Women Inequality in the Workplace - Essay Example

Women inequality in the workplace Introduction Inequality in the work place for women mainly refers to the al barriers that stand in the way of professional achievement and success for women. Despite flooding various work places since 1970s and 1980s, women still encounter many institutional challenges of equality in the work place (Lwelleyn, Aqu, & Mercer 2008, p.109). The most common, publicly condemned form of inequality in workplaces is constant occupational sexism and other discriminatory statement and practices that are based on a person’s sex. The major manifestation of occupational sexism is sexual harassment which involves; teasing, bullying, intimidation, coercion that is sexual in nature, inappropriate or unwelcome promise of promotion and rewards in return for sexual favours. Legally, sexual harassment affects either gender but the women are the majority victims in the places of work (Haramblos & Holborn 2008, p.132). Another form of inequality in the places of work is wage discrimination which is commonly referred to as gender pay gap. This is where women consistently are paid less for doing same tasks as the men. Recent research shows that women earn seventy six percent of what men earn for performing the same work. The wage gap can also be attributed to the fact that women mostly engage in part-type work because of their home responsibilities or work in lower paid departments (Giddens 2009, p.176). Statistics Table 5a. Economic activity Last update: December 2012     Adult (15+) economic activity rate   Percentage of women in adult labor force Country or area Year Women Men % Afghanistan 2011 16 80 15 Albania 2011 50 71 42 Algeria 2011 15 72 17 Angola 2011 63 77 46 Argentina 2011 47 75 40 Armenia 2011 49 70 46 Australia 2011 59 72 45 Austria 2011 54 68 46 Azerbaijan 2011 62 69 49 Bahamas 2011 69 79 49 Bahrain 2011 39 87 19 Bangladesh 2011 57 84 40 Barbados 2011 65 76 47 Belarus 2011 50 63 49 Belgium 2011 48 61 45 Belize 2011 48 82 38 Benin 2011 67 78 48 Bhutan 2011 66 77 42 Bolivia 2011 64 81 45 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2011 35 59 40 Botswana 2011 72 82 46 Brazil 2011 60 81 44 Brunei Darussalam 2011 56 77 42 1210 1719 Adult (15+) economic activity rate Women Men 1210 1719 Chart Graph Table 5b. Part-time employment Latest update: June 2013         Percentage of adult employment that is part-time Womens share of part-time employment             Country or area Year Women Men % Source Albania 2001 a,b,c,d 50.2 46.1 39.7 O Argentina 2011 e,f,g,h 31.3 11.9 64.8 LFS Armenia 2008 b,i,j 30.1 19.0 56.2 LFS Aruba 1994 e,k,j 12.3 4.0 71.0 HS Australia 2011 l,b,f,m,n 38.5 13.2 70.9 LFS Austria 2011 b,f,d,o 32.8 7.0 80.2 LFS Azerbaijan 2003 l,b,f,d 24.3 13.3 56.6 HS Bahamas 2002 l,b,k,j 11.9 9.6 53.9 HS Bahrain 2004 e,i,j 2.8 2.2 25.1 LFS Belgium 2011 b,f,d 32.4 7.0 79.9 ELFS Belize 1999 p,c,d 25.5 12.0 48.9 HS Bhutan 2011 p,f,j 11.5 7.1 59.6 LFS Bolivia 2009 e,f,g 30.7 17.3 58.9 HS Bosnia and Herzegovina 2011 e,i,j 11.6 9.6 … LFS Botswana 2006 b,c,d 15.4 11.7 54.7 LFS Brazil 2009 b,f,j 28.1 10.1 67.5 LFS British Virgin Islands 1991 p,q,j,r 14.2 7.8 58.6 PC Bulgaria 2011 s,i,j 2.6 2.1 52.5 ELFS Canada 2011 l,b,f,d,t 27.2 12.9 66.6 LFS Chile 2011 b,f,d 25.5 11.8 58.7 LFS China, Hong Kong 2011 l,m,p,c 15.8 11.7 55.5 HS 474.7 247.4 Source: UN, 2014 Percentage of adult employment that is part-time Women Men 474.7 247.4 Source: UN, 2014 Source: UN, 2014 Table 5e. Gender Pay Gap Last update: December 2012 Womens wages in manufacturing as a percentage of mens wages Country or area Year   % Source Andorra 2008   71 ARRS Armenia 2008   61 LRES Australia 2006 a,b 90 LRES Austria 2003   62 IR Azerbaijan 2008   60 LRES Bahrain 2008 c,d,e 99 IR Belgium 2007 a 86 LRES Bermuda 2007   91 LREC Botswana 2008   55 LRES Brazil 2002   61 AR Bulgaria 2007 f 70 LREC China, Hong Kong SAR 2008 g,h,i 60 LRES China, Macao SAR 2008 j,k 66 LFS Colombia 2007 l,m 60 LFS Costa Rica 2008 a,n 81 LFS Croatia 2008 o,p 76 LRES Cyprus 2006 a,q 65 LRES Czech Republic 2005 h,r 65 LRES Denmark 2007 a,e,s 87 LRES Egypt 2007 t,d,h 66 LREC El Salvador 2008 a,h,u 84 LRES Finland 2008 v,w 85 LREC France 2007 a,x 83 ARRS French Polynesia 2003   87 IR Source: UN, 2014 Legislation/law Equality act 2010 had the main purpose of codifying the numerous and complicated array of acts and regulations which were the basis of the anti-discrimination law in Britain. It merged the equal pay act 1970, sex discrimination act1975, race relation act 1976 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Iversen & Rosenbluth 2011, p.201). It main intention was to protect discrimination in the workplaces on the grounds of sexual orientation, age and religious beliefs. It advocated for equal treatment in the access of employment, public and private services despite the gender, race, age and religion of people. The law had special care and protection for pregnant women. The law stressed that women and men should be treated equally and given same opportunity in the work places. Walby-patriarchy in employment The women are naturally suited to the expressive role of child care. Their attention is concentrated more on their motherly role than their career duties and responsibilities. This aspect makes the men to be given priority over women in the work places as most institutional aim for maximum productiveness from the employees. For the institution to strive they need full participation and attention of all the employees and the divided attention of women inhibits the achievement of this objective. The men are more suited for the instrumental role of company in labour market. They can balance between their office responsibilities and home duties. The men strive for success and better pay in the workplace while the women opt to spend time with their children (Fulcher & Scott 2007, p.143). This makes men preferred candidates for the various positions in the institutions. Women with children tend to interrupt their careers or give up because they sometimes choose to stay at home with their children. However this theory contradicts with the human capital theory since it explains that women are paid less only because of their motherly roles and responsibility. Human capital theory stresses on the commitment to work. Human Capital theory This theory argues that women’s lack of commitment to paid employment is the cause of the wage gap and the disadvantage they suffer in the labour market. Because of their home responsibilities and duties women often choose to work part time and take career breaks. They have less commitment to the employment positions compared to their male counterparts (Kirby et al 2000, p.289). The women have lesser incentive to invest their time in undertaking lengthy programmes of education or training. This is the reason why men end up taking the big positions with better pay than the women. It also explains why the men get promoted to higher pay and responsibilities faster than the women. Inadequate training and education makes women to be of less value than their male counter parts to the employees. This clearly explains why men are better paid than women in the work places. Women also have less experiences of their jobs because they are less likely than men to be in continuous employment (O’Donnell 1997, p. 203). Many women take career breaks making them to be less experienced compared to the men who work full time without breaks. This makes the men to be more competent in the employment positions compared to the women. It also explains why it is difficult for the women to be promoted to higher status and better paid jobs. Women also prefer less involving jobs especially if they have children. This makes them to earn less as the men mostly take the more challenging jobs with greater responsibilities and as a result they are paid better (Watson 2011, p. 132). However this theory contradicts with Walby’s theory as it blames the pay gap and inequality on the lack of competence experience and skills. Table 5e. Gender Pay Gap Last update: December 2012 Womens wages in manufacturing as a percentage of mens wages Country or area Year   % Source Andorra 2008   71 ARRS Armenia 2008   61 LRES Australia 2006 a,b 90 LRES Austria 2003   62 IR Azerbaijan 2008   60 LRES Bahrain 2008 c,d,e 99 IR Belgium 2007 a 86 LRES Bermuda 2007   91 LREC Botswana 2008   55 LRES Brazil 2002   61 AR Bulgaria 2007 f 70 LREC China, Hong Kong SAR 2008 g,h,i 60 LRES China, Macao SAR 2008 j,k 66 LFS Colombia 2007 l,m 60 LFS Costa Rica 2008 a,n 81 LFS Croatia 2008 o,p 76 LRES Cyprus 2006 a,q 65 LRES Czech Republic 2005 h,r 65 LRES Denmark 2007 a,e,s 87 LRES Egypt 2007 t,d,h 66 LREC El Salvador 2008 a,h,u 84 LRES Finland 2008 v,w 85 LREC France 2007 a,x 83 ARRS French Polynesia 2003   87 IR Georgia 2007   60 LREC Germany 2008 a 76 LRES Gibraltar 2007 t,h,y 61 LREC Hungary 2007 z,v 73 LREC Iceland 2008 v 72 LRES Indonesia 2008 a1,b1,c1 68 LFS Iran, Islamic Rep. of 2002   90 LRES Ireland 2006 a,h,d,d1 80 LRES Isle of Man 2008 a 113 LRES Japan 2008 d,e,e1 61 LRES Jordan 2008   63 LRES Kazakhstan 2008   68 LRES Latvia 2008   81 LRES Lithuania 2008 a,f1,g1 70 LRES Luxembourg 2008 b1 70 LREC Madagascar 2005 a 85 HS Malta 2008 a,j,c1 89 LFS Mexico 2008 h1 72 LFS Mongolia 2008   71 LRES Myanmar 2008 g,i1,j1 88 LRES Nepal 1999 n,c1,k1 45 LFS Netherlands 2005 l1,v 83 LRES Source: UN, 2014 Criticism of functionalism Witz contradicts with the capital theory and argues that even when women work continuously without taking career breaks they still end up in the lower status and lower paying jobs (Giddens 2009, p.143). According to him women have no control over their pay in the work places. Rees argues that capital theory only accounts for half reasons why men get paid better than the women. According to him there are other reasons that explains why the men earn better pay. Sloan argued that human capital theory ignores causes of inequality between female and male counterparts located within the structure of labour markets. After investigating the human capital theory using the data collected for social change and economic life initiative which investigated the labour markets of different cities between 1985 and 1988, he found out that professional qualifications had a huge impact on pay (Cohen, Kennedy, & Kennedy 2007, p.113). The professional on a general scale earned 30% more than the non-professional. He also discovered that gender was an important factor when controlling experience education and training (Bilton 2002, p.144). Dual labour markets theory According to Barron and Norris, there are two labour markets primary and secondary. Dual labour markets result from the tactics used by the employees to obtain the types of labour they require. Primary labour market is comprised of high pay, good working conditions, favourable promotion prospects and job security (Lwelleyn, Aqu, & Mercer 2008, p. 211). Secondary labour markets consists of lower paying jobs with inferior working conditions, less job security and few promotion opportunities. Both the labour markets exist side by side in an institution but it is difficult to transfer from secondary to primary. Primary sector workers usually do managerial staff, highly professional and skilled manual works. The secondary sector works are usually unskilled, manual or non-manual jobs. The secondary sector workers can be easily replaced. Barron and Norris argue that women are the majority of people who have jobs in the secondary sector (Fulcher & Scott 2007, p.476). This is mainly because women are less concerned and interested in gaining additional skills. However, this theory is same as the human capital theory since the secondary labour market consists of women with less commitment to work and responsibility (Fulcher & Scott 2007, p.7704). Reserve Army Labour Reserve army of labour is the segment of labour force that is held in reserve ready to be called into the work force when needed. It refers to the underemployed and unemployed in today’s capitalist economy. It also refers to the workers who have been regimented and conscripted in the workplace in the hierarchy which is under the authority and command of the owners or management bodies (Haramblos & Holborn 2008, p.432). This are group of workers who can be easily disposed. Women are most likely to be in the Reserve army of labour because they have less commitment to work. They prefer part time jobs and career breaks this makes them to be the majority in the RAL (Fulcher 2007, p.144). However, this theory is different from dual labour market theory as it only explains the conditions of women who are underemployed. It does not explain the reason why some women have better ranks in the work places but they are still paid less compared to their male counterparts. Table 5d. Adult unemployment Last update: December 2012       Adult (15+) unemployment rate           Country or area Year Men Women Source Afghanistan 2005 7.6 9.5 HS Albania 2009 a 12.2 15.9 LFS Algeria 2010 8.1 19.1 LFS American Samoa 2000 b 4.9 6.0 PC Anguilla 2002 c,d 6.3 9.5 HS Antigua and Barbuda 2001 8.0 8.8 PC Argentina 2011 e 6.2 8.5 LFS Aruba 2007 5.0 6.5 HS Australia 2011 d 4.9 5.3 LFS Austria 2011 4.0 4.3 LFS Azerbaijan 2011 d 4.5 6.4 LFS Bahamas 2011 13.6 13.7 LFS Bahrain 2004 5.6 20.0 LFS Bangladesh 2009 4.2 7.4 LFS Barbados 2011 9.8 12.5 HS Belgium 2011 7.1 7.2 ELFS Benin 2002 0.9 0.4 PC Bermuda 2000 3.1 2.3 PC Bhutan 2011 1.8 4.5 LFS Bolivia 2009 2.6 4.4 HS Bosnia and Herzegovina 2011 26.0 29.9 LFS Botswana 2006 f,g 15.3 19.9 HS 161.7 222.0 Source: UN, 2014 Adult (15+) unemployment rate Men Women 161.7 222 Chart Source: UN, 2014 Graph Source: UN, 2014 Gender and post Fordism Post Fordism refers to the dominant system of consumption, economic production and socio economic phenomena in the industrialized countries since the 20th century (Giddens 2009, p.342). Post Fordism involves the following attributes; specialized jobs and products, feminization of the workforce, rise of white collar workers, Economies of scope, emphasis on the consumers as opposed to previous emphasis on gender and social class. There was also arise in part-time, self-employed and home workers. This has really favoured the women as they can work from home and it has offered more opportunities for part time jobs. This makes women a flexible labour force that can be used when required. Conclusion In conclusion, despite the adverse efforts that have been made to enhance equality in the work places, inequalities for female employees still exists. The main pressing issues are sexual harassment and pregnancy. Also people still have the mind-set that men are superior and stronger than women. This mind-set makes men to be given priority over women. The society expects women to be demure and less aggressive. In order for institutions to ensure equality in the places of work they should create campaigns, implement quotas, programs and policies that enhance parity. The institutions and organizations should also have programmes that treat equally all the employees and it should consider child bearing as both paternity and maternity role. The institutions should implement job rotation and job sharing to enhance equality in the responsibility sharing (Bilton 2002, p.144). References Anne Llewellyn, L. A., 2008. Sociology for Social Workers. New York: Polity. Bilton, T., 2002. Introductory Sociology: Fourth Edition. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Christine L. Williams, K. D., 2010. Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace. New York: Emerald Group Publishing. Giddens, A., 2009. Sociology. New York: Wiley. James Fulcher, J. P., 2007. Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mark Kirby, W. K., 2000. Sociology in Perspective, AQA Edition . New Hampshire: Heinemann. Michael Haralambos, M. H., 2008. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: HarperCollins Publishers Limited. Nations, U., 2014, April 4. Gender Statistics. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from United Nations: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/default.html ODonnell, M., 1997. Introduction to Sociology. Nashville: Thomas Nelson & Sons. Robin Cohen, P. M., 2007. Global Sociology. London: Palgrave Macmillan Limited. Torben Iversen, F. M., 2011. Women, Work, and Politics: The Political Economy of Gender Inequality. Connecticut: Yale University Press. Read More