Gender-Based Wage and Promotion Discrimination in Israeli High-Technology Firms: Do Unions Make a Difference?

Abstract

Little is known about the degree to which unions protect women against gender-based wage and promotion discrimination. Data were collected for scientists and professionals in two matched firms, one unionized, one not. Similar overall patterns of discrimination emerged, with gender having no less of an impact on earnings and promotion in the unionized firm than in the nonunion firm. However, our results suggest that women in the unionized firm might have been less exposed to the negative earnings-based consequences of promotion discrimination because hierarchical wage differentials were lower.