Gender Inequality During The Workplace

The gender pay gap is the difference in pay earned by men and the pay earned by women.( Pay Equity Commission, 2012). There are various ways in measuring the pay gap between genders, such as full- time or full- year wage. Statistics Canada data ( 2012) displayed that the gender pay gap in Ontario was 26% for full- time and full- year employments, which means for every C$1 earned by a man, a woman earned 74 cents( Pay Equity Commission,2012).The pay gap has been narrowing slowly over time compared to the how it was in 1987, which was 36%. However the gender wage gap is still a problem that exists in the society. I will discuss about the feminist theory and how it can be interpreted in the gender pay gap of our society, especially in regards to celebrities.

The roles and characteristics related to males and females vary according to time and culture (Keating 2003). A concept of male breadwinner model gave important impacts on the Australian economic, politics, culture and social field in early twentieth century (Broomhill and Sharp 2005). However, in the past few decades, there has been gradual changes occurred in the Australian gender order (ibid.). Even though men are the dominant gender in the workforce, due to globalization, women gained more opportunity to have jobs in the workforce (Jones 1983). In addition, there are increasing number of women in Australian workforce after World War 2 (Broomhill and Sharp 2005). But still gender inequality has been ongoing debate in the workforce for

What is the root of feminism? There are many things that will anger you in life and getting played less than a man for the same job is one of them. Women are capable of getting a job, but we still fall behind due to unequal wages between women and men for the same duties. Gender inequalities are a huge factor in the workplace. There is a lot of tension when it comes to women being over worked. The amount of responsibilities that women have, from work to home and everything in between, is ridiculous and it is all based on the gender roles that society has developed. Lastly, what really triggers feminism is the world expecting all women to portray themselves as sex objects and then to getting criticized for it. Understanding sex, gender, how they link together and the input of society clarifies why women a treated this way.

Equality between men and women is more than a matter of social justice .gender roles is a way of characterizing and labeling other in society. Gender roles include attitudes, actions, and personality traits associated with a gender within that culture. Gender roles determines over all how men and women should act, speak, dress, and think. Gender defines masculine and feminine roles on society. Social influence parents, teachers, peers, movies, television, music, books, and religion teach and reinforce gender roles.

Gender roles are basically “society norms” It tells types of behaviors that are considered acceptable for a person based on their sex. The expectations include of how a person should act, dress, and talk.

Women earn less than men. In fact, in America, a woman earns an average of 79 cents to her male coworker’s dollar. Many people see this statistic and think that 21 cents is nothing to fuss over, but the truth is that “the cumulative impact of lower wages throughout women’s careers is devastating, costing a woman working full time, year-round close to half a million dollars over the course of her career” (“New Report”). Although the inferior treatment of women in the workplace is an unfortunate reality, there are many groups and organizations working to empower women and do something about the gender pay gap.

Ruth Simpson interviewed 40 males working in the female-dominated professions of primary school teachers, flight attendants, nursing, and librarians to better understand their experiences. Of those interviewed, only two found their career choice unsatisfactory and had plans to leave (356). The rest were glad they chose or stumbled upon their current career.

Gender roles are defined as "socially and culturally defined prescriptions and beliefs about the behavior and emotions of men and women" (Anselmi & Law, 1998). Gender roles are not biological. They are learned through social interaction (Baur & Crooks, 2014). They are the behaviors that society deems appropriate and acceptable for men and women in a society; and from a young age, people are taught by everything and everyone around them how they are supposed and expected to act (Baur & Crooks, 2014).

The movement of promoting gender equality is exponentially growing every year; however, gender inequality is still a persistent problem in today’s workforce. Each year, gender inequality, especially employment equity, the distinct barrier between genders in the workforce, has become a topic of contention as its affecting working individuals worldwide, especially women. Before examining this problem, we must further understand what gender inequality is in the workplace. Gender inequality is an ascriptive factor, in which limits individuals to reach their full potential in their area of expertise by discriminating based on gender (module …). Both genders can have the same qualifications for an occupation, but a specific gender, mainly men, are seen to be more qualified than their female counterparts are. This can result in the refusal to allow the individual to take on leadership roles due to socially constructed views on gender. In addition, they may receive unequal wages compared to the opposing gender due to statistical discrimination which is the idea hiring or promoting individuals based on the average characteristics of their gender group rather than solely focusing on the individual( Textbook, 169). As we strive towards the goal of gender inequality, we must understand it in order to construct a proper solution.

By definition, gender roles are specific functions and expectations that have been set by society based on gender. These predispositions influence the actions and reactions of an individual. One’s gender significantly affects day to day decision making and long-term aspirations.

In most societies, women have typically taken job roles involving housework, childcare, and lower level positions.  Being primarily in these low level public sectors and private sectors, women have become less valued compared to men in most careers. As a result, large amounts of gender inequality in the workplace in terms of advancement, sexism, and income has been observed. Recently, however, women have made great strides towards equality, and accounted for about half of the work force in 2014. (Introduction to Sociology, pg 288). Although great improvement is evident, even today, gender inequality is seen.

Gender diversity was not taken into consideration and most companies have very little knowledge on how to take advantage of it.

The generation now has made it easier to equalize men and women but there is still a substantial amount of places where gender inequality is still happening in the workplace and where females still face discrimination. Women are often discriminated in the workplace and are usually not promoted as quickly as men are and they also receive less pay. History shows that women have not always been defined as property and thought of as second class citizens. But in the 21st century many have seen a drastic change in the so called “traditional” family ways where women are suppose to stay home and take care of the household chores, food, and children and men are suppose to work to support their family and provide financial stability. Many assume that in the workplace women are more vulnerable and less competent than men because women 's instincts are to put their family before work or anything else. Whereas men are the ones who will usually stay the late hours to work. People on both sides of the political spectrum and everywhere in between seem to be fearful of what is to come and more fearful of others than they are often willing to admit.

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

“The wage gap has narrowed by more than one-third since 1960”(Hegewisch, 2010) and “the share of companies with female CEOs increased more than six-fold” (Warner, 2014) since 1997. As well as the truth that men and women’s earnings differ for many other reasons besides the presence of sexism. “Discrimination in labor market, in education/retiring programs, unequal societal norms at home and the constrained decisions men and women make about work and home issues” (Hegewisch, 2010) are also factors that can contribute to the unequal treatment of man and women in the workplace. Yet even with most of these variables removed women are still being paid less than men, sexually harassed in the workplace and hold very little managerial positions.