...Running Head: WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE 1 Women in the Workplace Michelle Hyatt Dr. Kenneth Larimore, Ph.D. Introduction to Sociology September 4, 2011 WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE 2 Women have been treated very unfair for many, many years throughout the workplace. Women today are almost as equal as men in the workplace, but it has taken lots of work to get there. In this paper, you will read about the beginning of when women started working, some of the key examples as to why women have been treated unfairly, and through today, how things have changed. Only after you read this paper, you will then see why women have fault so hard to be just as equal as men in the workplace. Women have always been know to raise children and take care of the home and honestly that was their only job. You agree? Well, before they started working within the workforce with men, this is exactly how their lives were. They got married, had kids, and then raised the family. Raising the family consisted of cooking, cleaning, and doing whatever was necessary to ensure that the kids and their husband was taken care of. “Most families lived off of a single husband’s income, which was very challenging at times, especially for the middle-class family. Back in the 1900’s, wages paid to a semi-skilled working man were around $12-$15 a week” (Smith, 1994, pg 61). Looking at today and the inflation that has happened over the years, this is what some people make per hour. As making a living got...
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...Issue: Gender discrimination/tensions are still very prevalent in today’s “equal society.” Although many people believe gender discrimination is mostly a thing of the past, it is still existing as an invisible barrier in one of the most prominent areas of life: the workplace. This paper will discuss occupational sexism and it’s effects on American attitudes. In American popular culture, women are viewed as adorable and sweet, subjectively positive traits that suit them to hearth and home, but also as too emotional and insufficiently logical to accomplish the work of the world. I believe that although progression has been made toward overall gender equity, the battle is far from over and must continue. Purpose: By incorporating facts and statistics from varying sources such as the Wall Street Journal, I plan to show my audience that despite considerable progress over the last quarter century, women workers are still perceived as less competent than men. My goal is to raise awareness with hopes of providing a better understanding among my readers. Obstacle: I believe that the biggest obstacle that might interfere with my stated purpose is the unwillingness to change. Moreover, I feel that the male-dominated workplace will be unwilling to relinquish the reigns of the American jungle. The audience might not agree with my purpose for a few reasons. Some might feel that the progression made over this past quarter century is fine the way it is. Others might firmly believe that a woman’s...
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...Women in the workplace: Obstacles they may never overcome For decades, women have been striving for gender equality in the workplace. Since then, there have been several laws that have been passed to project and protect gender equality. One of these laws is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and this law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Although these laws are enacted, many places of employment do not implement these laws. Because of this, gender equality in the workforce has been very delayed, and women are still struggling for equality. The feminist movement has been ongoing for several decades, and although the movement has made tremendous strides towards total gender equality in the workplace, there are some barriers that will never be overcome such as salary differences, gender stereotypes, and anatomical differences. What is Discrimination, and how does it affect women in the workplace? The legislation defines discrimination as treating one person in a less favorable way than another person (“overview…”). In the workplace discrimination is evident in all areas of work. Discrimination can range from unequal pay to sexual harassment. More specifically discrimination can be based off of 9 grounds: gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, and membership of the traveler community (“overview…”). Women in particular often experience this discrimination when trying to obtain a job...
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...activity, and a resulting decline in government spending. Under such conditions, the loss of jobs is a familiar side-effect of the bitter medicine of companies cutting costs. Women, who are more highly concentrated in fields such as government, healthcare and education, are less immediately affected by the economic downturn in comparison to male dominated fields. Blue collar industries such as construction and manufacturing are more sensitive to the economy, as recession results in a rapid fall in demand for such services. This means jobs disappear faster and in larger quantities. Women in the public sector are also protected by unions, unlike the less-regulated private sector. However, when governments do eventually cut back, females suffer profoundly. Contractionary fiscal policy, often one pursued in recession, causes cuts in public education and public-sector service jobs. Any government spending designed to remobilize the economy is often directed towards stimulating investment, for instance in infrastructure, rather than injecting resources into public sector industries. Thus, the reemployment rates for men are more distinct, despite the initial debacle. Inequality is also an influencing factor. While women have come a long way in reducing the disparity between the proportion of men and women in the labour force, and gaining higher representation in better-paid jobs, some employers may believe that male workers will clock longer hours or be less of a liability during...
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...Women in the Work Place What was once thought to never happen has become more and more of a necessity in the workplace, women. More and more companies are starting to put women in the higher levels of management due in part to the knowledge and skill women have. Women are just as qualified as men in many aspects of today’s society. However, this is not easy since there is still an overwhelming sense of gender bias in today’s workplace. Many corporations feel as if women are not as good as white men. Men hold 96% of all top executive jobs in America today. There have been several turning points in Americas’ history for women and it has helped women start to work their way up the corporate totem pole. Deutsche Telecom has made it a point to have at least 30% of the places in executive development programs held by women. They are also starting to have the company revolve around the work environment and work-family issues. They are currently looking into expanding family leave and giving manager more flexible hours. Deutsche Telecom is also looking to expand the number of places in company child-care programs. With Deutsche having a 30% quota it appears to me they are trying too hard to move away from the gender bias. Women should not have to worry about fitting a quota. The quota can be seen as disturbing to women; however, on the other hand it shows that women can hold higher ranked positions within their company that they may not be able to hold in other companies...
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...to play in the international market. According to Susan E. Jackson, who conducted a study on diversity in the workplace, during the past years, nature of the workforce, has grown. The interest of firms in “diversity” and multicultural environment is sensibly grown. Companies have focused their attention on programs that intended to promote diversity, to reduce stereotypes, to create good and healthy multicultural environments. Examples of such programs include, non traditional work ( i.e. home work stations), training programs, employee benefits such as parental leave and dependent care assistance. The interest in managing diversity successfully is widespread. Anyway, despite recognition of the importance of diversity, many firms are just beginning to evaluate and adjust human resources management in the direction of multicultural environments. Many issues have to be discussed and solved yet. Many problems are still present when we talk about diversity in the workplace. WOMEN AT WORK In the past women were generally hired on part- time positions or for low responsibility jobs because it was understood that their priority was taking care of their families and children. Unmarried women left their position once they married. Married women instead, quit their job once they were pregnant. Moreover, women were generally considered less capable than men and less oriented to high responsibility positions. Today things...
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...Working Mothers Many women today are facing choices that their mothers never had to face. One of these choices is whether or not to go back to work after having a child. The thought of going back to work was practically unheard of in the 1950's. However, in the 1990's it is not whether the mother will or will not go back to work, but rather a question of when. When did this choice to return to work become set in stone? Why do the mothers of today have to work outside the home versus working in the home, much like their mothers or grandmothers did? When one thinks of the subject of working mothers, many differing opinions come to mind. What will happen to the child, will the mother have sufficient time to bond with the baby, how will household chores be divided, and so on. When thinking of working women, two models come to mind. One of which is paid employment that has a protective and beneficial mediating effect. Employment protects women against certain negative aspects of being full-time homemakers and mothers, such as monotonous housework, dependence on the male partner for financial and emotional support, increases self-esteem because they are contributing to the world they live in. These women receive a renewed interest in life because they are in the thick of it. They are living life to the fullest. This model is the one that is constantly referred to as "bad" because it paints the woman as someone who does not really care about the effect of working will have on...
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...Is everyone living in New York treated fairly at the workplace? If you said yes, I would say many immigrants living in the New York State would disagree. Actually, according to the United States Census Bureau, “Over 37 percent of New York City residents were born in another country with a total foreign population of 3,066,599 since 2011.” (Quote) New York City is known as the melting pot for all ethnicities; it is historically famous for Ellis Island and for being known as the gateway port to America. However, there is a group not counted for in the U.S. Census Bureau number which is undocumented immigrants. According to Passel’s analysis of 2000 to 2006 data, there are 374,000 undocumented workers in New York City, making up 10 percent of...
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...Over the course of the past century in the United States, women and their presence workplace have been constantly shifting. There have been many changes, both economic and social, that have helped pave a new road for the life of a working woman. Based on the information that I have gathered, three key points of interest stand out. They are economic dependencies, the evolution of women’s employment and the “doing gender” theory. Each one of these factors has had their own impact in shaping the working woman of today, especially in comparison to those of fifty years ago. For this research paper I chose to interview two women that I felt were ideal candidates. They were my grandmother, Marion, and my best friend from high school, Leah. My grandmother, Marion Young, was born in the 1920’s and grew up as a child during the great depression. Marion told me that growing up during this time was hard, and it had a important impact on the way she lived her life. In the late 1940’s she got married to my grandfather, Vance. At that time they were both working full-time jobs. Marion had a high school diploma, which during that time period made it extremely easy for her to find a job. To Marion a job was nothing more than work, and she never saw it as anything more. She never cared about what kind of job she had, just as long as she had one. The types of jobs she held ranged from a switchboard operator, to a legal secretary, and even a teaching assistant at the local public...
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...Men and Women in the Workplace All across American there are millions of people that go to work each day to earn a living. In recent years, the amount of money that we are bringing home is not nearly as much as we have been paid in the past due to the national recession the United States is experiencing. When looking at specific careers, there still seems to be some discrepancies in the pay for a man versus a woman. Despite what the average American income is, men are currently making a higher salary than women in the same career field because of different standards set for each gender. According to the latest census statistics, United States women still earned only seventy-seven cents on the male dollar in 2008 (Fitzpatrick 2008). That is as recent at five years ago that women were still not making the same as men. Decades ago when women were fighting for their rights and equalities, they never would have thought we would still be experiencing these difficulties into the 21st century. A lot of careers are limited to women in general because of the gender bias that they place on that specific career role. Some of the most common jobs for college-educated women include teaching and nursing, careers that are known for their lower pay. Where as a man who has the same college degree can go on to be a business executive or scientist and earn a dramatically different pay. There are some women that do opt for a more male dominated career field. In those fields in particular...
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...Ceiling And Women In The Workplace Sabra D. Pope SOC 490: Social Science Capstone Professor Sandy Smith October 10, 2011 There are far too many businesses around the world that either choose to or unconsciously interfere in the progress of women into higher positions. This problem, even if it is unconscious, can usually be back-tracked to the beginnings of a woman’s entrance into the workplace. This problem can especially be traced if she exhibits any proclivity for moving into management and a desire for moving further up the executive ladder. The reality is that women hold far fewer positions in management and executive ranks is not a new view. Women face many obstacles when trying to advance up the corporate ladder. Two of these obstacles are discrimination and stereotyping. But, the concept that is not new but may be unexpected is that there is the impression that many more obstacles are placed in a woman’s path from the beginning of their career when contrasted with a man’s career. There are several factors that seem to impede women from reaching upper management level positions. Two of these factors are the fact that women are less likely to get involved in variable pay schemes that are based on their work performance but there are also a lot fewer opportunities to obtain mentoring from those in executive positions. Ever since women have sought equal pay for equal work economists have tried to present an explanation of the pay gap between women and men...
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...Communication in the Workplace: The Difference between Men and Women Jaime Vance Sullivan University 1Q-CMM401X-A2-07-Principles of Conflict Management-Winter 2014 February 8, 2014 Abstract Communication in the workplace has the potential to be difficult for everyone at times. It is not always easy to navigate communication successfully while working with varying individuals. Even in a workplace where women and men share equal standing, knowledge and experience, differing communication styles may prevent them from working together effectively. In the end, however, men and women can learn to communicate effectually, working together towards a common goal of success. Communication in the Workplace: The Difference between Men and Women It is not a new concept: Men and women perceive the world differently. They communicate in different ways, have varying perceptions of the same experience, and see the world through dissimilar eyes. Yet, these differences do not have to serve as barriers to effective communication. Rather, these differences can be an asset for successful workplace communication. Gender barriers, while evident, do not have to be barriers from successful communication in the workplace. In order to best navigate the road to cross-gender communication success, it is best to pinpoint these evident differences, using them to an advantage, making these differences common knowledge and tools for best practices. Gender barriers themselves can be “inherent...
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...their ways of communicating. Gender is known to have the most differences in everything, especially communication. Women like to talk and be open about any topic, while men are quieter and more to themselves. Since men and women tend to have different points of view, their conversations tend to be different. Research shows that “women use communication as a tool to enhance social connections and create relationships,” while men use communication to show dominance and reach actual goals (Merchant, 2012). Women like to have many close relationships with friends, co-workers, and families, while men don’t care for close relationships outside their immediate family. Woman will use the relationships she establishes in a workplace to get the things she needs done. While a man will use his dominance to get what he needs done. If a business values employees’ opinions than a demanding approach wouldn’t be as effective as a persuasive approach, which a woman would use due to her relationships. Women communicate to build relationships and bonds with people, to help them through life. They have concern for others; they aren’t like men, selfish. Women don’t have the tendency to use powerful words and speak politely. Women tend to become emotional and attached to conversations. Because of the soft speaking, women are looked upon as the weaker gender. Society makes women have less self assurance and...
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...Women and Work in Canada - Sociology 345 Assignment 3 Essay Prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace is a concern in Ontario. It is agreed that sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination and is recognized as a violation of human rights, however it still exists today. Sexual harassment violates women, lowers their self esteem, and leaves them feeling helpless, and in some cases trapped in a job that they cannot afford to quit, so they endure the harassment. Employers suffer because it creates a hostile work environment, productivity may decline, absenteeism increases and there is a high turnover of staff which can lead to the loss of valuable employees. Although there are laws and Acts that prohibit sexual harassment, it is not easy to stop. Most women attempt to deal with their situations informally instead of taking formal action because they fear reprisals, such as losing their job or being treated unfairly (Hughes & Anderson, 2010). In addition, the inherent inequalities and social conditioning that occurs between men and women plays a major role in the struggle women face within the workplace. Although the government of Ontario have put several initiatives in place to counter-act sexual harassment, it is not certain that any of these initiatives are making a positive impact on the situation. This paper will examine the different initiatives taken to negate sexual harassment against women in the workplace. According to "Women and Work in Canada:...
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...Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace SOC203 March 25, 2013 Discrimination against Women in the Workplace Although some of the worst employment discrimination was eliminated by the Civil Rights Act in 1964, many women continue to undergo unfair and unlawful discrimination in the workplace. Even though women have come a long way, they are still being discriminated against in certain fields of work. High-end jobs, most commonly large companies and medical fields, continue to discriminate against women even though they have the same job qualifications as men. This qualifies as a social problem because women deal with discrimination in the workplace especially large corporations and also in the medical field. Many women have the same qualifications but still are paid less than most men. There are many different ways in which women are discriminated against in the workplace. The exclusion of women altogether solely due to their gender is a now rare example of how women are discriminated against. Although women have gained overall access to the workplace, sex discrimination still persists in additional ways. There multiple examples of potentially unlawful gender discrimination that women face. Hiring and firing are the first two problems women often face within the workplace. An example of this is woman applying for a job in which they have experience and excellent qualifications, but are not hired because some of the company's clients are more comfortable...
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