SIAS 5 Relaciones de los Auditores Internos con Auditores Independientes

As stated in the previous section, the vague way in which some concepts are developed in the framework of the SDT represent the main weakness of this framework for this study. In our view, the main concepts in need of deeper theoretical explanations are found (i) in the superficial discussion on how ideational changes take place and (ii) in the lack of an explicit gender perspective.

In this section, these concepts are discussed based on the idea of postmodern values as developed by Ronald Inglehart in political sciences (e.g. Inglehart, 1971;

Inglehart & Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005, 2010); the concept of incomplete

gender revolution as reported by Esping-Andersen (2009) and the gender equity theory as stated by Peter McDonald (e.g. McDonald, 2000, 2013).

Postmaterialism is a theory developed by Ronald Inglehart in the 1970s. It refers to the transformation of individual values from materialist, physical and economic to new individual values of autonomy and self-expression (e.g. Inglehart

& Baker, 2000). As it happened with the SDT, the ideational changes towards post materialist values happened firstly in Western countries. It reflected the transformation of Western societies from a period when survival was uncertain to a period when there was a feeling that survival could be taken for granted (the post-World War II period). Cohorts born in industrialized societies after the post-World War II spent their formative years under levels of prosperity that were unprecedented in human history. In addition, the welfare state reinforced the feeling that survival, education and employment were granted. It produced an intergenerational value shift that has progressively transformed the political and cultural norms of these societies (Inglehart, 1971).

The post materialist theory of Inglehart is based in two hypotheses. First, similarly as in the Maslow’s theory of human motivation, socioeconomic environment influences individual’s priorities, and individuals tend to first valorize basic things that affect their survival chances. When this is the case, people tend to behave in a more traditional way, reflecting a strong religious influence in people’s lives, deference to authority, parents and traditional forms of family. Once survival it taken for granted, individuals tend to develop self-expression values, such as trust, tolerance, subjective well-being and political activism, behaving in a more secular-rational way (Inglehart & Baker, 2000). The second hypothesis attached to the post materialist theory states that the relationship between socioeconomic environment and value orientations encompasses a substantial time lag because individual’s basic values will reflect the conditions that prevailed during their pre-adult years. Consequently, after a period of noteworthy rising economic and physical security, substantial differences between the value priorities of older and younger groups come about. It happens because the value system of these different

generations were shaped by different experiences in their formative years (Inglehart, 1971).

Peter McDonald’s ‘gender equity theory’ and Esping-Andersen’s idea of

‘women’s incomplete revolution’ are used to support the SDT framework when the subject is gender relations. The two ideas are interconnected, although clear differences between them can be pointed out.

Esping-Andersen’s (2009) idea of incomplete revolution is partially based on the ‘gender equity theory’ of Peter McDonald (2000, 2013). The author argues that women’s changing roles in modern societies constitute a revolution that is still incomplete. This is the case because social institutions did not adapt completely to these changes. As a consequence, the “incomplete nature of the revolution is provoking serious disequilibria in our society” (Esping-Andersen, 2009, p. 3). This disequilibrium is more evident and problematic in family life, especially in very low levels of fertility; in child development and the intergenerational transfer of disadvantage; and in the viability of support for elderly in ageing populations.

According to the author, an expansion of the welfare state is necessary to bring about the completion of the revolution (Esping-Andersen, 2009).

The gender equity theory was developed by Peter McDonald to explain sustained low levels of fertility in developed countries by the incoherence between the levels of gender equity in different social institutions (McDonald, 2000). In this sense, McDonald distinguishes gender equity in terms of individual-level (education, participation in the labor market) and family-level (availability of day care, maternity leave, division of household tasks) institutions (McDonald, 2000, 2013). According to the author, “institutions which deal with women as individuals are more advanced in terms of gender equity than institutions which deal with women as mothers or members of families” (McDonald, 2000, p.11). Consequently, the first part of the gender revolution is almost complete in developed societies and has changed women’s roles in individual-level institutions, such as education, job market and public life. Conversely, the second part of this revolution is happening in family-oriented institutions but at a much slower rhythm. Family organization

and decision making based on traditional gender roles still persists, even for two-income families (McDonald, 2000).

McDonald (2000) explains that the family itself is an institution which is extremely resistant to change and that the pace of change in family organization is conditioned to the cultural-institutional context. In historically patriarchal societies, such as in Latin American countries, men and women tend to be considered complementary to each other (complementarianism), having different and specialized roles. In these societies the change from the family model based on complementarianism (where men are usually the main providers and women care givers - the so-called male breadwinner model), to the family model based on gender equity (where division of tasks and family roles are not based on gender), is occurring in slower pace than in societies where patriarchy did not play a strong role in the past (McDonald, 2013).

With the erosion of the patriarchal model of the family and, as a consequence, of the traditional form of family organization itself, women became aware that they need to be able to sustain themselves. Faced with higher levels of gender equity in individual-level institutions, such as increasing levels of education and opportunities in the job market, and with lower levels of gender equity in family-level institutions, such as traditional division of housework and unavailability of childcare institutions, women need to choose between work and family life. As a result, they (and mainly those with higher levels of human capital) tend to postpone or reduce fertility, as well as to avoid permanent nuptial arrangements, in order to keep their jobs and the progress in their careers (McDonald, 2013).