Equality as a threshold conception: challenging future manager’s perceptions

• Pages: 683-697
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2017-0070
• Date: 18 September 2018
• Published date: 18 September 2018
• Author: Suzette Dyer,Fiona Hurd
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity, equality, inclusion

Equality as a threshold

conception: challenging future

manager’s perceptions

Suzette Dyer

Department of Strategy and Human Resource Management,

University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, and

Fiona Hurd

Department of International Business, Strategy and Entrepreneurship,

Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential to develop a shared understanding of

systemic discrimination and the complexity of equality and an appreciation for the range of interventions

designed to redress inequality within the context of business school curricula.

Design/methodology/approach –Qualitative material was gathered over a four-year period through

written reflections of student interpretations of equality. Participants were enroled in a human resource

management (HRM) course critically examining systemic gender discrimination, women’s organisational

experiences, gendered employment outcomes and the range of interventions designed to redress gendered

employment outcomes. Threshold concepts framed the analysis of participant reflections.

Findings –The papershows that while the participantsdeveloped a shared understandingof systemic gender

discrimination, their interpretations of equality and appreciation for the range of interventions available to

redress inequality differed. Thesedifferences were shaped by the extentto which participants integratedtheir

understanding of systemic discrimination with their interpretations of equality, and the extent to which the

interventionsto inequality transformed, upheldor challenged participant agendicself-identity and world view.

Research limitations/implications –The study provides support for continued use of equality as a

construct in bothresearch and teaching settings. Thestudy highlights that unequal outcomesare an enduring

phenomena, and that introducing the notion of equality to the classroom helps develop student’s ability to

understanddynamics of discrimination inthe workplace. The limitations of thestudy relate to the sample size,

and dependence on a singlespecialist HRM course, in addition to the specificNew Zealand context.

Practical implications –The differences in interpretations have implications for the way educators

introduce discussions of equality within the business school classroom.

Originality/value –The paper demonstrates that developing a shared understanding of systemic

discrimination does not always lead to developing a shared understanding of the complexity of equality or

appreciation for the many forms of interventions available.

Keywords Formal and substantive equality, Systemic discrimination, Threshold concept

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Concern forequality in employment for all regardlessof demographic featuressuch as gender,

age, ethnicityand religion has a long history. Womenhave been identified as a specificgroup

who experience persistent systemic discrimination in employment (National Council of

Women New Zealand (NCWNZ), 2015). Over the past40 years, a raft of United Nations (UN),

government,and organisational initiativeshave been designed to improve women’s accessto,

and mobility within, employment (Terjesen and Sealy, 2016). New Zealand, as a small

advanced economy, has a history that includes being the first to legislate female suffrage.

So also, New Zealand has signalled a commitment to equal employment outcomes for women

by ratifying a number of International Labour Organization Conventions and the UN

Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

(Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2015). The CEDAW convention requires

governments to redress gender discrimination by establishing both formal and substantive

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 37 No. 7, 2018

pp. 683-697

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-04-2017-0070

Received 11 April 2017

Revised 21 September 2017

19 November 2017

23 February 2018

Accepted 11 April 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

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Equality as

a threshold

conception