abstract: 'The struggle for sex equality at work has largely been achieved in the

  developed world, it is claimed. The number of well-qualified young women

  entering white-collar employment and achieving promotion to first-line

  and middle management positions now matches or exceeds their male peers.

  Many young women have high career aspirations and argue that sex

  discrimination no longer exists. However, this perception is

  over-optimistic. Major sex inequalities persist at senior management

  level in the salaries and benefits offered to female and male staff and

  in access to certain favoured occupations and sectors of employment.

  Questionnaires, interviews and documentary evidence from three Turkish

  and six British banks and high street financial organizations showed

  that their claimed commitment to equal opportunities by sex was not

  matched by their practices. Members of managerial elites (who were

  almost exclusively male) held firm views about the characteristics of

  `the ideal worker'', which informed organizational ideologies, including

  human resource policies and practices concerning recruitment and

  promotion. They also permeated organizational cultures, which affected

  employees'' working practices and experiences. The outcome of these

  internal negotiation processes was to differentiate between a favoured

  group of staff seen as fully committed to the companies'' values, who

  were promoted and rewarded, and an `out'' group, whose members were

  denied these privileges. This distinction between `belonging'' and

  `otherness'' is gendered not only along the traditional lines of class,

  age, sexual orientation, religion and physical ability but also along

  the new dimensions of marriage, networking, safety, mobility and space.

  Despite local and cross-cultural differences in the significance of

  these factors, the cumulative disadvantage suffered by women staff

  seeking career development in the industry was remarkably similar.'
affiliation: 'Ozbilgin, MF (Corresponding Author), Queen Mary Univ London, Ctr Business
  Management Human Resource Management, Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, England.

  Queen Mary Univ London, Ctr Business Management Human Resource Management, London
  E1 4NS, England.

  Napier Univ, Res Off, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, Midlothian, Scotland.'
author: Ozbilgin, MF and Woodward, D
author-email: 'm.ozbilgin@gmul.ac.uk

  D.Woodward@napier.ac.uk'
author_list:
- family: Ozbilgin
  given: MF
- family: Woodward
  given: D
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2004.00254.x
eissn: 1468-0432
files: []
issn: 0968-6673
journal: GENDER WORK AND ORGANIZATION
keywords: 'sex equality; financial services sector; Turkey; Britain; belonging and

  otherness; banking'
keywords-plus: WOMEN
language: English
month: NOV
number: '6'
number-of-cited-references: '65'
orcid-numbers: 'Ozbilgin, Mustafa F/0000-0002-8672-9534

  '
pages: 668-688
papis_id: 2aafa3eee139bbbc02d68f4c56225230
ref: Ozbilgin2004belongingotherness
researcherid-numbers: 'Ozbilgin, Mustafa F/A-1343-2008

  Ozbilgin, Mustafa/H-1398-2012'
times-cited: '65'
title: '`belonging'' and `otherness'': Sex equality in banking in Turkey and Britain'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000224511600004
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '41'
volume: '11'
web-of-science-categories: Management; Women's Studies
year: '2004'