What truly separates a man from a woman? Since the moment humanity began, patriarchal ideas have corrupted society to the point where in the 21st century, we are still working towards equality. Gender equality has many different ideas behind it, but overall mean the same thing. Men and women should be treated with the same respect and be given the same opportunities. I chose this topic because I believe that in today’s society women are not given the same chances that men are. People believe that men can do things that women can’t and vise versa. What about the individual personality? If a lazy, slack-off male and a goal achieving, hard-working female, both applied for a job, who would receive the job? In most cases the easy answer would …show more content…
When applying for a job, women have been turned down because “even though they have fantastic qualifications, the longtime clients of the company are more comfortable handling men” (2015, para. 4). Women get turned down for reasons other than qualifications, showing how discrimination is a large factor in the job searching process. Men on the other hand, are rarely turned down for jobs because of their sex. This skewed job application process causes a snowball effect into the rest of the workforce. All of this ends up bringing different industries for male and females. Some sectors of work are male dominated, while others are female dominated. According to the Catalyst knowledge center, the most male dominated sector of employment are brickmasons and stonemasons with men taking 99.9% of that field. The most female dominated sector of employment are secretaries and administrative assistants with 95.3% of women taking that field (2015, para. 11-12). Male and female based industries tend to have trends with them. The male based industries are more physical labor and construction type jobs, where women dominate the assistant and the secretary sector of the workforce. This segregation of genders into different workforces is why it is hard for women to seek employment in “male dominated industries”. Next, it leads us into the third and final snowball effect. In general throughout the U.S, women do not get equal
"In 1950 about one in three women participated in the labor force. By 1998, nearly three of every five women of working age were in the labor force" (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 4). In 2008, the U.S. Department of labor estimates that women will make up 48% of the workforce (Heatherfield, n.d., para. 6). As the number of women in the workforce rises so do the numbers of women who hold higher titles such as Chairman, CEO, Vice Chairman, President, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President, and Executive Vice President. This number has increased from 7.3% in 2000 to 9.9% in 2002 (Diversity statistics, 2006).
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
In American society today there is an imbalance in the gender income gap between men and women in the work force. Many factors such as discrimination, productivity, educational background and disproportional hours worked contribute to this ongoing challenge. While many are skeptical, others remain to have strong beliefs that women and men are treated equally. In most professions according to Glynn “women only earn seventy seven cents for every dollar earned by men” (2014). Although, the seventy seven cents figure does not accurately reflect gender discrimination, it does capture some discrimination,
Due to our ever changing culture and diversity, the United States has become commonly referred to as the “melting pot.” Every day this country is becoming more and more diverse and acceptant of other cultures. This is becoming more and more prominent in the workforce as well. Not only are people from all around the globe able find work in the United States, but women are also becoming more dominant in the workforce. Although there is still a lot of speculation as to whether or not women and men are getting equal treatment and pay, many women today are finding themselves suffering from little to no
Women continue to face disadvantages in the workplace in regards to not receiving equal pay as well. There are many instances where women have the same or more qualifications to do a job than their male counterparts but do not receive the same pay. This difference in pay is not only related to gender differences but also racial differences. Women employees of different racial backgrounds tend to earn less money than their white female and male counterparts. Many women of color often face discrimination when applying to jobs and are overlooked for a position despite having the qualifications to do the work. When they are hired to these occupations they are not receiving the same pay as their white female counterparts. This double bind that minority women face within the work place continues to lead to economic hardships. Regarding women in the workplace in general, due to society’s high regard for men they are often not promoted to positions of authority or receive equal pay because people assume that women are inferior workers. (Buchanan, p205-207)
al, 1996, p. 65). Minority women faced greater oppression, and were less likely to be hired. If they were lucky enough to find a job, it was usually low-ranking, part-time, and short-term, as employers eagerly replaced them with Caucasians, men or both (Frances et. al, 1996, pp. 69-70). Part-time work was very common, with 25% of female workers part-time in 1989 (Frances et. al, 1996, p. 66), displaying an employer’s reluctance to allow women employees. Even as more females entered the workforce despite resistance, they were still discriminated against due to the current powers in charge.
When you think about women in the work field today, what do you see? A successful lawyer, a doctor, perhaps. That’s true. In fact, there have been more females holding high employment positions in the late 20th and 21st century than ever before. According to Donald M. Fisk in “Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003”, 60% of working-age women worked in the labor force in 1999. That’s 41% more than that of 1900, where only 19% of women worked in the labor force. Among these women, a vast majority have seen their salaries sky-rocket in the past two decades, almost surpassing those of male workers. However, it is not always this way.
The reading, “Taking On the Second Shift” by Melissa A. Milkie, Sara B. Raley and Suzanne M. Bianchi focuses on the gender differences between men and women. The authors claim that the root cause of work discrimination is based on gender, which is affecting many Americans in our contemporary society. Money is what humans need for survival, without money there wouldn’t be an economy. There are stereotypes in our society which dictate how much money we make. As mentioned in class and seen in many studies, women make less money than men.
Women today have progressed to unprecedented levels, however, in all the ways women have advanced, “There has been remarkably little change in the gender balance of some of the most common occupations for either women or men during the last forty years “(p. 5). There was a large decline in the 80’s in workplace segregation, but since then, gender integration in the workplace has been relatively stagnant. This is largely related to the gender stigmas attached to fields such as teachers or health care workers that are largely dominated by women. There is an undeniable wage penalty for working in predominately female occupations that also deters men from these fields. The Department of Labor suggests many possible policies to be made in order to tackle this issue if the goal of equal opportunity for women wishes to be
Stereotype threats are negative consequences about one’s race, sex, nationality, or social group. Stereotype threats are used a lot more frequently than people realize. Gender is a powerful stereotype that affects many people’s decisions and actions. The stereotype of women in the workplace has come a long way even in the last twenty years. Many businesses tend to want to diversify their demographics by making the ratio of men to women almost equal. “Demographic projections anticipate that by the year 2000 women will exceed 50 per cent of the total workforce…” (Johnston and Packer, 1987). Women were able to make their way in to the workplace when men were off at war during the 1950s. During this time, women proved their ability to do the same kind of jobs men did. Many women worked as machinist, factory workers, and clergies.
On the other hand, if men fail, anything other than his gender is used to explain it. This results in men getting second chances while women don’t, because apparently they weren’t supposed to be in that position in the first place. Where women are expected to be working are in secondary jobs, ones that benefit other people. These include healthcare, education, secretarial, accountants, etc. these types of jobs are centered around feminine gender role expectations, meaning that they are often sacrificial and serving. What people are finding within these jobs though is that as it becomes more socially acceptable for men to be in them, that men are getting promoted faster and getting paid more than the women that were originally expected to be in those positions. This is known as the “glass escalator”. For being a man, an applicant or employee may be given an extra boost in ways that women, and people of color, are not boosted. Research has showed that men are not only regarded as competent and promotable by male superiors, but also by female superiors. It’s a slippery slope that shows that female-gendered occupations are increasingly becoming more and more operated by a patriarchal
Currently, according to statistics from the Department of Labor of the United States; of the “123 million women age 16 years and over, 58.6 percent or 72 million were labor force participants and in the long run, women are projected to account for 51 percent of the increase in total labor force growth between 2008 and 2018” (U.S. Department of Labor). These numbers will clearly demonstrate to any skeptic that women are leaving behind their old dependence on men and becoming more autonomous and self-determined to succeed; it sounds great, doesn’t it? On the other hand; however, men are losing as women are gaining. The Department of Labor has reported that men have lost about 4.75 million jobs during the current economic recession that started in 2007, while women have only lost 1.66 million. Additionally, “the only parts of the economy still growing—health care, education and government—have traditionally hired mostly women”( Cauchon). Now, as a result, of the statistics that show that females are overcoming males in the workplace; the gender segregation has created some kind of imaginary “glass ceiling” that impedes both sexes from advancing professionally and economically.
Some organizations mirror society’s idea about which group of workers are appropriate for certain types of jobs. Although hiring and promotion are supposed to be based on rational and universal criteria, they often express informal expectations about gender, race, and class of the people best suited for particular positions, producing race and gender stratified work forces. Men are thought to be more ambitious, task-oriented, and work involved; while women are considered less motivated, less committed, and more geared towards work relationships than work itself.
Even though numbers are slowly rising in the United States, there are still more men in executive positions than women. According to one survey, female workers only made up 43% of legislators, senior managers, and senior officials whereas male workers made up 57%. In congress, congresswomen make up only 17% of representation compared to congressmen making up 83% (Ferrante, 2011, p. 312). Gender stratification is one explanation for the tremendous gap. Ferrante (2011) describes gender stratification as the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources amongst male and female employees. (p. 311) For example, male workers have an increased opportunity to receive a promotion than a female worker. According to Tinsley (2013), women are more likely to receive executive positions when a company is doing well, rather than when a company is suffering. Some companies stereotype that women workers will leave the workforce soon to bear children, limiting their chances of achieving executive status (Ferrante, 2011, p. 316).
“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.