Gender Discrimination Research Paper
“According to TNS Research Surveys, 68 percent of women surveyed believe gender discrimination exist in the workplace. Federal law protects women and other minorities from discrimination in the workplace. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 ended the practice of paying men more than women when performing the same jobs and duties. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act extended this protection to other minorities. Despite these protections, many women still feel gender-based discrimination is a problem in some businesses” (Gluck). Regardless of the amount of attention discrimination of forms may receive and the progress made towards equal rights for all individuals in the work place, there is evidence that discrimination is still not a thing of the past just yet.
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Gender discrimination has impacted the workplace leaving its mark in the form of unequal pay, promotions, and hiring, reduced individual morale, and decreased productivity.
In order to understand something better its definition must be clear. So what is gender discrimination? Cambridge Dictionaries Online defines gender discrimination is any situation in which someone is treated less because of their sex (Dictionaries). That makes gender discrimination in the workplace any situation where an individual is hired, paid, or promoted differently due to gender differences. In today’s society, women are the typically the primary recipients of discrimination within the work place. It is possible for a man to encounter gender discrimination as well. Another term that may be used interchangeably when discussing forms of discrimination is “social/male/white privilege” and in regards to gender discrimination it may be “gender exclusion” or “gender or workplace bias”. To clarify the phrase using “privilege”, the leading identifier will refer to the majority group who is initiating the discrimination.
Beginning with the most common themes that arise when the subject of gender discrimination is broached are the differences in pay, promotions, and hiring.
The impact of discrimination against women and their pay entitlements has been, without debate, proven by many polls and research efforts. According to an article published in The Wall Street Journal that conducted a poll discussing gender in workplace bias, “84% of women say men are paid more for similar work, a view borne out by government data but which draws agreement from only two-thirds of men. More than four in 10 women say they have faced gender discrimination personally, most often in the workplace” (Nelson). The article further expounds to address very specific data. Some of that data was collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that women who work full-time earn 79% of the weekly pay that men bring home. The Institute for Women's Policy Research, which tracks the gender wage gap, finds that women's median earnings lag men's in almost every occupation. While the gap narrowed during the 1980s and 1990s, there has been little movement since 2000” (Nelson). While there are minute differences in statistical findings from different reports, they have all provided the same general concept that differences in pay do exist based on …show more content…
gender.
Moving beyond pay disparity, one possibility where a woman may be passed over for promotion based on her gender could correlate with her supervisor’s ideals of a woman’s place in the social structure. An example would be a woman in the military being passed over for promotion because her supervisor doesn’t believe women should be in the service or that woman are physically inferior to men. Both of lines of thinking are real issues that have been addressed historically throughout all branches of service. Evidence also exists that women have been passed over strictly because of their gender in other job fields as well and is not limited to the examples listed in regards to the military. In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center “women are more likely than men to say they have been denied a promotion because of their gender (7% vs. 3%)” (Center). The same author, Dr. Zevallos, has conducted a case study on Google. One of the statistics mentioned in the case study was Google’s employment ratio of women to men which was thirty percent women to seventy percent men. The focus of that case study was based strictly on gender exclusion (Zevallos, "Google’s Glass Ceiling: A Case Study of Why Organizations Lose Innovative Women"). While many opinionated arguments, which can be seen in nearly every article discussing gender bias, stated that female employees are less aggressive when seeking promotions. The point of this opinion is that this is the reason why it appears that women are promoted less frequently. Dr. Zavallos state, “Studies find that it is not the fact that women do not ask for promotions that impede their career progression; nor is it simply the decision to exit the workplace to have children. Instead, empirical data show that when employers are faced with equally qualified and experienced candidates who put in the same amount of work and who have the same outcomes, they are more likely to hire, promote and remunerate men over women” (Zevallos, "Google’s Glass Ceiling: A Case Study of Why Organizations Lose Innovative Women").
The imbalance spreads beyond just promotion and pay. Discrimination can also start during the hiring process before either of the previous two issues are even possible. In the survey by Pew Research, it presented data the shows that five percent of women questioned stated that they have been turned down for a job due to their gender (Center). Perception from the research paints the image of a much larger gap. “Overall, college-educated adults are much more likely than those without a four-year college degree to say men have an advantage when it comes to hiring for executive-level positions. Among women, 71% of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher say it’s easier for men to get top jobs in business or government. Only 47% of women without a bachelor’s degree agree” (Center). Beyond the dynamics discussed there are also effects that impact both the individual and the company as a whole.
Leading up to this point it can be seen how gender discrimination impacts society as a whole. Aside from lower pay or being passed over for a job or promotion on those being discriminated against there are more personal impacts as well. One significant impact is the damage to the person’s moral after having been the victim of discrimination. Knowing the pay is less or promotions are out of reach because of gender, motivation to do the job or complete tasks with diligence can suffer greatly. The incentive to excel can dissipate when there is no potential for positive reinforcement or recognition within a company’s infrastructure. Furthermore it can create tension between coworkers. An individual who earns less than their coworkers because of their gender is likely to be resentful towards others who do the same work for greater pay. On the other end of that spectrum individual’s receiving the higher pay may become uncomfortable with the unequal treatment even if they are not the cause of it.
This type of tension between coworkers can create a hostile environment that is not conducive to a positive work environment. This environment can also increase stress in the workplace which over prolonged periods can negatively impact an employee’s health and further drive down an individual’s moral. An overall decrease in moral can also result in diminishing productivity. Samantha Gluck from the Houston Chronicle cited more examples as well, “Things that may lead to this loss of morale and motivation could include jokes about an employee’s gender that imply inferiority, offensive jokes of a suggestive or sexual nature and jokes implying that an employee’s work is sub-par due to his or her gender” (Gluck). Once an individual’s moral starts a downward spiral it is only a matter of time before the moral of others begin to suffer as well. This negative disposition can potentially spread throughout an entire company effecting a large majority of the employees.
Gender discrimination does not only hurt the individual.
Businesses as a whole can suffer from workplace discrimination too. Most important is the simple fact that gender discrimination is illegal. Violating The Equal Pay Act of 1963 can result in legal action being taken against the business. Legal costs incurred will impact any businesses net profit. An article written by the website, Cutting Edge Recruiting Solutions, discusses the legal costs of discrimination. “Employee lawsuits are expensive. An average out of court settlement is about $40,000. In addition, 10 percent of wrongful termination and discrimination cases result in a $1 million dollar settlement. The majority of cases, about 67 percent, are ruled in the plaintiff’s favor when taken into litigation. Plus, litigation costs are on the rise. During 2008, the average cost of litigation was $115 million. This is up 73 percent from $66 million in 2000, according to a litigation cost survey of major companies, prepared by the Layers for Civil Justice Group, Civil Justice Reform Group and U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. This is an average increase of 9 percent each year” (Cutting Edge Recruiting Solutions,
CERS).
While legal costs and lawsuits, maybe one cost to a business, there are other ways that gender bias can lower the company’s revenue. Reduced moral as discussed earlier can result in a higher turnover rate of employees. This can be due to low job satisfaction from the negative environment created within the workplace. The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee published research the conducted on the economic consequences of gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination. While the subject is slightly different from gender discrimination it did find publish the following which applies to discrimination in general. “The overall costs of employee turnover due to various forms of workplace discrimination found an annual cost to employers of $64 billion” (Staff). Beyond having a high employee turnover rate discrimination also lowers the hiring pool. It indirectly limits potential employees to those that fit the discriminatory criteria. Furthermore, the practice of discrimination can cause the business to potentially lose future clients and investors because of the image the organization has fostered for themselves. All in all, gender discrimination doesn’t just hurt the individual it also hurts the company as well.
Even in modern day, gender discrimination still impacts the work place, leaving its mark in the form of unequal pay, promotions, and hiring, reduced individual moral, and decreased productivity. Fortunately there has been progress since the passing of The Equal Pay Act of 1964. However, there are many forms of discrimination that still exist in society today. Both the state and federal governments recognize downfalls of discrimination. As such, they have passed many laws as an effort to reduce discrimination of all kinds in the workplace with the intent to protect the individuals. As a result small business, big corporations, and even the military alike recognize the impact of discrimination. Many of which have developed educational programs to teach their members about discrimination in all forms. The last step left is for the individual prejudices be placed to the wayside long enough for society to make further progress in eliminating discrimination as a whole.
Gender discrimination has impacted the workplace leaving its mark in the form of unequal pay, promotions, and hiring, reduced individual morale, and decreased productivity.
In order to understand something better its definition must be clear. So what is gender discrimination? Cambridge Dictionaries Online defines gender discrimination is any situation in which someone is treated less because of their sex (Dictionaries). That makes gender discrimination in the workplace any situation where an individual is hired, paid, or promoted differently due to gender differences. In today’s society, women are the typically the primary recipients of discrimination within the work place. It is possible for a man to encounter gender discrimination as well. Another term that may be used interchangeably when discussing forms of discrimination is “social/male/white privilege” and in regards to gender discrimination it may be “gender exclusion” or “gender or workplace bias”. To clarify the phrase using “privilege”, the leading identifier will refer to the majority group who is initiating the discrimination.
Beginning with the most common themes that arise when the subject of gender discrimination is broached are the differences in pay, promotions, and hiring.
The impact of discrimination against women and their pay entitlements has been, without debate, proven by many polls and research efforts. According to an article published in The Wall Street Journal that conducted a poll discussing gender in workplace bias, “84% of women say men are paid more for similar work, a view borne out by government data but which draws agreement from only two-thirds of men. More than four in 10 women say they have faced gender discrimination personally, most often in the workplace” (Nelson). The article further expounds to address very specific data. Some of that data was collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that women who work full-time earn 79% of the weekly pay that men bring home. The Institute for Women's Policy Research, which tracks the gender wage gap, finds that women's median earnings lag men's in almost every occupation. While the gap narrowed during the 1980s and 1990s, there has been little movement since 2000” (Nelson). While there are minute differences in statistical findings from different reports, they have all provided the same general concept that differences in pay do exist based on …show more content…
gender.
Moving beyond pay disparity, one possibility where a woman may be passed over for promotion based on her gender could correlate with her supervisor’s ideals of a woman’s place in the social structure. An example would be a woman in the military being passed over for promotion because her supervisor doesn’t believe women should be in the service or that woman are physically inferior to men. Both of lines of thinking are real issues that have been addressed historically throughout all branches of service. Evidence also exists that women have been passed over strictly because of their gender in other job fields as well and is not limited to the examples listed in regards to the military. In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center “women are more likely than men to say they have been denied a promotion because of their gender (7% vs. 3%)” (Center). The same author, Dr. Zevallos, has conducted a case study on Google. One of the statistics mentioned in the case study was Google’s employment ratio of women to men which was thirty percent women to seventy percent men. The focus of that case study was based strictly on gender exclusion (Zevallos, "Google’s Glass Ceiling: A Case Study of Why Organizations Lose Innovative Women"). While many opinionated arguments, which can be seen in nearly every article discussing gender bias, stated that female employees are less aggressive when seeking promotions. The point of this opinion is that this is the reason why it appears that women are promoted less frequently. Dr. Zavallos state, “Studies find that it is not the fact that women do not ask for promotions that impede their career progression; nor is it simply the decision to exit the workplace to have children. Instead, empirical data show that when employers are faced with equally qualified and experienced candidates who put in the same amount of work and who have the same outcomes, they are more likely to hire, promote and remunerate men over women” (Zevallos, "Google’s Glass Ceiling: A Case Study of Why Organizations Lose Innovative Women").
The imbalance spreads beyond just promotion and pay. Discrimination can also start during the hiring process before either of the previous two issues are even possible. In the survey by Pew Research, it presented data the shows that five percent of women questioned stated that they have been turned down for a job due to their gender (Center). Perception from the research paints the image of a much larger gap. “Overall, college-educated adults are much more likely than those without a four-year college degree to say men have an advantage when it comes to hiring for executive-level positions. Among women, 71% of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher say it’s easier for men to get top jobs in business or government. Only 47% of women without a bachelor’s degree agree” (Center). Beyond the dynamics discussed there are also effects that impact both the individual and the company as a whole.
Leading up to this point it can be seen how gender discrimination impacts society as a whole. Aside from lower pay or being passed over for a job or promotion on those being discriminated against there are more personal impacts as well. One significant impact is the damage to the person’s moral after having been the victim of discrimination. Knowing the pay is less or promotions are out of reach because of gender, motivation to do the job or complete tasks with diligence can suffer greatly. The incentive to excel can dissipate when there is no potential for positive reinforcement or recognition within a company’s infrastructure. Furthermore it can create tension between coworkers. An individual who earns less than their coworkers because of their gender is likely to be resentful towards others who do the same work for greater pay. On the other end of that spectrum individual’s receiving the higher pay may become uncomfortable with the unequal treatment even if they are not the cause of it.
This type of tension between coworkers can create a hostile environment that is not conducive to a positive work environment. This environment can also increase stress in the workplace which over prolonged periods can negatively impact an employee’s health and further drive down an individual’s moral. An overall decrease in moral can also result in diminishing productivity. Samantha Gluck from the Houston Chronicle cited more examples as well, “Things that may lead to this loss of morale and motivation could include jokes about an employee’s gender that imply inferiority, offensive jokes of a suggestive or sexual nature and jokes implying that an employee’s work is sub-par due to his or her gender” (Gluck). Once an individual’s moral starts a downward spiral it is only a matter of time before the moral of others begin to suffer as well. This negative disposition can potentially spread throughout an entire company effecting a large majority of the employees.
Gender discrimination does not only hurt the individual.
Businesses as a whole can suffer from workplace discrimination too. Most important is the simple fact that gender discrimination is illegal. Violating The Equal Pay Act of 1963 can result in legal action being taken against the business. Legal costs incurred will impact any businesses net profit. An article written by the website, Cutting Edge Recruiting Solutions, discusses the legal costs of discrimination. “Employee lawsuits are expensive. An average out of court settlement is about $40,000. In addition, 10 percent of wrongful termination and discrimination cases result in a $1 million dollar settlement. The majority of cases, about 67 percent, are ruled in the plaintiff’s favor when taken into litigation. Plus, litigation costs are on the rise. During 2008, the average cost of litigation was $115 million. This is up 73 percent from $66 million in 2000, according to a litigation cost survey of major companies, prepared by the Layers for Civil Justice Group, Civil Justice Reform Group and U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. This is an average increase of 9 percent each year” (Cutting Edge Recruiting Solutions,
CERS).
While legal costs and lawsuits, maybe one cost to a business, there are other ways that gender bias can lower the company’s revenue. Reduced moral as discussed earlier can result in a higher turnover rate of employees. This can be due to low job satisfaction from the negative environment created within the workplace. The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee published research the conducted on the economic consequences of gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination. While the subject is slightly different from gender discrimination it did find publish the following which applies to discrimination in general. “The overall costs of employee turnover due to various forms of workplace discrimination found an annual cost to employers of $64 billion” (Staff). Beyond having a high employee turnover rate discrimination also lowers the hiring pool. It indirectly limits potential employees to those that fit the discriminatory criteria. Furthermore, the practice of discrimination can cause the business to potentially lose future clients and investors because of the image the organization has fostered for themselves. All in all, gender discrimination doesn’t just hurt the individual it also hurts the company as well.
Even in modern day, gender discrimination still impacts the work place, leaving its mark in the form of unequal pay, promotions, and hiring, reduced individual moral, and decreased productivity. Fortunately there has been progress since the passing of The Equal Pay Act of 1964. However, there are many forms of discrimination that still exist in society today. Both the state and federal governments recognize downfalls of discrimination. As such, they have passed many laws as an effort to reduce discrimination of all kinds in the workplace with the intent to protect the individuals. As a result small business, big corporations, and even the military alike recognize the impact of discrimination. Many of which have developed educational programs to teach their members about discrimination in all forms. The last step left is for the individual prejudices be placed to the wayside long enough for society to make further progress in eliminating discrimination as a whole.