Argumentative Essay: The Epidemic of Gender Inequality in The Work Place

Introduction

Gender inequality is a concept that describes the situation that males and females receive different treatment and preference in the workplaces. Employees are judged based on their gender as opposed to their academic qualifications and experiences. Women are treated unfairly and considered unequal to their male counterparts. Traditionally, men have been breadwinners in their families, which means that most institutions relied on the male workforce to perform all duties. However, with the entrance of women in the workforce, females have taken over jobs that were traditionally considered to belong to men. For instance, women can now oversee construction jobs that were previously reserved for men. A justification for writing this paper on gender inequality is to highlight the plight of women in the workplaces and ways in which females can pool their voices together and advocate for better treatment and equal payments with their male colleagues. The issue of gender inequality is unpreventable and inevitable for women since they work in organizations that rely on traditional systems of preferring males over females. Gender inequality in the workplace is based on the roles that women place in the reproductive process, the different physical strength between men and women, as well as their levels of education.

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Research Questions

• The specific research questions for the study are as follows:
• What leads to gender inequality in workplaces?
• What role do women play to encourage gender inequality?
• How can the issue of gender inequality be reversed so that women can enjoy equal opportunities in the workplaces?

Scott, Rosemary, and Clare argue that the perception and assumption that men can do better than women in all areas continues to flood the minds of decision-makers in organizations as they limit the chances they give females to take leadership positions in firms. Naturally, women are expected to be submissive to their male partners. Being submissive means that women are humble and look up to the men for directions. Most women take this perception to the workplace, meaning that they are directly dependent on the men to give them instructions on what they should do to fulfil the duties. It means that women are timid and not willing to take risks in their jobs, unlike the men who are ready and willing to experiment and make mistakes.

The epidemic of gender inequality in the workplace is supported by the role that women play in the reproductive system. Biologically, women carry their pregnancy to nine months and are expected to nurture their children for the first three months before they can resume their work duties and responsibilities (Crompton and Clare 172). Most employers are sceptical and unwilling to employ women in top-leadership positions because females are forced by the biological birth function to take a professional break and look after their young ones. On the other hand, men, irrespective of whether their women are pregnant or nursing, do not have to take a professional break. The professional break distracts women in employment since another person has to step in place for them during the time they are taking care of their young ones. Further, organizations are forced to incur more expenses since they have to pay women who have taken a maternity leave their full month's salary, and also pay the person who has stepped in to take over the duties of the female employee (Crompton and Clare 175). Therefore, most firms have unwritten rules on ways to minimize the costs by limiting women to hold top positions in the workplace. Women have resorted to delaying giving birth or getting married which post-pones their possibility of giving birth. It gives the women an opportunity to focus on their career and avoid build themselves professionally. In the long-term, such women are cushioned against gender inequality even though they are forced to accept lower remuneration packages than their male counterparts.

Additionally, the epidemic of gender inequality in the workplace is accelerated by the physical differences between men and women. Men are physically stronger than women and their physique allows them to withstand adverse working conditions, unlike women. Further, men can handle jobs that are more physically demanding than women, which gives them a competitive advantage (Scott, Rosemary, and Clare 17). Consequently, employers in industries like constructions and terrazzo, roof, and tiles installation, amongst others prefer working with men compared to women. One of the disadvantages of this is that employee' who work in jobs that strain their physical strength are most likely to affect the length and quality of their lives. Some of the employees lose their lives or get chronic diseases that limit them from performing their duties. It gives women an added advantage since jobs that are less physically demanding are reserved for females. For instance, administrative jobs like reception and front office are given to women. In the past decade, women have broken the traditional assumptions that females cannot work in jobs that demand their physical strength (Anitha 1277). Most females are taking roles that were preserved for men, and the only challenge they face is the gender discrimination from their colleagues and employers. Women are paid less than men even though they perform similar duties.

According to Scott, Rosemary, and Clare (5), the epidemic of gender inequality in the workplace is increased by the academic qualifications between men and women. In the past, women were forced to drop out of school due to the family duties they held, which gave men the opportunity to advance their education and career without disruptions. Females are non-committal in advancing their education since they are unsure whether the investment would give them similar opportunities like their male counterparts. It is demoralizing and discouraging for women who hold a Masters or Bachelor in a certain field have to work under a supervisor who holds a high school or college diploma, and even earns more than them (Anitha 1267). Male chauvinism in workplaces has also prevented women from being promoted based on merit as opposed to their gender. In a male-dominated management team, there is a limited chance that women can be considered for leadership position whereas men are available who can be given preferential treatment.

Despite the prevalence of gender inequality in workplaces and women having little or no control over the limitations, females also contribute to the ever-increasing epidemic, much less to their disadvantage. Anitha (1260) argues that most women adopt a timid approach in organizations as opposed to being aggressive like their male counterparts. More male than female employees are willing and able to approach their human resource managers to advocate for a salary increment. Brooks, in his opinion post The Gender War Is On! And Fake on The New York Times states that in most workplaces, more males will engage the human resource manager suggesting that females are willing to work at the prevailing low salaries despite the law encouraging employers to pay both male and female employees the same range. Human resources are forced to review their female employees' salary annually and increase it by a small percentage, unlike their male colleagues. This issue is within the control of female employees as they can approach their employers to review their salaries, which will help reduce the problem of gender inequality (Crompton and Clare 177). Women are supposed to understand that competition in the workplace exists and only the aggressive and most vocal staffs survive and succeed.

Moreover, females have a role to play in limiting the epidemic of gender inequality in the workplace from limiting their ability to be treated equally by advancing their education and learning new skills even if they have secured employment (Anitha 1283). A workplace is a competitive place that only the smart individuals and those that are willing to learn more can survive. Women can make sacrifices and invest in their education so that they can compete on the same level as men. For instance, a leadership position requires an individual that has been exposed to various duties in their career, and one that has accumulated a good amount of education. Therefore, if a man and a woman present themselves as candidates for the job and both have the same experience but the male applicant is currently advancing his education, he is more likely to be considered for the position than his female partner. Taking extra lessons and learning new skills increases a person's ability to lead and handle more duties in the workplace. Networking with colleagues and other individuals in the workplace are also important for women as it would give them the chance to meet like-minded people (Crompton and Clare 187). One of the things that men that give them an added advantage is that they are risk takers and partner with friends and acquaintances to make extra money after their official duties in the office are done, unlike women who prefer to go home directly after work. Interacting with other women and joining groups of females that focus on building their careers can encourage the younger women on focusing on their careers.

Conclusion

In relation to the epidemic of gender inequality in the workplace, Himmelweit and Hilary (49) suggest that the 'governing laws in a country can create a sustainable care system for equality in workplaces.' It means that governments have the mandate to ensure that organizations operating under their jurisdictions have a responsibility of ensuring that women are equally treated like the men so that they can be given equal job opportunities in promotion and in remunerations. This will create an enabling environment for women to pursue their personal and family-related responsibilities without the fear of being dismissed from the workplace or losing their jobs. Employers should also have a provision where female employees are given preferential treatment for leadership positions so that they can initiate rules that favor women who are in their child-bearing stages. In conclusion, the epidemic of gender inequality has continued to affect women negatively and limiting their ability to succeed in their careers. However, there is little and commendable progress in curbing the gender inequality epidemic, therefore encouraging women to pursue their careers and balance it with their family duties.

Works Cited

Anitha, Sundari. "Legislating gender inequalities: The nature and patterns of domestic violence experienced by South Asian women with insecure immigration status in the United Kingdom." Violence Against Women 17.10 (2011): 1260-1285.

Brooks, David. "Opinion | The Gender War Is On! And Fake." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, The New York Times, 4 July 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/opinion/gender-war-voting-equality-economics-family.htmlrref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinionion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront. Accessed 4 Oct. 2018.

Crompton, Rosemary, and Clare Lyonette. "Family, class and gender "strategies" in mothers' employment and childcare." Gender inequalities in the 21st century: New barriers and continuing constraints (2010): 174-192.

Himmelweit, Susan, and Hilary Land. "Reducing gender inequalities to create a sustainable care system." Kurswechsel4 (2011): 49-63.

Scott, Jacqueline L., Rosemary Crompton, and Clare Lyonette, eds. Gender inequalities in the 21st century: new barriers and continuing constraints. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010.