Paper Example on Women in the Gender Inequality Web

Introduction

In the present society, women are doing everything to match their male counterparts in every aspect of life. From fighting for equal opportunities and rising against overt discrimination at homes and places of work among other areas, the efforts have been massive and incredible. Irrespective of one's country of origin or present occupation, it is right deducing that women's position in the community is improving tremendously. This improvement is evident in the way women are currently taking up social, economic, and political roles. With women improvement being an undeniable part of society, gender inequality targeting women is widespread and has been hindering their progress in today's workplace.

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Gender inequality not only hinders women's progress but also men's movement up the social ladder. By targeting women in most occupations today, increased efforts are necessary to eliminate the problem are required. In agreement with Rao, Sandler, Kelleher, and Miller (2015), the only way to achieve gender equality is enabling equal access to the available opportunities and resources while ensuring that both genders get rewards fairly. In the process, gender should not be a consideration. Other elements such as flexibility in the work schedules and recognitions including promotion should also follow the same format. This consideration hasn't been the case, and it is a sincere concern since women are the most affected group.

Globally, there is massive improvement regarding the roles of women in the community. A majority has also surpassed men in crucial matters such as education, business, and science. Unlike in the past where they got confined in the lower social and economic positions, they can take any job and perform excellently in it as well (Scott, Crompton, & Lyonette, 2010). That being the case, women can play an elemental part in uplifting any economy provided that they are getting the chances they deserve. More so, they need an enabling environment that is not discriminative or doubting their abilities to work and transform. The only problem is that the current work environment is yet to adhere to this call; thus, women's power and capacity is still limited.

Social factors have been significantly contributing to the present day's gender inequality in the workplace. The problem has primarily been emanating from the unchanged perception of women and the responsibilities they have in the families. Almost all the caregiving roles in the family are up to the women. It is an issue that is somehow stereotypic and deep-rooted in the social systems, which also makes it a significant challenge when women try to balance these obligations and work. In the end, it becomes disadvantageous to them since many organizations demand full-time availability for equal or high pay. Since many women cannot be available all the time, some companies usually limit their abilities by not giving them elite positions or demanding tasks whose enumeration is high. However, this scenario is currently an issue to do with perception and not a fact. Hopefully, it will change someday and possibly soonest to unlock women's potential.

Despite the matching education qualities between men and women regarding how far they have reached on the education ladder, some obvious knowledge gaps contribute to the apparent gender inequality in the workplace. A visible scenario is the fact that women are yet to match men in technology and science and other highly-paying occupations such as engineering and medicine (Hill, Corbett, & St Rose, 2010). With these careers being highly demanding and socially recognized, they have been playing an instrumental role in depicting the unequal nature of today's workplaces where women are on the unfortunate end. Despite women studying these courses in large numbers, the absorption rates are not also pleasing. Regarding that, more improvement is necessary when it comes to capacity enhancement if at all gender inequality in the workplace will cease being a critical social contributing to social inequality.

With women not occupying the same positions compared to men, they have also become typical victims of discrimination on numerous occasions. Unequal pay, among other factors, is a leading issue emanating from the apparent gender inequality in the workplaces today (Rao et al., 2015). Many women do not feel that they get the deserved pay. Overcoming this issue is also critical since it is affecting their morale and retention rates. To this end, it is apparent that despite getting the chances at some point, some hindrances are limiting the output profoundly. Unless there is an immediate response, it is right deducing that it will be challenging to ensure a discrimination-free work environment.

In today's workplace, women are not only victims of opportunities denial but also gender-based harassment. They are highly vulnerable to physical and non-physical abuse, and sexual harassment is typical. Despite being qualified for perks, promotions, and equal pay among other benefits that men get, behavior towards women is a manifestation that they are the most hit by the gender inequality wave. Verbally or physically, cases of women molestation have been frequent, and affect their psychological wellbeing. The harassment can also come from the same gender, but the number of affected women remains astronomically high. As a result, their output is not at the expected rates hence the need for a logical intervention so that organizations can maximize their ability.

Continuous underrepresentation of women is a leading cause of their discrimination in today's workplace. As a historical issue, the number of women is yet to match that of men in executive positions. Leadership and national politics are male-dominated, and the problem has spread to affect employment and employee retention patterns. According to Jeanes (2011), male dominance continues changing progressive view about empowering women or welcoming them to take up similar roles. Doing so creates a hostile work for women as well. As Hill, Corbett, and St Rose (2010) assert, the problem is intensive in male-dominated industries such as the ones dealing with auto business, engineering, and technology. In the end, perceptions that women cannot perform in an equal capacity as the men continue being normalized and affect their treatment profoundly.

Currently, many protective anti-discrimination laws have criminalized gender discrimination, but the management of many organizations still favors the advancement of men. From the mid-size to giant companies, poor judgment of women is widespread. Discriminating a woman based on her looks is possible. They usually get provoked, particularly the ones working in sales and public relations. Unfortunately, many companies overlook this issue, and there are no elaborate measures to address such concerns. Eventually, women lack the required encouragement and support to work since the working environment isn't comfortable. The output may also decline, which further goes to obscure them from benefits such as promotion and higher pay.

With widespread discrimination, the issue of unequal pay is also a concern. Mostly, women working in the same position and doing the same work as men do not get equal pay (Kunze, 2008). The problem stems from the fact that they get denied matching overtime and delegated roles that can give extra earnings. In agreement with Jeanes (2011), such issues have evolved from the past where the thought of women surpassing men seemed a taboo. Accordingly, if the organizations' managements do not establish elaborate procedures to overcome the problem, it will continue affecting productivity and the reputation of the companies. It is the high time to recognize the issue as a sincere concern and come up with methods of spreading the message of equality.

The perception of how a woman should be treated in the workplace depends on the proportion of women in a particular organization. If the organizations are female-dominated, there is a high chance for women not to face overt discrimination. According to Parker (2018), a significant number of women working in areas where female workers are the majority get fair treatment on matters to do with recruitment, hiring, and advancement opportunities. If a woman is working in a balanced workplace, the proportion of women workers continue to affect work dynamics since a majority get fair treatment as well. The problem starts if women are working in majority-male organizations. The treatment and feeling are different, and chances for privileges also reduce.

Organizational policies also determine whether an organization promotes gender equality or not. As a way of promoting gender equality, there is a need for a concerted effort from the government and employers so that both genders get the necessary security to work productively (Parker, 2018). The inference, here, is that they must be sensitive to gender-based discrimination and establish measures to eliminate it too. In places where organizations embrace gender diversity as a virtue, cases of gender-based inequality are scarce since there is inclusion (Kunze, 2008). Also, there is a feeling of mutual respect and satisfaction. In the end, employees work collaboratively to achieve personal and organizational objectives. This point implies that the extent of gender-based mistreatment depends on the organizational approach to inclusiveness.

The impacts of gender inequality are far-reaching and are vivid in critical ways. Gender inequality has been a leading cause of health concerns hence the need for practical solutions. When a person is a victim of gender discrimination when working, there is a possibility of experiencing mental health issues. The primary cause of mental health issues is constant anxiety and feelings of depression due to reduced self-esteem. Discriminated people are likely to have self-doubt. Eventually, they find it hard to execute their roles; they are unstable and can resort to drug abuse as a retaliatory action.

Another issue is that gender-based inequality causes conflicts and affects employees' morale. In situations where inequality is widespread, the focus of the team shifts from concentrating on achieving the organization's objectives to day to day workplace dramas. Doing so affects teamwork which declines performance rate as well. Without teamwork and focus, morale declines too (Parker, 2018). In the end, even the discriminator is affected since the low output is against corporate culture and can be detrimental to the organization's reputation when the impacts reach the stakeholders. The best way is to do away with it while ensuring that no gender is at risk. If possible, organizations should be balanced regarding gender representation.

Conclusion

Gender inequality has been a sincere concern not only in the workplace but in every social setting. In the workplace, there is no doubt about its widespread nature while putting women on the unfortunate end. As observed in this evaluation, the principal contributions of the problem include perceptions, the proportion of workers in a given workplace, and organizational policies among other factors. Solely or individually, these elements determine the position and view of women as they work. Where gender inequality is widespread, workers output declines and the possibility of conflicts is also high. Since it can also affect the victims' mental health, it is essential to integrate organizational policies that embrace diversity.

References

Hill, C., Corbett, C., & St Rose, A. (2010). Why so few? Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. American Association of University Women. 1111 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509653.pdfJ...