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Gender inequality in the workforce
Is gender inequality improving in the workforce
Gender inequality in the workforce
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Women regardless of age have continued to face job segregation in the labor market. Unlike their male counterpart the level of discrimination and challenges seems to be a continuous struggle and trend in the labor market for women. Since the early history of women participation, segregation has been a major issue women having access to good jobs. Similarly, job segregation based on gender has further reinforced different forms of discrimination women continues to face in the labor market. The labor market has increasingly exposed the flaws in the labor market. Although, job segregation, especially for women has seen a little change over the years. The fact still remains that women are still undeniably underrepresented in male dominated jobs …show more content…
The purpose of this essay is to review and discuss the root cause of why women still face job segregation in the labor market. Finally, this essay will offer solution and ways to reduce gender based discrimination, especially for women in the labor market. I will draw on facts to investigate and draw on statistics to attest to fact women are disadvantaged in the labor market when compared to their male counterpart. “Explanations of gender segregation have usually started from the assumption that the segregation is itself a form of inequality or is strongly related to inequality, and the inequality is unquestioningly taken to be to the advantage of men.” (Wright, et al,2015)
The Root Causes of job segregation for women in the Labor Market.
One of the most important root cause of segregation is the biological factor, that is the gender attributed at birth, historically the inequality women face is imbedded in gender itself. Women are considered as inferior to their male counterpart. This assumption has continued to affect the type of jobs women do. Hence the result is low wage pay. Fortin,
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In addition, Young (2010) proves from a research conducted that, there is a “gender” to precarious employment in that women are more likely to work in low quality job settings, characterized by less financial rewards, fewer benefits, union protection, and part-time work status. Furthermore, women are likely than their male counterpart to quit the jobs because of the form of employment. Armstrong et al, argues that, women are more likely to quit their jobs because of their sex than their fellow male
The author explores some stereotypes based on what types of jobs are more women’s type of jobs or more manly jobs. Careers such as carpenters and truck drivers are all almost exclusively male jobs, whereas careers in nursing or secretary work are all almost exclusively a woman’s type of work. Since the 1970’s, women have made head way into male dominated jobs. However, the author states that even though women have made it into male dominated jobs, this is not true for the reverse situation. The woman type jobs are still almost exclusively women’s jobs with men making little entry into them.
Over the decades, there has been a significant increase in the number of women entering the labor force market. Though these numbers may be astonishing, the reality is, many of these women are still facing a labor force market that continues to devalue the work that many of them do. In Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich notes that women are devalued in the workplace, by showcasing the devaluation that many of these women faced in account of their health issues, housing issues, and their horrible working conditions as well.
While the median weekly pay for women rose in the past decades, it is still largely inferior to the median weekly pay of men employed in the same jobs. This difference of pay also puts an additional burden on women who are expected to stay home when emergencies arise. They cannot in some cases pay for daycare or rely on their companies’ understanding that someone has to take care of the family obligations. In result, they are penalized when comes the time to find candidates for promotion and are seen as not as dependable as their male counterparts. Finally, women face a social bias against them that encompass gender, appearance and race. It effectively punishes them for reasons that are out of their own control and not related to their job performance and skills. Laws against gender-based discrimination, more flexible workplace arrangements and a change in our culture regarding women may help fight discrimination and help women reach their full potential in the workforce. By starting to allow for more flexibility, paying women on a comparable scale than the one used for men, and support women in their desire to take care of their families, corporations could set the tone for a fairer treatment of women in the
Gender, as socially constructed differences between men and women and the beliefs and identities that support difference and inequality, is also present in all organizations (Gender & Society). It has been known that most women have continued to stick to the traditional jobs because it is just easier to do so. They do it to avoid any hardship in the work place and discrimination when applying for a job or working for a company. Non-traditional careers and jobs for woman are hard to find and when hired woman are segregated to the wage gap. Class relations in the workplace, such as supervisory practices or wage-setting processes, were shaped by gendered and sexualized attitudes and assumptions (Gender & Society). For example, in the work place managers were almost always men; the lower-level white-collar workers were always women (Gender &
Gender segregation refers to the employment of men and women in different industries, occupations, firms, or jobs. A growing body of literature has documented the extensiveness of gender segregation and has attempted to explain its origins (see Reskin, 1993, for a review). Gender segregation is a major cause of the gender gap in wages, benefits, and retirement income (Perman & Stevens, 1989; Reskin & Hartmann, 1986; Treiman & Hartmann, 1981). Also, female-dominated jobs provide fewer opportunities for training and formal mobility than male-dominated jobs (Baron, Davis-Blake, & Bielby, 1986; Bielby & Baron, 1986; Halaby, 1979), and women's concentration in lower level positions may make them more vulnerable to repeated unemployment than
Analysis on gender discrimination reveals that gender plays a discouraging factor in the employment of women. Throughout history men and women have been segregated into two separate sectors of employment "male" and "female." Historically, humans have witnessed various acts of fallacious imperialism that is often imposed upon groups of people based on ethnicity, skin completion and, gender. One without any socially constructed knowledge of gender would pose the question can someone really be denied employment based on gender? The answer when taking in consideration the social and empirical notions that are prevalent in society the answer would unfortunately yes, they can and have been denied historically based on gender. Various acts and interventions in efforts of alleviating the dilemma concerning employment inequalities have included a better labor market and suggestions of educational opportunities were also believed to provide a remedy to the entire crisis.
Gender discrimination in the workplace is something that both men and women experience, women more than men. For instance, the current gender pat gap is 21 percent. This means that women are currently making 21 percent less than what their male counterparts are making. It has decreased over the years, but it is still a significant gap. In the workplace, women do not only experience discrimination in pay, but also in opportunities. An article states that, women are deemed less communal than men and that makes them less suited for certain careers (Miner, et. al, 2014). This thought alone puts women at a disadvantage when they are entering the labor force.
Throughout the history of the world, discrimination in all forms has been a constant struggle, whether it is race, gender, religion, appearance or anything else that makes one person different from another, it is happening every day. One significant discrimination problem that is affecting many women takes place in the work place. As of recently the gender wage gap has become a major topic for discussion. The gender wage gap is the average difference between men and women aggregated hourly earnings. Women who are equally trained and educated, and with the same experience are getting paid way less than men. In 2015, female full time workers earned eighty cents for every dollar earned by men.
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.
For many decades, women have faced inequalities in the workforce. At one point, they were not allowed to work at all. Although women's rights have improved and are now able to work alongside men, they are still treated unfairly. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, women’s earnings were “76.5 percent of men’s” (1). In 2012, men, on average, earned $47,398 and women earned only $35,791. This is when comparing employees where both gender spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace. It is the idea that women tend to hold jobs that are low paid with low status. Women are not highly considered in leadership positions because of social construction of gender. Society has given women the role of “caretakers” and sensitive individuals. Therefore, women are not depicted as authoritative figures, which is apparent with the absence of women in leadership roles in companies. Furthermore, sex segregation leads to occupations with either the emphasis of women in a certain job or men in a certain job. In 2009, occupations with the highest proportion of women included “secretary, child care worker, hair dresser, cashier, bookkeeper, etc.” (3). Male workers typically held job positions as construction workers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc. (3). Sex segregation represents inequality because the gender composition for these jobs depends on what ...
Some women would prefer to be barefoot and pregnant housewives that spend their days cooking and cleaning while their husband goes to work. However, other women embrace their right to pursue educational and occupational dreams. Unfortunately, because it has not been all that long ago that women were not considered to be qualified for a spot in most work places, they experience a lot of discrimination in the workplace. Because gender roles are almost deeply embedded in our society, women often do not get put up for the same job opportunities and promotions that their male equal might be subject
Women are more educated now than they have ever been, but even women who are university graduates are earning less than men. Frenette and Coulombe reached the conclusion that this was often due to their degrees being in gendered fields of study, such as the arts and humanities (as cited in Gaszo, 2010, p. 224) Women also tend to work in fields associated with lower pay, which includes service and sales work (Gaszo, 2010). In the garment industry, women, especially immigrants and women who work at home, are routinely taken advantage of by companies such as Wal-Mart and paid far too little (Ng, 2006).
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?
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.
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.