The challenges that women face in the workplace
Discuss about the Exploring Equality And Diversity.
Women in the traditional society were victimized and at times even denied an opportunity to work on the same level as their fellow men. In the modern day, some advancements have been made, and they have helped in empowering the modern women. However, there is much to be done, and this is because women are still facing different challenges at the workplace (Boyes, 2015). There is a certain mentality that has manifested not only in men but also in women which have created an attitude where the woman at the workplace has been perceived as inferior and less capable as compared to her fellow men at the workplace. Women at the workplaces and especially in industries that have been dominated by men for a long time face a lot of challenges and for them to attain a better position they must prove that they are worth by working as twice as their fellow men or even giving up their dignity to receive favors from men who might be dominating the industry.
Most of the challenges that a woman faces at the workplace are only related to the perception of the society and not the truth about a woman. Some of the challenges include the woman being seen as weaker, people believing that a woman can only clinch to a higher position in an organization through favors and not hard work, and lack of clear understanding of the nature of a woman from the management or leadership of an organization. According to Zambas (2018), gender wage gap is still a problem that is affecting the global employment sector. What is more discouraging is that the gap is not characterized by the input of the employees but by the attitude and perception that employers have towards a woman.
A man and a woman who is on the same employment level and perform the same tasks are likely to receive different salaries. The reason behind it is because the society has perceived the woman as a weaker human being. Despite efforts from even some of the most successful employment sectors in the world, the discrimination is still rampant and much ought to be done. According to Graf et al. (2018), there has been progress as far as the issue of gender wage gap is concerned. However, much needs to be done and this is because a woman at the same employment level with a man still earns 82% of what the man earns. Women have proven that they are capable of being productive and that can be seen in the case of some of the powerful women in the world like Oprah Winfrey, Angela Merkel, Melinda Gates, Mary Barra, Susan Wojcicki, and many more in the global business arena.
Gender wage gap
Getting a promotion in an organization especially if it is dominated by men is a challenge to a woman. Sometimes it is not about the input of the woman or the decisions of the leaders in the organization but the attitude of other employees. There is superiority that is exercised by most men in the global employment sector where they feel that they cannot be led by women (Graf et al. 2018). The ego and the attitude becomes a challenge to the women at the workplace because they are denied an equal opportunity to grow and lead. Though sometimes the women might clinch the higher positions, being in those positions while they are competing with their fellow men becomes a challenge (Boyes, 2015). The success of a leader is determined by the co-operation that the leader receives from the people that he or she leads. When a woman is in a higher position in an organization, sometimes he might be faced by the challenge of leading because she faces opposition from men who believe that a woman should not hold a higher position at the workplace when there are men who can hold the positions.
Women also face the challenge of being perceived as people who cannot earn their success legitimately. The society and the employment sector have reduced a woman to a tool that can be used by powerful men. Most of the members of the society believe that when a woman rises to a higher position, she must have done so through compromising her morals or integrity (Graf et al. 2018). As a result, the women who are already in higher positions are stereotyped and dubbed immorally. It is a challenge to work in an environment where people think that one only got that position through favors. It becomes even harder when one is expected to produce results that are twice better as compared to men’s to prove that she is capable of holding the position.
When it comes to an understanding the nature of a woman, there is much for many organizations to do. A woman is created differently from a man, and that should be a consideration at the workplace (Graf et al. 2018). The environment at the workplace should make it easier for a woman to be effective as opposed to limiting the capabilities of a woman. At the same time, there are other aspects that different a woman from a man and they include pregnancy and monthly periods (Graf et al. 2018). The two might seem to be insignificant, but they expose a woman to a lot of challenges at the workplace. There are times when the cycles of a woman affect her productivity and moods. During this period, it is significant to understand that it is natural for a woman to be that way. However, many associates it will lack emotional stability. An understanding of the woman nature should come in handy because it is through understanding that conflicts and biases can be eliminated (Graf et al. 2018). A negative attitude towards a person who is going through a natural cycle is not helpful because it makes the person feel inferior and unwanted thus affecting her productivity. To sum it up, the attitude that women at given at the workplace affects their productivity and makes some of the women feel inferior, and this is a challenge that can extend to their psychological being.
The superiority complex of men in the workplace
An organization depends on the input of each employee for it to be successful. It is imperative for every employee to note that he or she is in the organization to work along with others to achieve the organizational goals. However, sometimes the workplace tends to be a frustrating place for others who might be different in gender and abilities. It is for this reason that there is a need to create awareness among the employees to make sure that the workplace does not become a place to contribute to increased stress levels among some of the employees.
Awareness is aimed at making sure that all employees are conscious of their actions and they are careful not to offend others. Some of the behaviors at the workplace might be affecting a section of the employees while the people who discharge them do not have the intentions of doing so. Creating awareness will enhance the level of consciousness and will help all employees to be considerate before the utter words from their mouths. Actions, words, and behaviors can lead to unconscious biases which might lead to discrimination, harassment, victimization, and bullying (Boyes, 2015). The manual is aimed at helping all employees to understand the effects of unconscious bias and by them knowing the negative effects; they will be in the best place to be considerate and careful so that the issue of biases at the place of work can be eliminated once and for all.
- Discrimination
Discrimination is termed as the aspect of practicing favoritism at the place of work. It is imperative to note that sometimes the acts of discrimination are motivated by the will of the executer. However, there are times that the acts of discrimination are not motivated by the will of a person to offend others (Graf et al. 2018). However, the actions end up hurting people even if they were not intended to hurt them. Unconscious biases are dictated by beliefs, and that is evident in the case of women marginalization at the place of work.
Unconscious bias can lead to discrimination when one has a belief that a section of people is better than others. A good example can be seen in the case of the challenges that face women in the workplace. There is a mentality that women cannot be as effective as men and some of the managers and supervisors have that mentality even though they do not think that it is discriminatory (Boyes, 2015). When it comes to allocating responsibilities, because the managers and supervisors believe that men are better, they end up allocating responsibilities to men thus leaving women out and denying them an opportunity to showcase their potential capabilities. Even though the managers and supervisors might not have wrong intentions towards the women, it is apparent that their unconscious bias leads to discriminating women against men.
- Victimization
Stereotypes and perception of a woman’s success
Victimization is the aspect of looking down on people due to unjustified reasons or unfairly. At the workplace, victimization takes place when the leaders look down on some of the employees or believe that a section of the employees is not justified to get certain treatments or benefits. Unconscious bias can lead to victimization because it stereotypes a section of people and therefore in the case of any flaw, one is convinced that the stereotyped persons must be responsible (Boyes, 2015). The unconscious bias that is related to victimization comes in place when a person has a belief that a section or certain persons cannot possess specific capabilities. Therefore, if people were given a task or a responsibility that they are supposed to perform together, and the task fails, the person with the unconscious bias ends up pointing an accusing finger to the people that he believe have no capabilities of being effective even if they were not responsible for the flaws. As a result, a section of the targeted persons ends up being unjustly accused.
- Harassment
Harassment is aggressively intimidating or piling pressure on someone. Harassment is a wide concept, and the type of harassment is associated with the behaviors that the perpetrator executes. People harass others because they believe that they are inferior thus should not be treated with respect and dignity. Therefore, it is apparent that the behaviors of harassment are motivated by the thoughts of the perpetrator (Graf et al. 2018). Unconscious bias leads to one believing that there are people who should not receive fair treatment either because of their background or because of their actions. Unconscious bias leads to harassment because one has already created a perception that specific persons should not be treated well. When the perpetrator engages in the acts of harassment, he or she believes that it is justifiable to do so while in the real sense it is not. With this in mind, it is apparent that the unconscious bias leads to one harassing others.
- Bullying
Bullying is the use of one’s superiority to intimidate or hurt. Bullying is one of the issues that are facing the employment sector where the senior employees use their superiority to bully the junior employees. At the same time, there are cases of bullying that are present in same level employees. Sometimes bullies are people who think that what they are doing to their victims is justified and this is because there is an unconscious bias that convinces them a specific type of people should be maltreated (Graf et al. 2018). Unconscious bias convinces one that some things even though unjust deserve to happen to some people. A good example can be seen in the case of colleges and high schools where the immigrants and the new students are bullied. The bullies have created a culture that new students should go through torture for them to be initiated to the school students’ system. In respect to the example given, it is apparent that unconscious bias creates a specific perception and belief that leads to bullying.
Understanding the nature of a woman in the workplace
Different studies have been conducted to look into the challenges that women face in the workplace, and it is evident that working as a woman is not as easy as working as a man. Zambas (2018) focuses on different issues that women face in the workplace. Looking at her presentation, it is evident that the woman at the workplace is facing numerous challenges. The literature supports the theory by outlining some of the challenges that women face at the place of work. The theory has focused on the attitude point of view where most of the challenges that women face have been associated with the attitude that people have towards women. One of the aspects that the literature touches on is the aspect of seeing women as lesser effective employees as compared to their male counterparts (Boyes, 2015). Looking at the theory, the same aspect has been highlighted where the issue of wage gap has been brought to the picture. The literature supports that women who work in the same capacity as their fellow men are paid lesser. Considering that employees are paid based on how they perform when a section of employees are paid lower just because they are women, it is apparent that they go through challenges and the reason behind it is because they are viewed as inferior employees.
Zambas (2018) also focuses on the problem that is associated with the pregnancy of women. Looking at the theory presented in part A, it is apparent that one of the challenges that women face in the workplace is lacking people who are compassionate about their conditions. Some organizations fail to understand the women when they are pregnant, and some leaders may think that the women are taking advantage of their condition. However, the truth of the matter is that the women go through challenging times. Looking at the literature provided, it has supported the theory by highlighting the same problems as highlighted by the theory.
The best and first step in overcoming unconscious bias is accepting the possibility of the presence of the unconscious bias. In most cases, people fail to overcome an issue because they live in denial. Unconscious bias is motivated by factors that might be within. The background and the society are some of the motivators of unconscious biases. Therefore, one might have unconscious bias not as an intent to hurt others but as a tradition inherited from the society or the background. By acknowledging that unconscious bias is present, one gets the courage to face the negative effects that come along with unconscious bias.
Employee Manual: Introduction
The second step is identifying the areas where the unconscious biases are more effective. Unconscious biases can affect people in different ways. For example, when a person is brought up in a family that does not give women the freedom to make choices, the person might have a challenge in allowing the wife to make some of the critical decisions at home (Boyes, 2015). On the other hand, if one has worked in a background that has no space for women to succeed, the person might have a problem in letting women succeed. Looking at the two examples, it is apparent that the unconscious biases affect different behaviors. Therefore, when a person identifies the areas in which the biases affect the behaviors, it gets easier to deal with the issue of unconscious biases.
The third step is trying to be friendlier. It is imperative to note that the unconscious behaviors lead to one engaging in activities that are not pleasing unknowing and unwillingly. A good example can be seen in the cases of discrimination and bullying. Unconscious biases lead to bullying and discrimination and therefore if one took time to be friendlier, the conscious side the person would stop him or her from hurting people that he or she has already established relationships with (Boyes, 2015). Creating a friendly relationship affects the involved party. There is a bond that is created between the parties and the bond guides the involved parties thus making it hard for them to offend each other. Therefore, if there was an unconscious bias, it is eliminated by the friendship.
Becoming aware of the positive stereotypes is the fourth step. Identifying the positive stereotypes is essential because it helps one to balance the ones on the receiving end. For example, if the positive stereotypes are straight people, one might have difficulty embracing gays and lesbians. Therefore, by identifying the positive stereotypes, one gets to know that the unconscious biases might work towards the negative stereotypes thus making one more aware and that helps one to avoid looking down on others in any way.
Hanging out with people with a better attitude and behaviors is the fifth step. By being in the company of people who have morals that can be admired, one is motivated to be better. The good behaviors of others get to attack the unconscious biases and eliminate them (Boyes, 2015). For example, hanging with people who do not discriminate helps one to know that discriminating is not morally right and one is helped to change the behaviors and embrace the positive behaviors that are possessed by the company.
The sixth step is exposing one to materials and media that is against prejudice and discrimination. By doing so, one gets to understand the pain that the victims go through and if the person is tempted to discriminate in future, he or she is in a better position to fight the unconscious bias. At the same time, when a person is exposed to positive media the materials get to impact the person positively (Boyes, 2015). The person is exposed to the definitions and behaviors that are right and wrong. Therefore, next time before executing an action that is negative, the conscience of the person disagrees with the unconscious biases. To sum it up, it is apparent that unconscious biases can be only eliminated by one getting exposed to positive thinking company.
References
Boyes, A., 2015. 6 Ways to Overcome Your Biases for Good. Available at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/201508/6-ways-overcome-your-biases-good
Graf, N., Brown, A., and Patten, E., 2018. The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay. Available at https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/09/gender-pay-gap-facts/
Zambas, J., 2018. 15 Issues Women Still Face in the Workplace. Available at https://www.careeraddict.com/women-workplace
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