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Study finds disabled and ethnic minority men more likely to do low-paid, low-status jobs than women

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A press release from Exeter University, quietly sent out into the dead zone of Boxing Day, offers a glimpse of the mental contortions academics can get into when the facts contradict their ideological beliefs.

The release outlines a new study by University of Exeter Business School that found men who are disabled or from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to do low-status, low-paid work than women.

Key findings of the study, which analysed more than 125,000 cases of workers in the lowest grade over several years, included the following:

‘Shocked’
  • Disabled men are more likely to be found in the lowest income bracket than women
  • Men in the lowest grade are three times more like to have a disability than in the rest of the workforce
  • Men in the lowest grade are 66% more likely to be from an ethnic minority, while women in the same grade bracket are 32% less likely to be from an ethnic minority
  • Ethnic minority men are 50% more likely to work part-time and in the lowest grade than white males

As bad as these figures are, it may not come as much of a surprise that a black or disabled man may face greater workplace disadvantage than an able-bodied, educated, white woman (or man). But the findings did come as a surprise to the author of the report.

Prof Carol Woodhams said: “This research is the first time that the impact of labour market disadvantages on men has been quantified. We were surprised by the results that disabled men, and those from an ethnic minority, are more likely to be found in feminised, low status work but more shocked that this effect is worse amongst men than it is in women. This same pattern can also be seen in relation to promotion out of low level work.”

What seems more surprising than the news that black and disabled men are disadvantaged in the workplace is her assertion – if true — that no-one has bothered to look into the barriers they face.

Black and disabled men seen as ‘less masculine’?

A clue to why this might be can be found in Professor Woodhams’ attempts to explain the report’s findings, which seem more about propping up the ideological position that women are inherently disadvantaged, than searching for objective answers.

Prof Woodhams says: “Our data shows that men from disadvantaged groups are much more likely than women to end up in low-level work. We don’t know why this is, but one suggestion is that men with  labour market ‘disadvantages’ are perceived to be less ‘masculine’ in some way.

“Another explanation could be that women already bear a huge, overriding disadvantage because of their gender alone, which means men may suffer disproportionately when they are disadvantaged in other respects.”

If we don’t know the root causes of the findings, why assume that being “less masculine” – and therefore closer to the status of women — is at the root of these men’s workplace disadvantage rather than, say, racism?

‘Huge, overriding disadvantage’

And the claim that women “bear a huge, overriding disadvantage because of their gender alone” – is flatly contradicted by the fact that women aged 22 to 39 actually earn slightly more than men  of the same age.

But it’s the following statement that is most-telling.

“It is an unpalatable yet accepted fact that the lowest paid, lowest status work in the UK is predominantly undertaken by women. However, this is the first time that academics have studied the types of men who undertake this work.”

Glass ceiling, or cellar floor?

When referring to this “accepted fact”, she’s presumably forgotten about dustmen, street sweepers, sewer cleaners, building site labourers, asbestos removers, supermarket security guards and night watchmen, to name just a few of the jobs at the very bottom of the pile that are done almost solely by men.

Both men and women do low-paid, low-status jobs, but the ones done by men are more likely to kill or seriously injure you.

The fact Prof Woodhams appears unaware of this and her claim that no academic has studied this aspect of the gendered nature of work, could share the same root cause – while everyone has heard of the glass ceiling, no-one appears to have noticed the men trapped under the cellar floor.

Photo credit: Flickr/Antony Pranata

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Gender pay gap? Twice as many men aim for higher wages

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The job website, Adzuna, has found that male job seekers are more ambitious when it comes to earnings, with men being twice as likely as their female counterparts to aspire to top jobs, paying over £100,000.

The findings follow in the wake of a separate survey by graduates that found young men still expect to earn more, work longer hours and be less satisfied in their job than female graduates.

Adzuna’s survey showed that nearly a third of women would be content with salaries between £20-30k, while only half that number of men claim they would be happy to receive the same level of pay. Although men dreamed of earning top salaries, male workers in Britain rate their salary as the least satisfactory element of their working lives. In fact one third (31%) of male employees rated their salary as top on their list of workplace annoyances.

It isn’t just financial aspects of careers that split the genders either, there are also difference between which industries that they aspire to work in. Women are more likely to pursue jobs in Media, PR & Advertising, Charity & Volunteer work and Teaching, whereas many of the male workforce hope to work in Digital / Technology & Engineering roles, according to the survey.

Male employees are also more confident about fulfilling their ambitions with 36% of men believing they will reach their goals or surpass them, compare to 16% of women. Men are more likely to blame internal factors for failing to reach career goals, saying laziness and lack of motivation is the main reason for ailing to reach your career goals.

Women, on the other hand, say lack of confidence could prevent them from reaching their goals along with external factors like family commitments and competition for jobs.

Cultivating a culture of compassion and wellbeing in the construction industry

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Dave Lee, author of The Hairy Arsed Builders Guide To Stress Management, explains why he’s committed to bringing compassion and wellbeing to the construction industry

—This is article #54 in our series of #100Voices4Men and boys 

 I have been builder for 25 years and I’m fully aware that ‘compassion’ and ‘wellbeing’ are not the key words you hear when thinking about the construction industry!
So why introduce them now?
 
 The construction industry is driven by programmes, It wants a quick turn around for maximum profit. It places heavy emphasis looking after the workers physical health and little-to-none on the workers mental health and well-being. 
 
I had to wonder if the concepts of compassion and wellbeing work in such a hard and fast paced environment; where the macho image is dominant? Also how would I go about introducing such concepts into an environment where no one likes being told what to do or may think embracing these concepts might be a sign of weakness? 
Our company is called ‘Building Site to Boardroom’ and we are currently working within construction to introduce these values & concepts. 
There’s a big push for wellbeing within the construction industry. They have all the tools for doing the work on the outside, but where do they go to make life easier on the inside?
 
 It’s taken years for health and safety to be at the standard it is now. It’s been a drip-drip process of getting the message across through introducing personal and social responsibility. 
The construction industry desperately needs a shake up and to look at and take care of its workers total well-being, not just their Health and Safety. 
 
Cultivating a culture of compassion and wellbeing is not another fast passed money driven project, it will take time for the concepts we suggest to be embodied.
 
The main thing I have learnt when introducing this stuff is the  difference between the two values of Personal Responsibility and Social Responsibility (or otherwise known as guiding principles). We are taught a whole lot of social responsibility (‘Social Responsibility’ means  everything outside of yourself; promises you make, rules you should follow, targets you should hit, feeling and being part of the workforce, team or community) and  not very much personal responsibility: and this is where a lot of our problems start appearing. 
 
I found that by introducing four core values stress amongst workers lessened. Working on them has worked wonders on the workforce and benefit they have had has been astounding. They are as follows:
 
‘Personal responsibility’ means taking responsibility for my feelings, thoughts, words, and actions to take nothing personally.
 
‘Personal integrity’: I will do my honourable best, especially when nobody is watching.
 
‘Authenticity’: The choice to express myself honestly and openly and to make no assumptions.
 
‘Equal dignity’: To see and to treat others as my equal without judgment.
I presently work within a construction company called Bower Contracting ltd. I have been introducing the 4 values to their team: Here are just two examples of the effects it is having…
 
Dan a project manager:
 Dan was suffering relationship problems and he was having time off work as the stress was getting to him, he couldn’t cope with his work load as well. We worked with Dan on increasing his mindfulness and on incorporating the core values into his home/work life. 
Below, in his words, is what he said: “Our crossing paths couldn’t have come at a better time in all honesty Dave, this focus and controlling thoughts is easier than I thought and just pushing the self critical thoughts away is very rewarding, I’m taking back control!!
I was sitting there watching a movie last night and I was thinking away….and felt like shit. Then the awareness kicked in……I immediately felt better. My work life and family life has improved using these core values and awareness”
 
James contracts manager
 James had been struggling with a situation with his teenage son, they were regularly getting into confrontations,  so I introduced him to the core values and the use of personal language. This was the feedback he gave me:
 
“Good Morning Dave,  may I take this opportunity to thank you for changing the way I look at life and work. I personally found an immediate effect from our meeting of which I am grateful to you. Good luck with your venture of which I am sure will change many people’s view of the way they look at life and work and become better people, and maybe one day in the future a better society.
 James”
 
I have so many other stories to share… but I feel these sum up the work we are doing to cultivate a culture of compassion and Wellbeing within construction. 
 
‘Building a house every brick counts, building a person it’s every thought that counts’

—Picture credit: Dierk Schaefer

You an contact Dave Lee of Building Site To Boardroom at info@bs2b.co.uk.
You can find all of the #100Voices4Men articles that will be published in the run up to International Men’s Day 2014 by clicking on this link—#100Voices4Men—and follow the discussion on twitter by searching for #100Voices4Men.

The views expressed in these articles are not the views of insideMAN editorial team. Whether you agree with the views expressed in this article or not we invite you to take take part in this important discussion, our only request is that you express yourself in a way that ensures everyone’s voice can be heard.

You can join the #100Voices4Men discussion by commenting below; by following us on Twitter @insideMANmag and Facebook or by emailing insideMANeditor@gmail.com. 

Dads, what would you do if you had to choose between kids and career?

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What would you do if you had to choose between putting your children or your job first? One dad explains how he faced this question and came up with an answer that he hopes will work for his whole family (including himself). 

Have you ever had one of those life-changing decisions to make? A decision where there is no right or wrong answer, but the path you choose will define your life, at least in the medium-term? Well that’s something we’re having to toy with at the moment.

The beginning seems a good place to start…

After five-years working in the high-pressured, long-hours world of management consultancy, I’d lost my motivation and needed a change. After a few interviews with similar companies, I decided consultancy was no longer for me. Neither was commuting or spending time away from home anymore. I’d often leave early on a Monday and not come back until late on a Friday, taking in the wonders of places like Chatham, Reading and Hastings in the process!

I went back to basics and tried to figure out what I was passionate about. This led me to sports, particularly football. I somehow managed to find a job in football that was willing to pay me the same wage for working just 10-minutes from my house. I handed in my notice and started my new job. Not wanting to go into too much detail, but the concept was good but the delivery was poor. The MD didn’t have a clue and the majority of other employees were not interested in football and didn’t have the required skills.

Should I be at home helping or at work earning?

It soon became clear that the company was in financial trouble too and that it was too late for me to help turn the fortunes around. This eventually led to a failure to pay wages to staff and me taking the decision to hand in my notice after becoming disillusioned with the MD’s incompetence. This was just over a year ago. I spent the next few months looking for a job whilst bringing in a bit of money here and there through various bits of freelance work. I managed to get an interview in December with a sports research company, a second interview in January and was offered the job with them the other day.

With a baby on the way, do I take the job which guarantees a salary and other benefits to ensure the family is supported financially, at the detriment of commuting over two hours each day and spending less time with my new family. Or do I turn down the job to continue my freelance career, which doesn’t guarantee and income, but means I can be at home with the wife and sprog when it comes along.

This is the crux of the predicament. Without a crystal ball, how do you know what is the right or wrong thing to do? When you’re at a junction, which path do you follow when both directions look appealing but for different reasons? I guess this is the life of an adult and something that is only going to intensify when I’m a parent.

After much discussion and soul searching, we decided to go with the latter. I turned down the job to be able to spend time with the family and then take over the stay-at-home parenting reigns after Hay has finished maternity leave. We’re luckily in a position where we’ve been able to save a bit of money, so if I struggle to get paid, or during the maternity period when Hay is on a reduced salary, we should (just) be able to cover bills and mortgage then have savings as a backup.

Following maternity leave, as Hay gets a bonus for returning, is on a better salary than me and works 20 minutes away, it makes sense  for me to be a stay-at-home dad (or SAHD, I’ve just learnt!). I can then look after the kid and dog whilst working from home writing football and betting content in the down-time. Or at least that’s the theory!

So is there anything I’ve garnered from this experience?

Communication is key:  It may sound simple, but being open and honest with your better half is vital. If you don’t share and talk things though as a couple and as a family, how can you know that your decisions are in the best interests of everyone? Sometimes there will be disagreements and differences in opinion too – that is where communication becomes even more vital to ensure a solution can be worked through. Talk, talk and talk some more.

Money isn’t everything:  Bills need to be paid and food needs to be bought. There’s no getting around that. But, money doesn’t need to be the be all and end all. For some people, it is. For us, it isn’t. We obviously want to be able to live a comfortable life and give the kids everything they want (within reason), but the most important thing for us is having two parents around who can share both the hard and fun times of raising a kid.

There’s not always a right or wrong answer:  Life is easier when we look at things as good or bad, black or white and right or wrong. However, in most situations there isn’t a definitive answer. You just need to figure out and decide on what choice you wish to make having taken all of the different factors into account.

Only time will tell as to whether the decision we have made is the best option. For us, we think it is.

About the writer:

Dave describes himself as a late-twenty something, happily married, newbie Dad. You can find about more about Dave at his blog, The DADventurer, where you’ll find him chronicling the trials and tribulations of being a new dad whilst juggling the pressures that come with modern life. You can also follow Dave on Twitter @the_dadventurer or on facebook at The DADventurer.

—Photo credit: Flickr/Alexander Lyubavin

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