Gender essentialism and occupational segregation in insolvency practice

Joyce, Y. and Walker, S. P. (2015) Gender essentialism and occupational segregation in insolvency practice. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 40, pp. 41-60. (doi: 10.1016/j.aos.2014.12.001)

Abstract

Advances towards egalitarianism in professional recruitment may be offset by processes of occupational re-segregation. Drawing on gender theory this paper investigates horizontal segregation in the UK insolvency profession, as revealed through the lived experiences of female and male practitioners. It is shown that horizontal segregation pervades at different levels of practice and is undergirded by various elements of gender essentialism. Physical essentialism explains why insolvency practice has been traditionally gendered male. Interactional essentialism combines with the management of work-life balance to define the subfields of corporate and personal insolvency as masculine and feminine respectively. Gender essentialist assumptions also pervade the distribution of roles and the allocation of work tasks. Networks are identified as arenas for the reproduction and perpetuation of occupational segregation. The findings indicate the continuing potency of gender in everyday professional life, the limitations of diversity-orientated policies and the complexities of formulating transformative agendas.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Joyce, Professor Yvonne
• Authors: Joyce, Y., and Walker, S. P.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance
• Journal Name: Accounting, Organizations and Society
• Publisher: Elsevier Ltd.
• ISSN: 0361-3682
• ISSN (Online): 1873-6289
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier, Ltd.
• First Published: First published in Accounting, Organizations and Society 40:41-60
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.