ABSTRACT
Women’s poorer position in the labour force has been shown to be an international phenomenon manifest in the OECD countries, the European Community, the Nordic countries and Ireland. Apart from gender segregation in terms of types of occupations, lack of equal pay has also been a key issue. Ireland’s membership of the European Community from 1973 onwards directly led to enactment of equal pay legislation. This was due to the fact that all members of the then European Economic Community (EEC) were required to implement EEC directives agreed by the European Community, including equal pay legislation, which was passed in 1974 and implemented in Ireland in 1976. The extent to which women’s poor position in the organisational hierarchy is due to discriminatory attitudes and practices on the part of management and the extent to which it is a result of other factors has not been established.
