Can training remove the glue from the “sticky floor” of low‐paid work for women?

Abstract

Purpose

The UK government has suggested that women's inequality can be addressed through improved education and training. The aim of this paper is to explore the extent to which this is the case by examining the opportunities for learning in a range of low‐paid jobs in local government, which are predominantly but not exclusively occupied by women.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on a case study involving over 100 face‐to‐face interviews with low‐paid workers, their supervisors, managers, trainers and union representatives in one local authority, it uses Scherer's 2004 framework to examine whether low‐paid jobs and the opportunities they provide for training act as “stepping stones” or “traps” to job progression and better pay.

Findings

As a solution to the problem of low pay, the discourse of individual self‐improvement under‐estimates the structural problems facing low‐paid workers, their lack of resources and entitlements to learning. Moreover, it ignores the fact that many low‐paid workers in the public sector value their work as socially useful. This public service ethos should not be a justification for low basic pay.

Originality/value

This paper extends the theme of gender equality in UK public services by examining to what extent measures focusing on education and training can lift women workers off the “sticky floor” of low‐paid low status work.

Citation

Rainbird, H. (2007), "Can training remove the glue from the “sticky floor” of low‐paid work for women?", Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 555-572. https://doi.org/10.1108/02610150710777042