Masculine Characteristics and Women's Success at Babcock International

This report investigates gender bias within Babcock International, focusing on whether managerial characteristics are perceived as masculine and how this affects women's ability to succeed. The study examines gender segregation in the labor market, identifies characteristics of successful managers (analyzing whether these are labeled masculine, feminine, or neither), explores barriers women face in management, and reviews Babcock's policies on gendered attitudes. The literature review covers topics such as gender segregation, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, empirical studies on occupational segregation, characteristics of managers, women managers in engineering, and barriers women face in becoming managers. The methodology section outlines the research design, approach, philosophy, type of investigation, sampling, data collection, data analysis, limitations, validity, reliability, and ethical considerations. Findings and discussion will be presented, along with conclusions and recommendations.

To explore if managerial
characteristics in Babcock are perceived
to be masculine and whether this a

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................4
1.1 Background of the research.......................................................................................................4
1.2 Rationale of the study................................................................................................................4
1.3 Aim of the research....................................................................................................................4
1.4 Objectives of the research..........................................................................................................5
1.5 Research questions.....................................................................................................................5
1.6 Scope of research.......................................................................................................................5
1.7 Limitations of research..............................................................................................................5
1.8 Dissertation structure.................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................................7
2.1 Segregation by gender in the Labour Market............................................................................7
2.2 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework....................................................................................8
2.3 Empirical Studies on Occupational Segregation......................................................................10
2.4 Characteristics of Managers.....................................................................................................10
2.5 Women Managers in Engineering...........................................................................................12
2.6 Barriers Women face in becoming Managers..........................................................................13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS.......................................................................16
3.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................................16
3.2 Research design.......................................................................................................................16
3.3 Research approach...................................................................................................................16
3.4 Research philosophy................................................................................................................17
3.5 Type of investigation...............................................................................................................17
3.6 Sampling..................................................................................................................................18
3.7 Data collection.........................................................................................................................18
3.8 Data analysis............................................................................................................................19
3.9 Research limitations.................................................................................................................19
3.10 Validity and reliability...........................................................................................................20
3.11 Ethical considerations............................................................................................................20
CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS...........................................................................................................21
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................28
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................30
6.1 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................30
6.2 Recommendations....................................................................................................................31
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................33
APPENDIX........................................................................................................................................43
Interview Questionnaire..............................................................................................................43

Transcription................................................................................................................................43

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the research
Managers play an essential role in the business so as to guide organization towards
accomplishment of goals and objectives. Each organization tends to exist for a specific purpose and
managers are responsible for combining them to strategic activities so as to ensure that the same
has been achieved. They are responsible for combining and using organizational resources in the
best possible manner so as to generate maximum benefits out of it. Activities are designed
effectively which can thereby help in attainment of organizational goals.
Gender biasness is the common practice that can be noticed in various organizations
nowadays. Existence of major gender disparity in entities is the dominating culture of organization
in UK. Further, the ratio of females working in an organization is also quite low in comparison to
that of males. As per the reports of McKinsey & Company 2015, only one third of employees
believe that gender diversity must be top priority of their direct managers. The same study stated
that 70% of men think gender diversity to be an important aspect at the workplace (Acker, 2012).
There are only 12% women who believe that they have less opportunities for advancement. It is
due the male managers, whose decisions tend to affect diversity and equal opportunities to people,
irrespective of their genders, at the workplace.
Babcock international is a British multinational corporation which is headquartered in the
United Kingdom. It is specialised in providing support services to manage complex assets and
infrastructure in safety and mission critical environments. However, due to technicalities in
business aspects, gender biasness is quite common in Babcock. It is preferred by management to
hire males for position of managers in organization (Stainback, Kleiner and Skaggs, 2016). The
organization aims at exploring managerial characteristics in Babcock which are perceived to be
masculine and whether this affects a women’s ability to be a successful manager.
1.2 Rationale of the study
It is important for the researcher to have certain amount of relevance. It helps in ensuring that
the overall research is able to serve certain its purpose. The present research has helped in
providing in-depth insight of presence of gender biasness in the organization. It can be in terms of
position, promotion, incentives and pay scale. The investigator does not hold adequate amount of
knowledge with respect to subject matter. Hence, it will help in collecting appropriate information
regarding gender biasness in organization (Bolzendahl, 2014). Researchers, scholars and readers
will also be able to gather information that may prove to be helpful for them to conduct further
investigation later.
1.3 Aim of the research
The aim statement framed for the research is:

“To explore if managerial characteristics in Babcock are perceived to be masculine and
whether this affects a women’s ability to be a successful manager”
1.4 Objectives of the research
Based on the above aim, following research objectives can be formulated:
 To investigate gendered segregation of labour market
 To identify various characteristics so as to make a successful manager
o Are these characteristics labelled as masculine, feminine or neither?
 To examine the barriers faced by women in becoming managers
 To investigate the policies Babcock has implemented in order to challenge gendered attitude
towards women
1.5 Research questions
It is important to understand various research questions that are related to the overall aim
and objectives of investigation. Hence, framed questions for present investigation are:
 What are the various aspects related to gendered segregation of labour market?
 What are the various characteristics that are related to become a successful manager?
 What are the barriers that are faced by women in becoming managers?
 What are the policies that have been implemented in order to challenge gendered attitude
towards women?
1.6 Scope of research
The overall scope of present research is quite wide as it will help in developing in-depth
insight of gender biasness that may be persisting in the organization (Cahusac and Kanji, 2014).
Investigation will be conducted concerned to various aspects that are related to gendered
segregation of labour market and numerous elements based on which segregation is actually
performed. The research will then analyse various characteristics that are required to be present in
an individual so as to become a successful manager. The barriers faced by women while becoming
manager will also be discussed in the research report. These facts and figures can then be used by
other researchers as well so as to conduct their investigation on same or similar topic.
1.7 Limitations of research
Although, researcher tries to consider all the important determinants while conducting
research, there are certain limitations that can be faced by it. Since, present research will be
conducted on gendered segregation in an organization, it is difficult to carry it out with utmost
perfection. There are certain constraints that are attached to it. One of the major limitations is
limited availability of time and budget (Cranford, 2012). Conducting a research is a prolonged
process which requires adequate time for each and every aspect. Unavailability of the same can

have greater impact on the overall results of research. Budget is another core constraint that is
present in front of the investigator. Restricted availability of research may also have affected
overall conclusion of the investigation. Lack of availability of secondary information due restricted
entry to websites, have also barricaded the knowledge of researcher. However, appropriate
measures have been taken by researcher to ensure that there is lesser amount of impact on the
overall results of research (Wilson, 2017).
1.8 Dissertation structure
It is important for the researcher to have specific flow of dissertation so that reader will be
able to gather adequate amount of information and knowledge out of it. Hence, present dissertation
flows in the following format: Chapter 1: Introduction: It is one of the most important and first chapters of dissertation
which helps in providing overall idea of research. It helps in defining aim, objectives and
rationale of the research on which overall investigation will be conducted. Chapter 2: Literature review: It helps in collection of secondary information where views
or various authors are compared and contrasted with an aim to collect adequate knowledge
about the subject matter. Chapter 3: Methodology and methods: This chapter is responsible for stating research tools
and techniques that have been used by the researcher in conducting overall investigation.
Hence, it helps in defining the research design, philosophy and approach. Additionally, it
also discusses, sampling, data collection and analysis methods of research. Chapter 4: Data Analysis: The data that has been collected in primary format is analysed in
this chapter. It helps in preparing an assessment of responses of respondents and reach to
interpretation with the help of graphs and frequency table. Chapter 5: Discussion: This is quite a crucial chapter which compares information gathered
through primary and secondary sources. It helps in generating specific findings about the
subject matter.
 Chapter 6: Conclusion: Based on overall research conducted, it helps in deriving the
conclusion.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Segregation by gender in the Labour Market
Despite their increasing incorporation into the labour market, women are less likely than men to
seek and obtain work (Kalev, Frank and Erin, 2006). One reason for lack of women in the
workforce is conflicts between work and family life (Leinonen et al, 2017). According to the
Mandel, (2013), women spend three times more hours per week on household chores compared to
men. Women spend more time caring for children, sick and disabled adults; the preparation of food,
and the cleaning of the home. Therefore, if the hours dedicated by men and women to paid work
are added to those dedicated to domestic work, women work longer hours than men.
The lack of representation of women in the labour market is explained by an inequitable
distribution of domestic work, the product of a model of social distribution of work according to
gender, in which men assume the role of "provider" performing "productive work" or paid work
outside the home, and women performing "reproductive work" or domestic work within the home.
The women’s work is socially undervalued because it is considered natural, inseparable and normal
for women, to the point of not really being considered a job (Kamerade and Richardson, 2017).
This model remains unchanged despite the increasing incorporation of women into the labour
market.
Women who work are concentrated in certain economic activities, such as activities extractive,
services and retail trade. According to Irvine, Leslie, and Jenny, (2010), certain occupations are
predominantly occupied by women (domestic workers, 96%, salespersons, 72%, and service
workers, 51.1%). The concentration of women in certain sectors of the economy and occupations
can also be explained in the work-sharing model, since in the labour market the roles assigned to
women are replicated and extended: care and care of people, cleaning and food preparation,
education, social relations; as well as the undervaluation of said work.
The sectors in which women's work is concentrated are generally informal, which affects the
quality of employment of women workers; in fact, underemployment affects in particular extractive
activities, retail trade and personal services (Susan, 2017). As a consequence, adequate employment
among men is much higher than among women (Huffman, Philip and Jessica, 2010). The
undervaluation of "feminine" work can even be institutionalised, as is the case with the regulation
of domestic work in a labour relationship that establishes a regime of reduced benefits compared to
the general one. To this horizontal segregation of women who work (depending on economic
activities and occupation in which they are inserted in the labour market), a vertical segregation is
added (depending on the hierarchy in which they are inserted in a labour organisation). In contrary,
in large organisations, only 6.44% of general managers are women, a percentage that rises to
15.86% in the medium-sised company and to 21.18% in the small company (Gorman, and Julie,

2009). The difficulty of moving up a career path would respond to a model of "male" labour
organisation that demands long working hours and ubiquity, dissociating family life from work
(Kılıç and Kuzey, 2016).
Even in the case that women perform a similar job and in a similar hierarchical position than men,
they receive a lower salary; this occurs in all occupations except drivers (which is predominantly
male, 98.9%), tripling the income of men compared to that of women among managers,
administrators and officials (Henson, and Jackie, 2001). Considering that the content of the
provision of services, remuneration and career path are determined in the employment contract,
these figures suggest that segregation patterns are reinforced by the hiring policies of companies
and other labour organisations.
2.2 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
The term of occupational segregation that embraces the present study, is defined by Britton, (2000)
who describes the phenomenon as when individuals with the same economic characteristics have
different working conditions, and these differences are related to certain characteristics of such
persons (race, religion, gender). Segregation is a phenomenon that requires a measurement analysis,
in order to make decisions that are oriented to a less inequitable labour market; therefore the
present study will put in evidence this approach. The term segregation denotes two relationships. In
the first place, reference is made to segregation by branch of activity as the fact that women are
concentrated in certain economic activities, and therefore are totally or partially absent from the
others (Oliver, 2017). Secondly, occupational position segregation is analysed, which refers to the
discrimination that occurs with respect to the hierarchical level of the female gender within
organisations. Although segregation as such has not been analysed directly in a theoretical manner,
some aspects are found in the approaches of the authors of the theory of human capital, which are
associated with segregation and its causes.
The neoclassical theory of human capital assumes that workers and employers are rational and that
labour markets function efficiently. According to this theory, workers look for the best paid
positions after taking into account their educational qualities and experience, restrictions such as for
example small children who must take charge and their preferences, among other aspects (Madden,
2012). Employers seek to maximise benefits through maximising productivity and minimising
costs. From this perspective, explanatory theories of group differences are usually divided into two
major models: influences on the supply side or characteristics of workers and influences on the
demand side or characteristics of workplaces and its structures (Chamberlain, Crowley, and
Hodson, 2008). The explanations on the supply side stop at the characteristics and decisions of the
individual workers, attributing the differences to the qualification, intention and attitude in the
access to the labour market. On the other hand, the explanations of the differences in the demand

side mainly focus on discrimination in the labour market and on the aspects of the structure of the
labour market that perpetuate it.
According to Castilla and Stephen (2010), the participation of certain groups in the labour market,
could be analysed from the approach of the job offer. Britton, (2000) considers human capital as the
accumulation of investments in education, training at work, health and other factors that allow
increasing productivity. Therefore, all human attributes must be taken into account, not only at the
level of education, but also the degree to which a person is capable of putting into productive action
their range of abilities, which allow them to effectively develop diverse activities for achieve
productivity growth and economic improvement. Berrey (2014) also states that the fundamental
reason for the disparity in occupational achievement and in the level of remuneration between men
and women is due to the effort that each of these categories of workers devotes to their work
outside the home. Kevin (2017) assumed that even when women work the same number of hours in
the labour market, they devote less physical and mental effort to their extra-domestic occupations.
Based on the previous definition, the theory of Human Capital and the first approaches to labour
discrimination is proposed. Human capital is inseparable from who does the work, which implies
that it is closely related to physical, intellectual, etc. capabilities. The author concludes that the best
conditions lead to working conditions and higher occupations.
Florence, and Michele (2018) explain why women end up concentrating on women's jobs. In her
opinion, the reason is that women choose those jobs in which the salary losses due to absence are
minor. Secondly, there is the work demand approach under the Neo-classical theory. The
Institutionalist Theory and the approach of segmentation in the labour market, arise from empirical
studies that analysed poverty and underemployment in local markets of cities in the UK and will
give the present research another neoclassical view of the causes of labour segregation. For this
theory, the labour market is segmented by hierarchical categories; and it is very difficult for
workers to move from one segment to another. It should be noted that institutional theory focuses
on the problem of segregation in the demand for work, not on the characteristics of individuals or
groups of individuals; but it emphasises the role that companies have when hiring, since they are
the ones who choose (Acker, 2006). They assume that institutions play a decisive role in who is
fired, who is promoted and how much is paid to each one. Baxter and Erik (2000) associated with
the same neoclassical current of demand, proposes the theory of statistical discrimination, which is
presented when companies, or individuals who make the decision to use on behalf of an
organisation, grant work around to the characteristics of the group to which they belong and not
according to their own characteristics. This theory bases the business decisions of hiring labour on
the belonging of women to their female gender group condition; it does not take into account the
capacities of each individual or the intellectual attributes or capacity for the position (Brink and
Yvonne, 2012).

2.3 Empirical Studies on Occupational Segregation
This literary review gives an idea of the situation of the country in terms of labour segregation and
collects what has already been done in this field of the labour market. Kevin (2017) analysed the
evolution of the most marked differences by gender in the labour markets They study variables
such as labour participation, unemployment, job opportunities and income during the last two
decades of the 20th century. Cohen and Matt, (2007) seek to highlight the presence of segregation
towards women in the labour market. The results in the labour situation of women are varied: On
the one hand, wage differentials per hour have decreased significantly, a result that, according to
the indications, does not reflect that the total elimination of salary differences has been achieved.
The type of discrimination that persists is that based on the traditional feminine roles that still make
the woman most responsible for the administration of the home and the care of the children (EllIs,
and Abbott, 2015). Occupational segregation and wage discrimination between men and women
were estimated through the dissimilarity index. This segregation affects with greater intensity
specific groups of the population such as people with less education, those with lower incomes and
older. Labour segregation also contributes to increasing the wage gap to the extent that women are
confined to lower-income occupations while, despite having sufficient skills, they have limited
access to other occupations where they could obtain better wages (Gorman, 2005).
2.4 Characteristics of Managers
Maureen, and William, (2017) explained that men tend to be authoritarian in their approach.
Authoritarian manager’s words and activities stem from a main focus of roles and responsibilities.
These roles and responsibilities keep the system running, and the men that run these businesses lean
on their subordinate managers to communicate expectations. As the top-level management may
never communicate with the lowest level staffs, their link focused on superior to subordinate, same
to a top-down system. For oversight to take position, men as managers supervise the production
within the business through making a superiors and subordinates system. Each of the supervisors
assesses and assures that every part of the whole is fulfilling the expectation established by top-
level management (Alan and Joseph, 2017).
The research about women as managers explained businesses that work with contrasting methods
when compared to that of their male counterparts. These companies reach for higher performance
and greater productivity in a particular approach (Pal, Singh, and Bhardwaj, 2018). Women observe
an organisational structure, its personnel, and how targets must be completed within a holistic
mindset. They also do not normally observe management from a top-down method, but rather focus
at people regarding teams. These groups coordinate to work towards task completion, despite than
concentrating on personal effort. Despite of a focus on the weakest relation, women concentrate on
team productivity. Women focus for teams and groups to recognise as models and examples for the
business to work toward, get and make commonplace across the board. Moreover, women

managers explain the strengths of the individual, which has a proper influence on the organisational
culture (Mandel, 2013).
There are a series of characteristics that are becoming increasingly important in the results of
management activity. Several studies have indicated that the current society considers managerial
traits to be closely resembling characteristics which are possessed by men (Brescoll, 2016). The
most widely recognised descriptors of the different expectations of men and women are
“communal” versus “agentic.” Communal qualities, which are often associated with women
include affection, helpfulness and gentleness. On the other hand, agentic characteristics which are
regularly connected with men include assertion and control. Generalised expectations such as these
develops a structure for widespread stereotyping within the working environment (Heilman, 2012).
Leadership traits that mirror the agentic style have long been supported as desirable and have been
called the “think manager-think male effect” Speranza (2017). When women enter places of
authority such as managerial roles, they encounter a profound established complexity of
expectations where their employers want them to exhibit traits, but at the same time to exhibit
agentic traits (Heilman, 2012). Therefore, this emphasises the fact that women, often in managerial
roles, must find the right balance between masculine and feminine traits. This generates stress and
frustration for female managers who, despite their endeavours, regularly encounter attitudinal
punishments by employers and subordinates for not complying with perceived role. These penalties
may include poor evaluations, criticism, and social rejection (Cadaret et al., 2017). Furthermore,
most managerial roles are reported utilising agentic characteristics, meaning that men are
considered to be more suited to the job role. This is regardless of whether the position is in a field
that is viewed as customarily male-or female-situated (i.e. healthcare or education). As a result,
men will accelerate their climb up the corporate ladder, leaving women to slowly ride the glass
escalator and to work through external perceptions (Brescoll, 2016).
However, in recent years, slow and small changes having been occurring in the way in which
managerial roles are being perceived (Alan and Joseph, 2017). There has been a shift away from
agentic, transactional style leaning towards a more transformational management style. This shift
began since women proving themselves in managerial roles within soft industries such as human
resources and healthcare (Mandel, 2013). However, the absence of female leaders in other
industries still demonstrates significant inequality, revealing that there is still room for
improvement. Furthermore, the principle of ‘The Athena Doctrine’ can be used to remphasise the
notion that changes are occurring in the way in which managerial roles are being perceived. The
Athena Doctrine, explains how organisations would benefit from feminine values such as
collaboration, empathy and shared purpose. Adopting these “soft skills” in to the business, would
benefit the firm to create long lasting relationships which are mutually beneficial with customers

and communities. Adding to this, John Gerzma (co founder of the Athena Doctrine) revealed that
successful businesses foster environments for cooperation, communication, nurturing and
inclusiveness while assuring tough decisions are made and people are accountable for results. John
Gerzma and Michael D’Antonio revealed results of a global survey of 64,000 people from around
the world, where the results showed that two thirds of the survey respondents felt that ‘world would
be a better place if men thought more like women’. However, the important factor to remember is
that, this is not an ‘end of men’ manifesto. What the Athena Doctrine is trying to explain is that
men and women should display feminine traits (such as flexibility, nurturing and collaboration) to
solve complicated problems and to run any organisations successfully.
2.5 Women Managers in Engineering
Could the lack of female representation in engineering be just a phenomenon? Rincón and George-
Jackson (2016) contend that since societies are too dissimilar, it is very difficult to make
comparisons. However, in perceiving society and endeavouring to control for it, Van Langen and
Dekkers (2005) found in an investigation found in a comparative study between the U.S., United
Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands that accessibility of the pipeline, social traditions,
broadness of curriculum and labour market characteristics are the major reasons for differences, as
a few countries have respectable numbers of women in engineering. This can be reinforced by the
example that EUROSTAT (2004) suggested that Turkey (34.8%), Bulgaria (35.5%), and Portugal
(35.3%) possess the highest proportions of female students in engineering in Europe (Kusku,
Osbilgin, & Ozkale, 2007). However, this is not the norm. In all most every country, women
engineers are still a minority. A reason for this could be explained by the fact that women, when
deciding their careers, choose to major in what is seen as traditionally female fields (such as
education or nursing), whereas men are majoring in traditionally masculine fields. Historically,
engineering have been regarded as “heavy”, “dirty”, and “involving machinery”, leading both men
and women to perceive it as a masculine profession (Hunt, 2015). In few Asian countries such as
India and Malaysia, engineering is still considered as a profession for men. This can be backed up
by the fact that (Kevin, 2017) reported that most people in India presumes that mechanical
engineering is not suited for girls. However, this could soon change due to the growing trend of
“feminisation” of pure science fields which has occurred due to women associating prestige to
science degrees. Additionally, the growing skills shortage in engineering also works I favour of
female engineers as the engineering industry needs more workers than ever before (Cadaret et al.,
2017).
Engineering profession is one of the most sex-segregated occupations in the UK, with women
representing around 15 percent of the overall engineering workforce and as little as 8 percent in
specialised areas like mechanical engineering (Pal, Singh, and Bhardwaj, 2018). To refer this
disparity, engineering companies have actively observed to encourage so much so that female
engineers are currently in managerial roles in numbers unequal to their common representation as