The Low Status of Female Part-Time NHS Nurses : A Bed-Pan Ceiling?

Despite increases in female participation rates into the paid working population of Britain women remain concentrated into particular sectors of the economy. Areas of the labor market where women predominate are also characterized by high levels of part-time employment. The significance of part-time work is that it is lower paid and offers fewer employment opportunities for women. This article examines the careers of 643 qualified female NHS nurses. It is found that respondents working part-time are the least likely to occupy the upper echelons of NHS nursing. Explanations for this centre on the actions and strategies of managers who use negative gender role stereotypes regarding part-time nurses to inform recruitment and promotion decisions. Managers, however, regard the low status of part-time nurses as a reflection of their own choice strategies, thus failing to recognize the existence of gender-based disadvantage. The resultant outcome is one where part-time nurses are confined to the lowest qualified clinical grades, with little opportunity to progress to the higher grades. Critical labor shortages in nursing, however, may mean that the utilization of part-timers is re-examined as NHS management seek to retain more qualified nurses. For such a re-examination to be successful management attitudes also need to change