Leah
Pedrani
Professor
Griswold
Inequality of Gender in the
Workplace
“Roles of a particular person undoubtedly depend upon his or her
gender. It makes them a different person in every aspect that is, biologically
and mentally” (Gender p.1). Women have been seen as the caretaker who stays at
home with the family cooking and cleaning, not as a businesswoman. Times have
changed drastically since the times when females weren’t working at all then
slowly they became educated and went into the workforce as secretaries,
teachers and nurses then eventually they were able to be lawyers and doctors.
It didn’t happen over night, it was a struggle and in 2012 they are still
struggling. Everyday in the workforce women are dealing with lower salaries
than men, harassment, difficult responsibilities and not as many opportunities.
Women in history have come along way
in the improvement of fighting for their equal rights as men. “Although woman
first began entering the workplace in mass numbers during world war two, the trend
did not last and the 1950’s was a wasteland for women’s rights. However, things
changed for women in 1963 when The Feminine Mystique was published”(Equality,
p.3). This time in history was remarkable for women. This book showed the world
that all women were not happy with the “status quo” which was staying at home
and being dependent on their husbands. This book inspired women to get jobs and
a good education. Not only did this book help push women but it also paved a
way for new movements. It eventually persuaded congress into passing the Equal
Pay Act, which gives equal salary amounts to everyone not based on their sex.
Many organizations were founded to help promote women in the workplace. These
included, the National Organization for Women, the Professional Women’s Caucus,
Federally Employed Women, Women’s Equality Action League, Women’s Liberation
Movement and the Rap Group (Equality, p.4).
All of these groups helped remarkable progress for women in the work
force. These groups helped greatly in the increase of women working and playing
a role in society. These all recently came to a pause and they need to regain
momentum again in order to restore what was built (Gender Roles,p.1).
Why have women paused this fight for
equality? There are some factors that contribute to the lack of progress. For
instance it can be the lack of confidence in women and thinking that there is
nothing they can do to “win” this challenge. Married women and pregnant women
are facing struggles as well (Gender Inequality, p.2). Married women already
feel as if they should be home taking care of the family and not to be selfish
and work. Pregnant women face a deeper discrimination because jobs feel they
are a liability and they see them as a problem in major companies. It is obvious
that “the workplace itself is inherently biased against women through the
stereotypes and expectations of women’s roles and their accordant
actions”(Harvard, p.2). This makes is difficult for women to overcome these
stereotypes because they are ingrained in many people’s minds already. Women
also don’t want to be looked down upon and think the reason why they “failed to
climb the corporate ladder” is because of their sex this is why it is a
struggle for women to talk about. “A woman earns only 80 cents for every dollar
a man earns”(Inequality, p.1). That is an overwhelming statistic. Women can
work as hard and have the same education as a man and still get paid less. That
alone gives women lack of motivation to work for something they feel they
aren’t being paid fairly. Women have inequality in promotions and limited
access to power as well. “Only 31 percent of corporations have more than three
females corporate officers, while the number of cooperation’s who have no women
officers at all at the top has increased by 10% in the last year”(Workplace,
p.3). This is shocking for this day and age that women are still not at the top
and looked down upon as just average workers. In fact they have to work harder
than men to be noticed. Another problem is the “Glass Ceiling” which is a
symbolic barrier in the business world that women are hardly able to pass. This
leaves women at a stand still because corporations are to scared to let them
move up because they may become pregnant or have to leave work. These are just
excuses for leaving women behind and not being able to reach their full
potential. Lastly, women are stereotyped for not being good leaders or being
powerful bosses. “Assertiveness, vision, impartiality, and decisiveness are all
attributed to a male boss, while female supervisors are thought of as
emotional, overly critical or judgmental, and lacking in authority”(Surprising
Truth, p.1). This may be true in some cases but not all. Some men don’t have
those abilities to be a boss and some women have it. People can’t just classify
females and males in that category because it differs with every individual.
Overall, these are all obstacles women have to face in the workplace, from
lower salaries, discrimination and stereotypes.
Even though women have
achieved greater degrees in college and have better grades as soon as they step
out in to the work place they have to face discrimination. Education was not
always available to women but it is now and women are taking it as a step to
improvement in hoping they will graduate and get a job. “ The percentage of
females getting an education has doubled in the past years, leading to the
postponement of marriages. The companies now hire more number of women as the educational
and work opportunities for girls have now increased, giving them a chance to
prove their skills” (Gender, p.1). There are a few obstacles that come along
with it though. Women have to have special management skills that will compare
with the men working in the same field. Women have to work harder and be
dedicated in order to earn the same respect. “Back in the 1970’s, only two
percent of executives were females. Today, 52% of middle management are
women”(Equality, p.1). These percentages are remarkable, but in order for them
to keep climbing women have to constantly fight for what they want and deserve.
Women need to keep educating themselves and strive to do their best so they
don’t let men take over the work place.
There is a
solution, but women need to take the proper steps in order to get what is fair
in the end. First women need to get past the statistics and become the best
they can be and not compare themselves to men. If women constantly give men the
power to step over women it will be next to impossible to move forward (Gender Equality,
p.3). Next, it can be that women act as the victim in the business world, which
is not always the case. So what they need to do is not feel sorry for
themselves and take pride in what they do. “This needs to be executed through
implementing quotas, creating campaigns and programs that increase awareness
and promotion of equality in the workplace, and to establish programs that
support women who return from maternity or child care leaves, and to raise
awareness of the option of paternal leaves”(International p.1). Those are very
important steps to helping people be aware of this on going issue. People may
not see there is still a problem in today’s society, but there clearly is.
Another solution would be having women speak up about the matter, because they
are usually nervous or unwilling to expose their bias treatment (International,
p.2). Lastly, if women all come together and show businesses that without them it
would not be the same. Women have skills that men don’t have and women have to
show that. These skills include, “the females are more stronger in their
language skills which enhances their writing skills, whereas the males are
stronger in their visual skills which improves their grasping ability”(Roles,
p1). As you can see a workplace really can’t have one without the other, they
need both males and females. So therefore in order to have both working for
them they need to show equality to both genders. All of these are important
steps to take in order to fulfill complete fairness and equality in the work place.
There is a solution, women need to know that and not give up.
In conclusion,
inequality of gender in the work place is a real issue that is happening today.
As citizens that work everyday, they should be aware that this is an on going
fight. For women the discrimination, stereotypes, challenging obstacles,
harassment and fewer opportunities needs to stop in the work place. Not only
men need to stop but women need to stand up for themselves, and realize how far
women have come in history. For all the hard work that has been done in order
for females to go to school and get educated and eventually work we need to
keep the movement going. It is 2012, things to be to changed. There are many
ways of fighting against inequality, it just needs planning and there is a
solution. First women need to be paid the same as men, men need to stop
thinking their better, women should get promotions if they are doing their job
well, women shouldn’t have to prove herself all the time. The list goes on and
on its just a matter of acting on the issue. Overall, women need to be looked
at as equal and have the same rights as men in the workplace.
