Gender and Women in the Workplace

Gender relations - Do stereotypical mind-sets around gender relations lead to gender inequality in this workplace? Do work structures disadvantage women? Is there an alignment of managerial attributes with gender stereotypes, such that male attributes of competitive spirit and technical competence are given

This myth has been perpetuated throughout history and in result; we have barriers such as the glass ceiling in existence. If we were to pull up a list of the Board of Directors for any given company, the probability of it being a predominately male group is high. This notion alone shows how companies have continued to dwell in olds days where men are considered more capable than women. The Glass ceiling effect has continued to place barriers against women endeavor in achieving success in their careers and participation in their work place. Women have not been able to realize their potential in their work places since they are not offered equal chances as compared to their men counterparts who enjoy great opportunities in organizations. The fact that an organization is ran by men, may cause an adverse effect on the performance of men. Obviously, a man thinks differently than a woman. It is likely that a decision made by men only is likely to ignore the interests of women in the organization. This creates a domino effect because it affects the woman’s performance in business since they only get limited chances to learn, and limited job assignments that will enhance their skills. Hence, low or limited skills and experience will lower their overall

Second, I would like to talk about the gender roles that play while both men and women are working for the same job or trying to get a job with the same field. When it comes to hiring people mostly go for men because they assume that men will get the job done better than a women would. “Most leadership positions are held by men, so women don’t expect to achieve them and that becomes one of the reasons they don’t” (Anna – Marie Slaughter). With that being said it makes the competition for a job more challenging for women. They have to not only reach all the qualifications that is needed for the job but to go above and try to beat what the men is going to

I would like to start by mentioning that there may be decision making abilities and cultural differences that are affected by gender. Women are usually expected to be nurturing and less aggressive than men. Under attribution theory (ORGB), female managers may be less likely to attribute their success to their own abilities. It is not hard to guess that management may end up not having an entirely accurate assessment of a woman’s skills due to her modesty in that area.

By contrast, men seem to benefit on several levels by choosing a career in a female-dominated workplace (Simpson 356-364). Simpson found four main effects that were experienced by her interviewees and these were: (1) career effect, (2) assumed authority effect, (3), special consideration effect, and (4) zone of comfort effect. The career effect experience was

"Women 's advancement often stops short of the general management level" as a partial result of discrimination by white men in positions of power, which include the differences of developmental job assignments they are afforded (Ohlott 46). "Developmental job assignments have been found to be one of the most important factors in preparing both men and women for upper-level management positions" (Ohlott 46 - 47).If women do not experience these same job assignments, they may be less prepared than men for handling future upper-level management jobs. These types of job assignments lead to high-level positions, make managers more visible, and prepare them for future jobs. With men being in the top ranks

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.

A)Adaptability in this study is defined as being able to adapt to new or changing conditions in the workplace. B)This study was conducted in order to see how much women had to dedicate and work in order tot get to a managerial position. A voluntary survey was handed out to women in both management and those not in management in a financial career in Australia. Most were adult married educated women with no kids whom work more than Fourty hours a week. There were four aspects that were measured in this study: what position they help, how much money they made, how many people did they manage, and how many promotions they received. Mediator regression is what was used in order to find the relationship between the position the women held compared tot heir individual personality types. What was shown was the three most important attributes women much have to have a better chance at a managerial position was ambition, masculinity, and adaptability.

Vinkenburg, van Engen, Eagly, and Johannesen-Schmidt (2011) found that gender differences in communication style norms can also impact advancement in careers. While the differences in group collaboration and leadership styles between men and women may be trivial, and perception of gender-based leadership style is not. Women were shown to use more effective, leadership techniques then men. However, men were perceived as being slightly better leaders and more inspirational in the work setting, despite the fact that woman’s leadership styles tended to be more rounded. The perpetuation of gender bias in promotion decisions perpetuates the stereotype that men hold

In this case study, Liz Ames has come up against an all too common problem in business today: gender bias. Effectively managing racial, ethnic and gender diversity is not just a human resources issue; it is a serious business issue.

Believe it or not women have had rights in the work force for over two hundred years. Women should be treated as equals with men in the work place, but that is not always the case. Companies need to be careful with gender issues; they could lead to law suits and cost millions of dollars. People whether it is men or women should be hired, promoted, or given raises based on their experience not their gender. Dealing with gender issues in the work place can create many problems that can be solved by treating all employees equally.

The need to understand diversity is also driven by women in the workplace. Today's workforce has the highest levels of employment participation ever by women. The number of dual income families and single working mothers has increased. Change in the family structure means that there are fewer men and women in traditional family roles (Zweigenhaft and Domhoff, 1998). Therefore, diversity issues cut across both race and gender.

The idea of men making better managers than women is highly subjective and thus very much down to the personal opinion of individuals both within and outside of a workplace. Due to the subjective nature of this subject, it is hard to come to an overall conclusion and thus directly answer the question. Therefore this essay aims to demonstrate both the strengths and weaknesses of both men and women within managerial roles, and show how they are of equal capabilities to perform within a managerial position. This essay will explore the qualities of both men and women that enable both genders to be good managers. Furthermore there will be a focus on the history of both men and women in management, which will show how women have generally being regarded as being misrepresented within management due to gender stereotyping. Traditional sex role stereotypes state that males are more masculine in the workplace showing signs of being self-reliant, aggressive, competitive and good at decisive decision making (Powell, 1990). However females show signs of being more feminine with characteristics including, being sympathetic, gentle, and shy (Powell, 1990).

Gender in Management: An International Journal Vol. 26 No. 3, 2011 pp. 220-233 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1754-2413 DOI 10.1108/17542411111130981

however, there are many significant barriers that impact on female managers in attaining top level of managerial position, these barriers include political, economical, legal and cultural factors which will limit their entry to high management positions. From the research of (Bem 1974) it shows that both femininity and masculinity scale is believed to be containing 20 percent of personal characteristics of the male and female, these characteristics are believing to be based on the sex-typed social adorability. Past research of (Cortis and Cassar 2005) indicates that there is no significant difference between male and female attitudes towards female manager job involvement, they state that female managers have a strong commitment towards their job similarly to male managers. However, it also indicates that there are two issue which concerns female managers, such as ageing and martial status, where 50 percent of female managers prefers to be younger then their male team members and they strongly prefer to be single. Further more (Cortis and Cassar 2005) research shows that males and females have significant difference in attitudes towards female managers, where females have favourable