Women versus men: who is more co-operatively inclined?
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Version 0 of 1. Ever since the Rochdale Pioneers gave equal membership rights to men and women, the co-operative movement has seen many female-led organisations. Is the relative gender equality of co-operatives based on more than simply the sector getting an historical head start or, as a new paper from the US National Bureau of Economic Research asks, are women naturally more inclined towards co–operation than men? The study conducted by Peter J Kuhn and Marie-Claire Villeval found that women are significantly more likely than men to select team-based compensation, voluntarily-formed female teams outperform self-selected male teams and women respond better to team environments than men do. Kuhn said: "Based on our results, we'd expect women to be more attracted to [working in] co-operatives than men." If so, what implications does this have for the co-operative movement at large? "We find that self-selected teams tend to be less productive than randomly-assigned teams," explained Villeval. "Many co–operative companies start with a self-selected group of friends … but it is possible that the strength of interpersonal connections in a small group of friends and that group identity may have the same effect as monetary incentives to make teamwork attractive." The finding that voluntarily-formed female teams outperform self-selected male teams, says Villeval, implies that voluntary team-work could be especially effective in industries or sectors that employ a majority of female workers. Meanwhile, industries or sectors that employ a majority of male workers, she suggests, may better off assigning employees to teams rather than letting them self-select. The team-work associated with co-operative and employee-led environments can also help females break through the glass ceiling, says Villeval. "Women could be more likely to get access to top positions if companies introduced more voluntary team-work." When Co-operatives UK looked at this issue this year for its Homegrown: the UK co-operative economy 2013 report, it found that one-third of co-operative retail society board presidents were women. However, warns Chris Herries, chair of Co-operatives UK, "It is perhaps too simplistic to characterise women's motivations in the workplace on the basis of one or two studies … While the co-operative sector has been successful in encouraging greater diversity at all levels there is still some way to go – as evidenced by the need for our ongoing work on the Women's 2020 challenge." There are potential negative findings in the research for the co-operative movement too, namely a suggestion that the "abler" participants of both genders are less likely to choose a team environment. Does this suggest that co-operatives struggle to attract the most able workers? Villeval believes it's possible but added: "We also found that more able workers were attracted to team-work when there were economic incentives associated to this type of organisation. It is also possible that higher social or environmental incentives (a better working environment, better working conditions, more empowerment) have the same effect as higher monetary incentives." Villeval continued: "We show that men and women hold different beliefs, with women being less optimistic about their relative ability compared to the ability of other workers but beliefs are different from actions and this does not necessarily mean females are more co–operative. "Several studies have looked at [this issue and] the results are contrasted. Many find that women trust more and are more generous, but other studies find the opposite." The fact remains that co-operatives still struggle to recruit equal numbers of women as of men, especially into senior positions. Gender equality must be the priority, says Chris Herries: "The co-operative sector has worked hard to increase its diversity over recent years and has already had some significant success. Clearly, co-operatives do appeal to women to get involved, either as members or employees, but other factors will also influencie their involvement – the values and principles of co-operatives, the way we work and our willingness to share." These principles are firmly held by men working diligently and collaboratively in co-operatives too. But it does raise the possibility that this knowledge, and such research findings, could be used to further boost gender diversity within the sector. <strong>This content is brought to you by </strong><strong>Guardian Professional</strong><strong>. To join the </strong><strong>Guardian Social Enterprise Network</strong><strong>, click </strong><strong>here.</strong> Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |