Gender In The Workplace

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GENDER INEQUALITY

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GENDER INEQUALITY

Gender Inequality

Carlos Jimenez

ENG 122 – English Composition II

Dec. 14, 2020

Gender inequality in various workplaces leads to negative effects in the organization, mostly to its productivity, but also to morale. There are strategies which have been created to ensure that gender inequality in the workplace becomes a thing of the past. However, the situation still exists in several workplaces where female employees are still discriminated against from holding some positions in the organization or unequal wages from their male counterparts. This causes friction and negativity in the business as many women simply desire the same opportunities and pay as male employees. However, some organizations do not allow certain positions to be held by a woman (“5 Top Issues Fueling Gender Inequality in the Workplace — As You Sow,” 2020). In many companies, CEOs are predominately male. Currently, there are very few female CEOs in the in the corporate world. Even though it is argued that there are other positions that males cannot be assigned to, it is more beneficial to have gender equality in the workplace as various views are brought forth from different people. The issue of gender inequality in the workplace not only affects the employees themselves, but also how the world views the companies values, as well as, but not limited to, restricting new perspectives to help approach problems in a different way.

Although gender inequality has reduced dramatically, the problem still persists in many companies. In many organizations, female employees are the ones who are most affected by gender inequality in the workplace since there is improper access to the best education and health facilities, which limits them to the stated qualifications for specific positions in various organizations. In most cases, this situation leads to a drop in self-esteem and morale with the female employees, and some may end up having the mentality that they do not deserve to work in a big organization. This affects the organization in various ways such that the male workers in the organization lack positive job morale as teams may be involved in conflicts due to their ego and pride, mostly if they are in different levels in the organization and avoid doing certain duties such as getting coffee for the fellow workmates. Lack of morale in the team members of an organization has to lead to a low corporate culture that ultimately ends up affecting the consumers.

However, statistics have proven that most of the highly educated men in America tend to secure high positions in the workplace, such as large corporations, and positions of power. As a result, these men are paid more than the female employees in the organization. Unequal pay in the workplace favoring one gender has always been an issues, and is spreading even to the newly formed organizations and the small companies. As a result, the respective businesses’ productivity tends to suffer, and to some extent, the company ends up collapsing. Moreover, this unequal pay situation leads to conflicts between the workers, and most of them choose to leave their jobs. A common reason for labor turnover in various organizations recently is the unequal pay of employees, favoring the male gender, creating a low image of the company to the community and customers. Payments of employees should be made equally to increase the morale of the employees, contributing to placing the organization in apposition where productivity is high and constant, hence attaining the organizational goals.

Additionally, there are cases in the country where the female gender in several workplaces gets more promotions than the male gender (“5 Top Issues Fueling Gender Inequality in the Workplace — As You Sow”, 2020). Even though male employees are more likely to get the positions as leaders in many organizations compared to females, female employees are mostly promoted from one level to another. In other businesses with various related branches in different parts of the country, the female employees are mostly promoted to the highly productive branches and developed. This condition has occasionally led to mental health issues for the individuals as they work to their best but still do not get the chance to be promoted. Depression and pressure of jobs in most individuals are proved to be a result of working very hard for a long time and yet not getting what the position or recognition they deserve. A female employee can indeed be assigned to a particular organization and get promoted before a male employee working in the same organization. This would cause the male employees feel discriminated against in the business. (“The Effects of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace,” 2020). Promotions in the workplace should be done fairly and equally among all the employees for the team members’ progress and the organization in general.

Sexual harassment has been commonly reported from the workplace where the female is unable to get their work done in a positive and functional work environment due to the amount of sexual harassment from other employees. A survey conducted on various organizations in the country has recorded many female employees who have left their jobs due to sexual harassment from colleagues. This state has caused most women to avoid working in various companies due to the fear of getting assaulted. Moreover, organizations have been left with a majority of male employees since the female employees have felt like they need to leave their jobs due to assaults. Likely, there are reported cases from women where they argued that they secured their respective jobs after having sexual relations with the organization’s managers. Due to the high cost of living, the respective employees could not deny it since it was the only requirement to get the jobs. These days we are seeing more and more of these cases coming to light, not only in corporate America, but in many industries. Women are more likely to speak out against harassment when there are other employees behind them to shed light on this situation. Forcing female employees to such situations due to their desperate condition of earning their incomes is a vulgar abuse of power. This may cause mental illness, and shock to the participants and spoil the company or executives image. Human rights should be respected in all workplaces to avoid assaulting workers in the organization.

In conclusion, gender inequality still exists in the workplace in different ways where the female gender is mostly affected negatively. The challenges of most organizations result from gender inequality in the business, such as increased conflicts among the team members since they are not treated equally. Leadership in most companies is made of the male gender since the women are not given a chance to lead, mostly in the CEO sectors. Having unequal pay for employees in the workplace in favor of the male gender causes low productivity in the business. Therefore, all workplaces are expected to consider gender equality for the effectiveness and success of the business (Hall, 2020).

References

5 Top Issues Fueling Gender Inequality in the Workplace — As You Sow. As You Sow. (, 2020). https://www.asyousow.org/blog/gender-equality-workplace-issues.

The Effects of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace. Small Business – Chron.com. (, 2020). 15 December 2020, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-gender-discrimination-workplace-2860.html.

Hall, S. (2020). 10 Benefits of Gender Equality in the Workplace (International Women’s Day, 2020). Business Envato Tuts+. Retrieved 15 December 2020, from https://business.tutsplus.com/articles/gender-equality-international-womens-day–cms-34678.