Women in the Workplace: A Literature Review
Introduction
Our society is constantly working to become one that is completely acceptable of all people, no matter where they come from or who they are. However, as our society becomes more socially and politically aware of the discrimination that can be unfairly bestowed upon people, are the workplaces of America following suit in that level of awareness? Unfortunately, many studies prove that the American workplace is not one that is equally accepting, especially when it comes to gender. While we have truly come so far in the past century with the acceptance of women in the workplace, it seems as if we haven’t come far enough. There is still evidence of sexism in the workplace and a gender wage
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231). While women have come a long way from the days that they were expected, and frankly only allowed, to just take care of the home, sexism in the workplace is not something that should be tolerated whatsoever. After years of advocating for women’s rights in the workplace, why is this still happening? A study done by Vala and Verniers (2018) found that the reason why sexist remarks are made in the workplace could be due to that fact that naturally people think that if women are spending their time at work, their families and home must consequently be suffering (p. 1). Surprisingly, belief in these myths, and furthermore sexist remarks, are more like to come from the “decision makers,” (Song Hing & Starmarski, 2015, p. 1). Therefore, the initiative to completely abolish the ill treatment of women in the workplace must start with those higher up in the companies (Song Hing & Starmarski, 2015, p. 13). Song Hing and Starmarski (2015) concluded that “…if organization structures, processes, and practices clearly communicate the importance of gender equality then the discriminatory behavior of sexist organizational decision makers should be constrained,” (p.
Over 27,000 claims filed through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the fiscal year 2013, alleged sex-based discrimination (Sex-Based Charges). Most of these gender related accusations are gender discrimination. Stephanie Sipe and Donna K. Fisher, both professors at Georgia Southern University, and C. Douglas Jonson, a professor at Georgia Gwinnett University, state “Gender discrimination occurs when employers make decisions such as selection, evaluation, promotion, or reward allocation on the basis of an individual’s gender” (Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher 342). Most of the time gender discrimination is subjected towards women in the work field, where women are thought as being lower than males in the same organization. In
Sexism has always been a major issue for women. It seems that today, everyone has to be careful of what they say and do so as to avoid offending someone. While everyone is busy worrying about extinguishing sexism towards women - which still is an issue that needs to be taken care of, who is concerned with sexism towards men? Sexism is just as much of an issue to men as it is to women.
During the early history in America women were deprived of some of the many rights given to the male citizens. It has almost been a century since women were awarded the right to vote in the United States. It’s been half a century after the Equal Pay Act was established. “The Equal Pay act led to a reduction in the wage gap, but wage differences based on sex persist” (Korgen & Giraffe, 2015). Sadly, there is still a lot of prejudice towards women in the workplace. Bigotry towards women in the workplace has been dominant through the years. Many perceive women as being weak and not able to effectively provide their leadership duties in their workplaces due to their emotions (weaker sex). Positions in leadership are often given
Women have experienced discrimination since the beginning of time and in some countries women still do not have certain rights. In America, companies still tend to discriminate against women. The discrimination can be shown in different forms such as unequal opportunities to be hired, unequal pay, making it harder for women to get a promotion, women getting scrutinized more harshly than men, and even basing all these other aspects on the fact that women can get pregnant or already have children. Women also may face the “glass ceiling” in the workplace. These continuous discriminations are a leading factor as to why women do not reach for their full potential or believe they cannot speak up.
Since the 1920’s women have worked hard to be considered as equal citizens in our country. The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck shows the gender discrimination back in the 1930’s ; and the Houston Chronicle article “The Effects of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace” by Samantha Gluck shows gender discrimination today. Gender discrimination has been dealt with for decades; despite the legislation for equality, many women to this day still feel gender based discrimination exists. Victims of gender discrimination experience offensive judgment. In Of Mice and Men the workers on the ranch constantly made jokes about curley’s wife.
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.
Throughout history, discrimination in all forms has been an endless battle; whether it 's race, gender, religion, beliefs, appearance or anything else that makes one person different from another, it’s happening every day. One significant discrimination problem the world population is combating, takes place in the work field. Women, who are as equally trained and educated, and with the same experience as men are not getting equal pay, “The American Association of University Women is releasing a new study that shows when men and women attend the same kind of college, pick the same major and accept the same kind of job, on average, the woman will still earn 82 cents to every dollar that a man earns”(Coleman). This form of discrimination dates back for centuries and derives from the common stereotype that since men provide for women and women take care of the home and children, men consequently are more effective in the career chosen. In today’s world, the realization that man and woman can produce the same outcome, have the same education, and have the same capability to accomplish the same overall tasks as men is becoming more popular, especially as the idea of women not being as valuable as a man is being proven wrong.
It’s no question that women have been put under very specific stereotypes, specifically since the 1800s, women are to “stay home to take care of their children and perform household chores, while the men were the bread earners” which, over the next century, would turn out to be a hard stereotype to break (“The Evolution of Women in the Workforce”). After the Civil War, African American women had to provide for themselves and loved ones, post freedom of slavery, which would result in the joining of the workforce. Married white middle class women would soon join but it wouldn’t come to make a huge impact up until World War II: 1939, where it became vital for women to start working. The Draft of World War II was issued on September 16th, 1940 for men to leave their jobs behind, as well as their families and go on to fight for America’s freedom (The National WWII Museum). After a drastic decrease in the workforce the government then saw an opportunity for the use of women to help with the shortage of supplies and resources used during the war. Propaganda posters would come into play to encourage women to get up and join the working forces, such as Rosie the Riveter. Rosie the Riveter displays a
The movement of promoting gender equality is exponentially growing every year; however, gender inequality is still a persistent problem in today’s workforce. Each year, gender inequality, especially employment equity, the distinct barrier between genders in the workforce, has become a topic of contention as its affecting working individuals worldwide, especially women. Before examining this problem, we must further understand what gender inequality is in the workplace. Gender inequality is an ascriptive factor, in which limits individuals to reach their full potential in their area of expertise by discriminating based on gender (module …). Both genders can have the same qualifications for an occupation, but a specific gender, mainly men, are seen to be more qualified than their female counterparts are. This can result in the refusal to allow the individual to take on leadership roles due to socially constructed views on gender. In addition, they may receive unequal wages compared to the opposing gender due to statistical discrimination which is the idea hiring or promoting individuals based on the average characteristics of their gender group rather than solely focusing on the individual( Textbook, 169). As we strive towards the goal of gender inequality, we must understand it in order to construct a proper solution.
Should abortion be illegal? This is the big question that thousands of people, especially women, are talking about. People demonstrate their opinions with a mix of reactions. These reactions are called Attitude, but people may as well express hostile sexism when they show their attitudes. Hostile sexism consists of negative characteristics, feelings that women are not capable of taking decisions. According to Saul Kassin, Steven Fein and Hazel Markus (2016), attitude is defined as positive or negative reaction toward an idea, person or object in which is expressed at a certain level of intensity. Thus, People with a positive attitude tend to have a low negative and a high positive reaction. In contrast, a negative attitude tends to score higher
Sexism has been a serious problem in society for decades, and it continues to persist in today’s culture. Sexism is the result of men and women being treated differently. Consequently, this creates profound inequalities between the sexes (Hesmondhalgh and Baker).
There are many different views and opinions on sexism throughout the contrasting societies in the world. A number of people define sexism differently in various ways. One author describes the multiple definitions and proceeds to explain her own opinion on the topic of sexism in her article Sexism: A Femme-Inist Perspective (Dahl, 2015). She includes several key concepts that support her meaning and relevance of sexism in multiple societies. These key concepts involve sexism itself, feminism, discrimination, and stereotypical expectations of the gender. In this article, the author believes that the female gender is more biased. The researcher agrees that the female sex is more criticized. The author states that the sexist incidents “describe
The purpose of this paper is to select a social justice issue that is prevalent within our society, engage in a group, develop peer relationships, and finally analyze and conclude based on the collaborative research of the selected issue. The selected topic of sexism within the workplace is analyzed in depth by examining this social justice issue, its demographics, and its impact on the workforce utilizing the feminist theory. This group has investigated the history of the social justice issue by providing and analyzing research dated back to the Industrial Revolution and Unionization leading up to the basic present-day overview; the hiring process within the workplace by providing and analyzing research the definition of occupational discrimination,
Some people say that sexism no longer exists in the workplace, yet only "19%" of women are in a presidential or chief position at work(Bomey ). Women are less likely to be hired for a job despite having all the qualifications, women earn less than men, and women are continuously harassed in the workplace. Despite the fact that women are capable to "perform with the same skill and success" as men, the issue of gender discrimination still continues to rise( ). In society, sometimes it can be difficult to recognize issues of sexism not only at work but in life. With the failure to realize gender discrimination and harassment in the world, educating people on the issue of sexism can make the workplace a success.
Sexism in the Workplace The workplace is the area in which sexism is most commonly found. Sexism is in evidence in unfair recruitment practices, unequal pay, and intimidating behavior towards colleagues. Legislation is now in place in many countries that prohibits unfair treatment of staff on the grounds of their sex. The problem with this legislation is that they are often difficult to apply.