Diversity in Organizations: Sexism Issue - Term Paper Example

 Diversity in Organizations Fifty years ago, human resource management was considerably simpler because our work force was strikingly homogeneous. In the 1950s, for example, the U.S work force consisted of primarily of while males employed in manufacturing, having wives who stayed at home, tending to the family’s two-plus children. Inasmuch as these workers were alike, personnel’s job was certainly easier. But times have changed. And with these changes have come a new workforce, one that by the year 2020 will be characterized as quite diverse (Crittenden, 1994, p.18). Such work diversity has been brought about by the equal employment opportunities for men and women. With the entry of women into the workforce, prejudice has also entered. Today, we find two kinds of sexism attacking the women at workplace – hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. While hostile sexism attacks women directly by way of degrading them during a conversation, using vulgarity at them or shouting at them. On the other hand, benevolent sexism attacks them indirectly by reminding them their traditional roles of an obedient wife or a submissive girl friend and tries to pull them down. A self study of Ambivalent Sexism Inventory results showed my percentage of hostile sexism to be 2.45 and my percentage of benevolent sexism to be 2.91. A sampling of five different countries was tried. The results showed that the men in any country scored more on hostile sexism than women of that country. When compared with the average scores of benevolent sexism among men and women of different countries, I was able to find that the percentage gap was small. Insight on Hostile and Benevolent Sexism Psychologists distinguish between “hostile” and “benevolent” sexism (Glick & Fiske, 2001, pp.109-118; Glick, Fiske, Mladinic, et al, 2000, pp.763-775). The technical definition of hostile sexism is a set of beliefs about women – especially feminists: they see sexism where it does not exist, whine about discrimination when they lose fair and square, want to control men, and are sexual teases. The technical definition of benevolent sexism is the other side of the same coin. It is a complementary set of beliefs: women are purer, more refined, and more moral than men, and should be cherished, protected, and financially provided for. Men and women who endorse hostile sexist attitudes also tend to endorse benevolent sexist attitudes. Further, cross-nationally, men’s and women’s attitudes are correlated: nations with more sexist men are also nations with more sexist women. And, finally, nations with less legal gender equality show higher sexism scores. Gender Perceptions and attitudes Experimental data demonstrate that we do not see other people simply as people; we see them as males or females. Once gender perceptions are invoked they work to disadvantage women by directing and skewing our perception, even in the case of objective characteristics like height. In one example (Biernat, Manis & Nelson, 1991, pp.495-502), the experimenters exploited the fact that our schemas include the correct information that men are on average taller than women. In this experiment, college students saw photographs of other students and estimated their height in feet and inches. The photos always contained a reference item, such as a desk or a doorway, so that height could be accurately estimated. Unbeknownst to the students who were doing the estimating, the experimenters had matched the photographs so that for every photograph of a male student of a given height was a female student of the same height. But the students were affected by their knowledge that men are on average taller than women. They judged the women as shorter than they really were, and the men as taller. In this experiment, as is typically the case, there were no differences in how male and female observers perceived the others; we all have non-conscious hypotheses about males and females and we all use those hypotheses in perceiving and evaluating others. The important point about this study is that a genuinely objective characteristic, height, is not immune from the effects of gender perceptions. Improvement of Ambivalent Sexism Inventory results The results shown by the ambivalent sexism inventory can be improved only by changing the gender perceptions. Individuals should be seen as individuals and not as male or female. A number of studies have shown that men tend to emerge in leadership positions in U.S. culture because they are more likely than women to exhibit traits that are believed to “go hand-in-hand” with positions of authority. These traits include (1) more aggressive be­haviors and tendencies; (2) initiation of more verbal interactions; (3) focusing of remarks on “output” (as opposed to “process”) issues; (4) less willingness to reveal information and expose vulnerability; (5) a greater task (as opposed to social) orientation; and (6) less sen­sitivity, which presumably enables them to make tough choices quickly (Baird & Bradley, 1979, pp.101-110). Thus, cultural expectations may create a self-fulfilling prophecy, with individuals exhibiting the “female traits” of focusing on process, social orientation, and so on more likely to be relegated to operational and subordinate roles. Women have to confront sexual harassment to a much greater extent than men do. Women have had to forfeit promising careers because they would not accept the sexual advances of men in positions of power and did not feel they had any recourse but to quit their jobs. Anita Hill’s testimony at the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings in October 1991 was a national turning point on this issue. Since the hearing, many more women have come forward with complaints about sexual harassment in the workplace (Carlson, 1999, pp.94-95). Role of Human Resource Management As women, both natural born and foreign citizens become the dominant employees in the work force, Human Resource Management will have to change its practices. This means that organizations will have to make concerted efforts to attract and maintain a diversified work force (Joinson, 1995, pp.82-85). This includes HRM offerings fall under the heading of the family-friendly organization (Moskowitz, 1997, pp.18-96). A family friendly organization is one that has flexible work schedules and provides such employee benefits as child care. Organizations that have made the greatest strides in successfully managing diversity tend to share a number of characteristics. These factors are a commitment from top manage­ment to valuing diversity, diversity training programs, employee support groups, accom­modation of family needs, senior mentoring and apprenticeship programs, communica­tion standards, organized special activities, diversity audits, and a policy of holding management responsible for the effectiveness of diversity efforts. References Baird, J E & Bradley, P H. 1979. Styles of Management and Communication: A Comparative Study of men and women, Communication Monographs, 46, pp.101-110. Biernat, Monica, Manis, M & Nelson, T E. 1991. Stereotypes and standards of judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60 (4):495–502. Carlson, M. 1999. Sexual Harassment, Business Week, Chapter 999, pp.94-95. Crittenden, Ann. 1994. “Where Workforce 2000 went Wrong,” Working Woman, August, p.18. Glick, P. & Fiske. S. T. 2001. An ambivalent alliance: Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality. American Psychologist, 56:109–118. Glick, P., Fiske S. T., Mladinic A, et al. 2000. Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79:763–75. Joinson, Carla. 1995. “Cultural Sensitivity adds up to Good Business Sense,” HR Magazine, November, pp.82-85. Moskowitz, Milton. 1997. “100 Best Companies for Working Mother,” October, pp.18-96. Read More