Career Development for Minority Women in the Workplace - Essay Example

Introduction

The problems of inequality of women and men and discrimination in the workplace between them are amongst the most frequently discussed problems with regard to the work conditions and equality of the rights of women and men. The explanation of this might lie in the fact, that historically men worked more than women and as a result had more rights in society. Therefore, such state of affairs has lead to increasing inequality between women and men. Despite this fact, there is a need to mention that the realities of society have significantly changed with the time. So, it is safe to claim that it is time to transform the workplace in order to reflect the changing realities of society. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to examine the workplace issues women face with work-life balance while trying to advance in their field of work. Apart from it, we will define the main stereotypes, which contribute to women discrimination in the workplace, describe the laws that protect woman’s rights against stereotypes and discrimination.

Definitions

Before defining the main reasons and stereotypes that contribute to emerging of women discrimination in the workplace, there is a need to provide the definitions of the main terms, which will be used in this work and provide their explanation. To start with, according to Business Dictionary, discrimination can be defined as “bias or prejudice resulting in a denial of opportunity, or unfair treatment regarding selection, promotion, or transfer” (NA, 2016). Apart from this, it is worth to be mentioned in most of the cases, discrimination is practiced commonly on the grounds of age, disability, ethnicity, origin, political belief, race, religion, sex, etc, or in other words “factors, which are irrelevant to a person’s competence or suitability with regard to particular position” (NA, 2016). The second definition of discrimination implies “unequal treatment provided to one or more parties on the basis of a mutual accord or some other logical or illogical reason” (NA, 2016). In comparison with Business Dictionary, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines discrimination as “a practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people” (NA, 2016).

Problem

As it has been already mentioned in the previous paragraphs of this paper, nowadays, the realities of modern society have significantly changed. Therefore, it is a time to transform the workplace in order to reflect these changes. To be more specific, talking about the changes of realities, it is worth to be mentioned that “demographics of the worldwide workforce have changed – in particular women’s participation has notably increased” (Wynen, 2015). As a result of this, such shifts are affecting worker need in both positive as well as negative ways. Inasmuch as these changes have accomplished immensely fast, most of the organizations and companies, both private as well as national have not adapted to the expanding caretaking responsibilities and work-life needs of the employees, especially women. Therefore, “the current workplace paradigm is placing growing stress on individuals and their families” (Wynen, 2015).

Purpose of review

Apart from defining the main problem of this paper, it also needs to be pointed out the main purpose of review. Therefore, it is to examine the workplace issues women face with work-life balance while trying to advance in their field of work; define the main stereotypes that, which contribute to women discrimination in the workplace; describe the laws that protect woman’s rights against stereotypes and discrimination. With regard to the purpose of this paper, it is worth mentioning that both men as well as women as caregivers of children “face unprecedented challenges in the worldwide workforce today” (Harris & Giuffre, 2010). For the first time in the American history, approximately four out of every ten mothers are primary breadwinners, and almost two-thirds are breadwinners of co-breadwinners in their families. Such tendency has significantly changed American marriages as well as families, where couples are working more collaboratively in order to ”juggle their careers and caregiving” (Harris & Giuffre, 2010). While for the men it is easier to cope with such difficulties, most of the women in modern realities face different stereotypes, which lead to gender discrimination in the workplace.

The explanation of this might lie in the fact, that the current model of work is still based in part on an outdated 1950s view when the majority of middle-class families had a single breadwinner and most of the women stayed at home to take care of their children. Therefore, while a caregiver was at home, the issues regarding caregiving did not directly affect the workplace and conditions of the work. Inasmuch as the paradigm has changed, nowadays, the workplace has to accommodate the needs of some workers, which leads to arising of regular conflicts between caregivers and employers and as a result affects “hiring, retention, and even promotion in the workplace” (Wynen, 2015).

It needs to be pointed out that due to the profound shifts in the workforce, such current situation is not sustainable for most of the individuals, families, communities, businesses, society, and women in particular. The explanation of this lies in the fact, that “the women’s movement and increasing social acceptance of women in professional roles have opened new opportunities for women to enter as well as advance in the workforce” (Wynen, 2015). Along with providing women with a wider range of rights and opportunities for the work, the shift in the workforce also caused a number of issues, which have to be solved. Therefore, it is safe to claim that women in male-dominated occupations face different obstacles to succeeding in the workplace. To be more specific, “the historical under-representation of women in specific occupations creates both a workplace culture that excludes female workers in favor of men and structural arrangement at the industry and organization levels that makes it difficult for women to secure inroads into these fields” (Harris & Giuffre, 2010). In addition to this, it is worth to be mentioned that this process is even more complicated and challenging for women with childcare and other family responsibilities. The main reason of this lies in the fact that such responsibilities of female “may conflict with pressures to adhere to the ‘ideal worker’ model that is based on breadwinner-homemaker family arrangement and requires total commitment to work” (Harris & Giuffre, 2010). Therefore, such stereotype among the employers has immensely notable impact on their decision with regard to the process of hiring the women.

In addition to above-mentioned stereotype, such attitude towards women also causes work-family conflict, which “can act as an important, and gendered, mechanism underlying women’s under-representation in male-dominated occupations” (Harris & Giuffre, 2010). Apart from it, “conflict between work and family responsibilities often stemmed from the long work hours expected of chefs and played a role in some of women’s decisions to leave kitchen work“ (Harris & Giuffre, 2010). In order to solve this issue, women use three main strategies, which include delaying or forgetting childbearing to succeed as a chef; leaving the kitchen and home work for another job in the culinary field; as well as adapting either work or family and making the two roles more comparable.

Apart from this, it needs to be pointed out that “women experience more emotional impact from work life conflict” (Harris & Giuffre, 2010). More than half of them are feeling rushed, pressured, exhausted, as well as have a higher frequency of conflict that men. Apart from it, the other fact that influences wok-life balance of women is the fact that women’s working cycles differ from men’s. They include more career breaks as well as more part-time paid work. These particular differences make their work-life balance harder to manage. So, in order to cope with above-mentioned issues, women use a variety of work arrangements, which help them to care their children. These arrangements include “flexible working hours, part-time work, shiftwork, work from home, and job sharing arrangements (Harris & Giuffre, 2010).

Practically all these strategies and approaches, which are used by women are based on the Equal Opportunity Act 1984, which “eliminates, so far as possible, discrimination against person on the grounds of sex, marital status, pregnancy, family responsibility or family status, race, religion or political conviction, age, or, in certain cases, gender history in cases of work, accommodation, education, the provision of goods, facilities and services, and the activities of clubs” (NA, 1984). In addition to Equal Opportunity Act, in order to cope with the difficulties, which can be caused due to the differences between men and women, they also use Government Funded Paid Parental Scheme. This scheme is eligible for working parents of born or adopted children, who are paid the National Minimum Wage for a maximum period of 18 weeks.

Research Question

During the work on this paper, we will provide the answers to such questions with regard to the inequality as well as discrimination, which most of the women face in the workplace. They are which laws are put in place to protect the rights of the women from discrimination, which work-life balance challenges woman face when they are trying to advance/get promoted in their occupation/career, as well as how they manage their wok-life balance using strategies and laws provided?

Conclusion

To sum it up, the problem of inequality between men and women is immensely important and needs to be researched and discussed. Therefore, in this paper we will examine the workplace issues women face with work-life balance while trying to advance in their field of work. Apart from it, we will define the main stereotypes, which contribute to women discrimination in the workplace, describe the laws that protect woman’s rights against stereotypes and discrimination.