Difference between Work and Gender - PowerPoint Presentation Example

Difference between Work and Gender by Despite the fact that the world is transforming and aiming to reach some relevant racial, social, and gender equality there are still many differences between men and women concerning common issue such as family, work or attitude of society. Women received the right to vote relevantly recently and achieved the possibility to earn money and hold the same positions as men not more than a century ago. Men are historically regarded as those who make money and manage the most important institutions in the world. Obviously, male and female perceive work from different perspectives and it is visible in their emotional response, ambitions, workaholism, relationships with bosses and colleagues. In this paper I am going to examine the main differences in female and male attitude to work and prove that with the help of interviews. Most often men assess themselves and are viewed as more ambitious and aiming for rapid career promotion. Men tend to achieve fast results and climb a career ladder the faster the better. However, there is age difference between men and women who perceive career promotion as a goal. Young men between 30-40 are the most ambitious as first five years of career gives them a chance to understand what they want in life. While women show their highest ambitions by the age of 50 because at this age their efforts are not directed to children and family anymore. Moreover, women are more prone to constant development and adaptation at work and by this age their potential reaches the highest level. They also acquire necessary experience which is crucial for promotion in career by 45-50. However, most business does not give opportunity to exploit this potential. There is also no serious difference between men and women who work too much. Workaholism is a common issue between both genders and it is more connected to personal predisposition than to gender. General atmosphere for women at the working place has improved significantly. Women as well as men share top positions in many companies and employees do not differentiate much between working under male or female supervision. However, some women prefer working with male boss while men do not mind working with female boss. Women as managers are said to be more attentive and understanding to personal problems, more competent, and meticulous. Men are usually described as more demanding, strict but clearer in goals setting ad more professional. At the same time bullying at work from the boss’s part was equally attributed to men and women. That is why the stereotype of a strict male boss was overcome in recent decades (Shaw, 2013). Men and women are mostly similar in explanation of their motivation for work. Most female and male admit that financial aspect is the main reason why the work. However, more women than men have purely emotional feedback from work which suggests that women value work as the means of self-actualization more than men. It can be connected to historical situation when women could only perform the roles of housewives for a very long period of time, however, now they have plenty of possibilities (Shaw, 2013). Attitude to colleagues is quite different among men and women. Men are not prone to trust those they work with and aim to have individual projects instead of working in agroup. In difficult situations they will count on themselves only. Women usually value collaboration and often have friendly relationships with their colleagues that surpass work relationships. That is why women are often better team players than men who are more confident about their personal performance than the results of the team. It happens because women usually underestimate their own abilities and overestimate their colleagues` abilities which is opposite for men (Olson, 2013). I have decided to choose interview as the main method of empirical research. Barbara is a 35-year old journalist and her colleague Jim is 33. They were interviewed about their attitude to working atmosphere with colleagues and bosses, motivation, workaholism, and ambitions. Interviewer: What motivates you most in your work? J.: Work for me is the way of self-actualization and the possibility of financial independence. I knew that I wanted to be a journalist since school but what is more, I wanted to be a good journalist who is valued and rewarded materially for his performance. I.: What relationships do you have with a boss and your colleague? Does gender of a boss matter for you at work? J.: I perceive my boss as the professional who has more expertise and experience in a certain sphere. For me it actually does not matter if it is a man or woman, I asses only professional qualities. I cannot say that I build some relationships with my colleagues because in many cases when our professional interests meet, it may cause problems and tension. I.: Are you an ambitious person? Are you a workaholic? J.: I surely know what I want and how to achieve it. I started my career from the lowest and the least prestigious position in a paper and if I had not known what I wanted I would not have achieved the results I have now. In order to be able to have pretensions on a better paid position it is necessary to work overtime. Interviewer: What motivates you most in your work? B.: My work for me the possibility to do something useful for society first of all, I need this feeling. It also gives me self-confidence and the possibility for development. Financial aspect is not as important as it seems, if I wanted to earn more, I would choose a career of a lawyer. I.: What relationships do you have with a boss ad your colleagues. Does gender of a boss matter in work? B.: I worked for men and for women and to my mind working for a man is better. There is no place for emotions. And all is said and done concerns business only. Women try to bring personal in work and that is what makes it possible to have close relationships with colleagues but honestly, prevent an effective performance. I.: Are you an ambitious person? Are you a workaholic? B.: I can`t say that I want to achieve heights in career. After I have found the work I want to do without irritation and fatigue I am satisfied with what I have. Of course, I want to develop but I can write more and better, I do not necessarily need to change places. That is why I will refuse to work some extra hours and would rather spend them with my family. Therefore, for men emotional aspect of work is not as important as for women. Female need to feel feedback from their work more and usually achieve it from colleagues, friends, society, and their boss. Men mostly motivate themselves by financial profit and the opinion of environment does not play a great role for them. Relationships at work are an important factor for women that is why they tend to collaborate with colleagues and create more meaningful bond. Men at the same time perceive their colleagues as rivals and do not tend to collaborate with them apart from work. For men as well as for women the gender of a boss does not matter much, they value professionalism and experience. Men are also more ambitious because they do not seek self-actualization from work as much as women. They are more interested in professional success and financial reward. References Shaw, L. (2013). What gender differences still exist at work?, Business Matters. Retrieved from: http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/columns/opinion/20772/gender-differences-still-exist-work/# Olson, S. (2013). Gender Differences In The Workplace: Women Prefer Collaboration, While Men Distrust Their Coworkers And Desire To Work Alone, Medical Daily. Retrieved from: http://www.medicaldaily.com/gender-differences-workplace-women-prefer-collaboration-while-men-distrust-their-coworkers-and Read More