To achieve equality between men and women in employment and narrow the income gap between men and women, Equality Act 2010 came into force based on the adoption of the Equal Pay Act 1970. In the past three decades, there has been some improvement in inequality between men and women in the workplace, but the difference still exists. I used to work in a media which is specialized in yachting industry, which is a traditional male-dominated profession. Through the communication with practitioners in all relevant sectors of this industry, I have a general idea of the changes and the current situation of the proportion of men and women in this field. Although more women are doing contributions in those non-traditional work, it is undeniable that gender segregation still exists in some contemporary business organizations.
Demographic diversity studies, including gender, ethnicity and disability discrimination or segregation, frequently attract more attention because of their intuition and universality. In fact, studies on the equality of employment opportunities tend to combine gender and ethnicity. It must be stated that since the focus of this essay is on occupational gender segregation, its base is the definition of gender discrimination by EOC which is irrespective of race and sexual orientation (EOC UK, no date; EOC Trinidad & Tobago, no date). By analyzing and researching the employment of men and women in these specific industries, we can recognize the status of equality of
Gender refers to the socially constructed categories of feminine and masculine. It is one of the major factors in social difference and inequality in today’s society. Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles. Using a paragraph based approach I intend to individually analyse various aspects of gender differences referencing to the theory of socialisation and also making links to the works of Marx, Durkham and Goffman. My essay will cover different aspects of gender inequalities still present in today’s contemporary society.
Gender discrimination has always been one of the most re-surfaced topics over decades when the big umbrella topic of Employment relations is brought up. For hundreds of years, women have taken one of the hardest challenges in life, to be recognised equally against men. For centuries, women were not given the same rights as men, nor were
There has been a major development in women’s equal rights since the Equality Act 2010 was introduced that includes gender equality as one of the strands which states people under this act cannot discriminate or harass and victimise another individual( Ref). The gender pay gap between men and women has been on debate for many years. This essay will examine whether or not in this modern day society their still remain gender inequalities through the use of relevant theories this essay is determined to establish whether these inequalities still exist in employment by exploring social, biological and cultural explanations and differences between men and women. Why women are more likely to be discriminated and oppressed and how I can use this awareness to challenge and address gender inequalities in employment.
2- Income and status inequality between men and women: Wage disparity between men and women is often a result of organizational structure. Throughout different professions, the pay gap is not a reflection of performance, but rather a reflection of management’s discretionary assignments to employees based on sex. The social environment of many professions gives men a strong advantage to higher ranking, higher paying positions.
Acker (1998) posits, despite years of advancement and equity practices; a gendered substructure explains the persistence of male hegemony and the female disadvantage. There’s a conventional assumption of an ordinary worker to be a man without obligations outside of work that will be a means of distraction. According to a study, it was found there is significant proactivity in implementing equal opportunity strategies under the guise of ‘organisation of work and conditions of service’ (Strachan & French, 2007). Furthermore, segregation at the workplace has remained almost unchanged, despite two decades of equal employment opportunity legislation.
Blau and Kahn’s online source offers honest and informational knowledge on the gender pay gap present throughout today's society. This academic source provides statistics and court cases that directly address the issues involved in the gender pay gap. Addressing the unfair compensation towards women, this source brings into discussion the most common industries employing women. According to Balu and Kahn, women represent more than half of the employees within the industries that earn the lowest average wages. These industries include leisure, hospitality and retail trade. This is just one of the key effectors to the occupational segregation and the income gap between genders. Throughout the process of providing these crucial statistics, such
For several decades, gender inequality in the workplace has been a problematic topic for discussion. In terms of higher management and pay, some may agree to disagree that women are getting the shorter end of the stick. There is a significant difference in the salary and positions women are obtaining in large companies or corporations. Does that stir up the question, what is it that men are doing better than women? Or are women lacking certain qualities required to achieve these certain rights and opportunities? The preference towards a certain sex is the primary cause of gender discrimination, however, it is important that the theories of each party are understood and why it is present in the workplace today.
With the widespread of equality and diversity features in organizations, gender balance should be obvious in work place. However, in reality, female in management levels still remains as minority in most of the organizations. The article will start from the UK Pension system and EO policies studies to explain the basic situation for work life, then focus on the reason why equality and diversity haven’t been able to achieve their target to solve the gender issue. Further more, there will be a discussion about how to resolve the issue and suggestions will be made. Effort needs to be made to further develop the policies in work place to make an equal, diverse and gender balance atmosphere.
In conclusion it has been proven that inequality still exists within companies. If women want to be paid based off their skills and not their gender, they need to become aware of the fact that this problem is still around and fight to get rid of it. Carol Hymowitz’s article reflects on the need to make a change in businesses around the world to offer diversity and equality. The change has to start with women coming together and taking a stand against discrimination. With constant change and growth within our country, there is no reason
Gender segregation in the labour force is the unevenness in the distribution of occupational titles of women and men. In Australia, as elsewhere, gender segregation is still a primary focus of how the internal labour market have positioned women and men within workplace hierarchies – affecting future career prospects. The core reason as to why occupational gender segregation in Australia still currently exists is the under-valuation of women’s skills and abilities. Studies show that those occupations with a high proportion of male receive a higher income than a female-dominated workplace as ‘men’s work’ has historically proven to be more highly valued than ‘women’s work’. Women’s work can be under-valued due to several contributing factors
Women have experienced a historic situation of inequality in the social as well as professional aspects. Women were normally the ones that would take care of children, do the chores in the house, and in rural areas; they would work in the field with the rest of the family. However, today’s women have become more self-sufficient and independent from the predominant male figure within every historical family. Gender inequality in the workplace is becoming less common; yet, gender is a factor that affects men and women. Especially women have been subjected to a historical discrimination that has influenced society to decide which job is more suitable for women than men. However women have confronted and tried to break down the barriers that
Throughout history, countless acts of gender inequality can be identified; the causes of these discriminating accounts can be traced back to different causes. The general morality of the inequity relies on a belief that men are superior to women; because of this idea, women have spent generations suffering under their counterparts. Also, a common expectation is that men tend to be more assertive and absolute because of their biological hormones or instinctive intellect. Another huge origin is sexual discrimination; even in the world today, many women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than a real human being with
As was mentioned recently, within this paper we will analyze gender inequality in the workplace, considering organizations as key places where discrimination becomes really visible. Research has shown that the workplace reflects discrimination in several ways, for example, the gender wage gap (meaning that for the same position and with the same
Throughout the past few decades, the gender inequality discourse have became a dominant feature of international, national and local policy debate on the subject of economic development. This policy concern has emerged as an area of scholarly research which seeks to show that improving gender equity leads to economic growth.
BRADLEY, H. & HEALY, G., 2008. Ethnicity and gender at work: inequalities, careers and employment relations, Palgrave Macmillan. New York: Basingstoke.