The union representing publicly and privately employed salaried employees in Sweden (SKTF) has published a report based on a survey of member managers working in the economic activities of social welfare and technology. The report finds discrepancies between the two sectors regarding, for example, the time and economic resources necessary for the managers to do a good job. These disparities appear to be the result of differing gender profiles.
About the survey
The Swedish Union of Local Government Officers (Svenska Kommunaltjänstemannaförbundet, SKTF), which represents publicly and privately employed salaried employees, has conducted a survey among a selection of its member managers regarding their experiences from two different fields of economic activity: social welfare and technology. The results of the survey are analysed in a report entitled Unequal leadership, which aims to investigate how leadership and its prerequisites are affected depending on whether the workers are managers in a male or female-dominated sector. The two sectors investigated in the report are characterised by their traditional gender composition. In the economic activity of social welfare, 85% of the managers are female, while in technology women represent only 20% of managers.
The survey was conducted among a selection of the member managers for whom SKTF had an email address. In total, 4,840 managers had the opportunity to answer the survey and 3,221 persons did so, representing a response rate of 67%. The survey results include 1,705 responses from managers working in either social welfare (1,430) or technology (275).
Comparative results
Job satisfaction
Overall, the report shows that most managers in both sectors are satisfied with their work situation. Figure 1 reveals that about 70% of the managers working in technology or in social welfare are very satisfied or satisfied with their employer.
How satisfied are you, as a manager, with your employer? (%)
Resources for managerial development
However, other issues arise where the discrepancies between the two sectors are more noteworthy. The report interprets these disparities as being characteristic of a system where managers in female-dominated sectors are repeatedly disadvantaged. Resources for leadership development are such an issue. For example, 41% of the managers in social welfare describe the financial resources for their leadership development as inadequate, while the corresponding figure for the technology field is 15% (Figure 2).
Do you consider the financial resources adequate to cover your own leadership development? (%)
Similar discrepancies are found regarding time resources for leadership development. In this case, 44% of the managers in social welfare consider their available time for leadership development to be inadequate; the corresponding figure for the technology field is 29% (Figure 3). Although the disparities between the economic activities are smaller in this instance, a significant difference still emerges.
Do you consider your time resources adequate to cover your own leadership development? (%)
Resources for good leadership
Generally, both time and finances seem to be inadequate resources in the social welfare sector to a greater extent than in the field of technology. Only 39% of the managers in social welfare believe that they have adequate financial resources to act as satisfactory leaders, compared with 64% of the managers in technology.
In relation to time, the discrepancies are smaller but still significant. Some 44% of the managers in the field of technology, compared with 34% in the social welfare sector, regard their time resources as satisfactory in terms of good leadership (Figure 4).
Do you consider that you have the time required to act as a good leader? (%)
Finally, differences arose between the sectors regarding the methods available for the managers to successfully evaluate their field of responsibility. Overall, 33% of the managers in social welfare believe that they have good methods of evaluation; the corresponding figure for the technology area is 41% (Figure 5).
Do you consider that you have sufficient methods to evaluate the activities of your business field? (%)
Commentary
Two main comments may be made on the SKTF report in relation to its scientific value and reliability. Firstly, the discrepancies between the sectors are persistently interpreted as being a result of differing prerequisites in female-dominated sectors compared with male-dominated sectors. However, a range of other explanations are not addressed in the report. For example, each of the sectors attracts different policy priorities and therefore varying financial resources. If these priorities differ, then the matters addressed in this report, such as the managers’ views on financial and time resources, might also differ. Another explanation for the varying results is the individual perspective. For instance, the report does not address whether the answers of female and male managers in the same sector are similar or different. Neither of these issues – nor other structural or individual possibilities – are considered in the report, which may affect its reliability.
Secondly, a substantial disparity exists between the distribution of responses between the two fields of economic activity. The report is based on only 275 managers from the field of technology, compared with 1,430 responses in the social welfare sector. Therefore, the results may be potentially misleading.
Lisa Olsson, Oxford Research
