Gender Inequality

Discrimination in the labour-force is common for women, but why so? Men do not face the same mistreatment in the workplace as women, so is there a link between socially constructed gender roles and stereotypes, and discrimination in the workplace? The more gender roles and stereotypes that are socially constructed, the more likely women are to face discrimination in the labour-force because gender stereotypes portray women as weak, ‘feminine’, and unequal to men which results in disadvantages in obtaining power positions or promotions, and it allows occupational segregation which creates wage gaps and causes women to occupy less skill jobs. (Boyd, 2014)

Women in the labour-force are at a disadvantage in comparison to men because they were thought of as domestic workers who would take care of their household. Despite domestic labour being necessary for providing energy for labour, it was unlikely considered real work. As concluded by the existence of gender inequalities to this day, women are still believed to be below men in terms of the labour force and do not receive the same opportunities as their counterparts. Women are considered weak individuals who do not have the persona of a powerful individual, so they are regarded as ‘feminine’ while men are given the identity of being ‘masculine’ and powerful. Women in the labour-force unlike men do not tend to get positions of power and their opportunities for promotions are unlikely and limited because of stereotypes of them not being equal to men, which is resultant in their wage gaps and tendency to occupy less skill jobs.

Power and authoritative positions are more likely to be occupied by males in the labour-force. As has been determined (Huffman, 1995) using NOS (National Organizations Survey) sample of 727 individuals to see what gender was more likely to hold a position of power. It has been noted that about 45% of individuals who were men stated they had a position where they controlled at least one coworker compared to only 29% of the women. One explanation was that jobs in occupations mostly staffed by women do not have many positions with increased authority. The jobs women were given did not have much progression, so there was not an opportunity for them to obtain a position with power. As has been found by “controlling for competencies” and adding “five merit-based criteria” such as: “work experience in the same industry where a new venture is created, managerial experience, startup experience, education level, and paid work experience” (Yang & Aldrich, 2014). Men have a 37% higher chance than women at becoming a boss, and your chances increase 5% for each additional year in the industry. This implies women would need to work seven additional years to make up for this discrepancy (Yang & Aldrich, 2014). Gender inequalities put women at a disadvantage when it comes to occupying higher up positions and having authority in their jobs.

        Women are at a natural disadvantage because of the socially constructed ideology of gender, and in many cases it puts them automatically behind men when they are competing for a promotion. Women experience a “glass-ceiling” while men are subject to a “glass-escalator” at work because employer’s play on the gendered stereotypes of women being ‘feminine’ and weak and men being ‘masculine’ and strong. (Williams, 2013) Men are more inclined to promotions and benefits in both male and female dominant jobs, while even if a female may attain a job higher up in the hierarchy they are limited to promotions and benefits beyond that. Men are thought of as better representatives and overall better choices for positions of power due to their ‘masculinity’, which in turn makes the company seem more ‘masculine’ and powerful to competitors and the general public. ‘Femininity’ is seen as being weak and females are more often than not linked with domestic labour and this puts them naturally at a disadvantage to men when being considered for a promotion to a position of greater authority.

There is a great deal of occupational segregation when it comes to the labour-force because of gender roles and stereotypes. Women tend to navigate more towards the health field because nurses are seen as ‘feminine’ and they also gravitate towards factory jobs because of more flexible work hours. In Australia in 2010, 79% of the workers that worked in the social assistance field were female, and it was also noted in 2002 that 62.6% of women worked in jobs that were female-dominant (Huppatz & Goodwin, 2013). Women are swayed towards jobs that are labeled ‘feminine’ and even then in those jobs there is a wage gap favouring men. The males in ‘feminine’ jobs are valued more because there are not many males, so their ‘masculinity’ is beneficial for them. ‘Femininity’ on the other hand, makes it tough for women to occupy prestigious jobs. Occupational segregation leaves women with the short end of the stick as they are stuck with low-skilled, low wage jobs.