The Perceptions Of Gender And Sex

Over the past few decades, great strides have been made by women in the workplace. This increased number in women in the workplace does not mean equality however. Even with equal qualifications and achievements, women are still not given all the opportunities that men have. The chapter in the textbook, “Gender at Work”, shows us more of these inequalities in the workplace. Such inequalities cause gender segregation of jobs and can be linked with the pay inequality in the labor force. Even in jobs that are predominantly filled by women, men earn more than women. Women are often stereotyped as being family focused and not as able to travel, therefore they tend to get passed up for promotions (Garson p.353). This invisible barrier that keeps women from moving up the executive ladder is referred to as the “glass ceiling” (Baxter and Wright p. 346). Women also tend to do more domestic work, or unpaid labor and caregiving. This extra unpaid work is referred to as “the third shift” and is largely rested on the shoulders of women (Gersel p. 352). Consequently, this seems to be one of the biggest things holding women back from taking on jobs that are normally considered male

Date: Thursday February 8, 2001 Work Place Roles Of Men and Women Compared in Today’s Society

Today in society it can be agreed that women have indeed gained many rights that were not accessible to them 100 years before. Although, despite the mentality that men and women are treated equally there are still very many discrepancies between the treatment of genders. Many of which can be attributed to the expectations placed on the genders, gender roles between both genders, and women in the workplace. These issues have caused a great rift to form between the genders, a rift that has caused one gender to claim dominance over the other and this can develop a sense of inferiority by the submissive gender.

In brief, this article presents a view that women in engineering must enter the field as “conceptual men”.

Although the recent upward trends in the number of women in STEM fields are promising, they are not truly due to decreasing cultural stereotypes. Women receiving graduate degrees in engineering increased by 2 percent from 2000 to 2008, but this trend is not as hopeful as it may seem (Giges). This increase was mainly evident in communal fields like environmental or biomedical engineering (Giges). This is further evidence of the impact of cultural stereotypes and their influence on women’s career paths. Society’s expectation of women is that they serve as caring motherly figures and community-centered careers adhere

Sociologists reject the idea that behavioural differences between men and women are biologically determined. Outline the key grounds for this rejection and discuss what this means for a sociological understanding of gender.

Alksnis, Curtis, and Desmarais (2008) This study focuses on gender segregation and the implications of male and female jobs with an emphasis on both genders salaries. The team used a between-subjects design where they examined whether the participants would assign different pay to 3 types of jobs. The actual responsibilities and duties of these jobs would be carried out by men and women were handled the same. However, the job assigned would be situated in either a traditionally masculine or feminine domain. The research found pay differences between jobs labelled as “male” and “female”. This suggests that gender-based discrimination is arising from occupational stereotyping. This leads to the devaluation of the work typically done by women which will influence salary allocation.

To begin with three should be an examination of how “the persistence of gender ideologies” has affected equality in the workplace. As Kimmel states, “Since the early nineteenth century, the workplace has been seen as a masculine arena, where men could test and prove their manhood against other men in the dog-eat-dog marketplace” (Kimmel 249). This is still occurring

Connell (2005) argued that institutions such as work act as a site of ‘gender configuration’, in which gender is created, reinforced and internalized. Work organisations can be gendered in many forms; this could be through the occupations held by each sex which could result in them being gendered for example women are associated with being emotional and caring. These attributes are prevalent in the types of jobs they undertake, for example they may work as nurses or teachers which entail a caring approach whereas men may work in occupations such as Construction which involves physical labour thus allowing men to exert masculinity. Another way in which the workplace is gendered can also be seen in the positions that men and women reach such as senior managerial roles which are predominantly occupied by males. To say that workplace cultures are gendered however involves looking at the practices, behaviours and values of the individuals within the workplace which results in them being gendered. These cultures may be based on stereotypes, prejudices and ideals held by both men and women. In order to find out how work organisations and workplace cultures are gendered I will be looking at the occupations within the public sphere undertaken by each gender, the segregation that occurs within occupations as a result of them being gendered, the problems associated with work such as unequal pay and

Gender equality and stereotypes in the workplace have dramatically changed within the past century. It is thought to be more influential towards women, however workplace gender affects both sexes (American Sociological Association, 2017). Gender limitations in the workplace are constrained by social structures, with sex dominated opportunities being reinforced within the last century. Today, paid and unpaid work is greatly shaped by a person’s age and gender.

Researchers have proposed a variety of explanations for systematic gender inequality in the workplace. Cultural benefits, the actions of male employees, the actions of the female employees, and the actions of the employer can contribute to intentional or unintentional gender discrimination (Ngo, Foley, Wong, & Loi, 2003). It has also been mentioned that women make less money because their work environment is generally safer than the stereotypical male work environment; childcare, cashiers, and secretary positions as opposed to firefighters, truck drivers and construction workers (Parcheta, Kaifi, & Khanfar, 2013). Perhaps the most dominant reasoning for women receiving less pay is the carrying over of biological roles into the workplace. Female employees often take time off to have a family, take care of a family, and are the primary caregiver of said family.

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.

Engineering is a field dominated by men in today's society, for many reasons. When people think about engineering they think about men with glasses and never does a women come to mind. However, there have been many studies on the skills that keep women out of engineering as a career yet there is no proof that women cannot or do not possess the skills needed to be a successful engineer. Therefore, it is thought and stereotyped that women do not have the skills to have an engineering career. Due to the studies and stereotypes the questions then arise as to what makes a good engineer. Many have the same response to the question but not one skill can a women not posses. Women are stereotyped as being dumb just because they are pretty. If a

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

A study on the implicit and explicit occupational gender types, Sex Roles, “Occupational gender stereotypes are activated when men and women are considered to be more suited for certain occupations based on stereotyped characteristics and temperaments” (White and White 2006). Matheus represented the following examples, “a stereotypically feminine job would be associated with attributes such as nurturing, caring, and being sensitive to the needs of others and a stereotypically masculine job would be associated with attributes such as decisiveness, coldness and toughness” (Matheus 2010). Nowadays, women are usually seen in the workforce as secretaries and nurses. Meanwhile, most doctors and construction laborers are men. In addition, Anker points out that “Occupational segregation by gender is prevalent in most if not all countries” (Anker 1998). “Women and men work in different fields and within fields at different levels” (Anker 1998). Diekman and Wilde explained that “men’s concentration in leadership and other high power roles led to the assumption that men have “agentic characteristics” such self-assertion and dominance and women’s concentration in subordinate and caretaking roles lead to the assumption that they have “communal characteristics” such as being kind and supportive (Diekman and Wilde 2005).