What Strategies Can Work For A Business Culture Where Family Diversity Is Respected And Valued

Women make up a majority of the United States population and yet they are significantly behind men when it comes to their representation in leadership positions. Women only hold about 52 percent of all professional-level jobs (CITATION). When it comes to politics only about 20 percent of political leaders in the world are women (CITATION). In today’s society, women are absent in almost all major leadership positions in both business and politics. Women seeking leadership positions are constantly being faced with different obstacles. These obstacles include many negative stereotypes about female leaders. There is also the idea that women belong at home with taking care of the family not in the workplace. Another obstacle is that many women are lacking the necessary support and opportunities they need in order to succeed. Other obstacles they face are the leadership gap, lack of gender equality in the workplace.

These figures demonstrate significant trends in the changing profile of today’s labour pool. Not only are companies forced to recruit and hire from an increasingly diverse workforce, but companies intent on succeeding also will have to retain, motivate and engage the most talented women. Flexible work arrangements are options for helping working mothers integrate work and family responsibilities, so that women can function better both at home and in the workplace.

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

This generation has experienced an unprecedented upsurge in the number of women in the workplace, thus the need to understand diversity. Changes in family structure mean there are no traditional family roles, this shows that the issue of diversity cuts across both gender and race.

During the early history in America women were deprived of some of the many rights given to the male citizens. It has almost been a century since women were awarded the right to vote in the United States. It’s been half a century after the Equal Pay Act was established. “The Equal Pay act led to a reduction in the wage gap, but wage differences based on sex persist” (Korgen & Giraffe, 2015). Sadly, there is still a lot of prejudice towards women in the workplace. Bigotry towards women in the workplace has been dominant through the years. Many perceive women as being weak and not able to effectively provide their leadership duties in their workplaces due to their emotions (weaker sex). Positions in leadership are often given

Women are burdened with many obstacles to achieve equality in the work place. In the corporate and

Gender stereotypes–oversimplified ideas of female or male qualities and mannerisms–exist in all areas of life. In the political sphere, stereotypes, such as women not being outspoken or authoritative, negatively influence women and pose barriers to those who are running for political leadership positions. Because women are stereotypically viewed as “warm, gentle, kind, and passive,” in comparison to the typical man that is viewed as “tough, aggressive and assertive,” women feel that their qualities are not suited for political candidacy (Huddy, Nayda). Women are indirectly told through stereotyping that the political arena is unsuitable for their gender; therefore, they pursue careers they feel are suitable for their “feminine” character traits. The higher level of male participation, in comparison to female participation, in political elections is not because the electoral environment “favours” stereotypical male qualities, but rather, the campaigning, and public speaking aspects of the election process are perceived as unsuitable for women. Furthermore, a study conducted in 2014 discovered that voters tend to assign “positive leadership traits to male politicians,” whereas female politicians are repeatedly depicted as having “other characteristics that are not equated with political leadership” such as their physical image (Thomas, Kei). Much like in everyday life, stereotypes drive women to believe they are not capable of running for office or unlikely to win elections despite their exceeding qualifications. Even though stereotypes will always exist, it is important for young women to reflect on their leadership qualities and not allow deeply-rooted stereotypes in the political arena to impede their pursuit of a career in

Do women belong in the workplace? Should employers treat them differently because of their responsibilities in the home? The article “Female Company President: ‘I’m Sorry to all the Mothers I Worked With’” by Kathrine Zaleski, president and co-founder of PowerToFly, argues that women can be both successful mothers and employees if employers take the initiative to accommodate them. She believes that women have the ability and skills to become both valuable employees and involved mothers, but employers need to make adjustments in several common work practices in order to build women up to their full potential.

In the past women and minorities have dealt with several obstacles that have prevented them from climbing the corporate ladder. According to Sanchez-Hucles and Davis (2010), women and minorities have experienced discrimination and biases that have been detrimental to them achieving and performing in leadership roles. Fortunately, the “glass ceiling” that has been suppressing so many women and minorities from suceeding in the workforce has finally been cracked. Now, according to The Department For Professional Employees (2014), “there are almost 67 million working women in the U.S.”, and according to Burns, Barton, and Kerby (2012), “people of color made up 36 percent of the labor force”. Although they’ve made great strives in the workforce, they continue to face several obstacles as leaders.

Nadler and Stockdale mention how women face the most challenges in receiving higher positions in the workforce (282+). Nadler and Stockdale claim that women are viewed as competent, but individuals who are both competent and likeable are most likely to be promoted (287+). Nadler and Stockdale declare, “Women endeavoring to succeed in a masculine work role, such as upper management, currently face obstacles based on their perceived gender role” (283+). Women who succeed in earning a managerial position will have to eventually pay the cost of receiving that position (Nadler and Stockdale 282+). Many women will postpone relationships or having children to succeed in the workforce (Nadler and Stockdale 282+). Nadler and Stockdale add that women

There are so many different factors that go into the equation of what makes a good employee and a person's sex shouldn't be one of those. There are women who have managed to battle their way into the upper ranks and who have likely worked much of this out for themselves (Bellstrom, Kristen and Zarya 24). This shows us that women are determined to make something of themselves and that they will rise above any stereotypes or discrimination to make the workplace more diverse and equal for all. Robinson was asked how women effect the workplace. “Women definitely bring more diversity to business and a great amount of knowledge coming from a different viewpoint. They also bring a different emotional side to business which I think can be a good thing.” Are female customers more difficult to work with than male customers? “Typically no, not in this business. This is not a retail business. I would say that men ask more questions than women as far as accounting goes. I think this is because typically in the family dynamics of things, men usually handle the financial aspects of things.” said Robinson. In 1974, only four percent of all MBA graduates nationwide were women. In 1994 thirty six percent of the ranks of graduating MBAs were women (Haddock 24). Showing that women are hiking their way up to the top. That number has more than increased since then. Gender diversity in corporate businesses and top management groups has received growing attention from academics, investors, interest groups and professional research firms. Diversity is supposed to be a sensible approach to improve board effectiveness and performance (Labelle et al 1). In recent years, the issue of appointing more women as directors has also captured the attention of policymakers and research on gender diversity in the business establishment. The slow pace at which business is integrating gender diversity has started to get government involved (Labelle

This transformation has diversified careers, family life, and gender roles (Work and Family in the 21st Century). Women find it challenging to manage arduous jobs and a busy family life. The conflict between work and family has become a social problem. The combination of roles have created problems as these roles are assumed to be different based on gender. Work and family conflicts has become a social problem. “Certain views treat work and family as in competition for a persons time, energy, and attention (Work and Family in the 21st Century).” The article also discussed how employers are actively engaged in putting forth the effort to beware of employee's work and family concerns. It also talked about how employer's are also looking into their policies to aide in addressing these issues. These two articles relate well to the main article because it reverts back to the idea about how when it comes to work for women the viewpoint gets shifted back to family responsibilities and how a woman has to balance between her responsibilities to her job and her family, and this continues to have a bearing on workplace

To conclude, the issue of gender inequality in the workplace should be addressed and affects females in many aspects. First, gender inequality in the workplace gives women lower wages compared to men no matter the skill. Second, women face the loss of many job opportunities to men because of the lack of encouragement in these fields. Third, women never get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to positions or promotions in jobs. This treatment is absolutely ridiculous and the workforce should start to enforce equality to both genders on a day to day

Our society is constantly working to become one that is completely acceptable of all people, no matter where they come from or who they are. However, as our society becomes more socially and politically aware of the discrimination that can be unfairly bestowed upon people, are the workplaces of America following suit in that level of awareness? Unfortunately, many studies prove that the American workplace is not one that is equally accepting, especially when it comes to gender. While we have truly come so far in the past century with the acceptance of women in the workplace, it seems as if we haven’t come far enough. There is still evidence of sexism in the workplace and a gender wage

One thing the organization could do to raise the gender consciousness would be to do an ongoing series of sensitivity training for all staff. Along with this training would be annual assessment seminars that will teach people the different types of discrimination and harassment and the steps they need to take when such a situation is posed upon them. In the Cancer center where I am employed, women make up nearly 70% of the managerial and supervisory staff in all departments. At the executive level they only make up