Women and Flexibility in the Workplace

1148 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of women in society

The increased role of women in the workforce has changed in the last decade and will continue to change into the decades to follow. Because of this organizations will need to evaluate the factors of women in the workplace, flexibility, and pay. To theorize what may change for women in the next ten years, is one of optimism. Historically, women have been treated differently in the workforce, long hours, less pay and limitations in advancement compared to male co-workers. With today’s economic strife more women need to work outside of the home and coupled with family responsibilities women want flexible work hours and good pay. In this paper, one will understand the value of flexibility in the workplace as well as the pay gap between men, women and what the next decade holds for women in the workplace. Flexibility in the workplace should be a benefit for the employee as well as the employer. According to Christensen, “Having flexibility in the workplace will ultimately lead to better morale, increase retention, and become an effective tool for recruitment.” (Christensen, 2005) Flexibility is an important factor toward overall workplace success. As mentioned by Christensen not only is this a great tool for companies to use for recruitment and retention, but improving diversity in the organization. Flexibility means taking a varied approach to the old way things are done. Some examples, changing work hours, location of where the work is done and restructure of the job. The traditional Monday thru Friday, nine to five work design is no longer the norm. Having a flexible work structure allows an organization to modify schedules for employees which in turn gives the employee opportunity to balance work and life. By doing this... ... middle of paper ... ...utive Producer), Richard Heffner's Open Mind. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved from http://www.thirteen.org/openmind/feminism/women-as-change-agents-in-america-part-i/1679/ Giraffe. V. (2011). Contemporary social problems and the workplace. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Koster, K. (2013). RESULTS-ONLY WORK: Reward results, not attendance. Employee Benefit News, 27(15), 10. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1462873750?accountid=32521 United States Department of Labor, (1999). Gender wage gap. Retrieved from website: http://www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/history/herman/reports/futurework/report/intro.htm Zarowin, S. (1991). How to find and keep the best employees in the 21st century. Journal of Accountancy, 172(6), 34. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/206769703?accountid=32521

Show More
Related

  • The Gender Wage Gap In The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though any pay disparity between women and men is a pressing issue, the “wage gap” is much more complicated than people believe because of misleading statistics, unaccounted for variables, and the different social and economic choices of men and women. The common idea that women make 77 cents on every dollar men make in the workplace is very misleading. It is true, however, this statistic ignores any factors that justify different pay. The wage gap is just the difference

    Read More

  • Sex And Gender Discrimination In The Workplace

    231 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the world, discrimination in all forms has continued to be a constant struggle; whether it’s racial, gender based, religion, beliefs, appearance or anything that makes one person different from another, it’s an everyday occurrence. A major place that discrimination is occurring at is in the workplace. One of the largest problems discrimination issues is believed to be gender. Women, who have the same amount of experience as men are not getting paid at the same rate as men, these women also are equally trained and educated. According to the article Gender Pay, it was discovered in 2007 that a woman makes 81 cents for every dollar a man earns.(“Gender Pay”) . This shouldn’t be happening in today’s society for the fact the society lived in today is suppose to be more accepting. Men are viewed as being more popular, valuable and having higher powers than women. The Reason Discrimination is involved in the equal pay equal work is because of the significance it has to how some businesses pay their employees.

    Read More

  • How Gender Bias Affect Women In The Workforce Case Study

    1812 Words  | 4 Pages

    While the median weekly pay for women rose in the past decades, it is still largely inferior to the median weekly pay of men employed in the same jobs. This difference of pay also puts an additional burden on women who are expected to stay home when emergencies arise. They cannot in some cases pay for daycare or rely on their companies’ understanding that someone has to take care of the family obligations. In result, they are penalized when comes the time to find candidates for promotion and are seen as not as dependable as their male counterparts. Finally, women face a social bias against them that encompass gender, appearance and race. It effectively punishes them for reasons that are out of their own control and not related to their job performance and skills. Laws against gender-based discrimination, more flexible workplace arrangements and a change in our culture regarding women may help fight discrimination and help women reach their full potential in the workforce. By starting to allow for more flexibility, paying women on a comparable scale than the one used for men, and support women in their desire to take care of their families, corporations could set the tone for a fairer treatment of women in the

    Read More

  • Women in the Workplace

    2059 Words  | 5 Pages

    The "glass ceiling" has held women back from certain positions and opportunities in the workplace. Women are stereotyped as part-time, lower-grade workers with limited opportunities for training and advancement because of this "glass ceiling". How have women managed their careers when confronted by this glass ceiling? It has been difficult; American women have struggled for their role in society since 1848. Women’s roles have changed significantly throughout the past centuries because of their willingness and persistence. Women have contributed to the change pace of their role in the workplace by showing motivation and perseverance.

    Read More

  • Flexibility in the Workplace

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imbalanced, our lives are imbalanced. We do not have time to climb the ladder of success if we want to be home to raise our children. We do not have time to raise our children if we want to climb the ladder of success. There are not enough hours in the day to do all the things that we need to do to have a fulfilled life. We do not have time to cook a healthy meal from scratch. We grab a box of Hamburger Helper, a can of peas, and a bag of rolls and we have dinner. Exercise consists of walking between the car and the door and maybe a little wrestling around with the kids before bed. At work productivity is counted by how many hours you spend doing your job instead of the results that our produced in that time. Mindsets like this hold us back. Flexibility for the employee is the future to balancing our lives.

    Read More

  • Gender Gap In Pay

    1584 Words  | 4 Pages

    Blau, F., & Kahn, L. (2007). The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women Gone as far as they can. Academy of Management Perspectives , 21 (1), 7-23.

    Read More

  • Gender Wage Gap Essay

    1711 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.

    Read More

  • Women in the Workplace

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    If one takes a closer look at the issues surrounding the differences between the male and female roles in the workforce and in education, one will notice that women tend to be one step below men on the "status" or "importance" ladder.

    Read More

  • Inequality In The Workplace

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    For many decades, women have faced inequalities in the workforce. At one point, they were not allowed to work at all. Although women's rights have improved and are now able to work alongside men, they are still treated unfairly. According to the 2012 U.S. Census, women’s earnings were “76.5 percent of men’s” (1). In 2012, men, on average, earned $47,398 and women earned only $35,791. This is when comparing employees where both gender spend the same amount of time working. Not only do women encounter unfairness in work pay, they also face a “glass ceiling” on a promotional basis. This glass ceiling is a “promotion barrier that prevents woman’s upward ability” (2). For example, if a woman is able to enter a job traditionally for men, she will still not receive the same pay or experience the same increase in occupational ability. Gender typing plays a huge role in the workplace. It is the idea that women tend to hold jobs that are low paid with low status. Women are not highly considered in leadership positions because of social construction of gender. Society has given women the role of “caretakers” and sensitive individuals. Therefore, women are not depicted as authoritative figures, which is apparent with the absence of women in leadership roles in companies. Furthermore, sex segregation leads to occupations with either the emphasis of women in a certain job or men in a certain job. In 2009, occupations with the highest proportion of women included “secretary, child care worker, hair dresser, cashier, bookkeeper, etc.” (3). Male workers typically held job positions as construction workers, truck drivers, taxi drivers, etc. (3). Sex segregation represents inequality because the gender composition for these jobs depends on what ...

    Read More

  • Human Resource Management: Flexible Labour

    2092 Words  | 5 Pages

    The concept of flexibility has permeated much of current human resources management thinking, providing justification for recent developments in more flexible and variable working patterns. Its need arises from the following:

    Read More

  • Gender Pay Gap Essay

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s society, Women perform similar jobs to men. Whether it’s blue or white collar jobs, women are always present and thriving for success balancing a life of business and family. In the job market, some are graduates of the best schools and have interned at the best firms, but are still not compensated as equally as men. Following the recent comments by the CEO of Microsoft concerning women asking for raises and how they should trust the system to install equality, the issue seems to be still present, and women’s work is not rewarded similarly to men’s.

    Read More

  • Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another problem women have in the workplace is getting promotions. Woman who have worked for their company for many years, receiving great reviews and employee-of-the-year awards are often filled by less qualified men (Armour, 2008). The next problem women face is unfair pay. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics found that women working 41 to 44 hours per week earn 84.6 percent of what men working similar hou...

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality at a Workplace

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender Inequality at a Workplace Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century, women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women.

    Read More

  • Gender Bias And The Workplace

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite government regulations to promote equality within the workplace, women’s salaries continue to lag behind males in similar career with similar experiences. According to research performed by Blau & Kahn (2007) “women salaries averaged about 60% of men’s until the 1970s and rose to nearly 80% by the 1990s” (as cited in Bendick, Jr. & Nunes, 2012, p.244). Today, women on average earn approximately $.81 for every dollar that men earn in the United States (Guy and Fenley P.41 2014).

    Read More

  • Equal Pay For Equal Work

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s society, it is an understatement that women have come a long way from earlier generations in achieving gaining equal rights with men. Gender roles have evolved greatly throughout history; women can even be known as the breadwinners. However, discrepancies still exist when it comes to equal pay for equal work. This issue has the potential to have an impact on all women including myself, as I hope to one day join the workforce and become a financially independent businesswoman. While some argue that the issue is not relevant to today’s society there are still cases where women’s pay does not match up to men for doing the exact same work.

    Read More

More about Women and Flexibility in the Workplace

Open Document