The Historical Root of Women in the Workforce - Essay Sample

Introduction

The women workforce has increased tremendously over the second half of the 20th century in the United States. However, the growth in women labor force has reversed and stagnated since 2000. Currently, there is a huge gap between women and men in the employment rates, the wages they are expected to earn, the job they hold and the general economic security. Women have been significantly affected by the inequality in the American workforce. Until recently, the cultural and legal practices such as religious practices together with longstanding educational convections affected the women entry and engagement into the workforce. Additionally, the low socio-economic status of women and the dependency upon men has also affected the women in the workforce since most of the jobs have been professionalized over the 20th century. This study is aimed to explore the history of women in the workforce and the events that led to the present day working woman.

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Historical Roots of Women in the Workforce

Since the beginning, the evolution of women in the workforce has forced the women to undergo a series of battles, struggles, and tests to ensure their effort of playing an active part in the United States labor force has been achieved. Before the occurrence of the civil war, the women played a different role in the American society, whereby were expected to perform household duties and take care of their children, while the men acted as the breadwinners. However, after the onset of the world war, this perception began to change as the women began to enter the workforce. This acted as a sense of freedom to the women in the American society.

Major developments in the women workforce occurred immediately after the civil war, whereby most the African Americans women were involved in a significant portion of the labor force since they needed a source of income after being free from slavery. During that period the employees employed the white women at better employment positions than the people of color. After the post-civil war, the whites had a dislike towards the blacks and treated them unequally, this issue of unequal treatment was carried on to the workforce thus creating inequality in job positions between the whites and the African American. As unequal treatment among women continued to progress, more women continued to join the workforce and the labor unions started to create membership positions for the women. The unions helped to fight for the rights of women in the workforce for example during the 1880s the labor union-supported that women should get equal pay for equal work. The working conditions for women worsened during the end of the 19th century and the start of the 21st century whereby women were faced with the issue of working for long hours and got a little amount of payment. Women had a lower wage rate as compared to the men and also had a problem of balancing family life with work.

However, during World War II of 1939 to 1954, things began to change for the working women since a huge number of men had left for the world war. This acted as an opportunity for the women to perform jobs they had never performed before and show their capabilities. They were mandated to work in both the service and professional jobs that were male-dominated. The American government used icons, for example, Rosie the Riveter to encourage women to enter the workforce, this was important since there was limited labor supply at the time. During this period women felt a sense of freedom and independence since they were doing the same kind of work done by the men. However, the feeling did not last long since after the end of the war most of the men needed their jobs back. Therefore, the women had to return to their previous job positions such as teaching, secretarial and other feminine jobs. This was a huge disappointment to the women since when they were experiencing the freedom they wished for it was at the same time being taken away from them.

During the mid-20th century, the women were not aware of their position in the society workforce, and they were in a dilemma on whether to enter in the workforce or stay at home and take care of their families. However, most of the unions and nongovernmental organizations fought for the rights of the women. The period of a dilemma on the role of women ended in the late 20th century after persisting for several years. Later women started joining the workforce once more and also started to gain equity. Equal pay act was implemented, and women started working in the male-dominated jobs. Women also started taking up jobs in the government and professional jobs and proved that they could handle the household duties as well as attend work. This changes continued to occur over the years till the present day thus making women take up a firm position in the United States labor force. The main theme explored by women over the years is the power of freedom. The women have labored for the shape of the United States workforce and will continue playing an active part in developing the workforce of the future women.

Currently, companies are committed towards gender equality in the labor market. However, the progress is relatively slow since the women are not well represented in the American workforce despite getting more college degrees than most men. Few women are employed at various companies as compared to the men despite the women attaining 57% of the recent college graduates. In most job opportunities the women of color seem to face the greatest challenge in the workforce and get the minimal support. As the companies seek for employees in the United States, they first employ the white women and the African American women are left out. The African American women also receive minimal support from their superiors and often take time to be promoted. The black women do not get contact with senior management; this affects their view of the workplace and their chances of advancement.

Looking at the senior positions in companies, they seem to be more male dominated as compared to women. Male employees have more advantages than the women employees while most of the task is done by the women. In the top management positions, there is one woman in every ten senior leaders, and the male employees do not take any initiative to ensure gender diversity. The male employees are also promoted at a higher rate than the female, this makes the women who aspire to attain the top management positions to less likely think they will attain their aspiration.

Recommendation

The companies need to employ a plan that is aimed at supporting and ensuring the advancement of women in the workplace. This can be achieved through various ways that include, first, collecting findings from previous years and incorporating new ideas such as what other companies are doing to ensure that gender equity is achieved. Secondly, the government should ensure fairness is observed in the allocation of opportunities to the population. A significant portion of jobs opportunities should be allocated to women to ensure equity is achieved. Thirdly, the government and other companies should invest in training the employees to enlighten them of their rights on gender equity and encourage them to fight for them.

Conclusion

The attainment of gender equity in the workplace has taken a long period with various challenges being experienced since the 19th century, and however various progress has been achieved. For example, women have been able to handle household duties and attended work, they have also been able to work in top job positions that were previously occupied by men. There is the need for more efforts by the government to achieve equity in the workplace.

Bibliography

Baxandall, Rosalyn, and Linda Gordon. Dear sisters: Dispatches from the women's liberation movement. Basic Books, 2001.

DuBois, Ellen Carol, and Lynn Dumenil. Through Women's Eyes: An American History with Documents. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.

Giele, Janet Zollinger, and Leslie Foster Stebbins. Women and equality in the workplace: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO, 2003.