Gender Inequality on Women in the Workplace - Thesis Example

Effects of Gender Inequality on Women in the Workplace INTRODUCTION Working women are usually faced with a multitude of challenges. On top of balancing their duties and responsibilities as members of their families, they need to be efficient workers and competitive in their chosen professions. One main challenge is the issue of proving themselves as worthy employees to gain equal opportunities with men. Some work places may not be too accepting of the empowerment of women in employment and may strip them of their dignity to make them realize that they do not belong there. Many researches have investigated the problem of equality rights and gender prejudices in the workplace. Many claim that because of the established dominance of males in the vast number of areas of public life, women are often placed in a disadvantaged position from the very beginning. Studies have revealed that such gender inequality have grave effects on women’s perceptions of their efficiency and motivation. Some women fall into the trap of giving in to bleak self-fulfilling prophecies that they are not as good as their male co-workers and eventually prove the expectations to be right. RESEARCH QUESTION/ HYPOTHESIS This research paper explores the perceptions of women workers of the realities in the workplace regarding gender equality. It will attempt to investigate the grievances and fulfillments of women regarding their current jobs, pay and career advancement and probe the psychological and emotional effects these have on their job performance and motivation. It is hypothesized that gender inequality exists in workplaces, especially in bigger companies. This is exhibited by a large pay discrepancy between men and women who hold the same position and job descriptions. This study will investigate the workers’ perception of gender inequality across the board. The hypothesis will be: Women will perceive gender inequality within the organization while men will not perceive gender inequality. (Independent variable shall be gender (male or female) and dependent variable shall be their perception of gender inequality in the workplace.) LITERATURE REVIEW Due to the significance of equal opportunities to citizens the world over, laws have been passed to ensure that they are available to everyone. These laws have been designed protect anyone from being discriminated against by reason of sex, marital status, ethnic or national origin, color, race, nationality, age, disability, religion, and differing terms of employment, including pay for jobs of equal value. 1 In the United Kingdom, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (amended 1986 and in the Employment Act 1989) makes it unlawful to discriminate in terms of gender who is offered the job; opportunities for promotion, transfer and training. (Equal Opportunities Management Guidelines) The Gender Equality Duty, which is included in the new law, requires public bodies to eliminate sex discrimination and promote equality throughout their services, policies, and employment and recruitment practices. The monumental world-wide response to the Platform for Action for the resolution of women’s issues delivered in the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women still reverberates until the present time. Much of the initial initiatives regarding this Plan of Action include creating new mechanisms upgrading existing structures and energizing participatory processes. The movement against discrimination of women, particularly those who are disabled either temporarily (by pregnancy, illness, etc.) or permanently has likewise been strong.On October 15, 2003, the Honorable Stefania Prestigiacomo, Minister for Equal Opportunites of Italy read the Statement on the Advancement of Women to the Third Committee, on behalf of the European Union. She states that “The European Union appreciates the efforts by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and urges States to accept the amendment to Article 20, paragraph 1, which would allow the Committee to enjoy a greater flexibility. “ (Prestigiacomo, 2006) Many critics claim, that in exerting all their efforts to advance themselves in the professional sphere, women become unable to perform successfully as mothers, wives and life partners. However, the latter are among primary duties of all women. The issue of equal rights and family priority indicate that without neglecting their basic duties to family, women can still get an education, which is equal to the education of men. The majority of job placements should be available to women. Presently, women now can occupy positions even in professions considered male-dominated. Many researchers try to prove that women are more responsible and hard working and can perform with more efficiency than their male counterparts. A study by Kattara in 2005 of career challenges of female managers in Egyptian hotels found out that the majority of female managers were not in situations that would lead them to the positions of general managers. “The study detected several factors preventing female managers from reaching the glass ceiling. The stepwise multiple regression showed that 35.5 percent of the variance in the existence of challenges could be explained by four factors; gender discrimination, relationships at work, mentor support and lack of network access”. (Kattara, 2005) In the hospitality sphere there exists a strong gender-segregation in work. Burgess, in her research, claims that there exist considerable discrepancies between the career development and salaries of men and women in the hospitality industry. The most prestigious and, therefore, better-paid job positions are occupied by men (Burgess, 2003) Female employees tend to work in housekeeping, the kitchen or in the food and beverage departments. While there tends to be an equal amount of men and women in front office, top managerial positions still tend to be held by men. There appears to be a constant conflict between mutually beneficial relationships and contemporary situations, where males dominate the social, political and professional spheres (Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, & Grunewald, 2000). . Many women claim that they have fewer opportunities to succeed in their work than men do and have to exert greater effort in order to be promoted in their jobs. Men are more readily employed and more supported by their employers than women (Bergman, 2003). . Within each occupation, a considerable hierarchy can be seen. Vertical segregation implies that women quite seldom occupy top posts in management in the European Union and in the rest of the countries (Equal Opportunities Policy and Statements). The Career Development Group maintains that there is social disadvantage due to the fact that there exist particular social roles which influence the public lives of both genders. These roles were established in patriarchal societies and are therefore strongly influenced by social power, which usually belong to men. Being influenced by the rules of society conduct people yield to these stereotypes (Equal Opportunities Policy and Statements). The problem of pay gap was well studied by the Women and Equality Unit and the Equal Opportunities Commission. These units aimed to improve the position of women in the workplace and to increase their wages (Advancing Women in the Workplace, 2004) They studied the employers’ actions and other factors which determine the lower payment of women’s wages. Research funded by the European Commission showed that generally women who work full-time, receive only three-fourths of the hourly earnings of men. This holds true in the European Union in all professions with equal qualification levels and ages of men and women (Equal Opportunity, 2006). The pay gap is partly explained by the fact that women are much more likely to be in lower-grade, lower-paid occupations than men. Another factor contributing to the pay gap is that women in management have less seniority and are rewarded at a lower rate. The pay survey of women in the City of London found a clear age-related factor in that salaries for men and women diverged during their mid-twenties and the gap increased with age (Wren, 1990). One of the researches, conducted in 2002 in the USA studying 500 companies showed that women occupied not more than 15.7 % of corporate-officer positions and only 5.2 % of women were top earners. The other characteristic feature is that the greatest part of all women, who occupy top positions, take not line but staff positions (Hymowitz, 2003). Staff positions are less prominent and therefore women are less likely to receive promotions and attain the very top of job hierarchy Studies have shown that workers’ job efficiency have much to do with how they perceive their responsibilities and significance in their particular job positions. Valentine (2001) indexed a variety of research studies on how perceptions of own jobs and expectations of other people in the workplace of one’s job efficiency may create self-fulfilling prophesies. Findings in these researches show that despite their managerial competencies, women must unfortunately deal with negative stereotypes that can impair their job mobility and advancement. As leaders, women may be viewed as passive, overly relationship-oriented and emotionally unstable. The masculine task-oriented styles of leadership highly favoured by management are not always exhibited by women. Many of the negative ideas about women in management may affect how they are treated and accepted at work. Despite representing almost half of the workforce, womens presence is much less noticeable in positions with executive responsibility. Even worse, women are frequently given assignments that are excluded from social and professional networking concluded that women reported greater career barriers and greater importance of performing well on the job than did men using matched samples of male and female executives. These negative ideas unfortunately lead some women to question their own supervisory abilities, to evaluate themselves harshly on performance appraisals, and to set low performance expectations. They experience more motivational problems and career uncertainties compared to men, and this could be attributed to their negative work experiences. DATA COLLECTION SUBJECTS: One hundred female subjects whose positions range from rank and file to top management are employees from 5 selected workplaces shall complete a questionnaire provided by the researcher. Twenty respondents (10 males and 10 females) shall be randomly selected in each company. MEASUREMENTS AND INSTRUMENTS: The questionnaire to be answered is in the form of a likert scale. The respondents shall choose their responses to the questions by choosing a number from 1 to 5 depending on their agreement or disagreement . The reliability and validity of the questionnaire shall be tested with a pilot group of 30 respondents to check if all questions are clearly understood in the same perspective. DESIGN: To pursue the objectives stated in this research, a questionnaire will be distributed in five different companies. For each company, 20 respondents will be randomly chosen. Profile information (educational background, years of work experience, marital status, salary, etc.) shall be collected along with the questionnaires and shall be charted for comparison. The questionnaire shall focus on the women employees’ jobs focusing on their feelings about their current job descriptions, pay and career advancement and the psychological and emotional effects these have on their job performance. DATA ANALYSIS PLAN: The total sample for this study is 100 and the data shall be entered and analyzed through the Statistical Program for the Social Science (SPSS). Frequency counts, percentage distributions, correlation, and ANOVA analysis will be used to the objectives. HUMAN SUBJECTS: The subjects are female adult employees whose ages range from 18 and above. Their work experiences may vary in terms of duration, position or industry. INFORMED VOLUNTARY CONSENT: Consent shall be sought from the randomly selected subjects before beginning the questionnaire. If informed voluntary consent is not given, then another subject shall be approached to fulfill the required number of subjects that shall participate in the study. POTENTIAL RISKS: It is possible that subjects will not give truthful answers to the questions and such behavior shall affect the validity and reliability of the results. To prevent or minimize the risks, the researcher shall brief the respondents on the importance of honesty and assure them of confidentiality. A common script shall be used for the briefing and debriefing of the respondents. TIME PLAN: FOUR MONTHS First Month: submission of research proposal search for prospective workplaces to conduct data gathering Second Month securing permission from prospective workplaces that will participate in the study random selection of respondents data gathering Third Month analysis of data presentation of results Fourth Month editing, completion and submission of research project REFERENCES Advancing women in the workplace. Labour Market Trends. 2004 Aherne, A. M.(2003) Women and Workplace Discrimination Trial. Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from: http://www.oxbridgecareers.com Armstrong, D.,(2006) ‘Cracks in glass ceiling Hotels are opening doors for women in management’ Chronicle, May 11, 2006 Bergman, B. (2003) The validation of the women workplace culture questionnaire: gender-related stress and health for Swedish working women. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research Beyond Promises: Governments in Motion One Year After the Beijing Women’s Conference, September 1996 Burgess, C. (2003) Gender and salaries in hotel financial management: it’s still a man’s world. Women in Management Review Doherty, L. (2004) Work-life balance initiatives: implications for women. Employee Relations. Equal Opportunities Policy and Statements. Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from http://www.careerdevelopmentgroup.org.uk Equal Opportunities Management Guidelines, Retrieved on October 26, 2007 from: http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8B9E4B30-7483-4919-B78C- 46454D9288A6/0/EqualOpportunitiesManagement.pdf Farrar, A., Hardigree, C.E. & Sammons, G.(2003) Demographic Differences In Perceptions Of Sexual Harassment Among Hospitality Management Students. HTL Science – May 2003 – http://tca.unlv.edu/HTLScience Hsueh, C. (2001) Hospitality students’ understanding of and attitudes toward sexual harassment in the workplace. Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2001/2001/hsu Hymowitz, C. (2003) Why Women Professionals Miss Great Opportunities. The Wall Street Journal Investigation: Free to Choose - tackling gender barriers to better jobs.(2005) Retrieved on October 26, 2007 from: http://www.eoc.org.uk Ismail, A.(2002) Pay and conditions. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research Ismail, A., (n.d.) Women In The Workplace, Retreived on October 25, 2007 from: http://www.oxbridgecareers.com/17_women.html Kattara, H.,(2005) Career challenges for female managers in Egyptian hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Prestigiacomo, S, (2003)EU Presidency Statement - Advancement of Women, Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from http://europa-eu-un.org/ Purcell, K. (1996) The relationship between career and job opportunities: women’s employment in the hospitality industry as a microcosm of women’s employment. Women in Management Review Recruitment and Career Development. Retrieved on October 27, 2007 from http://www.careerdevelopmentgroup.org.uk Schultz, V., (2003) ‘The Sanitized Workplace.’ Yale Law Journal. Volume: 112. Issue: 8. Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., Reed, G. M., Bower J. E., & Grunewald, T. L. (2000)Psychological resources, positive illusions, and health. American Psychologist. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html Valentine, S., (2001)‘Men and Women Supervisors Job Responsibility, Job Satisfaction and Employee Monitoring’. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. Plenum Publishing Corporation Verkaik, R. (2005) Thirty years on, women still face harassment in the workplace: Equal Independent. The (London). Wren, J. (1990) Women’s Pay in the City. London: Jonathan Wren Executive Read More