Gender Differences In The Workplace

Battle among the sexes….ready, set, WORK! Today, it is common for a work environment to consist of both male and female, in attempt to contribute to the success of a business. With the significant rise of woman being in a workplace, gender has become a prominent aspect today. Though some experts believe that a balance of both genders are ideal in a workplace, studies show that women tend to excel in certain areas and men tend to excel in others. Research shows that gender characteristics do exist and plays an influential role on the in the workplace. With that being stated, my ethnography project is in regards to the gender and the results of performance and service provided for the customers in a workplace. More specifically, I will be observing

The store is famous for selling fresh burgers, fries, chilies, and above all, frostys. Hierarchy is presented in the store, due to the general manager being the “top dog”, the shift managers being under, and then the crew members. The managers consist of 4 females and one male. Gender role is prominent in this fast food environment as well. Each male and female is assigned to a specific task in the store, simply because of their gender. The male and female differences clearly involve both physical and emotional factors. Certain influences may arise from psychological factors, such as the upbringing, or physical factors, such as a crew member’s ability to perform a certain task. More commonly, males perform task such as mopping the floors, taking out the trash, picking up heavy items and operating the grill. On the other hand, females are more prone to interact with the customers, such as cashier, drive thru order take, and remembering to keep a smile on their face. All roles completed by both male and females contribute to the success of the

The manager that was working was a lady named Tasha Bernard (name was changed to protect identity). The first thing that was rather noticeable to me while she was managing the store was she lacked the ability to actually manage the crew members, resulting in the lack of service provided to the customers. Additionally, she displayed complete apathy towards the job, especially when she blatantly answered her phone while distributing fries in a carton for a customer. I was able to interview a random customer named Pariss who witnessed this act and she stated, “Wow, is she really talking on her phone?”. “Where is the manager?. I sighed desperately and stated that she was in fact the manager of the night. This inevitably resulted in bickering among the manager and customer. In addition, the crew members displayed complete apathy towards providing “quality service” as well. They engaged in horse playing, texting, and someone was blasting music while “working”. Basically, everyone engaged in their own little world, lacking any sort of teamwork which is required in a fast food restaurant. Needless to say, the line extended all the way to the door and a roar of complaints filled the