Women in the Workforce free essay sample

Women in the workforce Introduction The entry and participation of women in the workforce have for long been restricted by the cultural and religious practices. Compared to men, the socio-economic status of women is poor leading to their economic dependency on men. But today, the situation has slightly changed; women are beginning to realize their contribution to the workforce. The realization has come with the struggle for recognition as the women are beginning to eye well-paying jobs in the workforce. However, the change is gradual because the gap replicates right from schooling where more men than women graduate from colleges and universities. Compared to men, women are much less in the workforce. They are still exposed to sex and race discrimination that influences their pay, hiring or promotions. Women’s median earnings are lower than men’s in nearly all occupations, whether they work in occupations predominantly done by women, occupations predominantly done by men or occupations with a more even mix of men and women (Hegewisch, Matite 2013). We will write a custom essay sample on Women in the Workforce or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For equality to be achieved then occupational segregation needs to be wiped out. Occupational segregation sets job limits in the workforce such that men will do jobs that are meant for men and women stick to jobs that are done by women. The most discriminating fact is that women earn less than men in all of the most common occupations for both women and men; they also earn less in broad occupations by race or ethnicity. Besides, the work done by men tends to fetch a lot more than the work that is done by women. Women’s social responsibility also affects their commitment and availability for work. It has become part of their life; for them to take long vacations to take care of the children, more so in the case of the newborns. Such absence from work may hinder any immediate promotions at place of work. This can explain why more men are in higher ranks than women. The market forces have for many years failed to eliminate discrimination in the workforce and that’s why inequality still exists is many companies. The current laws prohibiting discrimination are not being implemented strongly. The laws lack the requisite strength that can form a viable platform on which women can complain against discriminatory pay practices. For example, Equal Pay Act does not allow women to file class-action lawsuits, and it provides very insubstantial damages. The position of women in the workforce has for long been stereotyped. It has been believed that women do not have as much social responsibility as their counterparts. They therefore, even under the same level as men, should not ask pay equality since they are partly or entirely dependent on their husbands. Men are therefore placed at higher social rank than women. In addition, most of the jobs are male-dominated. There are therefore not many jobs available for women, and if there are, then women will mostly serve in the lower ranks. However, in some cases, there are women who take up the uppermost roles in a company. It is devastating that such women receive less support as they are viewed misplaced. The feminine nature of women generally sets some limit. In the workforce, other than the academic qualifications, some jobs may be quite involving that a woman may not perfectly fit. Jobs that involve longs hours of sitting, long hours of travel or jobs that are dangerous in nature may be much weightier than a female can bear. Sexual harassment at the place of work also tarnishes women’s integrity. Once a woman has established a relationship with one of her bosses, it will be very hard, at any given point in time, for that woman to get a higher position than the said sex partner. Due to such sex relationship, women remain at lower ranks because they cannot complain about their employer lest they lose their job or the relationship breaks. Research has shown that a rewarding work experience can reduce the stress associated with one of the multiple roles that women occupy: parenting (Barnett Marshall, 1991). The work experience can make women match the competition in the workforce. Moreover, once a person attains the requisite experience for a given job, the work will not become very strenuous as opposed to a person who lacks experience. This will enable women to multitask, and owing to their multiple responsibilities, they can be able to split time accordingly. It has also been shown that spousal support is most effective in helping women deal with the demands of multiple roles (Cohen Syme, 1985; Duxbury Higgins, 1991; Eckenrode Gore, 1990; Holahan Gilbert, 1979; Ross Murkowski, 1988). Women still struggle for equality at work place, the fight is still on. But it is likely to take long before the labour industry levels at an equal pay for men and women. Some case studies that the struggle may go up to 2057 for such equality to be achieved. Many proposals have been made but their effect is yet to be felt in the labour industry. For example, a draft proposal was brought forward in September 2012 that would see all women on maternity leave compensated. Businesses disagreed and were strongly opposed to it. Strategies and plans are still being laid down on how to tackle the gender parity at work place. Organizations such as Women Movements, Labour Unions and Human Right Commissions are still coming out strongly to push for fairness in the workforce. References Hegewisch A, Matite M. â€Å"The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation† Institute for women’s Policy research (April 2013). Accessed May 21 2013 from National Committee on pay equity. â€Å"Reasons for the Wage Gap†, 2013. Accessed May 21 2013 Freedman J. â€Å"The industrial age† Women in the workplace (2010): pp 13-17. Accessed May 21 2013. Boyle P. â€Å"Left unity now more urgent than before? † Green Left (2013) Jacobs P, Schain L. â€Å"The Continuing Struggle for Acceptance and Equality? † Journal of Academic and Business Ethics: (pp 98-101)