Differences in Socioeconomic Factors and Their Effect on Work Experience and Outcomes
Prior to addressing the question in detail, which is fundamentally
debatable, we must define and understand the differences of the
following concepts; gender, class and ethnicity and then attempt
identifying whether the differences between them in determining work
experiences and outcomes are no longer relevant factors though remain
significant.
The idea of gender as a separate methodological category of analysis
has recently become a more controversial or rather important one, due
to increased feminist research into the role of women both in America
and globally. The issue of women's role in employment has long been
debated, however, patriarchal ideas blur the distinction between sex
and gender and assume that all social distinctions between men and
women are based in biology or anatomy. Scientists argued in the 19th
century that women worked to obtain economic independence were
initiating a 'struggle against Nature.'
Additionally, we must understand why sociologists distinguish between
'sex' and 'gender,' it is important to look at their separate
definitions. 'Sex' refers to the biological factors that distinguish
'males' and 'females' that is their anatomic differences. 'Gender' on
the other hand, refers to the cultural identity or role that is
ascribed to a person according to their sex. The term can also be used
to define relationships between people, and sometimes used as a
negative form of classification in the same way as race and ethnicity
can also be used to dress privilege barriers. For example, in 19th
century America, blacks an...
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...erybody, however, the fact remains, that
many members of ethnic groups are categorized in very low class
positions, and although more members are entering high occupations and
gaining valuable experience more then ever, the existence of
discrimination will always exist, whether we like it or not, due to
either stereotypical ideologies as well as members of the dominant
group substantiating and protecting their position in class regardless
of what measures are taken.
Overall, in my opinion inequality will always exist within the
workforce in relation to all three concepts; this is one factor, which
must be accepted. However, there has been a vast improvement in all
three elements within employment, and hopefully this will continue
progressing for a more equal society, not just in the Western society,
but globally.
In the article “Sex Segregation at Work: Persistence and Change” by Anastasia Prokos explores ideas around the challenges and reasons of sex segregation in the work place. She argues that even though the United States has made several steps in the right direction throughout our history, there is still “… women and men in the contemporary United States continue to be concentrated in different occupations, jobs, and industries” (Prokos 564). She is presenting this as a social problem that leads to stereotypes, discrimination, and unequal pay.
Also gender is an important factor in America social class. Men will be affected differently and women will be affected differently by the class system. In the class system there is inequality between genders and that greatly affects the social mobility of the genders. Men usually hold more important jobs in businesses while women will work under them. For instance in a article by Richard Hogan, it conveys, “How gender relations within the family are reproduced (emulated), at work, in class relations between secretaries and their bosses.” (Hogan 2001: 68). In families the female is usually taking care of the house, children, etc., while the male has a job and earning money. In this example it explains that the boss has a job and is earning money, while the secretary is taking care of the bosses work. This limits the social mobility of females since they always have to work under someone in most cases and they will earn less money than males. Women also take their husband’s social class position when they are married to them. Hogan explains, “Firstly women have been subsumed into class analysis through being identified with the household unit defined by the male partner 's social class position.” (Hogan 2001: 147). This displays that a female has no identity of her own since they take their husband’s social class position it is linked to them. Yet, females still have some kind social class and some social mobility in the class
Blackburn et al (2002) state that the existence of gendered occupational segregation in the UK is a well-known fact, meaning that there is a tendency for men and women to have different occupations and roles.
According to sociologist Cecilia Ridgeway, author of Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World, status inequalities are reflective of the positional inequalities in the workplace. Status inequalities are rooted in the beliefs about the inherent nature of men and women. Ridgeway states “the status implications of gender stereotypes associate men with greater overall competence” (Ridgeway 88). These stereotypes posit women and men into different roles by granting certain sexes special privileges. Ridgeway shows how gender stereotypes effect the workplace through her study of women in corporate businesses and occupations that are male dominated. As a result, we see the implicit bias that occurs at the workplace that are shaped by gender beliefs and assumptions. When women pursue higher authority positions, she puts herself at risk of resistance and hostility from those around her because she is seen to be “violating her status position” (Ridgeway 115). Hence, employers whom are predominantly white-males view their ideal workers as the stereotypic men more so than they view the stereotypic women. Dominant groups in a society occupy more powerful positions by definition, and have more control over workplace organizations than do subdominant groups. This gendered workplace culture helps reproduce and maintain the sex-segregation of the job. These gendered cultural structures cause us to think that men are “more socially esteemed and generally more competent than women” (Ridgeway 12). Thus, women and minorities experience positional inequality in their daily lives, from being placed into lower ranks, having smaller job titles and earning less for doing jobs of comparable worth. Although women earn more than half the Bachelor’s Degree, half the PHD’s and half of the professional degrees, they are still seen as subordinate to men (Ridgeway 16). Therefore,
believes group members are not as ready as they should be. Here leadership style focuses on helping these team members develop confidence and trust in their own abilities.
In most countries, men and women play different roles in society. Most of the time the men go to school and work while the women stay at home and cook, clean, and take care of the children. Now, in some countries women have been allowed to go to school and get jobs but there are still countries that are set in their old ways where the women stay home and are not allowed to get an education or go to work. It is usually in more underdeveloped countries where they are still in the old ways of women staying home and men doing work. In more developed countries, now women have been able to go to school and get jobs. There has been the problem though that in developed countries where women can work, that they are paid less money or there are certain positions or jobs that there are more men than women. An example of a career choice that more men then women chose to do is STEM jobs. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In these four fields, it is more common to find men doing these types of jobs and women are a minority. It has been said that women are more likely though to get a job in one of these fields because of the fact that they are a minority. Even certain types of positions within companies are more prone to have men than women as well as careers. Cecilia L. Ridgeway, author of Framed by Gender, mentions a few of the positions that women are not usually going to have within a company. She states that, “ Women are still rare as CEOs, top corporate officers, presidents, and directors of major firms and institutions” (Ridgeway 114). It is true that these positions within large companies usually do not have women. This is a perfect example of how men are seen as superior by being the superior even just within a company. There are a lot of jobs and positions that women are not usually allowed to have. Kwame Anthony Appiah author of “Making Conversation” talks about his
Moreover, the manner in which gender is conceptualised by a class analysis of the labour market unveils
These traditional roles and consequently women’s identities have been formed and maintained by the workplace, therefore understanding any gender differences in labor requires an examination in this light. Grant and Porter remind the researcher that the concepts of male and female are not independent relationships of the workplace, but have been strongly influenced and determined by the relationships of male and female in society at large.
Today in the United States, men make more than women in various sectors, including education and other trades favoring women workers. The gap gets bigger when comparing the wages earned by men to those of women in jobs favoring men workers such as construction or other physically demanding jobs. Women are less likely to work those jobs, therefor; men have the advantage of having more experience and get paid better. In addition, employers would rather hire a man instead of a woman because they believe that a man will be able to sustain the difficulty of the job and work longer hours which crate a disadvantage for women because they are unable to gain experience and become skilled in that certain field. Gender pay gap based on this information is explained as the result of the discrimination of employers toward the feminine sex in terms of pay, which discourage them to work certain jobs leading to create a bigger gap due to the lack of
Parcheta, N., Kaifi, B., & Khanfar, N. (2013). Gender Inequality in the Workforce: A Human Resource Management Quandary. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 240-248.
The first problem Levin tackles is the one of socioeconomic inequalities; simply said, the pay and job position differences between men and women. Levin...
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 of 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. The opportunities available for women in the market are not as diverse as those presented to men. Still, the construct of gender ideology influences how employers undertake economic decisions, and that is why companies still have jobs labelled as “men’s work” and occupations categorized as “women’s work.” Indeed, the pervasiveness of gender differences in labor markets is undeniably true, specifically with respect to salary gap between men and women, occupational gender segregation of men and women, and the challenge that women face in terms of juggling their time and attention between their career and family life.
Social inequality can be easily defined as, “an unequal distribution of resources” (Symbaluk & Bereska, 2013, p. 93). Although it is easy to define, being aware of it in everyday life is a more difficult task. Social inequality can take many forms based on race, ethnicity, and gender and can be seen everywhere in society from school, the workplace, to government. It can be difficult to notice social inequality because stereotypes are ingrained into society and often affect the subconscious. Class stratification also enables people to scapegoat minorities by saying they have no merit to society rather than society has put up barriers to stop them from achieving merit. One easily observable effect of social inequality is the income gap between
Gender stratification limits women’s achievement in their lives. In term of jobs, women continue to enter a narrow passage of occupations range. Compared to men, women often face greater handicap in seeking job because the higher income and prestigious jobs are more likely held by men. In the workplace institution, men are also prior to a faster promotion. There is a case where women were allowed to get promoted to a more advance posi...
It can be concluded that women are treated in terms of stereotyped impressions of being the lowest class and greater evidence can be found that there are large disparities between the women and the men 's class. It can be seen that women are more likely to play casual roles as they are most likely to take seasonal and part time work so that they can work according to their needs. They are hampered from progressing upward into the organizations as they face problems like lack of health insurance, sexual harassments, lower wage rates, gender biases and attitudes of negative behavior. However, this wouldn’t have hampered the participation of the women in the work force and they continue to increase their efforts which is highly evident in the occupational and job ratios of females in the industry.