Gendered workplaces & gendered behaviors? A meta-analysis of absenteeism and gender diversity

Ashcraft (2013) has advocated that management scholars include topics of diversity, including sex/gender, into the forefront of their studies rather than as peripheral or stand-alone topics. Absence researchers such as Johns (2003) and Patton & Johns (2007) have called for more research and theorizing on the absenteeism-gender relationship, with an emphasis on understanding the norms that link these topics. The meta-analysis described in this study highlights that gender dynamics in the form of the distribution of male and female employees in a workplace has an impact of the relative absenteeism of men vs. women. Both men and women, when in a minority situation, engage in greater absenteeism. The research shows that in gender-neutral contexts, the difference between women and men’s absenteeism has been going down over time. Implications and the advantages/disadvantages of women and men working in minority contexts are discussed.