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Gender inequality in the workforce
Effects of gender stereotypes psychology
Gender inequality in the workforce
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Recommended: Gender inequality in the workforce
Introduction
Research has shown that stereotypes and prejudice in the workplace are contributing factors of why disparities in income and treatment exist in the workplace, leading to overall gender inequality in this area. This paper will evaluate this phenomenon from the psychological perspective and will view the topic in regards to the theories of prejudice, discrimination, ingroup/outgroup bias, group interaction, theory of the self, and social identity theory, among others. These theories will be discussed because they are relevant in explaining the roots of inequality and the socialization that causes men to be in a certain role and women in another. Additionally, the consequences of disparities in the workplace will be presented in order to understand what may result from experienced inequality. This issue is significant because it is important to recognize issues such as these in order to enhance equality in the workplace and make further progress to enhance the inclusion of women in society on the whole. Furthermore, it is relevant to know how this inequality affects the sense of self of the parties involved so that strategies can be given to both men and women to make this inequality less prevalent in the future.
Literature Review
In their article, “Workplace Gender Bias: Not Just Between Strangers”, authors Nadler and Stockdale discuss the forms of gender bias that still exist in the workplace for women who have jobs in male-dominated fields. They suggest that “gender role stereotypes” and “subtle forms of gender bias” give women a harder time in these fields and may result in “reduced pay, harsher…standards in performance evaluation, and a reduced likelihood to advance” (282-84). Women that do not conform to societal e...
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...ally go to men. It also may be useful to try to do a gender-blind hiring process somehow so that any prejudices from hiring managers do not impact the inequalities that stem from the hiring process before women can even work in a male-dominated field. Another possibility to decrease the inequalities would be to give more rewards and reinforcement to women who are performing well in their occupations. If women know that they are doing well, they may doubt themselves less and be more confident in asking questions and expressing their opinions without being scared that what they say will be discounted by those around them. In conclusion, this is a very prominent issue that needs to be researched more so that women and men will be treated more equally where they work. There has been much progress made already, and spreading awareness can only help decrease this problem.
If an office is run by men, and all the hiring decisions are made by men, as well, it could be helpful to enlist the efforts of a staffing company to bring more successful women into their company. These women have already been vetted, interviewed, and tested in order to place them in situations that would be most appropriate for their skillset. This particular method also ensures that women are being given relevant work to do, and not sitting at the front desk when they were hired for a finance position. People are going to stereotype subconsciously sometimes and it is important to reprimand a manager or leader if they are caught doing this. In order for this to work organizations need to implement policies and procedures that are specific in how to handle an employee undermining another employee based on their
Sex Discrimination in the American Workplace: Still a Fact of Life. (2000, July 01). Retrieved from National Women's Law Center : www.nwlc.org
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chart shows a decrease in gender discrimination since 2012, and remaining at a constant 29% of cases filed at the end of 2015. A straightforward approach is used to propose gender stereotypes by naming, identifying, and understanding the context. An example on how gender stereotyping comes into place, nurses are usually females, and you don’t see as many men in the healthcare field working as a nurses because it is for women. Gender discrimination comes in play when harm is applied to an individual. A woman may want a job that portray the role of a man, and she is discriminated against, and The Equal Employment Opportunity states what laws are being
Gregory, Raymond F. Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Gender discrimination in the workplace is something that both men and women experience, women more than men. For instance, the current gender pat gap is 21 percent. This means that women are currently making 21 percent less than what their male counterparts are making. It has decreased over the years, but it is still a significant gap. In the workplace, women do not only experience discrimination in pay, but also in opportunities. An article states that, women are deemed less communal than men and that makes them less suited for certain careers (Miner, et. al, 2014). This thought alone puts women at a disadvantage when they are entering the labor force.
When it comes to establishing a career, men have always had the upper hand in terms of being able to find work without dealing with issues such as discrimination hindering them from achieving their goals. For much of modern history, if it was a Caucasian, heterosexual man looking for work in the same field as, a white woman with the same qualifications, the man would – more often than not – be chosen for the job. This is largely based on long held sexist notion that women are somehow inferior to men, even when they hold the same formal qualifications needed to fulfil a specific position. This idea that women should even be permitted to be members of workforce is still a relatively new concept. Luckily this concept of women as an active
Workplaces are key sites for the reproduction of gender, race sexual orientation and social class inequalities and employers and coworkers whether consciously or not how play roles in keeping some groups insubordinate statuses and in superordinate ones. Choose one subordinated group print the CIE, women, racial ethnic minorities, Sexual minorities, or lower/working-class people") and describe the mechanisms in workplaces and the actions of employers and coworkers that perpetuate the groups subordinate status. What policies could be enacted to change the situation, and which are most likely to be effective?
These comments demonstrate examples of sexist prejudice, sexist stereotyping, and sex discrimination in the workplace. The prejudicial acts and stereotyping occurred when evaluators perceived Ms. Hopkins independence and assertiveness as nontraditional. The sex discrimination occurs at the point in which Price Waterhouse denies Ms. Hopkins partner based on these gender stereotypes.
Gender bias misconstrues women’s ability to hold positions of power, thus creating tensions amongst the sexes, blocking women from achievement, while placing men on a pedestal for unmerited feat. This impeding of women’s attainment mostly occurs in male-dominated occupations.
The issue of gender inequality will never truly be solved in the United States. This arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through hormonal differences, chromosomes, and brain structures. Gender inequality is defined as unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on gender. One of the reasons for gender inequality is income disparities. Another reason is because of the positions in the workplace. Thirdly, the reason is because of beliefs that one another has. For these reasons is why these situations should be examined to get to the root of the problem.
Sexism is a major factor in the workforce.Today male and female have a hard time breaking into the opposite gender dominated fields. This has happened because of the media, it has showed us that male have certain “right” jobs, as well as female. Female still dominate traditional female professions like cosmetology jobs are 92.9 percent women working them(Wolfe). If a man were to get into cosmetology they would most likely be judged for having that job, because we stereotype that they can't have a feminine job. Women have a harder time getting into high level positions. “Women make up only 21 of the S&P’s 500 CEOs,” (Berman). This has happened because the media has set in place stereotypes that it is wrong for women to have high level positions. It is getting better, in 2013 women chief financial officers increased 35 percent at large U.S. companies from 2012 (Frier and Hymowitz). The job market for men and women is still unfair but it is starting to get equal.
Women seem to always get the shorter end of the stick when it comes to working in the workforce. These are just a list of ways that women deal with double standards. All of these things take place when women are surrounded in a work environment dominated mostly by male colleagues. The following research will show that women in the United States workforce are faced with many double standards than when it comes to their male
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 ...
Gender bias has a long history and continues to occur in the workplace today. Research indicates that women remain significantly disadvantaged and mistreated compared to men in the workforce. How do the disparities of hiring, promotion, and salaries affect women in the workplace?
It can be concluded that women are treated in terms of stereotyped impressions of being the lowest class and greater evidence can be found that there are large disparities between the women and the men 's class. It can be seen that women are more likely to play casual roles as they are most likely to take seasonal and part time work so that they can work according to their needs. They are hampered from progressing upward into the organizations as they face problems like lack of health insurance, sexual harassments, lower wage rates, gender biases and attitudes of negative behavior. However, this wouldn’t have hampered the participation of the women in the work force and they continue to increase their efforts which is highly evident in the occupational and job ratios of females in the industry.