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Gender inequality in the workplace introduction
Gender bias within the workplace
Gender inequality in the workplace introduction
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Gender bias has a long history and continues to occur in the workplace today. Research indicates that women remain significantly disadvantaged and mistreated compared to men in the workforce. How do the disparities of hiring, promotion, and salaries affect women in the workplace? “Statistical research by Catalyst demonstrate that women account for 46.7 percent of the U.S. labor force” (Evans, 2011, p.62), but gender bias continues to distort employers hiring decisions intensifying the challenges women endure in the workforce. Controlling bias has been a goal of American society resulting in federal, state, and local laws preventing hiring discrimination in the workplace. There is a natural tendency for superiors to prefer to work together with members of the same sex or hire applicants close to their age. Male leaders are likely to hold stereotypes about women that influence employment decisions not based on an applicant’s ability, but rather categorization. Management often perceives male applicants as the only candidate or the best fit for the job, even though the position does not require masculine characteristics. Koch et al. (2015) highlighted that highly qualified women are seen “just as competent as men” however; these women are still unlikely to be hired over their less qualified male counterparts. Laws prohibit prospective employers from asking women about family responsibilities outright, nevertheless this subject often surfaces during the interview process. As a result, hiring personnel pass over experienced female candidates when they suspect women struggle between the conflicting demands of family and career responsibilities. Men have quite different roles and responsibilities regarding family giving the... ... middle of paper ... ...which benefit an organization however, they are seldom valued as compared to the more traditional male aggressive, dominant traits. Top managerial positions come with a price for women and studies performed by Hoffnung (2004) indicate professional women delay relationships or starting a family in order to advance in their careers (as cited in Nadler & Stockdale, 2012, p. 282). Despite government regulations to promote equality within the workplace, women’s salaries continue to lag behind males in similar career with similar experiences. According to research performed by Blau & Kahn (2007) “women salaries averaged about 60% of men’s until the 1970s and rose to nearly 80% by the 1990s” (as cited in Bendick, Jr. & Nunes, 2012, p.244). Today, women on average earn approximately $.81 for every dollar that men earn in the United States (Guy and Fenley P.41 2014).
Have you ever felt discriminated against in the workplace? Usually, women are the most common people that are mistreated in the workplace. There are many reasons why women are discriminated against, but none of them are excuses for women for not being successful. Women face sexism by getting less pay than men, not getting promoted as equally as men, and facing other gender stereotypes, but sexism can be solved by women confronting their internal and external barriers and finding people that can help women.
While this book by the COO of Facebook is ostensibly about women in the workplace, it's really about subconscious cognitive biases. A majority of Americans may consider women and men to be equal on the surface, but the fact that women still lag significantly behind men in both pay and leadership positions points to the fact that there is something else going on.
In “The Real Reason So Few Women are in the Boardroom,” Marty Nemko states the reasons why men are more prosperous in the workplace. He says that men choose work over personal relationships, and women often choose personal over business. Although Nemko uses rhetorical strategies to make good points about why some men are more successful in the workplace than women, he unnecessarily downgrades women about the decisions they make to be more family oriented.
Sex Discrimination in the American Workplace: Still a Fact of Life. (2000, July 01). Retrieved from National Women's Law Center : www.nwlc.org
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chart shows a decrease in gender discrimination since 2012, and remaining at a constant 29% of cases filed at the end of 2015. A straightforward approach is used to propose gender stereotypes by naming, identifying, and understanding the context. An example on how gender stereotyping comes into place, nurses are usually females, and you don’t see as many men in the healthcare field working as a nurses because it is for women. Gender discrimination comes in play when harm is applied to an individual. A woman may want a job that portray the role of a man, and she is discriminated against, and The Equal Employment Opportunity states what laws are being
“97% of everything you know about yourself and about your country comes from the male perspective” (“Miss Representation”).That is according to NBC news anchor Carol Jenkins. This is an indirect example of sexism in our society. Sexism has changed since the 20th century. We’ve gone from women strictly being classified as housewives to women being discriminated against in leadership positions. Much of the discrimination that women face is closely related to issues surrounding body image. What we cannot forget in the year 2014 is who control the ideas that we have about women and leadership: the media. The misrepresentation of women’s power and influence in the media cause many women to have low self-esteem about and can cause them to feel as though they do not deserve a spot at the decision-making tables. Sexism has been around since the beginning of America, in many different forms, but the impacts have increased with the power of the media. One of the ways the media has discriminated against women, is the way they portray women in the workplace.
When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law, he hoped that it would allow working women to finally earn the same amount of money as men; however, more than half a century later, men continue to out earn women in almost every field of work (Lipman para. 4). Male dominated fields tend to pay more than female dominated fields at similar skill levels. In 2012, women earned an average of $691 per week while men earned an average of $854 per week. Furthermore, the majority of women remain unaware that they are earning less than their male colleagues (Hegewisch para. 1).
Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.
Jerrie Cobb is a brave woman who dreams of becoming an astronaut. She quit her job to participate in astronaut tests in order to achieve her dream. It is hard for a woman pilot to find a job in the male dominated field of aviation and, before taking the test, she was told that women were not allowed take it. With the development of society, men and women should be gradually become equal because we are in a society with laws of equality. However, in some places, women are still seen as inferior. One of the most obvious ways to prove this, is how hard it can be to find a job. Some companies prefer male employees and even though gender discrimination in hiring is illegal, businesses find ways to work around it. Both Stefan Eriksson and Michael Firth argue, “Women may get fewer firm contacts”(Eriksson, and et. all 307, Firth 891). Sometimes, they consider the gender, not the abilities. According to Garber, the author of “Sex bias in hiring”, “requirement of skills that are not evidenced in the application materials is common”(Garber, 308). This is an unfair situation that leads to the unequal status of men and women that needs to be changed. Women should get more opportunities to find a job because they possess qualities that could be beneficial to companies, such as powerful communication, organizational skills and good focus. Most women even can balance the relationship between family and work.
Women face an unofficial barrier called the glass ceiling, which limits how high a women can advance in a profession. “Women holding the titles of chairman, CEO, COO (chief operating officer), and executive vice president remain at about 7 percent of the population of executives in the United States” (Hoobler, Wayne, & Lemmon, 2009). Women seem to have more of a family-work conflict then men, so bosses don’t seem to have as much desire, to promote females compared to men (Hoobler, Wayne, & Lemmon 939-940). Men still view women as having a social role, examples are cooking, childcare, and household chores. Men feel threatened, and scared when females are able to handle both work and their personal life. Excuses are created by men, where they believe females should focus on one role, because they won’t be able to accomplish family roles and work roles efficiently. Women can help themselves with this issue of family-work conflict, by, improving communication with their employers. Women can communicate to their employer, by explaining and clarifying their expectations on how much workload they can
Ann Howard who is a chief scientist for DDI(Data Documentation Intitative) says, “Our data suggests that when you look at the things that would help people develop in their careers, women wouldn't get the same opportunities as men did.” According to the data Howard found men were more likely to receive the advancement and the help than woman simply because of their gender. This is what gender roles are, advancement or higher favor because of sex. The data from Howards study says, “there were 28 percent more men than women in high-potential programs at the first level of management and 50 percent more men than women in such programs at the executive level.” It would be hard to say that 50 percent of men were just more qualified for the job title than women. Employers see men as more favorable in management position simply because of gender. When a woman is in a higher position than a man, it’s shocking to our culture and it should not be this way. Because of gender biases women are being held back from their full potential and it’s time for change. Even though it has been 39 years since The Sex Discrimination Act there is still discrimination in the United
Discrimination at work is a touchy issue. Most people, if not all, have experienced some sort or form of it and they ignored it, quit, or got fired from their job. Women tend to be more emotional than men and when women are judged and discriminated they are offended by it immediately. Also, the fact of women getting a lower income than men for the same job is almost unbelievable. It is very important to be concerned on the issue because it is constantly increasing throughout the United States. It upsets me that women are paid less than men because women have the same ability and work ethic as men do, but they are looked at differently. According to AAUW, women are making 77 percent of what men make. This rate hasn’t changed since 2002 (Hill, 2013). Statistics show that women will never make as much as men due to the thought of never being comparable to men (Williams, 2013).
In today’s society, Women perform similar jobs to men. Whether it’s blue or white collar jobs, women are always present and thriving for success balancing a life of business and family. In the job market, some are graduates of the best schools and have interned at the best firms, but are still not compensated as equally as men. Following the recent comments by the CEO of Microsoft concerning women asking for raises and how they should trust the system to install equality, the issue seems to be still present, and women’s work is not rewarded similarly to men’s.
Another problem women have in the workplace is getting promotions. Woman who have worked for their company for many years, receiving great reviews and employee-of-the-year awards are often filled by less qualified men (Armour, 2008). The next problem women face is unfair pay. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics found that women working 41 to 44 hours per week earn 84.6 percent of what men working similar hou...
Gender Inequality at a Workplace Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century, women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women.