FINAL EXAMINATION
CASE STUDY
“A RESEARCH OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE”
1. Abstract
Smith Barney (now part of Citigroup Global Markets) was ordered by the court to evaluate the climate for personal development and advancement through promotion in not only Smith Barney but, as a comparative, in other financial services firms. The case describes the methodology used to sample both men’s and women’s beliefs and attitudes, as well as revealing some of the basic findings. 2. The Scenario
In 1996 Pamela K. Martens, Judith P. Mione, Roberta O’Brien, and 22 others filed a class action suit in U.S. District Court, New York, against Smith Barney and former Garden City, New York, office manager Nicholas Cuneo, citing a rash of complaints. These included “intimidation, retaliation, and humiliation,” as well as lack of fairness in pay, denial of promotion, demotion due to maternity leave, unfairness in distribution of accounts and discharge without cause. Initially
Cuneo was discharged, but when the plaintiffs did not drop their suit, he was reinstated as a sales agent. In May of 1998, Judge Constance Baker-Motley approved a settlement, which had been accepted by 23 of the 25 plaintiffs.
As part of the settlement in Martens, et. al. v. Smith Barney (S.D.N.Y., 96 Civ3779), Smith Barney was charged with paying for a study of the issues underlying the suit. The female judge ordered a research project done by “Catalyst or other similar firm,” one which understood the issues under study. “Catalyst is a nonprofit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business,” shared project director Paulette Gerkovich. “There are no other firms that do exactly what we do, so we were the clear choice.”
3. The Research
Catalyst, a New York firm, was hired and directed the subsequent research project designed to accomplish five goals:
 To assess employees’ perceptions of their work environments.
 To examine why employees seek careers in the financial services industry, why they stay, and why they might leave.
 To examine the connection between perceptions of the work environment and job satisfaction, job commitment, and employees’ intent to stay with their firms.
 To determine what barriers women face in advancing within their firms.
 To assess how employees balance the demands of work and personal life.

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“Our prior research with women’s issues provided several tested measurement questions that were suitable to use in this study,” explained Gerkovich. Catalyst also conducted nine focus groups— two all-men, six all-women, and one mixed gender group—to add insight to developing other measurement questions and clarify numerous concepts and constructs. At no time during the research did the plaintiffs, defendant, or the court influence the process.
Catalyst mailed the survey to approximately 2,200 potential respondents, men and women employed in the financial services industry. A second mailing was sent to the whole sample frame to increase the participation rate. 838 (38 percent) members of the sample responded, 482 women
(57.5 percent) and 356 men (42.5 percent).
“Our prior research led us to believe that a gender gap would exist between men and women on some fundamental issues. So men’s opinions were sought to give the women’s opinions a context,” said Gerkovich.
To measure job satisfaction, Catalyst used a multiple-item evaluation including current position satisfaction, satisfaction with employer, work schedule control, career advancement opportunities, opportunities for networking and mentoring, and compensation fairness. Only on “opportunities to network with influential clients” and “compensation fairness” did men and women differ significantly (p