Women Managers’ Impact on Use of Family-friendly Measures among Their Subordinates in Japanese Firms

Abstract

Using data from the Survey on Support for Work–Life Balance conducted in Japan, this study investigates the role of female managers in enhancing their male and female subordinates’ access to family-friendly measures in the workplace. Research on organisational gender inequality has proposed two contrasting perspectives regarding the impact of female managers on gender inequality, describing female managers as either ‘change agents’ or ‘cogs in the machine’. However, previous research has rarely investigated whether female managers address men’s limited access to family-friendly measures, which is often the hidden side of the coin of gender imbalance in male-dominated organisations. Results indicate that female managers were more likely to have subordinates who take parental leave and to exhibit stronger support for male subordinates’ family-related requests than male managers, although, like male managers, they reported feeling that managing their sections during these absences is a challenge. The implications of the findings are discussed.