Gender Inequalities in Organizations - Essay Example

? Gender Inequalities in Organizations Introduction The discussion aims at highlighting and underpinning the concept of equality of opportunities forwomen that will offer likely benefits and advantages to the business and social environment of the Saudi Arabia. It has been seen and perceived that women are incapable and unfit for certain kind of jobs and men get undue advantages and benefits in the social and business environment. The discussion identifies the importance and need of equality in the business environment to create a favorable and positive business environment for men and women. Women are often subjected to sexual harassment and abuses compared to men and creating a positive environment will only empower them in the present as well as in the future. The discussion also aims at understanding the reasons behind gender inequality along with identifying problems and issues pertaining to it in the business and social environment. For this purpose, the social and business environment of Saudi Arabia has been assessed and analysed. At the same time, the educational and social environment has been analysed in terms of impact and influence. It is important to change the educational structure along with reducing the impact and influence of social and economic constraints to attract more number of women in the national work force. This requires equal rights and equality in everything without discriminating against the gender. It also requires help and support of public and private sector organizations to create a base for Saudi women in terms of exposing them to business ins and outs along with offering training to enhance their skills. Therefore, the role of public and private sector organisations has also been assessed and analysed in a critical and illustrative manner. Women in the Business Environment The role of women in the social and business environment is often accepted and objected in different parts of the world. However, with a number of countries offering equal chances and opportunities to men and women, the social and business environment has witnessed changes that can be considered as positive and logical. A number of dedicated NGOs in Saudi Arabia have taken initiatives to offer full participation to women in the labor market. However, with 15% of national workforce comprising of women, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is yet to utilize untapped potentials of its work force especially those of women (UNDP, 2008). The current work force is driven by majority of expatriates who have been contributing to the success and development of the country. However, the role of nationals comprising of men and women with potential to perform and contribute remains obsolete. The majority of these are women who have not been exposed to the business environment. There is no denying that legislative, social, occupational and educational constraints prevent women to participate in the Saudi labor market but things need to be changed in order to offer equal opportunities to people without differentiating on the basis of the gender. Saudi Arabia is a powerful economy with wide arrays of business opportunities. In order to emerge as a dynamic and global force, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia needs to overcome these constraints. Sambidge (2011) stated that the Arab nations continue to lag behind other nations when it comes to gender equality. As per the report published by the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap, 2011, no Middle East country was in the list of top 100 countries for gender equality out of the 135 countries covered. UAE was ranked at (103), followed by Kuwait (105), Bahrain (110), Oman (127) and Saudi Arabia (131). However, things have been changing at a rapid pace as women are now allowed to vote for the very first time highlighting the growth and acceptance of gender equality. The notion of men leading men and women has been prevailing from early centuries. This argument can be considered as the base for the start of inequalities between the genders. However, the mode of discrimination seems to be based on perception rather than validity and proven tests. With initiatives been taken by King Abdullah like women been allowed to vote and participate in wide arrays of jobs, the future of Saudi Arabia seems bright. It can be said that women have been an important part of work culture in different cultures and nations. With little availability of career options and preconceived notions of women being unfit and incapable of performing and surviving in certain tasks, women were left with little choices to spread their wings in the competitive business environment. Many working class women did work in factories and in domestic services but there were very little options for a middle-class woman to become an engineer, politician, leader and financier. However, all these concepts and notions did not do something great in the wellbeing of women rather the worth and value of women’s contribution was demeaned and questioned based on illogical ideas and understanding of one’s potentials and attributes (Berryman-Fink, 1997) Inequality to Equality By the end of 70s, large number of women were participating in the global work force announcing their worth and capability to become a part of the global business environment. During that period, women started to compete with men in wide arrays of career. The rise of women workers in Australia, European Countries and the US helped in changing perceptions of people across the globe on women. Women became a reckoning force in career streams like medicine, engineering and management. With careers being labeled as ideally suitable for men, women were leaping into the business environment with great confidence and passion. There are a number of women in top management positions in different companies across the world. This shows that vision has been elaborated and extended along with a change in the perception level towards women in a positive manner. A number of developed nations like the US, the UK and Australia offer equal opportunities to women by allowing them to be a part of different business environments without questioning their gender. With women making remarkable advances in the global business arena, things were changing at a rapid pace in pursue of a new dawn welcoming the equality of genders. The social transformation has been driven by economic and social changes and also by women’s aspirations and wants to become a force in the business world. Things have improved and shaped up well in developed nations. However, the developing nations and conservative nations are yet to identify the value and importance of women in the active work force. In OECD countries, 40% of women still work as part timers with little job security. They are restricted to certain sectors like human resource management, nursing and child care (Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning (2007). There is no denying that Saudi Arabia is known for its vast petroleum sources making it a petroleum based economy extracting benefits with its sources across the world. However, with strong focus on changing this image and reputation by diversifying away from petroleum based economy; there is a need and requirement of skilled labors and their active participation. In 2007, the active workforce in Saudi Arabia comprised 8.2 million people out of which half were Saudi Nationals. More importantly, 85% nationals in the work force were men giving an idea of how sparsely women resources have been used and utilized in the country (Rosenthal, 1995). It is important to support and encourage women to become an active part of the national work force. Their contribution and expertise will only help in the growth and development of the nation in the present as well as in the future. The participation rate of women employees has been increasing in recent years with a number of women taking administrative and teaching jobs along with other jobs to justify their worth and importance in the work force. Things have been changing at a rapid pace in Saudi Arabia in terms of awareness. A number of university graduate women are seeking wide arrays of jobs to support themselves and their families. However, the biggest irony is the number of doctorates and post graduates seeking challenging jobs and remaining unemployed (Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning (2007). There can be a number of reasons behind this phenomenon; there must be some loophole in the educational pattern and structure or maybe there are not even opportunities for women considering the conservative outlook of Muslim nations. On top of this there are a number of illiterate women finding it all the more challenging to get a job. They do not have any educational background and social support that allow them to become a part of the national workforce. This creates great risk not only for the nation but also for women along with thwarting the progress of the nation in the present as well as in the future. The public sector is the largest employer of Saudi Women offering greater security and benefits compared to private sectors. In Saudi Arabia, Women make 30% of government employees that can be considered as quite satisfactory and attractive. Of the total working population of Saudi women, 95% are employed by the public sector (UNDP, 2008). This offers an idea that public sector organizations have been able to create and offer wide arrays of jobs to Saudi women. However, there is no information on responsibilities held by these women while working for public sector organizations. It can be the case that most women have been handling administrative tasks with few handling mid management and high management tasks. An interesting fact that appeared based on the report of Eight Five Year Development Plan (2005) is that 85% of women are working in the education sector handling administrative and teaching jobs. This clearly shows that Saudi Women’s exposure to the corporate world has been a bit limited with majority of them being stuck in teaching and administrative jobs. This can be considered as a strong reason for gender inequality but considering wide arrays of variables and factors creating such cases. The analysis of this issue clearly suggests that large number of working Saudi Women need to be exposed to the corporate world if the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wants to achieve new heights in the global business environment. The remaining 5% Saudi Women are employed with private sector organizations with most of them employed with private business houses and banks at a lower level. It can be said that the Saudi Women have come out of their shell but the social, economical and educational issues still thwart their progress. The next part of the discussion explains the role of gender equality in the success of private and public organizations. Role of Public and Private Sector Organizations Business environment comprises of private and public sector organizations. Private sector organizations are managed and owned by individuals with little control and ownership of the government and public, while public sector organizations are managed and owned by individuals with the government and public owning a bit of share and rights. In the success and growth of any economy, both sectors play an important role by employing available human resources on the basis of expertise and merit. However, it is important to strike a right balance between the two genders in terms of employing from social point of view. This not only offers equal opportunity to both men and women but also creates a favorable environment where people can nurture and sharpen their skills. Some of the key initiatives that should be taken by public and private sector organizations are as follow: (Parker, et al, 1998) Public and private sector organizations should offer equal opportunities to both men and women without judging on the basis of the gender. The job allocation should be based on the qualification and merit of the candidate rather than preconceived notions and ideas. The selection of employees should be based on the educational qualification and ability to perform a task. If a woman is ideally suitable to handle top management profile, she should be allowed to do so rather than judging her on the basis of women attributes. The public and private sector organizations need to maintain honesty and transparency in their business approach while selecting and employing employees rather than following past trends and ideas favoring men over the women. It is important to consider women as an individual capable of performing wide arrays of professional tasks and responsibilities. However, with women being considered as the fairer sex; there have been a number of cases pertaining to sexual abuse, sexual harassments and sexual exploitation in different organizations across the world. Mitsubishi was charged for sexual harassment when 300 women employees filed a suit against the organization. The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission sued the organization for which it paid good amount of money. This clearly shows that women need assurance over safety and security in order to come out of their social shell along with becoming an active part of the work force. The public and private sector organizations need to create a favorable environment for women employees in which they can perform and sustain for a long period of time. There is a need for equality in rights and actions. It is important for public and private sector organizations to create an environment that will allow women employees to feel peace along with offering a feeling of no discrimination of any sense. This will also help them in giving their best and create mutual value and benefits in the short and in the long run. Women need to be empowered and motivated as they take multiple responsibilities at homes and work places. They need to be understood well in order to win their trust and loyalty. Moreover, freedom of speech and expression should be offered along with wide arrays of advantages like pension, gratuity, incentives and leaves to make them realize that the organization care for them and respect them. Whatever has been mentioned and discusses can be considered as one-sided story highlighting the current business environment and plight of Saudi Women in quest for higher recognition and place in the competitive business environment. However, it is important to analyze and understand the role of the government in offering support and cooperation to the public and private sector organizations. It is important to revamp and redesign the educational structure along with offering free education to poor children especially girls and women. With change in the educational structure and pattern, more and more women will be able to form deeper insights over wide arrays of business and social phenomenon. It needs to be understood that mental ability to perform a task is not based on the gender. It is based on the knowledge that is gained through understanding and sharing of ideas. In this regard, women cannot be differentiated with men in terms of men being more potent and capable of performing tasks. Mental ability does not include hundred percent of physical ability and power to hold things and ideas. With a number of men employed as CEOs and MDs, there is a shortage of women CEOs and MDs in the global business environment. It is not known whether it's a case of gender inequality or preconceived notion, but considering the history and current situation, there is something that stops the government, nations and organizations from investing their trust and faith in women employees. This needs to be changed if Saudi Arabia wants to grow and develop as a nation. Women are not only powerful and capable of handling wide arrays of tasks; they are often believed to be extraordinary in handling different responsibilities along with striking the right balance between their personal and professional life. There is a need to change the education system, mindsets and overall conservative background pertaining to women employees. Role of Local Organizations in Ensuring Higher Equality of Opportunities for Women At first, it needs to be mentioned that by restricting the establishment of equality of opportunities for Saudi Women to local organizations will be a big mistake and distorting of the whole concept. Rather it can be interrelated with the efforts of the government, public and private sector organizations. Local organizations operate at the local level with majority of them under private ownership. A big challenge that the Saudi economy faces is the conservative outlook towards women that needs to be changed in order to create value and benefits in the competitive business environment in the present as well as in the future. Saudi Women are considered as the one responsible for performing the role of mothers and wives. They are supposed to unite the family by taking care of each member based on family values and traditions. In most cases, these values, beliefs and traditions do not allow Saudi Women to become a part of the corporate world. Even though, they are allowed to work, their world is restricted to part time that does not offer much of recognition and value. This offers good amount of opportunity and responsibility to local organizations to ensure gender equality and offer equal opportunity and responsibilities to men and women. The local organizations need to motivate Saudi Women to embrace work even if they are comfortable with part time work. The idea should be to make them thin on the grounds of sharing equal responsibilities when it comes to running the house. Women should be allowed to continue their studies and local organizations should make sure that; women with educational interests are allowed and motivated to pursue it along with fulfilling their professional duties and responsibilities. Some of the initiatives that can be taken by local organizations in order to ensure that equality of opportunities for women employees are created are as follow: Women should be offered freedom of speech and expression along with equal rights. This will help them in being confident and positive at the workplace along with competitive. Women should be offered a positive and transparent working environment. There should be safety and security measures safeguarding the physical and emotional interest of women. It is very important not to discriminate on the basis of gender especially while employing and compensating. If a woman is qualified than a man, it is logical enough to empower her and offer full power and control over that particular job. It is important to offer equal compensation package to men and women rather than discriminating between the two. Any sort of discrimination can affect the mindset and the overall work. Compensation should be based on the performance and capabilities rather than gender discrimination. Every service and benefit that has been offered to men employees should be offered to women employees without any discrimination. The idea should be promoting equality in everything without discriminating on the basis of personal preference, gender and performance. There should be a physical setup where complaints and issues can be recorded. This will help in winning the trust and loyalty of employees especially those of women employees and safeguarding common interests. It is important to introduce changes in the social and business environment in a systematic manner. Some of the stages include: Denial- it is a common phenomenon in Middle East countries where organisations and families consider women to be a part of the family responsible for running the house and taking care of their needs rather than making them a part of the active workforce. This needs to be changed by the local organisations by taking different initiatives. The Problem is Women- the problem of perceiving women as incapable often thwarts their progress in the business environment. This needs to be changed by offering adequate training in order to develop their skills and attributes. Incremental adjustment- It is important to develop policies in order to fit women in the organisational set up by allowing them to be a part of the top management. The initiatives need to be taken at the local level that may catch up with public and private organisations in the present as well as in the future. Commitment to new Organisational set up- It is important to create an organisational culture allowing women to work freely the way men have been working. There should be a change in recruitment and selection policies by changing the overall quota system and policies to recruit more and more women employees. An Overview of IBM Strategies on Gender Equality IBM is known for introducing policies and programs assisting women to be a part of the active workforce. IBM’s flexible working hours allow women and other employees to work from any remote location for 100 days. They are also allowed medical and health care assistance along with 156 weeks of unpaid leaves during which their job is guaranteed. Women are empowered through skills development programs along with sharing of ideas and views. Moreover, women are mentored and guided in a positive manner by understanding their personal commitments (Thomas, 1996). This has created a favorable environment for women where they can grow and develop in the professional world along with balancing it well with the personal commitments. The same should be introduced by the organisations of Saudi Arabia in order to create a favorable environment for women where they can grow and develop their personal and professional skills. Interest of Women It is important to create a right balance between the personal and professional commitments of women along with understanding their interests. It is very much obvious that talented and ambitious women will not apply in organisations engaged in discrimination of any sort and sexism (Thomas, 2004). Many organsiations like IBM and HP have introduced policies and programs to encourage employee diversity and the same should be introduced by the organsiations of Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has allowed women to vote abut apart from this; they should also be trained to be a part of their active workforce. Women should be encouraged to take responsibilities in different organisations along with contributing in the success of the economy. For this, the initiative should come from the local, private and public sector organisations. With increase in global competition, Saudi Arabia needs to empower its women workforce in order to compete with other nations else resources like women will get wasted who have the potential to contribute in the growth and development of the economy. Business and Commercial Benefits There can be a number of business and commercial benefits by empowering and offering equal opportunities to women in the business environment. It needs to be mentioned that the Saudi Economy constitutes of large number of men employees with little percentage of women employees. Moreover, with plans of expanding and diversifying the economy, there will be a need and requirement of large number of employees to contribute their services in making business activities successful. With large number of women going for higher studies; there is no doubt that the amount of knowledge that they carry can be used to redefine business activities positively. Moreover, women are supposed to be responsible in terms of taking care of personal and professional duties wherever men are supposed to take care of professional responsibilities. This makes women employees more dedicated and responsible. However, there should be equality in the business activities and organizational structure to extract benefits and value from the professional commitments of women. It can be said that the present business environment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not have a proper place for women employees as little percentage of the total population has been part of women workforce. Local organizations can create a favorable and sustainable environment for women in the present run that will act as a base for future endeavors of local and public and private sector organizations. It is important to expose the women workforce to rigorous challenges in order to make them ready for future challenges. The role of equality can be considered as of great importance as equality offers confidence along with earning the trust, respect and loyalty of employees. Saudi Arabia needs the work force that is capable enough to handle business activities without being dependent on expatriates. With large number of educated women sitting idle, it will be nice to offer them employment and equal rights that will prepare them for future challenges. Once the economy of Saudi Arabia gets diversified to other sectors, these women can be recruited in different sectors to create mutual benefits and advantages. This will help in ideal utilization of sources and resources along with creation of national value. It needs to be understood that a nation cannot be dependent on expatriates to create value; it has to prepare its own nationals for business challenges in order to emerge as a global force in the global business environment. However, with the conservative outlook and perception of people, it will be interesting to see women stepping up the business ladder seeking challenges along with standing against them through expertise and performance. There is no denying that nondiscrimination against women will attract them to be a crucial part of public and private sector organizations. This will open new doors for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcoming the new dawn to script success stories based on equality and empowerment. Conclusion The discussion covers different aspects of equality and benefits of equality in context to gender, work and responsibilities. The present and future business prospects of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been discussed along with correlating the same with the need of equality and nondiscrimination. The role of existing and potential women employees has been discussed and defined in an illustrative manner. Overall, the discussion sums up the importance of equality and nondiscrimination in setting up a positive social and business environment. References Associated Press (1998), 'Car giant pays $57 million in sex suit', The Weekend Australian, 13-14 June. Andy Sambidge (2011),GCC still lags world on gender equality, says WEF, Retrieved on January 15, 2011 from http://www.arabianbusiness.com/gcc-still-lags-world-on-gender-equality-says-wef-428237.html Berryman-Fink, C. (1997), ‘Gender issues: management style, mobility and harassment’, in Byers, P. (ed.), Organizational Communication, Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon Ministry of Economy and Planning; U.N. 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