Chapter 7: Gender Egalitarian Values, Institutional Equalization And Role Differences Among Female And Male Hr Managers

Building on insights from institutional theories we analyze how varying levels of cultural gender egalitarianism and institutional equalization influence role differences in strategic integration and administrative involvement between male and female HR managers. Our analysis of senior HR managers in 22 countries based on data from the Cranet survey reveals that cultural and structural features of modernity are interrelated on the societal level, but differ in their effects on sex-role differences on the organization level. While cultural egalitarian values reduce sex-role differences in both strategic and administrative tasks, institutional equalization neither has a direct effect on sex-role differences, nor is the effect of institutional equalization mediated by egalitarian values. The study underscores the importance of cultural values for reducing sex-role differences in job compositions but also suggests that structural equalization promotes these values. We discuss some implications from these findings for managerial strategies on improving female HR professionals’ roles.