Gender Inequality in the Workplace in Britain - Research Paper Example

Social norms often also decide on how much power and resources should be made available to men and women, and who should get what rights. Like class, race, and ethnicity, gender also shapes ones social and economic position. Gender disparity is so great a divide that, even though many societies may not have class and race differences, but gender asymmetry is always there, and is present even in the so-called economically developed countries like US or UK. Women in almost all societies are relegated to doing only household work and rearing children.

Even in the so-called modern societies like in Europe, and particularly in the UK, till the late 1970s, women were not considered in roles that were suitable for office work. It was during this time that sex discrimination legislation was brought in the UK as a “result of a long struggle by both feminists and the trade union movement leading to the Equal Pay Act 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act 1975. There are also recent developments in gender equality (Gender Equality Duty 2007) requiring public authorities, which include schools and colleges, to promote gender equality and counteract sex discrimination”.

2 So, various rules and regulations have been brought into place to try and gap this disparity, seen often at homes and also at workplaces. This article will explore gender inequality in the workplace that is very much in existence even today, in Britain. It will study data from the Office for National Statistics (UK), and from various journals, magazines and newspapers, and check the pay gap that exists between the two genders, and will explore whether men actually earn more than women. It will also conduct research to find out whether the job scenario in the UK offers more job opportunities for men, and will also study various materials to check whether men get more promotions than women, at the workplace.