Managing Equality & Diversity at Work - Coursework Example

Gender pay gap Name Course Lecturer Date In today’s business world, women represent over 40% of the entire work force. This is because; more women have access to primary, secondary and even university education. This has in return offered them job opportunities that are much better than in the past. In third world countries, the women that are in paid employment approximate to 60% while in developed countries, the rate is at 70%. Women have therefore turned out to be more independent and their roles in their families as well as the society have changed drastically (Greene et al, 2005). In addition, more women are seen to be gaining political power over the years. For instance, the number of women in parliament increased by 73 % between the year 1995 and 2000. However, despite the progress that the women have made in attaining higher education and climbing the professional ladder, they continue to earn less income compared to the men. Notably, the men are still the majority in employment that is paid and are the holders of major managerial posts. In the year 2010 for instance, out of the 151 head of states that had been elected, only 9 were women (United Nations Summit, 2010). This paper is going to expound on what had caused the women to be disadvantaged in employment in the past and how they have managed to increase in numbers in the paid work force globally. It is also going to discuss in detail why they have continued to be paid less than the men and give recommendations on how equality can be enhanced as well as point out the ways in which gender diversity can be reduced in the working place. About four decades ago, due to religious, educational and social-cultural norms of then, women rarely engaged in professional work. They were mostly employed as domestic workers, crop pickers, tailors and office clerks. However, after the enactment of the higher education and equal opportunities acts in majority of the countries globally more women have attained higher levels of education. This has in return caused them to gradually attain more important jobs and their role in the work place has significantly become greater. In as much as majority of the women have successfully attained higher education qualifications, they are still facing adverse challenges in the labor market in their attempt to attain promotions or economic growth. In most cases, their level of education does not correspond with their level of pay. One of the greatest causes of the continuing gap in gender pay, where the women are earning less that the men is motherhood (Rubery et al, 2002). Due to their parenthoods responsibilities, they are considered not to be giving their maximum output at the work place. This is because; employers perceive that, a woman is likely to work part time or even quit her job the moment she gets children to take care of. Working part-time will cause them to earn a lesser pay than the one they would have received if they were working on a full time basis. This means that a woman’s level of commitment to her job is likely to be compromised at some point. Where a woman goes back to the job market after having taken a break from her career, in most cases, she receives a wage rate that is lower than that of the men who she has the same academic qualifications with. The reason may be that, by withdrawing from employment for a significant duration of time, she may tend to forget any training that she had acquired while working hence interrupting her employment. This career breaks led to the women losing ties with their employees. In addition, a woman who has no children has a lower chance of getting a promotion since she is considered to be a potential mother (Manning et al, 2007). The second main cause of the continuing gender pay gap and diversity at the labor market is direct gender discrimination. This occurs when individuals with equal academic qualifications and working experience receive unequal job requirements and unequal pays due to their difference in gender, age, religion, marital status and race. It also applies when an employee is treated unequally from others due to pregnancy or any form of disability. This affects the workers attitude and perception towards others. The organizations, upper management may take this attitude in their decision making. The favoured lot may end up being treated leniently and being considered to be more competent. The individuals being discriminated against may have tough rule applied on them and being allocated less responsibilities. Direct discrimination will therefore affect the organizations performance since the cohesion level among the worker is low (Redmond et al, 2001). Indirect discrimination takes place when the management of an organization makes decisions that tend to have an adverse effect on a certain group of people. It is seen to occur when a rule that has been passed and ought to apply to everyone in the organization can only be satisfied by a smaller group of the employees. For instance, the management can develop of a policy that does not favour an employee with a disability. The management ought to adjust the policy so that the needs of the disabled employee can be met. Occupation segregation is another major cause for gender inequality in the labour market. It can either be horizontal or vertical. Horizontal segregation explains how men and women tend to work differently and how they each pursue different careers (Bettio et al, 2009). Notably, women are more dominant in some occupations than others. Vertical segregation explains how men are more dominant in the well paying careers than the women. For instance, as noted earlier, women represent over 40% of the entire global workforce. However, research has it that, approximately 35% of those working women have been employed in the agricultural sector, while 15% are in the industrial sector (Allen et al, 2001). In addition, majority of those that are in the industrial sector have taken secretarial, nursing and teaching professions that give low earnings. Moreover, they receive lower incomes than their male colleagues in the same professions. The reason that has caused the women’s work to be that under-valued is that, they are seen to be the ones in charge of the most unrewarded work such as taking care of the children and family chores. On the other hand, the men are more dominant in higher grade jobs that are more paying such as engineering, law, medicine among others. This is because, unlike the women, they invest in their human capital so as to obtain the training and the required skills for the high grade occupations. It is important to note that, women who are in the male dominated fields tend to earn more than those who are in the fields that are dominated by women. However there are certain measures that the government and organizations can put in place so as to ensure that the gender pay gap is relatively reduced. The government through regulatory bodies can authorize pay audits for companies and institutions. The employers will be required to submit annual reports on the average incomes for both their male and female employees. In addition, when the management advertises for a position, it should indicate the minimum salary that it will be offering. This will ensure that, there will be no secrecy in the payment that is attached to that position. In order to deal with discrimination, every organization ought to have a complaint handler who is competent and credible. This will enable any employee who feels unjustly treated to have an accessible channel through which they can air their grievances. Supervisors have a responsibility of handling any micro-inequalities that might come to their attention (Browne, 2004). The employees have both legal and ethical responsibilities in order to ensure that every individual in the work place is treated fairly and equally. They can achieve this by complying with the workplaces anti-discrimination policies; being respectful when dealing with each other as well as valuing each other’s contribution to ensure organizations growth. The management can develop policies that support a working place that is diverse and discrimination free, one that accepts individuals from diverse backgrounds. During the selection and recruitment of staff they should ensure that the process is fair to persons with disabilities (A BS, 2003). By upholding fairness and equity in the organization, the employees morale will be enhanced leading to high levels of production. The management should promote transparency with their pay system. By making the information technology in the organization a secret, most women employees might remain unaware of the inequalities in the pay. They only realize it when they attain managerial positions. By undertaking training in the male-dominated occupations, the women will reduce occupation segregation in the labour market. Notably, women have improved on investing on their human capital. This means that, they now spend more funds on education and in professional training. Right from child hood; a girl should be allowed to choose the career that she would want to pursue in future (TUC, 2008). Her teachers, mentors parents and career advisers should assist the girl child towards developing a positive attitude towards the male-dominated occupations. This is achieved by assisting the girls to understand the benefits of working in other sectors. This will give them the confidence to select the subjects that will give them the required training and skills in the male-dominated professions. This will thereby assist in reducing the gender pay gap that arises due to occupation segregation. In order to ensure that the women get equal pays with the men with whom they have the same level of education and experience, organizations should develop wage structures for the various positions that they have (Seguino, 2000). This will ensure that employees will be paid in accordance to the position they hold rather than their genders. This will ensure that a woman gets the appropriate rewards for working in particular industry or occupation. In addition, forming of workers unions can as well assist the employees in fighting for their rights when they feel that they are being infringed. In order to ensure that the roles carried out by both men and women are of equal value, employees should evaluate their positions and ensure that they are not gender biased. For instance, in Portugal, a strategy for evaluating jobs in the hospitality industry has been put in place. It involves revaluing of the work so as to enhance gender equality. As a result jobs that are both male and female dominated have been revalued so as to ascertain whether devaluing of women’s work and discrimination is the root cause of the gap in gender pay. It is evident that the labour industry is to some extent unfair to expectant women and mothers. This is because, they are perceived not to be fully committed to their work due to their parenting responsibilities. However, their position has improved over the years since they can now be granted maternity leaves under the labour laws in most of the countries globally. During the leave, they are entitled to their salaries and any benefits thereof. They have a right to retain their current positions in their working place and where they are dismissed unfairly, they can legally claim for compensation or any damages (Wass et al, 2006). They should provide a flexible working environment and assist the women who are resuming into the labour market acquire back the skills they require. Organizations should structure working hours scale as this will favour the working mothers. They will be able to attend to their family responsibilities without having to quit their jobs. In addition, the management can offer care facilities within the organizations premises, where mothers can bring their children with them at the work place. This will assist them in balancing their work with work and motherhood. Organizations should develop policies that will allow the women working on part-time basis to have a chance of holding executive positions (Zeigler, 2006). From the above discussion, the gap in the gender pay still continues in the labour market. This is even after the enactment of equal pay legislations in most countries globally that outlaws rewarding men and women holding the same academic qualifications differently (Lewis, 1998). The gap is mainly as a result of both direct and indirect discrimination that persists in the labour market. It is important to note that, labour markets for both men and women have different offers even for similar positions. These differences are caused by occupation segregation, where women are few in the male dominated jobs that are mostly high grade and offer higher rewards. Women tend to concentrate on lower paying jobs and in most cases they earn less than the men in the same professions despite them having the same academic qualifications and experience. The reason behind this is that, women’s work is devalued and they are mostly associated with jobs that are unrewarded such as bring up children and housekeeping (Grimshaw, et al, 2007). The women’s level of education compared to that of the men is also a factor that has caused the gender pay gap to continue. This is because, women train in lower level jobs thus cannot secure the top profile jobs that are mainly high paying and mostly occupied by the men. Notably, expectant women and mothers are treated unfairly in the job market since the employers deem them not to be fully committed to their jobs. However, there are ways in which this gender pay gap can be reduced. This can be achieved by encouraging the women to invest in their human capital by training in the male-dominated fields such as law, engineering and science. This will allow them to secure high profile jobs that are well paying. The employers should ensure that they develop and ensure the implementation of policies that outlaw discrimination in their organizations. This will ensure the employees will embrace diversity and appreciate each other’s contribution. In addition, the women will be treated with equity and more so the expectant mothers (Yaish et al, 2003). References Allen, J. & Sanders, K. (2002) Gender Gap in Earnings at the Industry Level; European Journal of Women's Studies, May; vol.9: pp. 163 - 180 Bettio. F. & Verashchagina, E. (2009) Gender Segregation in the labour market: root causes, implications and policy responses in the European Union Brussels: European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Browne, J. 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(2006) Litigating Equality: The Limits of the Equal Pay Act; Review of Public Personnel Administration 2006; 26; 199-215 Read More