Canadian Labor industry - Essay Example

Canadian Labor industry Introduction Despite the fact that there were various forms of activism and advocacy in the early and the late 1900’s to facilitate equality between women and men in the labor industry, many women still faced various challenges in relation to employment. These forms of inequalities were not only apparent in the Western Nations such as Canada, but also extended to Asian Countries as well as those that are in Europe (Kwok & Wallis, 2008). However, these inequalities not only existed in the labor industry, but also in other socio-political dimensions for example voting and holding certain political offices. This research will focus on the characteristics of the Canadian Labor industry in the early and late 1900’s and, how they affected the equal participation of women in provision of labor services. It will be guided by the following research questions: What were the stereotypes associated with women in the Canadian Labor market and how did these influence allocation of duties as well as remuneration? How did gender roles, i.e. motherhood duties, affect women in the labor industry and what were attitudes of employers and other males employees towards women? Was there feminization of certain duties?Lastly, what were the efforts taken to improve working conditions for women in the Canadian set-up? Discussion According to Graham (1997), men and women in the 19th and the 20th century were exposed to different types of work-related activities, especially in cases where physical strength was not an imperative factor. Graham asserts that in the Canadian context, the essence of working was also associated with a reflection of gender identification. That is, social values such as cultural dimensions were basically used to create and maintain the essence of being a male or a female. Graham described this scenario as the sexual division of labor and posits that; to some extent, it facilitated economic development. The essence of gender stereotyping in the Canadian Labor market in the early and the late 1900’s can be traced back as early as 1660’s. During this period, groups of women, basically viewed as social outcasts were sent from France to Quebec by the then government. These women, inter-married with other settlers and gave birth at a rapid rate, approximately 30% higher than French women left back in the country, a factor attributed to proper nutrition and health (Bakker, 1996). However, gender stereotyping in relation to work, began during this time with women in Quebec associated with certain simple and light domestic activities i.e. washing, cooking, mending clothes et cetera. This dimension of stereotyping extended to the 1900’s where women were perceived as appropriate to occupy less physically and mentally demanding jobs such as sewing, washing and cleaning; these jobs were also less paying. Historical evidence also indicates that there are certain beliefs and attitudes that existed among the Canadian populace from as early as the late 1800’s to the early and late 1900’s (Stephenson, 1973). One of these beliefs was based on the fact that both men and women were usually assigned to various spheres of work by certain divine or supernatural powers, which were supplemented by man-made laws. This affected the manner that work was assigned to men and women: Major job opportunities were dominated by more males. Despite the fact that many women were involved in the Canadian Labor Industry in the early and late 1900’s, historical documents indicate that, women were perceived fit for fulfilling domestic duties such as raising children, washing and cooking (Stephenson, 1973). However, the essence of raising children as a duty performed by women was not considered valuable job. In some cases, women were viewed as effective educators, hence were usually assigned duties in elementary schools. The majority of the members of the Canadian populace considered women to be good at nurturing children, thus most women taught in schools referred as ‘dame’: Dames were schools where girls were trained on how to be good wives and mothers Despite the fact that women and men performed the similar duties, women were not remunerated as equally as male teachers (Horton Journal of Canadian History, n.d). During the early 1800’s to the early and late 1900’s, Canadian women also faced serious oppression due to certain biased religious beliefs. Interpretations of the Holy Scripture, asserting that women were not allowed to facilitate and undertake worship in public places were highly observed by many religious leaders. Some historians have also claimed that religion was majorly applied to ensure that minorities as well as women were extremely oppressed (Burke, 2012). Feminization of Work in Canada Feminization of certain duties has also been identified as a factor that led to association of certain duties with women. That is, certain duties were considered fit to be handled by women. According to Graham (1997), the aspect of feminizing duties was rampant in the Canadian Labor industry, leading to dominance of women in some duties. Occupation of office jobs is among the most feminized duties in the Canadian Labor Market. This structural change began as early as 1864, but before then, many companies were reluctant to employ women: Most women were associated with domestic work, while the males dominated White-Collar jobs. The reluctance to employ women in white collar jobs was first evident when the Canadian Federal Service only provided one women with a job vacancy (Kome, 1985). However, in the late 1800’s towards the early 1900’s, things began changing; a substantial number of women got employed as clerks for instance: Approximately twenty female candidates were awarded the position of clerks by the Canadian Government in the 1885 (Bakker, 1996). Later in 1894, the ‘Sun Life Assurance Company’ appointed its first female clerk, indicating a major paradigm shift from male dominated to a female-tolerant industry. By the early 1900’s, many employers learnt that women could participate as effectively as men in most of the office work, while in some cases, they could perform better in some office jobs such as: Typing and stenography, this led to work segregation (Bakker, 1996). Segregation of jobs led to an increase in the number of women employed as typists in Canadian labor market from 80 percent to 90 percent from 190 to 1930. Due to improved performance among companies that employed women as clerks, other rapid developing Canadian companies i.e. Finance and Banking Institutions, Manufacturing Industries et cetera, increased the number of women employees by approximately 20 percent, thus leading to increased number of women clerks nationally (Graham, 1997). Efforts taken to Improve Working Conditions for Canadian Women in the 1900’s There are various efforts that were taken by different stakeholders to fight for women’s right, not only in the labor industry, but also in other facets of the society. The aspect of fighting for women’s right began as early as the late 1800’s with Dr. Emily Howard, who pioneered the “Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association”, that was later named the “Toronto Women’s Literary Guild”. The objective of this association was to fight for women’s right, specifically in the labor market. It was associated with success in relation to improving access to education services among women as well as improving their working conditions (Cleverdon, 2011). In 1917, approximately 3500 women got jobs in heavy industries following the effects of the First World War. Some women also got employment as typists and clerks in Montreal and Ontario. Historical evidence indicates that the effects of World War One increased the recognition of the role of women in fulfilling political duties. Various women organizations supported the war, thus recruited many women to replace men in the job opportunities (Macdonald, 1912). In 1918, a Women’s War Conference was organized by the Canadian Government brainstorm issues ascribed to women’s continuity in provision of labor. This led to provision of equal opportunities to women to various political offices (Macdonald, 1912). Improved access to higher education for women in the early 1900’s was also attributed to the improved working condition for women in terms of: Better pay, conducive working environment et cetera. Feminization of certain jobs, triggered by better performance observed among women has also been associated with increased number of women employees in the early and the late 1900’s (Graham, 1997). After the First World War, many women were assigned duties as clerks, typists, receptionists and other office jobs. The late 1970’s saw the emergence of the ‘National Action Committee on the Status of Women’that did only focus on improving political recognition of women, but also ensuring the women had equal rights as male counter-parts in their working environment (Graham, 1997). Conclusion It is crucial to note that oppression of women workers in the Canadian Labor Market did not only affect women immigrants i.e. African Canadians and Asian Women, but also the native Canadian women although the level of oppression varied among ethnic lines. It is also apparent that the Canadian labor market was characterized by high level of discrimination against women, some of, which were not intentional, especially those driven social stereotypes towards women. As discussed earlier, various forms of researches have been in conducted in line with the oppression of women in the Canadian Labor Market in early and late 1900’s, the results of these researches have indicated similarity between the Canadian Labor Market and in other Labor Markets that were also characterized by oppression towards women. References Bakker, I. (1996). Rethinking restructuring: gender and change in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Burke, S. Z. (2012). Schooling in transition: readings in Canadian history of education. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Cleverdon, C. L. (2011). The woman suffrage movement in Canada ([2d ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Daniels, A. K. (1987). Invisible Work. Social Problems, 34(5), 403-415. Horton Journal of Canadian History. (n.d.). Horton Journal of Canadian History. Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.angelfire.com/ns/hjch/williams.htm Kome, P. (1985). Women of influence: Canadian women and politics. Toronto: Doubleday Canada ;. Kwok, S., & Wallis, M. A. (2008). Daily struggles: the deepening racialization and feminization of poverty in Canada. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press. Graham, S. (1997). Women in the Administrative Revolution: The Feminization of Clerical Work. The Business History Review, 62(4), 733. Macdonald, F. (1912). Women suffrage in Canada. Toronto: Toronto Suffrage Assiciation. Stephenson, M. (1973). Women in Canada,. Toronto: New Press. Read More