To What Extent Do Racism and Sexism Exist in the Present Workplace - Coursework Example

To what extent does Racism/Sexism exist in the present workplace and the does concept of the Model Minority play a role? Introduction Discrimination is the act of looking down upon, rejecting and not providing equal opportunities to a person because of certain underlying factor. In the world, today, it is less pronounced to see an outright discrimination, but that does not mean the practice has seized. The ills of this practice have become promiscuous with its victims always suffering at the hands of individuals in silence. In this research paper, a deeper analysis shall be done on the effects, causes, and solutions to workplace discrimination based on race, sex and model minority. It takes on the role of a critical essay, which tries to step into the world, that only a few are willing to talk with the hope of ending this vice. Among the supporting articles that shall be included will be use of published reports, use of case studies and at times use of critically analyzed personal opinion. Literature Review Indeed, several theories have been examined by different truth-seekers concerning racism in order to come up with facts about the subject. It is well documented that there are various ways in which racism is practiced in the society context, and its negative effects among people have been witnessed. It is considered as a habit that does not promote development, in the office or at home. In essence, it hinders the development of any project; thus its consequences are easily identified. In the workforce nowadays, many workers are of the opinion that they are not treated fairly. It is common to hear complaints from workers that they are being subjected to stressful working conditions due to one factor, or another. With reference to a research performed by an independent agency for workplace conditions, certain issues arose among the challenges people face. Among them was discrimination against people of color, women, and the assumptions on the model minority. Still on the same issue, the center of research on women showed that a combination of the two groups was among the worst individuals who faced problems at work. Thus, this report shall draw out the similarity it has in terms of its position towards women and people of color. Bridging Research to Practice Racism is defined as the discernment of one because of their race. It is mostly enshrined by the belief that certain races can perform certain jobs better than others and mostly it is based on historical and past events. This background is never true, and it has been shown that it is mostly used as an excuse by racists in defending their behavior. On the other hand, sexism is the discrimination against women to perform certain job description of tasks because they are not men. Lastly there is a model minority which as the name suggest contains a small number of race or group that is treated as special. At the work place, the combination of the three factors is manifested in different ways. In the case of sexism, the victims who are mostly women are viewed as not good enough. This culture is mostly common in technical jobs that are viewed as men jobs. In the engineering sector, to find a woman in that profession is a big hustle and the trouble did not start there. It is something that has entranced itself in as early as the First World War when men were responsible for construction or aircrafts and warships in army barracks while women were only good for light jobs (Bradley, 2007). Their job description was only as tea girls and receptionist and the same has stayed that way for years. The same can be said for In the medical sector where surgeons and doctors are mostly men while women are nurses. The underlying cause for this has been mostly due to historical and past instances and does not reflect on the inadequacy of women as hard workers. It is also true that men also are discriminated against in some jobs. Housekeeping jobs are viewed as feminine jobs and men have been led to belief that it is not worth it. The stereotype of certain jobs as in the paragraph above is a clear manifestation that truly the expectation of a society can hinder and influence the type of occupation one ends up in (Green, 2003). A person may have a passion for a certain career but because of the pressure from family and friends, it becomes impossible and suicidal to that person to pursue his/ her dream career. It is unacceptable for a man to start a day-care system in the community even if he has the necessary qualifications allowing him to run the business because it is un-cultural and alien for such practice to be observed or even tolerated. The standards set by the society become the obligation and goal of every person to ensure they do not go against. The other issue that is related to sexism at the workplace is the rate of pay. Yes, it is uncommon to have women in technical professions but when they make it there, the way they are treated is wanting. In a hospital or an engineering firm, two individuals of the same job group and work description may be paid different because of the mere factor that one is a woman and the other is a man. The belief that men are masculine, professional, and technical while women are emotional, timid, and home keeper also is evident in high flying careers, as well. The argument is always that women never put as much effort to such professions as their male counterparts. According to a national survey, as of 2006 in the United States, women in the engineering sector were being paid 0.89% for every 1% their male counterparts were earning. The underlying issue was that, employers argued that the women employees mostly never had a tight work schedule and were not ready to go the extra mile to serving in their assigned area (Cortina, 2009). The issue as they reported was that women mostly came late or left early especially those with kids at home meaning they could not be relied upon in case of extra hours in serving the company. The glass ceiling theory is another way to look at the effects of sexism and racism at the workplace. The glass ceiling theory states that opportunities for a certain group of people becomes lesser as on moves up the employment ladder. The effect of this in general applies to mostly women and people with color in the United States of America where the number of cooperate heads and managers is small for black and Latinos (Crosby et al, 2007). This means that if one is a woman and a colored person e.g. black or Latino, the chances, are even lower. According to the research paper; perceptions of workplace discrimination among black and white professional-managerial women, the number is wanting. The effect of all that was an imbalanced workforce which even though more than 47% of the workforce were women in the corporate world, only 4% of all cooperate heads were women and among that number, only a handful were colored women. The issue to do with the glass ceiling theory was found to be as a result of another ill practice among employers. The same study had shown that, among a number of applicants for jobs, white individuals were at a higher chance of getting a call requiring them to attend an interview than colored individuals. This was an eye opener as the study was actually carried out by monitoring actual job applicants from the black and the white community. And even though the two had equal qualification the white counterparts stood a better chance of attending an interview due to their names which sounded white. This information was disturbing because it meant that a person loses a chance because of a name that sounds African and not because of his/ her academic or professional qualification. Thus, a combination of African American name and the fact that someone was a woman meant that their likelihood of getting an occupation from the word go was next from impossible (Toward ending workplace discrimination, 2013). The reason for this bizarre belief by the employers was that white people had better work ethics and cleaver when compared to the African Americans. Weight among the two genders at the workplace is viewed differently. Women are usually criticized if they do not watch their weight and it becomes worse in male dominated jobs. They end up becoming cautious of what they eat because society and in particular the professional woman is viewed as a creature whose outward appearance is more important that what they know. In the managerial and high level position of cooperates such as CEOs, the men there are obese and overweight but no one judges them unlike the cases where women are overweight (Colley et al, 2005). In some professions, it becomes a requirement to have a certain weight limit for women and this clause disorients and disqualifies a lot of them even though they might be professionally qualified to run a particular cause in a given job description. The main reason why weight becomes an issue for women is the fact that the men and in particular those in established professions objectify women. There have been reports of women being subjected to inhuman conditions at the workplace just because the men do not respect them. In the advertisement and sales industry, some go to the extent of using women as sexual objects to try and drive up sales. This becomes worse in the fashion industry where indecent clothing and nudity is not a weird thing. This objectification of women, however, does not affect a particular race of women but cuts across the entire gender. Women become the target of many attacks because of this view taken by the men and it has led to sexual harassment at the workplace, sexual violence and to some extremes there have been reports of rape by men colleges at the workplace. This problem still exists though it might not be that pronounced, its victims are always put into threats of losing occupation in the event when they speak out against the practice (Cosby et al 2004). However, some women have taken advantage of their sexual objectification to advance their careers. In sectors where the bosses are known to use women, some intentionally dress and behave in a seductive way that ensures they are noticed. The end goal of most women, who practice this, is to get to the top of the management and built a name for them. They usually trade sexual favors for better treatment and promotions, and this may be an official arrangement between them and their bosses or others use tricks. It is common to hear cases where the boss and his mistress get into an affair and the mistress who is mostly a junior staff records and keeps information of their affair only to use it later. These women use blackmail to twist the hands of their bosses and gain advantage over their colleagues by use of recorded video clips, text messages and phone calls. Lastly, racism at the workplace is clearly manifested in the nature of the job being analyzed. This is because most employers seem to have a lower opinion of immigrants and colored people whom they consider as lacking in skills. Most well-paying jobs have a small number of African Americans or Mexicans because of this belief held by most employers. In cases where these groups of people find employment, it is usually in lower grade jobs that generally require more manual and less analytical skills (Lee, 2009). Even in multinational companies where opportunities are there to grow, these groups of people are only found at the lower end of the corporates with no chance of growing and advancing in their carriers. All of these analyses is usually based on an analogy to do with the model minority where a certain group is viewed as being better. In the United States of America, the white community is regarded as the superior race and being a colored person is a disadvantage when it comes to job opportunities. Things become worse for women who are also colored because then the odds become worse. The Jews and Chinese Americans are viewed as viewed as the model minority with most people believing that they are more clever, smart and resourceful when it comes to the workplace. Thus it is common to find Asian Americans and in particularly Chinese being absorbed readily into technical areas such as programming and Information technology sectors whereas, in the medical sector the white community has a good representation of their own there in surgeons and doctors (Green, 2003). Jews are mostly found as head of corporations and well established companies meaning that the notion of a superior race still exist in the 21st century even after the abolition of racism and other race related discrimination practices. Discussion On the positive side, the model minority is proving to be a roadmap at some workplace. This is because most corporations have started recruiting new personnel on the basis that require them not to be from this “superior” races in a way that is to ensure a balance in personnel representation. When such positions are advertised, one of the requirements is that the incoming employee should not be from these races. Some experts argue that this in itself is another form of racism as it blocks access to employment of these model minority people due to the mere fact that they have in the past been well represented (Lee, 2009). The argument is there and genuine but as a solution to a long history of misrepresentation of certain races from certain job groups, it’s at least a good place to start. Therefore, this research intends to have its readers and analysts have the detailed perspective of a common employee. It is only from such experience and information that sound policies and decisions can be put in place to see to it that workplace discrimination is reduced if not stopped all together (Cortina et al, 2009). Through the research, the writer hopes to stir discussions to have these problem put in the public opinion and further analysis and research. By giving people a chance to contribute in the discussion, we shall ensure that every voice of the misrepresented is heard and where possible a solution provided. Through this research, it is the hope of the writer to have policies set up to ensure there is gender equality at the workplace. The heads in charge of the public and private sector can be urged to prioritize these policies and see to it that they are fully implemented to the letter. Society and in particular the cooperate world can come up with steps to counter the misrepresentation of certain races and genders by setting up rules and regulation (Bradley et al, 2007). The perfect way to start can be ensuring that not more than two third of a group of employees is from the same gender or race. For women and in particular those of color to break the glass ceiling effect, a perfect way to start would be to have most of them first sit at boardrooms at corporations. This would ensure they get a chance to promote and build their own. It should, however, not be mistaken for promotion just because they are women or anything, but it should be purely based on merit. By availing such chances to qualified women, it becomes the drive and determination of women to grab and use these chances to improve global society. References Bradley, H. et al (2007). Workplace cultures: what does and does not work. Queen Mary: University of London Cortina, L. et al (2009). Selective incivility as modern discrimination in organizations: evidence and impact. University of Michigan. Press Colley, J. et al.(2005). Corporate Governance. McGraw-Hill Education Cosby, J. et al (2004). The psychology and management of workplace diversity. Wiley and sons. Print Crosby, J. et al.(2007). Sex discrimination in the workplace: multidisciplinary perspectives. Wiley & Sons. Print Editorial Board. Toward ending workplace discrimination, Retrieved: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/opinion/toward-ending-workplace-discrimination.html?_r=0 Green, T. (2003). Discrimination in workplace dynamics: toward a structural account of disparate treatment theory. Oxford University Press Lee, J.(2009). Unraveling the “model minority” stereotype: listening to Asian American youth. Teachers College Press Read More