Key Issues Facing Gender in the Workplace - Research Paper Example

Key Issues Facing Gender in the Workplace Critical examination of the key issues facing the group within the workplace. The Group Being Gender Farzeela Faisal Academia Research Writer Abstract Workplace is an environment where there are several issues to be resolved, predicaments to be unraveled and circumstances leading to unavoidable consequences. Be the gender male or Female, both have to survive within the harsh attitude of the organizational structure. As women tends to be more sensitive then men they sense and try to forget till the utmost, to cope up with the job requirements but once they lost their hope with the organization for which they are working or once they lose their confidence and trust on such environment, it becomes complicated for them to survive in such an organization. Gender issues in a workplace have always been of vital concern in every country of the world. Not even the issues are restricted to women, but men are also facing the same dilemma of today's working environment. It is found that women's unequal workplace experiences are highlighted as a result of their inability to "fit in," "natural" choices and "juggling" of work and family responsibilities. Despite all the significant inroads made into the labor market, women continue to experience occupational isolation, income and status inequality compared to men in their workplaces which has escorted them towards segregation and depression and sometimes even lead to the other inequality factors. Lets take an example of Canada in which men occupy positions that are supervisory or administrative, full-time, high in pay and status, and that are often in the transport, communications and manufacturing sectors while women are predominantly concentrated in non-standard work, usually clerical and service work in part-time or temporary positions that are characterized by low skill requirements, low pay, and few benefits. Even in professional positions, women continue to be disproportionately represented in "feminine" nursing, teaching, and social science professions. (Amber Gazso, 2004) The factors that are most often understood to demonstrate this inequality are: 1. Career development Issues 2. Sexual Harassments 3. Gender discrimination in Hiring 4. Promotion and Benefits 5. Work and Family Responsibilities 6. Gender linked to Health Risks Career Development Issues Gender issues in career development have undergone an absolute information explosion. It is generally observed that career ambition in women is lower than career aspiration among men. Men tend to be more motivated and possess a broaden view than women on work. But it is surprising to see that women's aspirations have substantially increased over the past several decades. No matter what the reason behind women's aspirations is, several environmental factors have been implicated, including cultural and ethnical background. Many researchers have observed, for example, that the relative traditionality of gender role attitudes and occupational plans may limit the level of women's vocational and educational aspirations. It is true that women may experience a number of barriers in preparing for career decisions, like home-career conflict. Women appear to be placing increased importance on goals in the work domain. This change has not detracted from the importance women give to the home and family domain, nor diminished the expected conflicts among roles. As might be expected, this shift has presented women with additional challenges in their career planning. As is true with many other stages of women's career development, entry into the work force seems to be more complex for women than for men, given gender discrimination and stereotyping, and the demands of multiple roles. One aspect of career development more typical to women than men is role exiting and reentry. Rather than going directly from school to work, many women first engage in full-time family roles, returning to school or work later in their lives. One of the most common barriers to women's career advancement is the women's experience at their workplaces, management of stress and role conflict. Women's workforce participation depends upon the variables of interest, which includes mother's attitude towards childcare, marital and family status, husband's career type husband's attitude towards wife employment and certain individual characteristics. Educational level also influences women's variable. The career experiences and advancement of women is different from those of men has been documented across many professional areas, with most studies finding that men advance faster, further, and with greater compensation. (Susan D.Phillips, 1997) Sexual Harassments Sexual harassment, one of the most aversive factors that act as a barrier in a workplace has been documented across almost every occupation, i.e., from blue-collar job to white collar job. Perceptions of sexual harassment have been associated with the status difference between the initiator and the recipient, type of workplace, whether or not the female complainant was in competition with the accused. The past decade of research in this area has focused less exclusively on prevalence and perceptions of sexual harassment and more on developing sophisticated, multilayered organizational and policy analyses of antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment. (Susan D.Phillips, 1997) It is estimated that 50-85% of American females experiences some form of sexual harassment during their academic or working lives. Yet, just 25% ever tell anyone, and only five percent ever file charges. The greatest loss of women affecting sexual harassment results in loss of confidence and self esteem. Sexual harassment in the workplace continues to be a degrading and career-limiting experience for many women from neurosurgeons to secretaries and lawyers to construction workers. While it primarily is a problem for women, men are affected as well. Many companies do not understand the productivity aspect of sexual harassment. While it is well known that harassment essentially is an abuse of power, few people appreciate the adverse effect it has on employee productivity. Sexual harassment can degrade employee performance. At the very least, victims are forced to waste time blocking and parrying unwanted attention. It is distracting (and disturbing) for the victim, and certainly erodes the working relationship, both manager-to-subordinate and peer-to-peer. At the same time, the harassing employee is wasting valuable company time on personal pursuits. Generally, sexual harassment diverts human energy away from achieving business objectives. Harassment can breed resentment and mistrust in the workplace and contributes to costly turnover. Women are nine times as likely as men to quit because of it, five times as likely to transfer, and three times as likely to lose jobs. Fully 25% of females who believe they have been harassed have been dismissed or have quit. (Susan Crawford, USA Today, 123: March 1995) Berdahl et al (Berdahl, J. L., Magley, V. J., & Waldo, C. R.) propose, "Targets of Sexual harassment are more likely to feel harassed by behaviors that result in a perceived loss of control over personal and professional status and security. More specifically, these authors suggest that men feel harassed by behaviors they perceive challenge their masculinity while women feel harassed by behaviors they perceive reinforce their subordinate role in the workplace. Because men tend to wield more power in the workplace, challenges to their masculinity are more likely to come from other men; women usually lack this power." (Robert H. Faley, 39,9-10: 1998) Gender Discrimination In Hiring and Wage A Gender based wage lacuna is not a new dilemma to our society. Again it exist in every country and on a broad spectrum shows the difference between male and female earnings. Individual discrimination conceptualizes discrimination as the result of isolated prejudiced individuals in positions to decide salaries who deliberately choose to pay individual women less than they abstractly merit. If a person conceptualizes discrimination as a result of prejudiced individuals making salary decisions, he or she will want to root out the "bad actor" who is paying an individual woman less because she is a woman. Under this approach, employers make salary adjustments after comparing individual workers, their backgrounds and accomplishments, and their salaries. Employers often start by finding a man whose background and accomplishments are similar to the woman who has complained about salary inequity. Today, many employers accept an implicit social norm that they should pay women less than men. On a broader level, those who conceptualize discrimination as institutional see the labor market itself as discriminatory. Because of this discriminatory market, women cannot bargain from a position of strength. Employers benefit from women's weakened bargaining position and thus have every incentive to view market decision-making as fair, even if it is not. (Giampetro Meyer, 37:2, 2000) Promotion and Benefits Promotions within a workplace possess a background of communications styles, which are not simply based upon the discrimination of men or women. Elinor Spieler, one of the diversity consultants has created composite descriptions of the gender differences identified by other writers on the topic. She describes people comfortable in an Male Culture as those who relate to others competitively, by striving to win. Male Culture people also prefer direct communication and value achievement over relationships. People comfortable in the Male Culture may be seen as problem solvers who use critical analysis as a way to make decisions and resolve issues. People more comfortable in the Female Culture, on the other hand, tend to relate to others collaboratively, by striving for connection. They tend to emphasize relationships and process and to be more indirect in communicating their preferences. Female Culture people also are at ease in showing empathy and expressing appreciation. What separates the Beyond Male-Female Stereotypes model from many others is Spieler's explanation that a man or a woman may be more comfortable in either culture. Her model identifies five individuals: 1. Men more comfortable operating in a Male Culture. 2. Women more comfortable operating in a Male Culture. 3. Men more comfortable operating in a Female Culture. 4. Women more comfortable operating in a Female Culture. 5. Bicultural people, who are equally comfortable in either culture. To improve our communications with men and women at work, we need to depend less on stereotypes; to determine the gender culture in which we and our coworkers feel more comfortable (whether male or female); and to use strategies that are based on open recognition and understanding of our unique differences. We have a responsibility to create an environment that is based on mutual respect and that enables us to celebrate and appreciate our differences. It is not just the right thing to do; it is a business imperative that will directly affect the bottom line. (Karen Curnow Mccluskey, 79:5, May 1997) Work And Family Responsibilities A growing number of employers have responded to the changing nature of the work force by offering flexible work schedules, on-site childcare, more flexible leave policies, and other benefits. In the past, most employees did not need help from employers to enable them to meet their family responsibilities. Most workers were men who could concentrate on work because "they had support systems at home, usually a wife and family" (Romzek, 1991; 228). With an increase in the number of two-career families, family responsibilities have begun to overlap with work responsibilities. Rising of a living standard in the current circumstances have escorted us to the scenario where both partners have to work and earn in order to survive. Because of a lack of normal distribution, with large skewness and/or kurtosis, some variable transformations were done. Overall consumption, balance, social-drinking quantity and business-drinking quantity data were transformed into their square roots. Social-drinking frequency was log transformed. Scatter plots indicated approximate linear relationships between variables. Attorneys in solo practice were excluded from the regression and discriminate analyses. Analyses were done for male and female attorneys separately because of interest in gender differences in the prediction of consumption and because it was felt that, in a combined analysis, such differences might counteract each other and hide important effects. Gender distribution in firms in which the non solo participants worked usually favored men. Among male attorneys, frequency of business-drinking events was predicted by a combination of gender balance, job, and home and family variables. Having more women in the firm and socializing with female colleagues predicted attendance at drinking events, while having more female peers in the firm was inversely related to the variable. Being married and having a spouse who is also in the legal profession predicted the absence of drinking events; conversely, having chores waiting at home was positively related to business-drinking events. Firm size also was positively related to frequency, as was the perception of unwritten norms about substance use. Finally, overall consumption (Drink) was positively related to frequency of business-drinking events. Overall consumption appeared as a predictor variable in all the analyses of business-related and work -related social drinking, for both men and women, increasing in all cases as frequency or quantity of either category increased. Combinations of gender balance, job and home and family variables also predicted drinking among female attorneys. As with the men, having more female attorneys in the firm, but having fewer female peers, predicted frequency of business-drinking events (Table 1). Number of children was positively related, but the need to go home after work to care for children was negatively related to that variable. Both having chores waiting at home and being the one who had to do those chores predicted business-drinking frequency. In contrast to the men, among the female attorneys having a spouse in the legal profession predicted the presence of drinking events. (Elsie R.Shore, 58:3, 1997) Gender Linked to Health Risks Gender-based differences in workplace values can create a company culture of underlying stress and conflict that affects the physical and emotional health of both men and women. The study also shows that females are at a higher health risk from workplace stress than males. Organizations that seek to understand their own workplace cultures and recognize that women and men are fundamentally different in ways that impact their health will have a distinct advantage. Browning says. "Male and female managers who are sensitive to gender differences will have the ability to bring out the best of both genders toward achieving results. The health of the organization depends on the health of the individual. Since women now represent half of the workforce, we need to understand how corporate cultures that have evolved largely based on male models can become healthy for both genders." When gender differences are uncontrollable and unmanageable, creates tension among women, as women are more hyper sensitive to the working issues than men, these worries within them cause different diseases encompassing physical as well as emotional health like high blood pressure etc. According to Peterson, the top five work related causes of stress and ill health identified by respondents in the study are mentally tiring work, time pressure, too many changes within the job, not getting enough feedback and not having enough influence on their job and how it is done. (The Business Journal, Dec 1,2004) accessed from < http://www.business- journal.com/archives/20041201SBSCGenderHealth.asp> References Amber Gazso, (2004). Women's Inequality in the Workplace as Framed in News Discourse: Refracting from Gender Ideology. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 41:4 from Questia.com Andrea M. Giampetro-Meyer, (2000). Recognizing and Remedying Individual and Institutional Gender-Based Wage Discrimination in Sport. American Business Law Journal, 37, 2 from Questia.com Deborah E. Knapp, Gary A. Kustis, Robert H. Faley (1998). An Empirical Examination of Same- And Other-Gender Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 39:9-10 from Questia.com Elsie R. Shore, (1997). The Relationship of Gender Balance at Work, Family Responsibilities and Workplace Characteristics to Drinking among Male and Female Attorneys. Journal of Studies on Alcohol , 58:3 from Questia.com Karen Curnow Mccluskey, (1997, May). Gender at Work. Public Management 79,5 from Questia.com Susan D. Phillips, (1997). Women and Career Development: A Decade of Research. Annual Review of Psychology, 48 from Questia.com Susan Crawford, (1995, March). Economic Impact of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. USA Today , 123: 2598 from Questia.com The Business Journal, Dec 1,2004 accessed from < http://www.business- journal.com/archives/20041201SBSCGenderHealth.asp> Read More