3). These informal work conditions means that women lack social protection and can face dangerous work conditions. So what can we do to improve working conditions and reduce gender inequality for all? 

To tackle a problem, we need to understand it. In a 2021 publication, Dr. Gröschl found that many female domestic workers do not have basic rights and employment protections, a situation underscored by the UN Women statistic that 40% of national labor laws in the world neglect provisions for domestic workers (4). This situation is mirrored in other types of informal work done by 740 million women around the world, working in jobs in production, manufacturing, trade, and more - without workers’ protections (5). This means that they are working without access to unemployment benefits, without unions, without legal protection. Inadequate working conditions can engender health issues, which can jeopardize their future earnings and leave them unable to speak up about issues for fear of losing their work and facing harassment. 

What leads to this situation, and who is most at risk? One key factor is the prevalence of entrenched gender norms, leading women to take on jobs seen as suitable for women: like domestic work or service jobs. This limits both earning potential and career growth - reserved for men (6). 

Another issue stemming from gender relations is that of the wage gap - a gap that virtually no country has managed to entirely close, according to research (7). In informal economies, without norms and laws to tackle inequality, the wage gap’s presence continues uncontested. This also means that, with lower salaries and even less access to paid work outside the home, women are dependent on male relatives, thwarting their independence and propping up gendered power structures. 

The problems don’t end there, with many women (in both formal and informal economies) working a “double shift”. The workday doesn’t end when they clock out, with women taking on household duties at home to the tune of three times as many hours as men (8). This, too, is a limiting factor when it comes to career advancement, as it severely limits time and energy for skill development. 

The role of globalization 

Research, especially on policies and factors to improve women’s working conditions, is especially important due to a growing phenomenon: female migrant workers (9). These women often support their families and communities in their countries of origin - and sacrifice their own safety in order to do so. They face unsafe and exploitative working conditions, including violence, human trafficking, and forced labor to name but a few of the risks. Their sacrifice receives little attention in academic research: their financial remittances have been studied, but their lived experiences remain in the shadows. 

Where do we go from here?

The fact that so many women work in informal economies means that their contributions to the economy are undervalued, seen as “low-skilled” work. However, these roles are invaluable to society, including as they do care-taking, nursing, and cooking. Taken together, it’s clear that women at work face significant challenges, and academia is not blind to this issue - however, the plight of women in informal economies does not get much airtime in research. This is starting to change, with recent work on  the exploitative conditions faced by Filipina and Indonesian domestic workers (10) and  the impact of COVID-19 on domestic workers (i.e. 11; 12). As Dr. Gröschl notes, “We need to explore the power dynamics that systematically disadvantage women and identify factors that can foster change and break down barriers”. He calls for transdisciplinary research to answer this question and build a better understanding of women’s work - contributing to a more just and equitable working environment for all. 

References

1. Gröschl, S. (2024). Women without a voice: A commentary. Gender, Work & Organization.

2. ILO (International Labour Organization) (2002), Resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy, Geneva. https://www.ilo.org/resource/resolution-concerning-decent-work-and-informal-economy 

3. International Labour Organization. (2023).  The road to decent work for domestic workers.

4. United Nations Women. (2024). How Migration is a gender equality issue. https://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/explainer/migration/en/index.html 

5. Gröschl, S. (2021). “Sustainability Practices in Informal Economies: Actors, Roles, and Research Outlook.” In Research Handbook of Sustainability Agency, edited by Satu Teerikangas, Tiina Onkila, Katariina Koistinen and Marileena Mäkelä. London: Edward Elgar. 

6. Elgin, C., and Elveren, A. Y.. (2021). Informality, Inequality, and Feminization of Labor. Women's Studies International Forum 88, 102505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2021.102505. 

7. Milner, S., Pochic, S., Scheele, A., and Williamson, S. (2019). Challenging gender pay gaps: Organizational and regulatory strategies. Work Gender & Organization, 26, 593–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12274. 

8. United Nations. (2024). Sustainable development: Gender Equality. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/ 

9. Nassif, G. (2024). ““If We Don't Do it, Who Will?” Strategies of social reproduction at the margins. Gender, Work and Organization, 31, 1582–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12897.

10. Ham, J., and Ceradoy, A. (2022). “God Blessed Me With Employers Who Don't Starve Their Helpers”: Food insecurity and dehumanization in domestic work. Gender, Work and Organization, 29, 922–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12643.

11. Banerjee, S., and Wilks, L. (2024). Work in pandemic times: Exploring precarious continuities in paid domestic work in India. Gender, Work and Organization 31, 1505–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12858 

12. Teixeira, F. (2024). Responses of workers' organizations to the COVID‐19 crisis: Intersectional approaches of domestic workers in Mexico. Gender, Work and Organization. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13178.