Gender Roles In The Labour Force

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Anthony Monardo Dr. Alireza Asgharzadeh AP/SOCI 1010 H 6.00 Introduction to Sociology 2014 April 3 Gender Roles in the Labour Force Although the gap between men and women’s employment is shrinking, there are many barriers that women and visible minorities must endure while seeking employment. The white male presently dominates many aspects of the work force which creates difficulty for women to obtain jobs typical males possess. It can be substantiated that being a woman can drastically decrease one’s chances of receiving a personal job of choice when examining women’s challenges, education and trades and sciences. There is the common myth that it’s too difficult to get into the physical labour sectors if you are a female. New strides have been made in levelling the career playing field with the advancements in technology and changes in the availability of educational programs. Careers thought in the past to be traditionally male oriented are becoming more female affiliated. For example construction or police work, females have trouble entering and maintaining their careers. According to Statistic Canada, 67% of all employed women are working in one of teaching, nursing and related health occupations. However, jobs in SET sectors such as engineers, artisans and construction workers have revealed that there are too few women in these positions. With more women pursuing university degrees in SET sectors, why is it still difficult for women to stay in these fields when they have applicable knowledge? Knowledge is power in these occupations when you are a woman. Getting through the actual barriers and getting people to believe the knowledge one possesses is hard as a woman (Alison Andrew, 2009). The ability of women to access SET ... ... middle of paper ... ...women should take positions in non-female traditional jobs because of diversity and demographic changes. Nowadays, organizations see workforce diversity as a competitive advantage that will outperform from its competitors. How is it a competitive advantage? Companies that value diversity will gain not only creativity, but also public reputation. Overall, Women in non-female traditional industries are challenged by socially constructed boundaries between ‘male’ and ‘female’ work. As a result, women are still often seen and may see themselves as less employable in industries which have been constructed as a male sphere. Despite this disadvantage, employability is frequently perceived to be a matter of individual attributes. Factors such as personal disposition and motivation, previous education and experience, do impact on women’s employability (Alison Andrew, 2009).

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