6.3.2 Barriers identified in Chapter 5 in relation to interventions

Besides the barriers that were identified in Chapter 2, the case study analysis also identified barriers that are described in Chapter 5. The barriers identified in Chapter 5 that were not identified in Chapter 2 are the barriers: employee turnover rate, type of work, assumptions about women, Dutch culture, part-time work and gender roles. The reasons why these barriers were not identified in Chapter 2 could be twofold. First, the barriers employee turnover rate and type of work were specifically identified in the investigated companies that were included in the case study research discussed in Chapter 5. However, these barriers might not necessarily be present in other companies. Second, the barriers Dutch culture and part-time work are particularly valid for a Dutch context. Because the study in Chapter 2 was about Europe, these contextual factors may have been missed due to the scope of this study.

The barrier employee turnover rate was described as the frequency with which employees leave the organization. This was said as to function as a barrier in two ways: people either stay too long, and therefore it is hard to make room for women, or they leave too soon, which is specifically a problem for women. It is difficult to remedy this by means of one of the identified interventions because companies often do not have a lot to say about a person’s decision to stay or leave. One intervention that might help in this respect is the intervention to conduct exit interviews with people who are leaving the company, and in this regard with women who leave the company in order to better understand the reasons why they leave and to determine what the company potentially can do to prevent this from happening in the future. However, it is questionable whether exit interviews are in fact valuable, because it is difficult to get a real grip on the reasons why women leave companies and their departure could just as easily be linked to things other than the company itself, for instance because they were offered a better salary elsewhere or simply are looking for a new challenge in life.

Another barrier identified is the type of work. Depending on the type of work, women might be less well represented in certain sectors, which makes it hard to attract new women. This can be related to career preferences or stereotypes, as explained before, because stereotypes might steer women’s choices towards specific careers and studies. It is hard to overcome this barrier by means of the governmental and organizational interventions identified in this study.

The barriers gender roles and assumptions about women could be included in the barrier gender stereotypes. As noted, it is difficult to change stereotypes, but interventions to foster a more gender inclusive environment could be implemented by companies to create a more equitable workplace.

Two last barriers can be jointly discussed: the barriers Dutch culture and part-time work. It was acknowledged in the case study research that the fact that part-time work is such an integral part of Dutch culture also constitutes a barrier for women’s career progression. Because women work to a larger extent part-time than men, women are less likely to be promoted than men. This barrier cannot be solved by the governmental and organizational interventions that were identified.