TY - JOUR
T1 - How can gender signal employee qualities in retailing?
AU - Chang, Joshua
AU - Travaglione, Antonio
AU - O'Neill, Grant
N1 - Includes bibliographical references.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - The occupational structure in retail employment is known to be gendered, such that women tend to occupy ‘softer’ social roles, while men tend to occupy ‘harder’ physical and technical roles. This article presents an integrative model that illustrates the balance of KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personality characteristics) and retail sectors between male and female retail employees, and explains how gender can signal employee qualities in the retail sector. The empirical analysis uses data from a survey of 702 respondents employed across 40 ANZSIC (Australian New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification) retail categories. Based on signalling theory, the findings suggest that an employee's gender can be an unintentional signal for unobservable qualities in retail employment, which has implications for customer service, human resource management, and gender discrimination.
AB - The occupational structure in retail employment is known to be gendered, such that women tend to occupy ‘softer’ social roles, while men tend to occupy ‘harder’ physical and technical roles. This article presents an integrative model that illustrates the balance of KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personality characteristics) and retail sectors between male and female retail employees, and explains how gender can signal employee qualities in the retail sector. The empirical analysis uses data from a survey of 702 respondents employed across 40 ANZSIC (Australian New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification) retail categories. Based on signalling theory, the findings suggest that an employee's gender can be an unintentional signal for unobservable qualities in retail employment, which has implications for customer service, human resource management, and gender discrimination.
KW - Discrimination
KW - Employment
KW - Gender
KW - Gender-issue
KW - Occupation
KW - Retailing
U2 - 10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.07.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.07.004
M3 - Article
SN - 0969-6989
VL - 27
SP - 24
EP - 30
JO - Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
JF - Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
ER -