Women and Paid Work - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Females become victim of such prejudice on regular basis, especially in field of paid work. Various researches have been conducted in the past to study factors linked with this social disorder. This dissertation is also focused on studying extent and causes of gender stereotyping in paid work. A comprehensive research has been conducted highlighting the critical findings and analysis in subsequent sections. An initial thesis and few preliminary conclusions have been drawn which shall be tested and verified through this study. This paper supports the belief that females have always been subjected to stereotyping and unfair treatment at places of business. Earning lower salaries, bearing prejudiced behavior from colleagues and facing sexual harassment are common examples of obstacles faced by women in our society. Radical measures are required to be taken at national level so as to evolve the role of women in our society and in its corporate culture, promoting sexual equality and empowerment of women. Research Findings I have conducted a thorough research, studying various literature material and conducting interviews and surveys. I developed a quick questionnaire and distributed its copy to each of the participants, including several feminism activists, working women and men holding executive positions in reputable organizations. This was accompanied with a short candid interview to study verbal cues, body language and tone of behavior of participants towards this notion. I ensured to include interviewing such people in my research who claimed to have views contradictory to mine, in order to help me perceive other side of the story: I kept an objective approach with an open learning mind and with no preconceived notions. It was observed that the health sector gives most employment opportunities to women, nevertheless, in lower positions and salaries. Other white-collar jobs such as banking, law and engineering only witness an immaterial proportion of women entering the field. The survey statistics revealed that about 60% of low positions and low-wages jobs are held by female employees. However, I was told by most of women that they still work at such pay scales out of financial needs. Female participants, ranging between younger age groups of 20 and 25 years, representing the largest number of employees in the population selected, claimed that they work to stay independent and earn livelihood for themselves. Other reasons included keeping busy instead of staying home, pleasure working and supporting families by single parents. Younger females claimed to have faced heavy unemployment and loss of jobs during slump periods. The employment rate for such women, ageing between 25 and 44, faced a sharp decline and fell to 77.1%, while for those aged 25 to 44, it came down to 77.3% under recessionary pressures. However, surprisingly for females with ages between 55 and 64, the employment rate, not getting affected by downturn, enhanced by 1.2% in recent years. Similarly, employment rate for married women having children also grew over the last three decades. On the contrary, I was told by men, occupying influential positions in organizations, that they still prefer hiring women without children since they are capable of giving more time and commitment. During interviews with working men, I discovered an odd fact that there are social preferences of some married males to maintain distance from female colleagues at work since they wouldn’t like gaining proximity with them and causing any trouble at home where they live with their wives and ...Download file to see next pagesRead More