Essay on Gender Inequality in the Workplace

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.

“Frailty, thy name is woman.”(Hamlet) is a statement that Shakespeare must have made in a weak moment. However, since Shakespeare’s times, people have slowly begun to understand the importance of the role of women in society. During World War I, women entered the work force due to the shortage of men. Ever since this phenomenon, there has been a significant change in the number of women in the work force. However, this does not discount the fact that women are still subject to gender discrimination, lower salaries, and lack of respect in the professional industry. Improvements to the equality system have been made, but the problem is far from being fixed. Though the number of women joining the work force is increasing, the level equality between the two genders in the workplace seems to be far from perfect in many different ways. There are many different reasons as to why inequality exists in spite of an equal ratio of women to men in today’s work force,

Women are becoming more independent and seeking careers so they do not have to rely on anyone, but themselves. Although women are stepping out of the unjust expectation of being housewives they unconsciously step right back in it. Due to American culture’s beliefs for the female role, women typically outnumber men in careers such as educator, health and child care, and social worker. It is less likely for a woman to be hired in male-dominated industries that have to do with construction, management, and engineering. For years’ women have been fighting to gain equality in the world of careers and even though there are women CEOs and managers, they still do not get paid equally to men. American women who work full-time, year-round are only paid 78 cents for every dollar that is being paid to a male. For fifty years women have been trying to break free from the social rules society has on them and when women finally break free from the housewife role they still are not seen as equal to men in the career

It is not up for debate whether women are discriminated against in the workplace, it is evident in census data; in 2013, among full-time, year-round workers, women were paid 78 percent of what men were paid. It is said that the organizations that are pro-equal pay, including some unions, support the idea that the government should set wages for all jobs. To the contrary, the organizations that are proponents of equal pay are not for job wages being set by the government-they wish to have the discrimination taken out of pay scales from within the company. Commonly, this pay gap is attributed to the fact that women in the United States are still expected to attend to familial obligations over work.

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.

Sexism in the Workplace The workplace is the area in which sexism is most commonly found. Sexism is in evidence in unfair recruitment practices, unequal pay, and intimidating behavior towards colleagues. Legislation is now in place in many countries that prohibits unfair treatment of staff on the grounds of their sex. The problem with this legislation is that they are often difficult to apply.

Each day, it is becoming harder to find employment that guarantees a financially secure life. There is more demand for jobs which respectively means more competition. With more competition, means more requirements and better credentials to have a good chance of achieving employment. Imagine having this entire burden plus being a woman. For women, there is a clear decreased sense of job security in the workforce. Society’s concept of gender can be dated back to the beginning of the history of the United States. Women have always been depicted as inferior to men. I will explain why it is essential for this concept to evolve in today’s economy.

Women, today, have a lot more influence than in the past, particularly in the workplace. There have been enormous strides taken to ensure women are treated fairly and no longer discriminated against. While there are still many differences between men and women’s role in the

Throughout the last forty years, American society and history has improved with the advancement of technology and education practices. Because of these increasing advances, there has been an increase in the work opportunities for both men and women. However, previous studies have shown that one gender has had better opportunities than the other. Throughout time, women have slowly worked towards independence and have gained some access to what men have been doing, however, women have not been able to gain full equality in the workforce and in society itself. Many stereotypes and discriminatory practices act as barriers to women because who try to advance themselves in the workforce. The way people like to justify the unfairness is the fact that

Even today’s society, gender inequality remains a very controversial topic. One especially debated area is whether or not sexism exists in the workplace. Some argue that sexism is a major deterrent in the careers of women, and is the main reason women are not as prominent in positions of power and thus in our society. Others believe that women choose not to pursue such positions, because of their roles as mothers. However, it is views like this that prevent women from being taken seriously as workers. Upon closer insight into our society, it is evident that sexism is the true hindrance in female careers. Factors such as sexism in employment, pay inequality, and a lack of feelings of confidence and safety prevent women from advancing in

-The stereotypical woman’s place is working at home, doing domestic tasks, and having lower statuses in their occupation

The presense of women in the workforce has been growing steadily and now more than ever women are accompling things that were not even to be thought of in the 1800s/ early 1900s. Women can be felt in alsmost every aspect of the workplace; however American women, unlike their male counter parts still deal with workplace barriers that affect their progression into the upper levels of a corporation or company. People can argue that in the workplace women have the same opportunities as men

Sexism is still an issue in modern day America, but people are beginning to take a stand against issues such as this. My first experience with sexism in the workplace was at a young before I even had the chance to start a career. From the time I was a young girl I was determined to be a veterinarian and proudly told people that whenever I was asked. Then one day a male family member told me something that struck a nerve. I was told to change what I want to do because I was a female and my job would be to stay at home and raise a family and my husband would work or that I should find something more suitable for a woman. Little did I know that comments and actions such as this would not stop there and for many women it continues when they officially enter the workforce.

In the 21st century, many people believe that we have overcome the obstacle of gender inequality and evolved into a society of fairness and righteousness. As many know, females can be just as proficient and qualified as males at any task. Though some efforts to off-set this gender imbalance is in place, it is still commonly acknowledged that many careers are stated to be a male job such as lawyers, and female jobs such as secretaries. Gender inequality is a visible fact in our society and in this essay, I hypothesize that gender inequality still exists as a result of factors such as post-secondary education differences of the two genders, role of females in families, female objectification, career choice differences of the two genders, and

Rapid changes in the global economic market entail transformations affecting not only the external environment of organizations, but also its internal operations and processes (Hall, 2008; Hodgetts, 2002). One important change that has altered the nature of contemporary organization is the “acknowledgement, development and systematic use of the skills and knowledge of employees” (Ramirez et al 2007, p 496). The central role of employees’ participation in the success of the organization involves not only “high performance work systems… [but] they also involve the decentralization of decisions and work enrichment that is providing employees with opportunities for involvement in decision-making and innovation.” (Wood & de