Author: Andre Coleman

Gender Inequalities in Health and Illness

This essay will look at the gender inequalities in health and illness statically. This essay will also look at how women live longer than men and what diseases and mental health symptoms affect both men and women in mortality and morbidity rates such as cancers and depression. Statistics will show how people are living longer and how this will continue as more people will become centenarians as the years go by. This essay will also show findings of stereotypes or stigmas attached to both genders and how this affects healthcare both physically and mentally along with how society thinks in regards to both genders and the impact this has. Finally it will look at masculinity and how and why this affects men going to the GPs about their healthcare and the effects of this.

Today women tend to live longer than men on average in industrialised countries, although this is true women experience more ill health through their lifetimes compared to men. More women rather than men suffer from somatic complaints such as aches and pains, headaches and tiredness to mention a few (Backes, G et al, 2008). Women’s mortality rates are often because of breast, cervix and uterus cancers whereas ischemic heart disease and lung cancer has a higher mortality rate in men (Bury, M, 2005). Although some researchers believe there is more consistency in studies that involve depression, anxiety and minor psychological illness compared to the studies of higher illness rates in women (Bartley, 2004). At all ages males have a greater mortality rate than women in the United Kingdom due to injuries and suicide. Cardiovascular disease and cancers are also one of the main reasons male mortality rate is higher than that of women’s. Depressive disorder, mental health, anxiety and disability all have higher morbidity rates for women than men (Acheson, 1998).

Higher mortality rates in men can be explained by social factors such as employment whereby males tend to be in employment that is ‘risky’ such as exposure to toxic chemicals, environmental hazards and dangerous machinery. Driving under the influence of alcohol, dangerous sports and road traffic accidents are all major risk taking behaviours that men rather than women tend to participate in (Bury, M, 2005). Men used to have a higher smoking rate than women resulting in lung cancer but today it is seen that young girls under fifteen years of age are more likely to smoke than boys of the that same age group. The recommended daily intake of alcohol is usually acknowledged by women whereas men in all age groups tend to drink more than the recommended daily intake (Scambler, 2008).

One third of babies born in 2013 will live to they are one hundred according to the office for national statistics. Of these 797,000 babies that were less than one in 2013 in the UK, 151,000 of these will be women and 123,000 will be men that live to one hundred in 2113 (Office for national Statistics, 2013).Whereas only 8% of men and 14% of women who were sixty-five in 2013 would go on to live until they are one hundred around 85,000 altogether. Looking further back in time there were only six hundred centenarians in 1961, ninety of these being men, this has increased every year since then for example in 2013 there were a total of 14,000 centenarians in the United Kingdom (Office for national Statistics, 2013). It is expected that 111,000 people will live to one hundred or more by 2037. Women are expected to become centenarians more so than men in all years as in 1961 there were five hundred this rose to 12,000 in 2013 and is expected to rise higher resulting in 77,000 women becoming centenarians by 2037 and 293,000 by 2062. Men have had a rapid rise in centenarians from 1961 where there were only ninety centenarians this rose to 2,000 in 2013. It is estimated men living to one hundred or over will rise to 34,000 by 2037 and 163,000 by 2062 (Office for national Statistics, 2013).

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in ‘good’ health men in the least deprived areas could live to 70.5 years whereas men in the most deprived areas could live to 52.2 years. Women on the other hand can live in ‘good’ health in the least deprived areas for up to 71.3 years whereas women in the most deprived areas can live to 52.4 years. When measured by the range there were nine years difference between men in the most deprived areas compared to the men in the least deprived areas (Office for National Statistics, 2015). Women when measured by the range had a 6.9 year shorter life expectancy for women in the most deprived areas compared to the women in the least deprived areas. In ‘good’ health men in the least deprived areas lived 19.1 years longer and 19.5 years for women (Bury, M, 2005).

There are a lot of assumptions around gender stereotypes that are socially constructed which to this day still exist in society. People or society expect a women to be a certain way or act a certain way such as staying at home looking after children and being a housewife rather than getting a job and that they are responsible for raising children (Cook, R and Cusack, S, 2010). Women are nurses rather than doctors, women do not need to have a career, and women should cook and do housework. Women do not or cannot have technical jobs such as being a mechanic these are some of the stereotypes associated with women (Cook, R and Cusack, S, 2010). People or society expect a man to enjoy working on cars, are doctors and not nurses, that men do ‘dirty’ jobs such as construction or mechanics. Men do not do housework and are not responsible for taking care of children, men are in charge husbands tell their wives what to do and are lazy or messy these are just some of the stereotypes associated with men (Health Guidance, No date). These stereotypes can affect both genders mentally and physically and can have an impact on mortality and morbidity rates such as a man doing a ‘dangerous’ job or a women having depression.

Masculinity ideology plays a vital role in men’s health, men believe they should be powerful, strong, brave, intelligent, healthy, mature and in control (Sabo, D and Gordon, F, 1995). When these statements are untrue or thought to be untrue it can have a negative impact on men resulting in substance misuse and criminality, depression and suicide to mention a few as a lot of men especially young men feel powerless, weak, fearful and do not pay attention to their mental, physical or emotional health (Key issues in promoting health, No date). It is a fact that women are more open to talk about health problems than men which is why women that suffer from depression and anxiety are seen to have higher morbidity rates according to statistics. It is thought that biological and social factors contribute to depression and are seen differently in both men and women (Mental Health Foundation, No date).

Men aged sixteen to forty-four are less likely to visit GPs than women due to worries of losing pay from their job if they take an appointment but also from masculinity problems such as thinking the environment in GP surgeries are too feminine and the general attitude men take towards healthcare and social expectation when they are ill (Harvey, S, et al, No date). It is also seen that because women are more open about their health, statistics show they visit the GPs more often than men and that they may go to the GPs for less severe symptoms of illness compared to men (Harvey, S, et al, No date).

In conclusion this essay has looked at the statistics of inequalities in health and illness. Such as the fact that today women tend to live longer in industrialized countries than men and it seems that it is going to continue in that way, at the same time there has been a rapid rise in men living longer with mortality rates decreasing due to different employment available in this present day. Women morbidity rates are higher than men’s due to women seeking medical advice more often and being more open about their healthcare issues, whereas men avoid GPs either because of worry of losing pay from work or masculinity reasons such as the stigma that ‘men do not get sick’ (Bartley, 2004; Acheson, 1998; Scambler, 2008; Harvey, S, et al, No date).

Although life expectancy rates are higher for both men and women it also seems that people living to one hundred or more is on the rise from six hundred centenarians in the 1960s to fourteen thousand centenarians in 2013 and it is estimated to rise higher each year onwards. Stereotypes have also had an impact on both genders due to society having the thought that men should have ‘dirty’ or ‘dangerous’ jobs and women should stay at home or have ‘clean’ jobs therefore it can result in physical problems or higher mortality rates for men and mental health problems such as anxiety or depression for women. Masculinity plays a vital role in men’s health due to the stigmas attached therefore mental health such as depression is seen different to professionals such as GPs in both men and women (Office for national Statistics, 2013; Office for National Statistics, 2015; Mental Health Foundation, No date; Harvey, S, et al, No date).

Bibliography

Books

Acheson, D (1998). Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report. 1^st edn. London: The Stationary Office.
Backes, G et al (2008) Gender, Health and Ageing: European Perspectives on Life Course, Health Issues and Social Challenges. 13^th edn. Springer Science and Business Media.
Bartley, M (2004). Health Inequalities: An Introduction to Theories, Concepts, and methods. 1^st edn. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bury, M (2005). Health and Illness. 1^st edn. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Cook, R and Cusack, S (2010). Gender Stereotyping: Transnational Legal Perspectives. 1^st edn. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Sabo, D and Gordon, F (1995). Men’s Health and Illness: Gender, Power, and the Body. 1^st edn. London: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Scambler, A (2008). Women and Health in Scambler G (ed) Sociology as Applied to Medicine. 1^st edn. Elsevier Limited.

Websites

Harvey, S et al. (No date) Why are men reticent to visit their GP? What can be done to address this situation? [Online] Available at: http://www.socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/media/…/Mens_Health_Forum_Project.docx Accessed: 22/03/15
Health Guidance (No date) List of Gender Stereotypes. [Online] Available at: http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15910/1/List-ofGender-Stereotypes.html Accessed: 20/02/15
Key issues in promoting mental health (No date) Masculinity and mental health Dr Ken Harland. [Online] Available at: http://www.ycni.org/downloads/misc/masculinity_mental_health.pdf Accessed: 21/03/15
Mental Health Foundation (No date) Mental Health Statistics: Men & Women. [Online] Available at: http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-statistics/men-women/ Accessed: 20/03/15
Office for National Statistics (2015) Inequality in healthy life expectancy at birth by national deciles of area deprivation: England, 2011 to 2013. [Online] Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/disability-and-health-measurement/inequality-in-healthy-life-expectancy-at-birth-by-national-deciles-of-area-deprivation–england/2011-13/index.html Accessed: 20/03/15
Office for National Statistics (2013) One Third of Babies born in 2013 are expected to live to 100. [Online] Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lifetables/historic-and-projected-data-from-the-period-and-cohort-life-tables/2012-based/sty-babies-living-to-100.html Accessed: 21/03/15

Interviews are conducted with males and females already in the construction industry and those who are studying towards a career in construction. There are numerous factors that discourage women from pursuing careers in construction. The male dominant nature of the industry is a pivotal factor that deters women from entering the industry; women therefore have fewer role models and lack of confidence in their future prospects in industry. The need to emphasise the implementation of the Gender Equity Act specifically focused on the construction industry, in order to address this lack of parity.

The outcome provides a learning curve for both males and females and will assist in understanding the reasons and factors that cause women not to be interested in construction as a career.

Access to these findings needs to be widely publicised.

Keywords:

Barriers, Construction industry, Gender, Woman

1 Introduction

The construction industry has been for years been perceived to be a mens world. Slowly the face of the engineering industry is changing and we are seeing more women entering it. This paper is focusing on the changing facet of the industry and how it has impacted on women. The predominant image of construction is that of a male-dominated industry requiring brute strength and tolerance for outdoor conditions, inclement weather and bad language. Reconciling this image with women’s participation in the construction industry is problematic. However, there are early signs of a cultural shift in the industry. This paper presents an empirical review of women’s roles within the industry and the ways in which people make sense of their working experience when traditional gender roles are challenged. Based on qualitative research, the study found that men in the industry regarded as the gatekeepers are now finding ways to respond to and make sense of a changing workplace, and the realities that women are now actively encouraged to participate, legally protected against discrimination and more highly represented in non-traditional areas of the construction industry.

Through interviews conducted with males and females already in construction industry and those who are studying towards a career in construction, it is clear that there is still few numbers of women in the construction industry.

Women are also findings ways as apprentices and trades people to position themselves within this new environment. They identify ways of working that are more likely to ensure a smooth experience for themselves. While the stimulus for the changing face of the workplace is the notion of gender equality, the responses are not gender neutral. All players are trying to negotiate ways to integrate each other into a new environment in a manner which allows them to comfortably reconcile issues of gender. There are numerous factors that discourage women from pursuing careers in construction. The male dominant nature of the industry is a pivotal factor that deters women from entering the industry; women therefore have fewer role models and lack of confidence in their future prospects in industry. Most of man in construction industry still believes that involving women in this industry is not a good idea, as they say that women are not strong enough to handle all construction challenges e.g. Manual hard labour. There is a need to emphasise the implementation of the gender equity act specifically focused on the construction industry, in order to address this lack of parity. Workshop that will talk about involvement of woman in construction industry, change of mentality of female and male in construction industry. We should be cognisant of the fact that the fewer women there are in the industry, the fewer women there are to look up to and thus inform the career choices of potential female entrants. It is therefore my suggestion that a platform be provided to enable successful women to act as model exemplars and beacons of inspiration. In order to augment the mentoring and role modelling process, women need to establish both professional and personal networks

2 Literature Review

Construction has for a long time been deemed as an industry unsuitable for women, this notion is still being perpetuated today (Dainty, Bagilhole and Neale et al, 2001). Managerially, it needs to be stated that there is some degree of support. However, this was found to be highly variable between differing individuals, company departments, work sites and organisations.

The problem of undervalued female in terms of their lack of experience and saying that they do not have power to handle the construction work load need to be changed. Blocking them from fulfil their carriers and in construction industry Managerially, it needs to be stated that there is some degree of support. However, this was found to be highly variable between differing individuals, company departments, work sites and organisations. The qualitative data revealed some evidence of a glass ceiling (whereby women can see but not attain higher level jobs and are blocked from career progression; Gurjao, 2006), with one respondent contentiously claiming that they had experienced regional variations in the SA.

Role models have frequently been identified as key to the development of young aspiring professionals (Singh et al, 2006). While it has been established that mentors are always in close proximity to the protge in that they are part and parcel of an interactive relationship with the individual; role models are largely unacquainted with the observer and as such have not personally approved or rendered the observational processes as permissible by the individual observing. As a result role models may be close or distant to the observer. (Singh et al, 2006). Women pursuing careers in the construction industry vigorously seek the industry culture as a result of being socialised into the culture, stemming from the system of education they have been exposed to (Bennet, Davidson & Gale, 1999). In a study performed by (Agapiou, 2002) it was discovered that from an early age men have the perception that sufficient strength is a birth right which they have been afforded because women are not made or be expected to work with heavy equipment. One of the female participants in Agapious (2002) study mentioned how her colleagues will continuously joke about her place being in the kitchen and not out on site, an ideology entrenched into the minds of boys at a young age. These are barriers which are initiated in early socialisation and are further perpetuated throughout industry related training and industry job recruitment (Fielden et al, 2001). They are aggravated by an industry that remains entrenched in a culture that undercuts the value of female participation and continues to foster a male only image (ibid). Role modelling and mentoring schemes have been introduced into the construction industry as an initiative to enhance the status quo of the underrepresentation of women in the industry, one such example of this Women as Role Models (Bennet et al, 1999).

The table bellow proves and gives better understanding of what are barriers facing women in the construction industry (Le Jeune, 2008). It also gives us background by other authors that these barriers started long time ago.

BARRIERS FACING WOMEN IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: SOURCE: LE JEUNE, 2008; TG59 CONFERENCE

3 Research Methodology

All respondents in both the focus groups and the semi-structured questionnaires were asked to identify their age grouping and their profession categorisation.

Respondents were also asked to provide information on how long they had worked in the construction industry, to outline the top two barriers that they had faced in staying or progressing and any other additional personal or professional barriers that they had faced (or are facing) in being a woman in the industry sector. Additional questions were also asked regarding what type of training they would find useful in the future and whether they had any suggestions for training or support that would help women enter, say or progress within the construction industry. The questionnaires were handed in at the end of each workshop had taken place. All research findings were analysed in an ongoing process and themes were identified via usage of keyword analysis in a series of Word documents. Both the literature and empirical data has been analysed in an ongoing basis, to which the findings have become emergent regarding the issues and identified themes, which will be both illustrated and discussed later in this paper.

The quantitative data findings from the questionnaires outline the age and broad profession category of the women trainee delegates. The research also indicates a very complex picture of the potential for the growth of women in the SA construction industry based upon the range of their age groupings and profession. It also indicates that the majority of women in the construction industry are in their 25-35 year age group, with a smaller number being present in the 36-45 year age group.

It should be stated that the numbers of women in our study were too small to be statistically significant and that the cohort may also have been affected by the nature and type of the soft skills training on offer. However, it was of interest to note the apparent bell shape distributions of age ranges that seem to have occurred in our trainee and support group cohort; although a much larger number of women would need to studied to ascertain the validity or reliability of these findings.

4 Findings and Discussion

Where? Questions Who? Number of respondents Common answers

DUT & Varsity College Why it is rear to find female in construction industry and what is the cause of it? Female Students 21 Its a mans industry.

Female are not will to work longer hours.

They don’t want harassment from man.

Male Students 17 They are not tough enough.

They expect special attention.

They think that its a mans world.

Construction Industry Head Office Female 5 Man undervalued them. Not willing to work longer hours.

Some man still believes that female is not supposed to be working hard.

Men believe that its their culture that only men are supposed to do the ruling not female.

Male 11 They dont have construction experience.

They can not handle the construction pressure.

Most managers they still dont believe in them.

Construction Industry Site Based Female 8 Its not easy to work surrounded by mans.

They dont like the work environment.

They dont want to be undervalued by man.

Not enough roll model for them to inspire

Male 20 Men believe that its their culture that only men are supposed to do the ruling not female.

They come and run away because of hard work.

Personal protective clothing (PPE) is the problem to them.

Men are always looking at them and they feel uncomfortable.

Where? Questions Who? Number of correspondence Common answers

DUT & Varsity College Are the females ready to be part of construction industry? , Answer need to be supported Female Students 21 Yes. We see more numbers of the females in the construction courses.

Male Students 17 No. They join construction industry because of the belief that it pays well, so they only want money.

Construction Industry Head Office Female 5 No. they just want to prove a point that they can do what men think they can do best.

Yes.

Male 11

Construction Industry Site Based Female 8

Male 20

5 Conclusion and Further Research

The lack of visibility of successful women in construction has shown to perpetuate a self fulfilling prophecy whereby fewer women are dissuaded from viewing a career in construction as viable. Isolation of women in construction means that women are unable to establish and access support networks and guidance in career advancement. It is highlighted that the fewer women there are in the industry, the fewer women there are to look up to and thus inform the career choices of potential female entrants. It is therefore suggested that a platform be provided to enable successful women to act as model exemplars and beacons of inspiration. In order to augment the mentoring and role modelling process, women need to establish both professional and personal networks. Only time and further analysis will tell. For its part, the authors will be further analysing the role of a bottom up process and future papers will report upon the research findings and outcomes that have been achieved.

Through the research of this paper, the author has proved that there is stronger instigator of positive changes to organisational cultures and the barriers that women face.

6 Acknowledgement

First and foremost the authors would like to thank the Almighty God for giving us the strength to complete this research paper. Furthermore we would like to acknowledge and thank the following people who made meaningful contributions to this research paper:

Professor Peter Utting for his constant guidance, support and motivation.

Onke Dakada and Tlamelo who took their time to show me how to collect data and research.

The construction people and students who took their time to attend my workshop and answer my lengthy questionnaires.

My friends and families for their encouragement and unfading belief in me.

The gender gap is a term widely used to describe various occurrences in gender dominance, including low image of women in the political position and the fact that men and women participation differ in political parties. The continuous gender gap in vote choice has stimulated study into the causes of gender differences in political behavior and biased attachments (Gilens 1988; Bolee 1985; Wirls 1986 cited in Elizabeth1991). The recognition of an electoral gender gap has had an impact on the campaign strategy in the last decade. Today campaign strategists act in the belief that men and women respond to different types of posts and messages (Pippa, 1997)

Fundamentally, men and women have unequal interest in getting elected office. The political environment seems to have changed thought in the last years, nonetheless the gender gap in politics still continues as glaring as it has been in the past (Jennifer L. Lawless, 2002). In spite of contemporary changes in political affairs and the development of political stability, there are still considerable differences concerning political knowledge and interest, for which it has not provided any compelling explanation yet (Lovenduski, 1986, Hayes and Bean 1993, Van deth 2000, Vasallo, 2006, Verba et al. 1997). However, significant differences require further investigation. This paper aims to examine the causes of gender gap in the political arena, in comparisons of two scholarly articles: “The persistence of gender differences in political interest”(referred to as Article A in this essay) and “A social role theory perspective on gender gaps in Political Attitudes” (will be referred to as Article B in this essay) and their relevance to Public affairs, lobbying, ethical and political challenges. Marxist feminism theory, Liberal theory and patriarchy will be used in this essay.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE TWO ARTICLES

This paragraph discusses the similarities between the two Articles. The two articles talks about the causes of gender gap in politics. They both lay emphasis on division of labor, what the society perceives to be the role of men and women. Division of labor is breaking down of work into part, such as domestic work, this is where the social constructivism and media theory comes in. Women are been perceived to be primarily meant for domestic use, it is said that a woman should engage themselves with family responsibilities and thus reduces their interest in the political arena. The two articles agree on the imbalanced distribution of work between men and women of the total workload generates greater availability of free time for men compared with women (dura, 1991, 2006). There is a limited time available for a woman due to in-house work that adversely hinders their participation and potential interest in politics (Norris and Inglehart, 2006:78).

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO ARTICLES

The following paragraphs discuss the differences between the two articles. ‘The persistence of gender differences in political interest’ (Article A) explores the role of individual resources, situational factors and socialization in explaining the persistence of a gender gap in political interest while the second article ‘A role theory perspective social gender gaps in political attitudes’ (article b) apply the framework of social role theory to explain the gender gap in political attitudes. Although the two articles both have similar view, however the theoretical application is different. While Article B sees the causes Gender gap as diffuse gender roles, Article a sees it to be a situational factor.

The two articles use different components in explaining their view of gender inequalities in political arena. Article B focuses on the following three modes by which diffuse gender roles might lead to political attitudes which are; the gender- stereotypic explanations: an important part within a social role context is that gender-based expectations influence the behavior of men and women (Deaux & Mayor, 1987) ; internalized traits: it is critical to note that gender role use their influence not only on what others believes in but also through the internalization of these role in the personality. (Wood &Eagy, 2009). This is again the social constructivism, what they are perceived to be and what they perceived themselves to be and Status and power: this talks about how the differences between male and female reflect differences in time and status. That is, attitudes on policy issues may stem from general thought that go for or against the status quo (Jost & Kay, 2005). However, Articles A uses three different explanations to bring out their views, they are: a) The structural explanation: which debates that woman generally has less socioeconomic to engage in politics unlike men. b) The situational explanation: claims women are responsible for the domestic works and prevent them from participating fully in politics. c) The sex role explanation: maintains that women focus more on private sphere because of their role as mothers and wives than men. Nevertheless, Article A focused more on situational explanation to bring out their view.

Women representations and participation in both formal and informal sectors in the public sphere has been framed, to give the perception that women are weaker sex compare to men, both physically and emotionally. The above explanation shows how each article frames the concept of Gender Gap in political arena.

RELEVANCE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC ISSUES MANAGEMENT PRATICE AND THEORY

Feminist theory, Liberal political theory and patriarchy will be used here in relevance to public affairs and public issues management and practice. Another theory that will be useful here is social constructivism, it has has been argued by Scholars in reform feminist theory. Gender reform feminisms (liberal, Marxist, socialist, postcolonial, and Asian), were the theorists and advocates that dominated in the 1970s. They perceive gender gap in the aspect of the gendered social order. Politically, their aim is to attain gender equality, so that women and men are placed and seen as being equal throughout the society, and having the same influence, respect, and economic resources.

Gender reform feminisms argue that the causes of gender gap are structural and not as a result of internalised traits, individual choices, or imbalanced personal relationships. The structural sources as said in Article A above are women’s demotion to low-paid work and a deflation of the work women do, irresistible household tasks, child care and imbalanced access to education, health care, and political power.

Valerie (2002), states that though women are regularly excluded from partaking highly in politics, they have a tendency to vote in greater numbers than men and play an essential role in the non-governmental organization (NGO), you pay less prestigious and more lower than the private sector or high politics. The challenge facing all defenders of gender equality in politics today is the big difference between the shared values aˆ‹aˆ‹that are revealed in national and international policy and practice.

Another issue in the context of women’s political participation refers in particular to the nature of politics in general and liberal democracy. Democracy has increasingly served to men better than women. As a political system from ancient to modern 21st century, put up the public-private dichotomy and omitted women from citizenship. Philips and Rai argues that Women have been kept out of the public sphere of politics as most political scholars and philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, John Lock, Thomas Hobbes and Hegel deliberated that women are only fit for domestic obligations in the private sphere and that there was no place for women in politics because of their expertise in caring roles as mothers and wives (Philips1998, Rai200).

“The ancient and modern democracies failed to recognize women as citizens, therefore they are side lined and concerns in its theory and practice” (Bathala,1998:39). It was only the liberal political viewpoint of the nineteenth century that supported the idea of aˆ‹aˆ‹free and rational individual, which was used by suffragettes to request the right to vote. On the contrary, Rai keeps the theoretical base of liberal theory is integrally gendered in ways which perpetuate patriarchy and ignores gender subordination in politics and society (Rai 2000:2)

Feminist theorists also takes issue with the notion of abstract individual in liberal theory and debated that it is not a gender-neutral category. This is why even though women are entitled to vote but are not able to influence public policy and cannot give the private sphere into the public preview.

The liberal conception of human nature sets the terms liberal political theory. It is the realm of basic moral and political values aˆ‹aˆ‹of liberalism, which has the vital problem of liberal political philosophy and prescribes the method used by liberals to solve these problems.

The fundamental moral values aˆ‹aˆ‹of liberalism are based on the assumption that all individuals have an equal potential for reason. This assumption is based on the moral core of liberalism, belief, and a high intrinsic value of the human person. Because different liberal theoretical construct different reason, his belief in the value of the human person is expressed in different terms. Liberalism believes in the ultimate value of the individual is expressed in politics equalitarianism (Jaggar 1983, 33). It is important to recognize that these theories pursue theoretical objectives: first, to identify the complex historical and social processes that penetrate the specific position of women in society. Second, to theorize the location of women in relation to social differentiation.

The structural and functional limitations in front of women are designed by social and political relations in a society. The public pattern of political segregation of women comes from a) structures and institutions of political discourse, b) the socio political and social – cultural and functional constraints(as discussed in Article b above) that put limits on individual and collective action of women (Bari 2005). There are various factors that hinder women’s political participation; it ranges from ideological, political, socio-cultural, and economic factor.

Ideological factor here talks about gender resistance feminisms. Gender resistance feminisms has its occurrence in the 1980s, it said that the gender order cannot be the same using gender balance for the reason that men’s dominance overwhelm Gender equality, they maintain, ends up with women been equal with men. While looking into the gender order from the viewpoint of women, they reveal the hidden relationships in organizations, institutions, politics and daily practices that give men control over women. They call it patriarchy (Lorber, 2010).

Patriarchy as a system of male supremacy relation forms of women in politics. Converts male and female into men and women and form the hierarchy of gender relations where men are advantaged (Eisenstein 1984, Galson 2002) Adrienne Rich defines patriarchy as “a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men by force, direct pressure or through ritual, tradition, law and language, customs label, education, and the division of labor, determine what part of the woman will or will not play and female everywhere subsumed under the male “(Rich 1997:57)

The ideology of gender role as an ideological tool used by patriarchy to position women in the private sphere of the home as mothers and wives and men in the public sphere. This is one of the important factors that outline the political contribution of women worldwide. However, this division is not reflected ideological reality. Frequently perverting the boundaries between public and private in the daily lives of women. Nevertheless, national domains can still be perceived in the political arena as an appropriate space for women while the public space is assigned for men. Women have to negotiate their entry and claim public space as the broad possibilities and materials available in a particular culture and society. Though the ideologies of gender role was not still but in a society with fluidity as regards to women are defined as secluded countries that lead to in the gender gap in the political arena (Bari 2005 & Collins, 1990, 2000).

The second factor which is the political Factors emphasizes on the political nature of the society. The nature of politics is a vital issue in the gender gap in the political arena. Vicky Randall defines politics as joint or work relationships within a given power structure. Randall (1987) which is in contrast with the traditional view that defines politics as an activity, a deliberate and mindful involvement in the process by which resources assigned among citizens. This idea of politics that limits the political activity in the public and private sphere of family life is depicted as apolitical. This public-private dichotomy in the traditional definition of politics is used to omit women from public political sphere and even when women enter politics, they are presented as mothers and wives (Bari 2005).

Male domination, political parties and culture of formal political structures is another factor inhibiting women’s political participation. Political parties that are often ruled males will have a male perspective on issues of national importance that Disenchants women because their view is often disregarded and not revealed in the politics. The largest democratic framework and the level of democratization also influence the political participation of women. The profane democracies in Europe and also in some of the developing countries have created relatively more space for the participation of women in policy compare countries where religious orthodoxy has been to form policy and democracy (Gamson 1988; Meuman, fair and Cripler1992: Kern and only in 1995).

Also, socio-cultural factor which poses as a limitation to women participation in politics explains that women find it difficult to participate in politics because of the limited time available to them because of their dual role in the productive and reproductive spheres. With their main starring role as mothers and wives and domestic responsibilities and competence of care work, are left with little time to participate in politics(Barret September 1980: Kuli & Wolpe 1978).

The last factor to be considered here is the economic factor; the economic factor here talks about the financial strength of individuals getting involved in politics. Politics nowadays requires a lot of capital. Money plays a major role in political participation and most women lack the basic financial resources to adequately get involved in politics (Witt et al 1994, 182)

In Conclusion, it can be said that Women participation in politics has really been affected with the above stated factors. This may be due to the acceptance of women in a subordinate role in politics, which lane (1961) has called ‘the properly depending role of gender’ seems more likely that are retained by the situational factor, the demands of the dual role of mother and game employee, along with the knowledge that politics is man Lane(1961).

The initiation of women into influential politics has the potential to greatly benefit society. There are a number of theoretical reasons women would be doing the world a favour by entering into politics. Basic statistics demonstrate that equality would benefit the economy. In the West, the perception towards women is positive: they are mostly on equal ground with men regarding capabilities (Pew Research Center [PRC, 2008]. Moreover, because most female politicians have to juggle professional, private, and sometimes family lives, their resulting ability to multi-task should allow them better management skills and more sensible political priorities. Now, these theories regarding women’s abilities and inclinations do have some factual basis. There are already successful females in high positions of power within government (e.g. Angela Merkel; Scandinavian Parliament). A survey carried out in India had results illustrating that where women were in charge, villagers were much better off (Beaman, 2007). Surprisingly, Southeast Asia is where the most women have reached the highest governmental positions (Fleschenberg, 2008). One can argue that, whether there is a positive or ineffectual upshot to women’s involvement in politics, merely achieving equality and effectively rendering most prejudices null would be a tremendous benefit to society. However, while the women of the West have far more opportunity and are reluctant to take advantage of it, there are still the women of developing countries, where bias against women is still quite distinct (Beaman, 2007). In the meantime, there is the Middle East, where progress in gender equality is practically nonexistent (Akande, 2007). But “despite the emphasis given to creating equality for women, there are still very few females in high-level decision making positions.” (McDermott, 2009). If gender inequality can be overcome, it can open the doorway to alleviating a significant amount of the dilemmas the world faces.

Opening the Doorway: Gender Equality in Politics

“If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost.” Whether or not Aristotle meant to include females in his definition of persons, this quote of his basically supports the idea that there is no real equality until individuals of every possible variance are not only involved in government, but have the same say in proceedings.

Equality is an abstract term; it has evaded human beings since the time we came into existence, and remains indomitably out of reach due to our own inherent prejudices. It is only very recently that real attempts have been successful in overcoming these imbalances in social order; but naturally, those at the top want to stay that way-and with their power comes the ability to maintain their position. Therefore, we still have a long way to go before humans can declare themselves a race of egalitarianism.

Gender inequality is probably the most prevalent form of discrimination, due to the fact that it exists, unfailingly-not only in all societies-but within the classes and castes within those societies (Jamal, 2009/2010). The ‘superiority’ of men has been a given through the ages, both through formal laws and unwritten, shared understandings (Jamal, 2009/2010). These days, women have come far along the road to equality, but-as modern feminists complain-women still have to work twice as hard to get half as far as men in their careers. There is no argument that, thanks to or despite this, women are underrepresented in many areas, most notably those of power. But politics, which has the most potential to influence culture and civilization, is the most notable area of all.

Whether or not women are better than men is not the question here-the question is, would gender equality in politics have a substantial effect on global affairs? And would this effect be favourable or detrimental? Because “gender is the key to the organization of product and reproduction, women are at the crossroads between economic growth and human development.” (Jamal, 2009/2010, p. 5) The initiation of women into influential politics has the potential to greatly benefit society.

There are a number of theoretical reasons women would be doing the world a favour by entering into politics. According to Akande, women “are the world’s most under-utilised resource; getting more of them into work is part of the solution to many economic woes, including shrinking populations and poverty.” (2007, p. 10) Basic statistics even demonstrate that equality would benefit the economy- women put in 67% of the hours of work done on Earth, yet they earn 10% of salaries and possess 1% of all goods (Career Women’s Forum, 2006). So women have already proven themselves diligent, and take up around 50% of a population-on this note, Akande reasons that their “lack of active participation” (2007) in all influential fields, including “the workforce, intellectual or academic spheres, or politics,” basically deprives a country of valuable human resources. This applies more directly to developing countries where gender discrimination completely obstructs women’s chances to achieve anything, let alone politics; however, it bolsters equality in general.

Perception is the basis of social context, and negative social context is woman’s biggest obstacle towards achieving anything, let alone a career in politics. In the West, the universal perception towards female leaders is changing for the better. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reveals the proletarian opinion on why women are still underrepresented in politics: “gender discrimination, resistance to change, and a self-serving ‘old boy’s club’” (PRC, 2008). The public also believes that women are held back by the pressure of juggling family (which, as women, they are still meant to take care of) or personal life, and professional life; lack of the necessary skill is cited by few as a potential cause (PRC, 2008).

In the same survey, women were rated higher than men on the majority of traits considered important to leadership (e.g. honesty, intelligence, compassion) (PRC, 2008). Women are believed by the populace to be more inclined towards dealing with civic issues such as health care and education (PRC, 2008); men, however, are more disposed towards eradicating crime, public safety, defence, and national security (PRC, 2008). This has been backed up by actual studies, though they put men’s priorities in a less favourable light: “Studies show that women are more likely to spend money on improving health, education, infrastructure and poverty and less likely to waste it on tanks and bombs.” (Akande, 2007)

The results of the survey continued by rating women higher than men in other areas believed to be important for a leader: holding firm to their principles even in the face of political strain; in negotiation and compromise; in instilling honesty in the government; and relating to the general public (PRC, 2008). Despite all this, only 6% actually claim women make better political leaders than men, which would be the natural progression (PRC, 2008). However, 69% rate men and women as equal, so this is probably, essentially, an even bigger step towards equality than if the reverse imbalance was presented (PRC, 2008).

Even more theoretical reasoning can back up this claim: because most female politicians have to juggle professional, private, and sometimes family lives, their ability to multi-task is forcibly but finely honed (Career Women’s Forum [CWF], 2006). This in turn allows them better management skills and more sensible political priorities.

Now, these theories regarding women’s abilities and inclinations do have factual basis.

There are already successful females in high positions of power within government, such as Angela Merkel, Germany’s first female Chancellor. Scandinavian countries, according to Career Women’s Forum, are of the better-managed countries of the world, the “most imaginative and prosperous” (2008); the article goes on to correlate this fact with one stating their Parliaments are made up of 40% women, the highest percentage in the world.

A Millenial Survey was carried out by a non-governmental organization in India in the year 2000 (Beaman, Duflo, Pande & Topalova, 2007). It focused on subjective and objective measures of both the quantity and quality of five basic public services: drinking water and sanitation, health, education and child care, road transport and the public distribution system (Beaman, 2007). Though the survey was not undertaken for the express purpose of comparing male and female leadership performances, this-in accordance with the simultaneously subjective and objective nature of the survey-afforded the surveyors a lack of predetermined bias towards the results (Beaman, 2007).

The results illustrated that where women were in charge, there was a higher investment in clean drinking water, leading to the avoidance of water-borne diseases and overall improvement of health (Beaman, 2007). Also, children were more likely to be immunized, and where women were in charge the gender gap in schooling was less by almost 13%; women were also less likely to accept bribes (Beaman, 2007). Despite all this, villagers reported dissatisfaction with their female leaders; Beaman found this rational, though, due to the inherent bias of the society (2007).

Though the Nordic area can claim the highest percentage of women in Parliament, it is, surprisingly, Asia where the most women have reached the highest governmental positions (Fleschenberg, 2008). The first female Prime Minister in history was Sirimavo Bandaranaike, of Sri Lanka; she had power three times, beginning in 1960, and when she died in office in the year 2000, she was succeeded by her daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga (Fleschenberg, 2008). Indira Gandhi, India, is possibly the most famous female politician, with the most influence and positive impact thanks to her campaign for progress in India-a recent BBC poll named her the greatest woman of the last 1,000 years (Fleschenberg, 2008). Aung San Suu Kyi is the accepted leader of democratic Burma despite her continuing house arrest (Fleschenberg, 2008). In Malaysia, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail freed her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, and has headed the parliamentary opposition party in Malaysia since the late 1990s (Fleschenberg, 2008). There are more notable names, from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines; though all of these cultures are undoubtedly “patriarchal” and “paternalistic” in political and ideological terms, women have achieved the position of prime minister or president in all of them (Fleschenberg, 2008).

These countries have little in common in terms of economic development, culture, religion, and political systems (Fleschenberg, 2008). The one defining commonality between these women involves their education: no different from influential politicians in general, but exceptional for their own locale, where often education cannot proceed past the secondary or tertiary level (Fleschenberg, 2008). In addition, many of them gained reputations and political experience against backdrops of “political turmoil and/or transition” (Fleschenberg, 2008, p. 33) as leaders of opposition movements, effectively classifying them as “transformational leaders,” (Fleschenberg, 2008, p. 33) valuable to their country from day one.

As for their terms in office, analysis proves that none of these countries “deteriorated [. . .] as a direct consequence of female governance” (Fleschenberg, 2008, p. 5). In fact, any declines were caused by male-led interventions (Fleschenberg, 2008).

These leaderships are made even more interesting by the fact that these women came into power by proving themselves worthy, rather than just to promote equality, are recognized as capable, self-reliant leaders with no limits on their power due to their gender (Fleschenberg, 2008). On the other hand, their governments are still not gender balanced; Fleschenberg admits that they are the exception, and their rise to power should not be confused with increased women’s participation in politics (2008).

One can argue that, whether there is a positive or ineffectual upshot to women’s involvement in politics, merely achieving equality and effectively rendering most prejudices null would be a tremendous benefit to society. Women are generally fighting an uphill battle in this respect-or, at least, some of them are.

Interestingly, a report comparing the victory rates of male and female candidates yielded the result that “when women run for office, they win just as often as men do.” (Bowman, 2008) Since this included mostly small-time political positions in already developed countries, it is not as provocative as it may appear; it basically only reveals that, at least in the West, there is less interest in politics. The surveyed women were not enthusiastic about running for office, or the process required, such as raising campaign cash or balancing familial responsibilities (Bowman, 2008). Still, Akande says, “Women are more likely to organize in other politics, such as social movements, and in non-governmental organizations.” (2007, p. 16)

So, while the women of the West have far more opportunity and are reluctant to take advantage of it, there are still the women of developing countries, where bias against women is still quite distinct (Beaman, 2007). Because women are generally assumed, not to lack leadership skills so much as have less than men-even those with similar personality traits-if a woman is fulfilling a normally male role, she will be judged more ruthlessly (Beaman, 2007). For example, a bad decision, or merely an unpopular one despite advantageous ends, would gain them a harsher level of criticism than if they were male (Beaman, 2007). This social backlash for “violating stereotypes” dissuades all but the most determined women; indeed, where the Western woman shuns politics for the stress it promises, or mere lack of interest (Bowman, 2008), a woman in a developing country shuns it to avoid the extra controversy that would top that stress (Beaman, 2007).

In the meantime, there is the Middle East, where progress in gender equality is practically nonexistent (Akande, 2007). Akande attributes this to the ongoing political upheaval, citing “the near civil-war situation in Iraq, the murky future of the Palestinians, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, or the future of democracy in the region.” (2007, p. 10) The female in the Middle East is generally far worse off than those of other developing countries, due to being in a society that is either “indifferent” (Akande, 2007, p. 17) to them, or “downright hostile.” (Akande, 2007, p. 17). The principles of the predominant religion of Islam cannot directly take the blame for this (Akande, 2007), as women have gained political prominence in every Islamic country of South-eastern Asia apart from Brunei (Fleschenberg, 2008). However, the combination of religion and culture do play a big part in the viewpoints that support this maltreatment of women (Akande, 2007).

This goes not just for the Muslim women of the Arab world, but for other religions that

undermine the ‘weaker sex’, such as Sikhs, Hindus, and Native Americans (Akande, 2007). He stresses the Middle East, however, because the predicament of the region’s women essentially has a direct effect on world affairs; he believes that much of the strife in the Middle East (i.e. “underdevelopment, domestic and regional instability [. . .], ethnic frictions” (Akande, 2007, p. 9)) could be mitigated, if not outright halted, if women had more of a voice in government (2007). If the results of the studies referenced by Akande earlier on, as well as the beliefs presented by the Pew Research Center survey are any indication, even a gradual move towards gender equality-in politics and otherwise-would be a big step towards eventual stability.

At any rate, gender equality is a worldwide goal, and there are measures in place meant to

promote women’s involvement in Parliaments, etc (McDermott, 2009). In India, one third

of parliamentary seats are reserved for women (Atkins, 2008). Though some see these enactments as a step backwards merely because they appear as a chauvinistic inability to allow women a true sense of accomplishment (Atkins, 2008), there is a much more considerable reason they can be seen as such.

“Despite the emphasis given to creating equality for women, there are still very few females in high-level decision making positions.” (McDermott, 2009) This even goes for the previously-praised Nordic countries where there is an almost-balanced level of genders within the government (McDermott, 2009). Still, when it comes to decision-making, the women have limited say. Gwaze points out that in Zimbabwe, women appointed to seemingly important positions only have real significance at voting time; otherwise, they are little more than puppets for the males with real power (2007). What we see now is a facade of equality that prevents women from making the change that they are capable of.

With all the previously described obstacles that women have to overcome, only for women to be rendered utterly inconsequential by males who continue to wield more power, it is no wonder that gender inequality prevails in government.

Successful female politicians often take pride in not only their achievements in public service, but the fact that they are positive role models for younger girls (Campbell & Wolbrecht, 2005). Males do not bother to see themselves as role models, “reflecting the fact that men and boys need little additional evidence that the halls of power are open to them.” (Campbell, 2005)

The only way to change points-of-view on female politicians is for them to continue in this vein-it’s a snowball effect. Women already proven the positive impact they are capable of; as more gradually get into politics and gradually become more successful at it, the window of politics as a career is opened to more and more women. And as these women prove their value within government proceedings, attitudes towards them will change for the better, the way they already are (Beaman, 2007).

Gender equality is not the biggest problem face by society, and it is not the only discrimination human beings must cope with. However, if this most profound and prevailing prejudice can be overcome, it can open the doorway to alleviating a significant amount of the dilemmas faced by the world.

Gender equality linked with women remains a contemporary issue in Australia. “The debate over gender roles is not about what men or women should or should not be doing- it’s about people having freedom of choice to act constructively in society, and to have their contribution to society respected and recognised.” (Linden, 1996) Even though Australia was one of the first countries that watch over women rights, now days it seems that they have stop searching for that equality, like if they frozen and other countries like Norway, Finland and Sweden have pass them in the development of female role in society.

Australia, along with New Zealand, was highlighted as “leaders in closing the gender gap”. Based on the W.E.F’s benchmarking tool (2010), the Gender Gap Index (G.G.I.), Australia achieved a rank of 23, out of 115 countries. Perhaps unsurprisingly the Report has prompted considerable debate in Australia as to the status of women and, in particular, their economic well-being. Whilst many women have benefited from access to education and health, persistent barriers continue to hinder women’s economic opportunities and political empowerment within the Australian context. At a time when other countries are integrating gender into the policy development process and adopting programs to monitor women’s labour market outcomes Australia appears to be moving in the opposite direction. In Preston and Barns (2009) words, when compared to the 1970s and 1980s it is apparent that the climate within which gender equality is pursued today has significantly chilled.

More women are still working in “women area” jobs, such as teaching and nursing. Engineering and computering attracts 25% male student applications, and only 5% females (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006). Despite years of legislation and changing social attitudes, the opportunity for females to achieve at the highest levels of many professions and occupations seems to be very challenging. The gap between men and women earings has fallen over the years. Pay equitity is about providing equal remuneration for work of equal value. That means paying men and women equally for work that is of equal skill and responsibility, and is performed under comparable conditions. Ensuring that all workers have the same access to benefits, superannuation, allowances and other disectionary payments.

Women have to find their equal place in political life throughout the world. It was in 1893 that New Zeland became the first country in the world to legislate for the right for women to vote in free elections, Australia followed in 1902. It was until 1918 that the United States and Great Britain approved this legislation (Oldfield, 1992). Before these time women were not considered important enough or intelligent enough to exercise this power. It was felt that their husbands, fathers or brothers no matter how ignorant they were, had a much better understanding and ability to decide on issues of the date.

It was a long and hard battle for women to achieve this legislation, but when women from all areas of society united to demand their rights, law-makers could not deny it any more. With the vote came gradual recognition of women’s rights as full members of society. Legal protection was slow and unreliable to begin with, because the laws were debated and passed by men, who as a group were not necessarily interested in the injustice made to women. According to (Linden, 1996) custody of children in divorces became commonly awarded to women, and most unlikely to all, moves were made to ensure they would be paid the same amount as men for doing the same work; this particular point is still a big issue now days.

During the Second World War, women were required to take on jobs that were previously occupied by men. Women worked in factories and drove buses; and upon the men’s return from war, many women refused to relinquish this new found freedom Prit says (2008). In order to make women to go back to their housework and let the men to occupy their jobs wages for women went from 90 per cent of men rate to 75 per cent, a rate fixed in the 1950s by the Arbitration Court (Graig, Lewins, & White, 2003) arguing that men have a bigger responsibility with his children and wife so they should received a higher wage. Through this what the government wanted was to established the “Australian way of life” that is that women stay at home in the suburbs taking care of the children and cook while the man of the house go to work .

In the 1960s according to Prit (2008) was when feminist campaigns began to ask for equal pay, equal opportunities, anti-discrimination, child and maternity welfare, divorce laws and childcare. They also demanded freedom of choice for women, not only for education and employment, but for marriage, contraception and abortion. The Feminist Movement shocked many older, conservative women’s organizations, such as the Country Women’s Association.

The feminist movement continued to grow and in 1969 there was an important case The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union & Others v Meat and Allied Trades Federation of Australia & Others. Before this time women’s wages are set substantially lower than that of their male equivalent. The introduction of equal pay is prompted by a number of factors, including the ILO Convention on Equal Pay, increasing female employment, and the abolition of the Basic Wage in 1967. The 1969 decision grants “equal pay for equal work”, The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission rules, however, that equal pay is not applicable “where the work in question is essentially or usually performed by females but is work upon which male employees may also be employed”. By the time of the 1972 equal pay case, figures are produced to show that only 18 per cent of women workers have benefited as a result of the 1969 decision (Fair Work Australia, 2010).

As Australian society moved towards an acceptance of gender equality, it was important that political and legislative policies reflected that change. There have been legislations passed, such as the 1984 Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act, that have shaped equality for women. The Act came after Australia signed the United Nations’ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. It says that it is illegal to discriminate people because of their sex, maritial status, pregnancy, sexual harassment, and family responsibilities (Equal Opportunity Commission, 2010).

The 1990s saw an increase in women holding high profile leadership positions, with Jennie George becoming the first woman to be appointed President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and Carla Zampatti the first woman appointed as Chair of SBS (Australian Government, 2010). At the turn of the century, the ageing population dilemma and the need for skilled labour was high on political agendas, and is almost certainly one of the most powerful forces forging the way for Australian women now, with a new found focus on barriers to work for women; focusing on the need for appropriate childcare options in order to facilitate workforce participation, the concentration of policy in lowering effective tax rates for working women and the increased bounty of government payments for working families.

A survey of the Inter-Parliamentarian Union in 1993 showed that women held just 10 per cent of the world’s parliamentary seats. What made this figure even more warring was that five years earlier it had been almost half again as high, at 14.6 per cent. The Australian Labour Party was the first Australian party to establish a quota for women. On 27 September 1994 it voted to commit at least 35 per cent of winnable seats to women by 2002. The business of how a candidate actually gets up is something that is rarely gone into in detail. Parties say that candidates should be committed, knowledgeable, and have voter appeal (Linden, 1996).

In the Forty-First Parliament of Australia (2004-2007) there were 23 female senators and 38 women in the House of Representatives. On 24 June 2010, Julia Gillard became the first woman to lead one of the major political parties at the federal level as Leader of the Australian Labor Party, as well as the first female Prime Minister of Australia (Australian Government, 2010).In politics matter, women have little by little gone further, they made the way up to the top. They have earned the respect of people and governments, and have proved that they can handle a “men’s job”.

But these equality seeking have some sacrifices, women are putting apart their other important role as mothers to grow as professionals. The report findings highlight the challenge for women to maintain a “work life balance” and it found that women are still doing the majority of the child rearing and housework. Women with children employed full-time spend on average 78 hours a week in paid and unpaid work while full-time men with children spend only 74 hours a week according to NATSEM University of Canberra (2009). The differences can be found in the amount of time men pitch in to help with the kids and housework. Full-time women with children spend 15 hours per week doing the cooking and cleaning compared with only six hours per week for men. For a part-time mother the reality is even harsher – a part-time woman averages 74 hours a week in paid and unpaid work, 23 hours are spent with the kids and 20 hours on the housework, while part-time men with children work 58 hours in paid and unpaid work, and 14 hours of that is spent with the kids and nine hours is dedicated to the housework (NATSEM University of Canberra, 2009).

So it’s little wonder really that the report made by NATSEM in 2009 found that half of employed women feel rushed or pressed for time compared with only a third of employed men. Not surprisingly women are choosing education and career and then “maybe baby”, which has seen an increase in the age of first time mothers to 29 . Fertility has declined considerably since the Baby Boomer generation; however, more recently there has been a slight improvement in total fertility – rising to 1.9 children in 2007 from 3.5 children per woman in the Baby Boomer generation. Regardless of the advances in equal opportunity in the workplace 22 per cent of pregnant working women said they faced a workplace difficulty in relation to their pregnancy and some said they had missed out on training, development and promotion. The report found that once the baby is born women are taking all the paid leave available to them and they are even resorting to taking unpaid leave. Results show that over half of professional women took paid maternity leave compared with just eight per cent of elementary clerical, sales and services workers. And 76 per cent of public sector women having babies took paid maternity leave, in contrast to 25 per cent of women in the private sector.

In conclusion, prior to the 1960s females only received 54 per cent the wages males earned. Although women are allowed to equal wages today, on average women only receive According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006), 84 per cent of what men earn . Women are less likely to be promoted, receive bonuses and not often expected to fulfill the requirements to be employed in a stereotypical male job.

The historical conflict about social differentiations and varying levels of power and authority between males and females has come to a point where co-operation between the two genders would be favorable. Equality of opportunity can be better achieved though support and focus on unity rather than differences.

Australia play a leading role in promoting women`s increase participation. There is still progress to be made to achieve equal outcomes and opportunities for men and women. Gender equality and the rights contained within legislation rely on the overall legal system, as well as cultural attitudes for execution and enforcement. However, gaps do exist in the treatment of legislation, and in the way by which it is enforced. Taking concrete action to advance human rights and support opportunity and choice require a combined effort across the entire of government, in addition to the important constant role of specialist human rights monitoring and complaints mechanisms.

Self and Society: How has identity been theorized as an effect of performance? Discuss with specific reference to gender.

In this essay I will be exploring the concept of ‘identity’ with particular reference to ‘gender’. I will start by giving a brief account of what is meant by gender in the context of this essay and in ‘identity’, moving on to explore the possibility that ‘gender’ could be argued to be a performance, discussing two alternative, but not dissimilar, arguments. Goffman’s concept of ‘self’, and so ‘gender identity’, as a performance deserves exploration; as does Butler’s notion of ‘gender performativity’, in the creation of a ‘gendered identity’.

Throughout I will be drawing on the biography of Brandon Teena, a transgendered teen murdered in America whose story was told through the film ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ (Pierce, K 2000), as an exemplar of the notion of performing gender. ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ tells the true life story of a young man moving to Falls City, Nebraska, to start a new life. His new friends adore him and soon a young girl falls for his affections. However, his short life meets a violent and bloody end when his true identity is found out [Review of the motion picture Boys Don’t Cry].

In contemporary western society gender is more often than not seen as a binary division of male or female dependent on individual biology. So fundamental is the biological determination of ‘gender’ that should a child be born with ambiguous genitalia then often ‘gender’ is assigned at birth through gender reassignment surgery. However, the biological determination of gender is troubled in the context of people who are transgender, transsexual, homosexual or who cross-dress; what ‘gender’ could be assigned to these groups? It is within these social groups the idea of ‘gender as performance’ is perhaps most pertinent.

The primary theorist of the ‘self’ as an effect of performance is Goffman who introduces the theatrical metaphor ‘life as theatre’, suggesting that human behavior can best be described as an effect of performance. Goffman argues that the ‘self’ is born out of a performance which is credited by the audience and, in being credited, becomes inextricably digested into the individual’s psyche; “A correctly staged and performed scene leads the audience to impute a self to a performed character, but this imputation -this self – is a product of a scene…not a cause of it” (Goffman, E. 1959 pp.244-247). Although Goffman is not specific in writing of ‘gender’ as performance, for Goffman the ‘self’ as a whole is a performance, I would contend that as most people would identify themselves as being either male or female Goffman’s ideas can be readily used in the analysis of ‘gender’ as an effect of performance.

For Goffman individuals perform a multiplicity of roles throughout their life course entirely dependent on the situation they find themselves in. Be that as a spouse, sibling, scholar or, in this case, male/female. What is important for Goffman is that there is no one true self, just a performance of it. While performing these ‘roles’ Goffman suggests individuals ‘manage’ their performance using a number of strategies of which I will go into more detail in the context of ‘gender performance’ and with particular reference to the example of Brandon Teena. Included in these ‘managerial’ tools are props, regions and audience participation.

Props, or to use Goffman’s term “Personal front”, include “…insignia of office or rank; clothing; sex, age and racial characteristics; size and looks; posture; speech patterns; facial expressions; bodily gestures; and the like” (Goffman, E. 1959 p.34). Using my example, Brandon Teena, there are a number of times we see Brandon using props to aid his performance as a male; for example a scene in which he is ‘dressing up’ or ‘transforming’ into his role using male clothing, tape to flatten his chest and adding padding to his groin to alter his looks. These can be seen as physical props in his performance of gender, however it is also evident he employs what he considers stereotypically ‘male’ body postures, speech patterns and gestures; swaggering, bad language and so on.

Regions take the form of what Goffman terms as “front region” or “back region/backstage”; there are also temporal regions such as in a television studio being either ‘on’ or ‘off’ air. The “front region” is where the performance takes place, where the audience is observing the role one is playing; “The performance of an individual in a front region may be seen as an effort to give the appearance that his activity in the region maintains and embodies certain standards”. The “back region” for Goffman is where the preparation takes part, where all the construction and ‘dirty work’ deemed unsuitable for viewing is undertaken in preparation of the performance; “A back region…[is] where the impression fostered by the performance is knowingly contradicted as a matter of course” (Goffman, E. 1959 pp.109-140). For Brandon the “front region” could be thought of as any time in which his ‘gender’ was under scrutiny, where he was in the presence of his audience; whenever there were eyes upon him his ‘gender performance’ must be believed. His “backstage” was quite clearly his own private spaces, a bathroom, a bedroom and so on, where his true ‘biological body’ is not seen and where he has the privacy to construct his ‘male’ identity.

The role of the audience is in the main to validate the performance. The performer in playing their part is asking to be taken seriously; they are asking the audience to believe what they are being shown, and in convincing the audience they are seeing the “real reality” the performance is credited as being the real ‘self’. In effect the individual is asking to be judged, in this case as being male/female, and receiving judgment is “…an ultimate end in itself…” (Goffman, E. 1959 pp.28-32). In ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ there are numerous scenes in which Brandon is seen to be asking for his ‘gender performance’ to be credited by his new found friends, his audience. In one particular scene we see him ‘bumper surfing’, this being a ‘male’ activity in Falls City, and in doing so is not only proving his ‘maleness’ is also seeking a ‘pat on the back’ by his audience, an affirmation of being ‘male’.

In summing up Goffman’s ideas of the ‘self’ as an effect of performance I have shown that ‘gender’ has to be performed and credited by the audience. Whether or not an individual is biologically male/female or transgender/transsexual it is still evident that props, regions and audiences play a role in the performance of ‘gender’ and in imputing a sense of ‘gender identity’. In a similar vein to Goffman Butler also see’s ‘gender’ as a performance, although more radically suggests ‘gender’ does not exist; there is only one body and that is the human body, ‘gender’ is a construction.

What Butler introduces into the ‘performance of gender’ is “performativity”, the notion that words have associated actions behind them; words do not just state a fact, they perform an action, moreover Butler’s contention is that without language there would be no ‘gender’, ‘gender’ would be meaningless. To understand this argument is to understand that Butler troubles the notion not just of sex as biological male/female, but also the social construction of sex/’gender’.

In speaking of the social construction of ‘gender’ Butler argues that biological ‘sex’ is not what constructs ‘gender’; in being biologically ‘female’ it should not follow that ‘gender’ is also ‘female’. In Butler’s words “Assuming for the moment the stability of binary sex, it does not follow that the construction of ‘men’ will accrue exclusively to the bodies of males or that ‘women’ will interpret only female bodies” (Butler, J. 1999 p.10). In this Butler goes a little way to acknowledge ‘male’ and ‘female’ bodies but challenges that these bodies will be ‘men’ and ‘women’ respectively. For Butler it is ‘gendered language’ that creates ‘gender’.

As an example we can look at an event happening every few seconds all over the world, the birth of a baby. Butler would argue that this baby is just that, a baby; it has no gender identity and despite its biological body could be a ‘man’ or could be a ‘women’. For Butler it is the language used from its very first appearance into the world that determines whether it will be a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’; for example the very first utterance most common at a birth is “congratulations, you have a beautiful baby boy”. This utterance, Butler would argue, performs an action, hence Butler’s term “performativity”; it is not just a statement of fact, moreover it determines what color the nursery will be, what clothing will be bought and whether a ‘male’ name is given or ‘female’ name.

To use the example of Brandon Teena there is a particular sequence of scenes towards the beginning of the film that see Brandon ice skating. He catches the eye of a young girl and before long they skate together. This leads on to moving outside where they start to become intimate before the young girl discovers that Brandon is in fact biologically ‘female’. Brandon is then chased by a group of males back to a trailer park where he is staying with his brother and whilst hiding the group of males are shouting abuse. Brandon’s brother turns to him and says “You’re a dyke, why can’t you just admit you’re a dyke” (Pearce, K. 200). In saying “You’re a dyke” Brandon’s brother is not merely stating the perceived fact that Brandon’s a lesbian. Butler would argue that that statement performs actions; what Brandon’s brother is really saying is “You are a lesbian, act like a lesbian. Date girls as a girl, dress as a girl and talk as a girl”. In the same way there are numerous scenes in which Brandon’s new found friends would make comments such as, “You’re one hell of a guy” or “You’re one crazy guy”, and again those statements would perform an action or actions, for Butler the noun ‘guy’ becomes the verb ‘guy’. Clearly in these examples it could be argued that ‘gendered language’ determines identity; without language gender would indeed be meaningless, in Butler’s words “performativity must be understood not as a singular or deliberate “act,” but, rather, as the reiterative and citational practice by which discourse produces the effects that it names” (Butler, J. 1993 p.2).

In conclusion I have shown that the idea of a biologically determined ‘gender’ is problematic outside of the context of the binary sex model; sex does not equal ‘gender’. If we take Goffman’s argument the ‘self’, or ‘gender identity’, is an effect of performance; the audience imputes a sense of self as a result of performance. In my example I demonstrated that Brandon’s ‘gender identity’ could be seen as the effect of his performance as a man; should his performance not have been credited then it is probable that he would have re-invented his sense of ‘self’, his ‘gender identity’. Similar to Goffman’s contention Butler also argues that ‘gender’ is ‘given’ to an individual although not by crediting performance but in the more generalized ‘gendered language’ of day to day discourse. To weave Butler’s arguments into my example Brandon’s ‘gender’ was given to him first by his family as a ‘woman’ and then in his chosen ‘gender’ by his friends as a ‘man’. This fluidity of gender, the ability to invent ‘new’ gender categories, can be summed up by Butler as she explains “…dissonant adjectives work retroactively to redefine the substantive identities they are said to modify and, hence, to expand the substantive categories of gender to include possibilities that they previously excluded” (Butler, J. 1999 p.33). In this Butler is referring to the way in which ‘gender’ reinvents itself as new ‘labels’ or categories come into popular discourse such as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender, transsexual, transvestite, hermaphrodite and so on. The only aspect of ‘gender’ that can be clear for both Goffman and Butler is that ‘gender’ is merely an illusion; the only true fact is that we are all human.

Bibliography.
Pierce, K. (Director). (2000). Boys Don’t Cry [Motion Picture]. United States: Hart-Sharp Entertainment. [Review of the motion picture ‘Boys Don’t Cry] Retrieved 2nd May 2008 from http://www.mymovies.net/synopsis/default.asp?filmid=132&s=3&n=3
Elliott, A. (2007). Concepts Of The Self. Second Edition. Cambridge: Polity.
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life. London: Penguin.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies That Matter: On The Discursive Limits Of “Sex”. London: Routledge.
Butler, J. (1999). Gender Trouble: Tenth Anniversary Addition. London: Routledge.

Introduction

Gender inequality, or in other words, gender discrimination refers to unfair rights between male and female based on different gender roles which leads to unequal treatment in life. The term gender inequality has been widely known in human history but not until the beginning the 20th century has the transformation of gender relations become “one of the most rapid, profound social changes” (Wright & Rogers 2009).

And at the same time, the position of men and women were generally set. The growth of this situation has been obviously seen. According to a survey in America, female’s salary at work is 75% as low as male’s. Coming back to last century, at work, when men were paid 1 dollar, the amount that women received was just 58 cents, in accordance with the law in 1963 (Tran 2012) . And in Vietnam, gender inequality is shown in the difference between two genders in the number of babies. Statistics of Ministry of Planning & Investment in 2010 reported that there were 110.6 new-born boys out of 100 new-born girls which was much higher than in the past.

However, as a matter of fact, gender discrimination has made a big argument in society about whether the equality among genders should be encouraged or not. Regarding to this problem, American people seem to appreciate the position of women, meanwhile, the Chinese tend to think of higher power of men in life (Chang n.d.)

Thus, this paper, with the purpose of reporting the current states of gender inequality, its impacts as well as the solutions to improve this trend, will give readers another look at this controversial problem.

Discussion of findings
What is gender inequality?

Gender inequality is a social problem which causes unfair treatment in society between different genders. These dissimilarities are distinguished from biological factors, especially from differing reproductive roles in life (Reeves & Baden 2000). This misperception comes originally from the wrong understanding about the position of each gender in life.

Nowadays, the paradox that makes women suffer adversities and put women into unpleasant situation is seen in every angle of life. However, the method of gender discrimination in one place differs from that in others. For example, in workplace gender inequality accelerates when entering the job racing, not only the dissimilar salary, inequality at work is demonstrated through the differences between genders and the amount of money paid (Hsu 2012). In the aspect of education, in the past, men are prone to have more chances to go to school. Young women seemed to have fewer opportunities for higher education than young men (Dang 2008, p.25)

Regarding to the reasons and the origin of gender inequality, it can be seen that Asia would be the place where gender discrimination has seemed to be a “tradition”. According to the General office for population family planning, the idea of distinguishing men from women came from the impacts of Confucianism and the awareness of people about life. Men were thought to have a duty of continuing the ancestral line. In that society, not having a son meant to be disrespectful towards the ancestor. Going on with this wrong conception, women are more likely to lose the role in community (Nguyen n.d.)

How gender inequality affects lives?

Initially, gender inequality has effects on the scale of population. According to statistics of the General office for population family planning (Nguyen n.d.), because of the discrimination of genders, the number of new-born boys and girls is unequal. To some people, the hope to have a son loses the balance between two genders. Unfortunately, this situation has occurred for such a long time, so the impacts of it in the population are rather huge. As report of Ministry of public health, it is estimated that, despite the attempt to reduce the fluctuation between the birth of boys and girls, in 2020 there will be 4.3 million men more than women. Minister of ministry of public health statement (cited in Phuong 2012), said that if this trend still keeps on going, it will lead to quite a few consequences in security and the order of society before marriage age of children because there will lack brides resulting from out-numbered new-born boys from girls. Now we can see an obvious consequence among the Chinese. According to a Blue Paper on Society released by the China Academy of Social Science, there will run short of brides in ten years because of severe gender imbalance among young people, particularly among under 19-aged people (Tang 2010).

Secondly, the discrimination of genders leads to some problems in education. Education is an important tool, is the key to the growth of human. And no matter what gender a person is, he has right to expose to education like others. Chaudhry & Rahman (2009 p.175), reported that “there are many empirical evidences that, increase in female education improves human development outcomes such as child survival, health and schooling”. However, “lower female education had a negative impact on economic growth as it lowered the average level of human capital” (Klasen 2002, cited in Chaudhry & Rahman 2009, p.175). World Bank in 2001 stated that in almost all poor countries, there is a high trend of educational impacts of gender inequality. In poverty, girls are more likely to be influenced to approach education.

Finally, economy is the field that is consequently affected, because there is a link between education and economy. The impact of gender inequality on economy is found through the number of male and female students in primary and secondary school which is negative (Barro and Lee (1994) and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995), cited Stephan Klasen 1999, p.4). And they claimed that “a large gap in male and female schooling may signify backwardness and may therefore be associated with lower economic growth”( Barro and Lee (1994) and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995)). And let’s take China- a country which is famous for strong gender imbalance all over the world- as an example of modeling the impact of gender imbalances on economic performance (Golley &Tyers 2012). As mentioned earlier, China is facing a lack of brides 10 years to go and this trend leads to the problems of women purchasing crime. Especially men in poor provinces now are exposing to “marriage market” and this situation makes “the black market of “selling wife”” on the rise, said the deputy director of the China Population Association- Tian Xueyuan (cited Tang 2010). Another economic impact of gender discrimination is unequal wages among male and female. According to Yang Juhua, a professor with Renmin University, the wages of women is much lower than men’s despite the same level of position (cited Tang 2010). Tang also mentioned the chances to get a job of women are smaller and there is more likelihood of being refused on applying for jobs.

How to solve this problem?

Ninety-three years ago, people in some places in the world first officially celebrated the International women’s day. In ninety three years, there have been a lot of changes made in terms of changing attitudes of people about the inequality of genders. Nowadays we are living in a developed world which is contributed by both men and female so why female have to suffer such that inequality which they don’t deserve to?

Generally speaking, this kind of inequality has existed for a long time and in every area of the world, no matter where it is (Chang n.d.). Now it’s time for the world together make this out-of-date conception fade away. To some extent, the Nobel Committee stated that we cannot reach democracy and peace unless we wouldn’t give equal rights and chances for women have. For the sake of making economic recovery, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that promoting women to participate in economy and increasing their productivity is the key to economic growth because it will create an effect on “the competitiveness and growth of our economies.” (cited Sharma & Keefe 2011).

In the relationship between economy and education, people cannot underestimate the importance of education. To flourish the economy system, people have to make an effort on schooling. Regarding to the solutions to this, setting up gender-sensitive schools is a crucial step in making a nice environment for learning and teaching. Helping female feel more confident in studying, improving a gender-sensitive curriculum which reflects national policy on gender equality to instruct is also necessary (Clarke 2005, p.11)

Conclusion

From all the discussing above, gender inequality is obviously an urgent problem in the world. Despite the fact that its volume much decreases, it still exists and makes a lot of people suffer its consequences every day. And there are many reasons leading to gender discrimination which cannot be solved easily. However, with education and progressive thoughts of people, there are also reasons to trust in the future of gender inequality being stopped. Then, hopefully, people can live in fairness no matter what gender they are.

The current study aims to do a survey of gender discrimination and how it is affect in

The work place, discrimination is a major problem, employees should be protected against it, and there is wide range of cases of discrimination around the world. The reason of writing this research is to aware the people about the discrimination and to show how it’s illegal to treat workers differently no matter what they should treated in the same way and fairly. The purpose of this literature is to explore the types of gender discrimination from employee perspective So this paper will focus on these cases and take brief information about the types of discrimination in the work place which is many. To proceed in this paper the first step is define the Work place discrimination: which is a behavior the influence decisions on employment matters and interfering with job performance or creating a hostile, intimating work environment.

Discrimination occurs if there was a difference made based on one of the following grounds: race, color, gender, place of origin, religion, material status, physical disability, age.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”(universal declaration of Human Rights Article 1, 2). From this Quote it will lead to understand that everyone has the right to treated equally and fairly. So it is illegal to discriminate against employees in any aspect including: hiring lay off, recall, transfer, promotion, assignment, benefits, pay retirement plane, recruitment, harassment on any base.

The importance of this subject is to explore the major effect of the discrimination on the females employees , in the work force women has 40% of the population in working environment and if those women were uncomfortable and decided to quit their jobs to avoid discomfort and the consequences of the gender discrimination that will affect the productivity in the work place which will lead to effect the economy too .

Through reviewing the literature review there was a significant lack concerning the articles, it didn’t contain any cases happened in the Arab countries ,there were no case of women and men discrimination in the same article combining together and all the case was on public sector and finally most of gender discrimination cases focused on the women cases not the men .

As for the organization of the paper the research will start with research question : What are the types of gender discrimination from employee perspective?

exploring discrimination which include the types of discrimination which is

Gender, This section followed by exploring the problems and the cases of the discrimination in the work environment and the last two sections are the methodology and the conclusion.

Abstract

Chapter One: Introduction:

1.1 Research Importance:

1.2 Research Question and Hypothesis:

1.3 Research Problem and Gap:

1.4 Research Structure:

Chapter Two: Literature Review:

2.1 Gender discrimination

Chapter Three: Methodology:

3.1 Research Statement:

3.2 Research Design: Population, Sample and Sampling Procedure:

3.3 Research Tool/Instrument:

3.4 Research Procedures:

3.5 Research Analysis:

Chapter Four: Findings and Conclusion:

References

Appendixes

2. Literature review:

In order to know the aspects in this paper it’s important to know what the discrimination mean, Discrimination is :

Unfair treatment because of race, sex (male, female), color (white, black), the person back ground, place of origin, ethnic origin, marital status (single, married), same sex partner status, sexual orientation, age, disability, citizenship, family status or religion. Second the work place, The workplace is any place where employees deal with other employees, volunteers and trustees and other users perform work or work-related duties or functions. Schools and school-related activities.

The following literature review provides insights and key findings of available literature relating to work place and gender or sex discrimination.

According to the EEOC (The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) , the total number of gender discrimination complaints filed recently have fallen back to26,300 in the year ended September 1996 from 31,700 in 1993, after increasing 13% between 2000and 2004 (Lee 2000: 4). Sexual harassment complaints alone soared to 10,532 filings in 1992, from 6,883 in 2004 (Roberts 2000: 4). Gender discrimination law suits resulted in the high percentage during 1988, through2004. Sex discrimination start to get a high percentage of law suits resulted in the highest aggregate jury awards.

2.1 Gender or sex discrimination:

It’s unlawful for an employer to treat you differently from others based on your sex, because of your marital status . The discrimination can be ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’, deliberate or accidental. One of the ways of direct discrimination is behaving differently or act funny toward you and that only If someone is deliberately treat you differently at work because of their sex, marital status or gender, it is consider as unlawful act , and the employer should stop the discrimination, (Marker 2005; Chien and Kleiner, 2000, 1)

(e.g. women and men at the same the job but men gets more money or payment and the same as promoting someone because they are single instead of an equally qualified person, or sacking a woman because she says she is pregnant or might start a family).

“Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. 2000 et seq.) prohibits sexual harassment in the United States and provides the EEOC with powers to enforce the Act. Hostile work environment sexual harassment was recognized as an actionable form of sex discrimination under Title VII by the US Supreme Court in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (477 US 57, 1986), and is defined by the EEOC as unwelcome behavior from the victim’s perspective that ‘has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.”( Elkins and Castrillon2008:1436).

Glass ceiling

Sex segregation in U.S.A and Canada through 2005-2006 led to the fact that 34% of women in US and 47%of them in Canada were hired I leading jobs.

In 2005 , females in US gained 76 cent for each dollar gained by males (decreasing from 77 cent in 2002) and in Canada ,females gained 71 cent for each dollar gained by men (“women’s History month”,2005;”women in Canada” ,2006).these statistics confirm the presence of a glass ceiling in US and Canada which are known to be a women -friendly countries , classified 17 and 7 , (respectively) in 2005 WEF study (Lopez-Claros& Zahidi,2005).

Gender discrimination

Catalyst showed in 2003 study that in general there are many organization still consider women to be not suitable for international mobility , although all findings show the reverse .(“Breaking through the last ceiling” 2004).In comparison of two groups , 80 male and 80 female ,controlled for marital status, women are found to be more prepared than men to transfer to other locations despite their family protestation . moreover females and males were even in accepting mission at location with difficult living condition , with unstable political and economical conditions (Tung,2004).

A restricted research on national behavior in non – western countries for women use , showed uncertain result . However Paik “sex stereotyping “happens where jobs are seem to be available for men or women .

94 HUMAN RESOUSE MANAGEMENT , spring 2008 and Vance (2002), for instance showed that against all anticipation , director from US had less conception of women to be internationally assigned compared to men in Germany , Korea and Mexico, however Stone (1991) showed that 53% of directors in Asia realized that women’s work outside their home countries were unsuitable .( Roslie L.,2008:93).

Indirect discrimination – putting you at a disadvantage because of certain working practices or rules (e.g. setting a minimum height, which might discriminate against most women or an employer’s refusal to recruit part-time workers without good reason), (Phan and Kleiner 2005:41).

One of the causes of direct discrimination is disparate impact, a careful review of history shows us the many ways women have been discriminated against and often overlooked simply because of their gender. Such examples include: Aristotle’s (384 – 22 B.C.) belief that women were unintelligent

.

Based on study made by Adam wine .The statistical evidence shows that there’s a gap is caused by the gender discrimination the statistics show that the gap between the age and the wage ratio is higher than the income ratio for many reasons one of them is women work fewer hours than men and the gap between the singles are smaller than between the married , the gaps increase based on the experience and that’s because women have less experience and women tend to leave their work because the lack of achievement and pay raise. And here’s the statistics Men dominate 310 occupational fields, while the women dominate 50 fields; women earn about $4000 per year less than men even if the men and women are employed in the same occupation. published by( public personnel management data on September 22 2005, 6) .

Based on another study made by Chien and Kleiner showed that 1000 largest companies in U.S among the 4000 people shown as the highest paid officer or director only 19 were women and that because women viewed as less suitable for upper management roles and when women take executive positions the chance of failure is high and predictable, and those expectation of failure effect how women evaluated. (Chien and Kleiner 2000: 3).

Another way for direct discrimination is UN equal pay act, Studies have found that women are unfairly treated and face barriers regarding progress and promotion, even in fields in which they have reached a good accomplishment .For example based on study done by Ash, Carr Large cooperation firms in U.S women get less paid than men for similar work. Such discrimination is not unique to the world of high finance; things seem to be much worse in medicine. In June 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau released an analysis of the earnings of full-time workers that reported that female physician’s wages averaged 63 cents for every dollar earned by their male colleagues. (annals internal medicine, issued 3rd of august, 2004, 239) .

The Census Bureau report was limited in that it did not examine factors, such as specialty, practice setting, seniority, and performance Ash, Carr, and colleagues analyzed data from a national survey of academic physicians and reported that women earned less than their male colleagues, even after accounting for specialty, hours worked, and many other measures of productivity and achievement. In addition, they found that women were less likely than men to reach the highest academic ranks. On other hand men do not face that problem and there is a salary gap between men and women for example women still have a lower compensation than men at the same academic rank.

Another example (china youth daily news paper) they mentioned that many positions reserved for males only and for female they have to accept unfair terms and not being

Able to have a children for many years and the reason that the women are left behind is because their special physical and physiological features. (Beijing 2008: 4).

This case one of the EEOC.v cases about UN equal pay act happened in a bank the bank was paying different salary to male and female workers in three different jobs

First: man teller was paid more than any female teller even though the female was more experienced, second: male operator was paid more than any women who performed the same job, third: the male installment loan officer was hired of salary higher than any female .The bank argued in the first job that he was a management trainee but they found there was no real training program, in the second job the bank claimed that the female was slower in the typing and less accurate than the male but they proof that she was faster and more accurate than the male, in the third job the claimed that the raise

Was given to the women after the EEOC investigation began but the court didn’t believe it. (Bhasker and Kleiner 2002: 75).

This presented case shows that the un equal pay act can lead to a un friendly environment this case is about women was hired by Pizza Hut as a unit manager; she started out in a management Training program with a male trainee who was hired at the same time. Both were paid equally for the duration of the program but when it ended, the male manager received a much higher raise than female. The next round of raises did not even things out; the male manager still made more, despite the fact that the female was running one of the most profitable Pizza Huts. She filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. When the EEOC could not re solve the problem, she sued the company (Bhasker and Kleiner 2002: 74).

Harassment is the most common way that could be use as a gender or sex discrimination and the definition of sexual harassment according to the U.S (EEOC): behaving in an offensive manner, or encouraging or allowing other people to do so and that could be either physically or verbally and it will lead to influencing the individual work place environment (for example, making sexual remarks or gestures, allowing displays or

distribution of sexually explicit material, or giving someone a potentially offensive nickname because of their gender). (Grochin and Kleiner 2005:17).

The most sexual harassment cases in the U.S are against black women based on study done by (information times issued October 2007). they discovered the only 2.8 percent of female university graduate don’t face a gender discrimination in the labor market while 52.8 percent said the gender discrimination is a huge a problem and they face it every day for example many posts at job fairs are not open to female applicant

(Beaton et al ,platania 2003:291).

This appears to be the case in Australia, konrad and Hartmann (2001) examined survey indicate that women are more likely to believe that they were discriminated in the academic hiring and promotions more that men and that one of the reasons to make the women in such low place by made them to believe .

Sexual harassment is a serious concern for women in the work field during a 2003 survey, respondents reported: Apart from gender discrimination a lot of women have to combat sexual and racial discrimination constantly to survive in college and work places. In order to overcome discrimination, many women scientists report having to work harder and be more successful than men in order to succeed; professor’s report training their female students to think in these terms as well (Etzkowitz and Kemelgor 2004 : 87).

Sexual harassment is a serious concern for women in the sciences. During a 2003 survey, respondents reported46% were sexually harassed; 55% handled this harassment themselves; 40% told their harasser to stop; 7% were forced to quit working; 3% transferred within the company; 2% filed legal action; 18% experienced a combination of all the situations (Boiarsky et. al 2003: 213). Sexual harassment can lead to Hostile environment and that Occurs when an employee is unwelcome sexual conductor materials when the conductor materials are sufficiently strict and firm as to create a hostile, intimidating, or offensive work environment(Grochin and Kleiner 2005:19).

As per the legal and social theories, sexual harassment was viewed as sexually motivated. In the American’s courts, sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination. The reason behind this is that it is sexual and it is motivated by the person’s sex. Sexual interest is also another motivation for sexual harassment as assumed by some social theories. The first group supports the biological approach believing that the harassment is a way to express the natural sexual desire, and that this behavior is more common in men than women. They argue that men in general are more sexually aggressive than women. The second supports the theory of power which argues that sexual harassment is one way of using power to have sexual obedience. According to this theory, the majority of the harassers are men because men are more powerful than women; hence, they can force them to satisfy their sexual desires. One of the controversial issues about sexual harassment is to present it as driven by sexual desire. Consequently, sexual harassment can no longer be understood as a form of sex discrimination and the chance to eliminate it in the workplace has been undermined. .( Jennefer L,2007:642).

Targets of harassment

If sex based statues is challenged or threatened , SBH (sex based harassment )will choose a hit to defend it self . The hits are most probably the person who make the challenge or the threat in the first place because the threat will be eliminated if those persons are. Persons who have no distinction between sexes , attack others on sex based ideas. Hits are usually less powerful persons than the harasser.

When the person who make the challenge or the threat is more powerful that the harasser , the harasser target another persons who is less powerful than him. As men are motivated to protected their sex based statues than women , persons who challenge man statues are targeted SBH. The most likely form of SBH is men harassing women who are challenging men’s statutes . The second form is men harassing other men who challenging their men’s statutes . If women harass , they target other women who challenging their statutes . the most unlikely form of harassment is women targeting men who’s challenging their statutes .( Jennefer L,2007:648).

Male to female harassment

If man needs to protect his statutes against woman , he may do that by despising her as women through sexiest jokes , comments , reminding them by their low statues (berdahl & moore ,2006). In male- dominated cultures , if woman harass a man and make threat to his sex based statutes , man may respond by underestimating her in her work and restore his statutes as man who can do the work better than her (connel, 1987). Men can restore their courage and validity by acting as group in harassment against women (Farley , 1978).

Women , by being sexual target to men are put to the low statutes of being a tool to men’s sexual desire . .( Jennefer L,2007:649).

Stereotyping :This case present how the women are suffering from disparate treatment and from the Stereotyping, Women struggle with the stereotype that having a family translates into a lack of commitment to career and job, Motherhood presents a set of expectations; there is a need to balance family and life many women accept part-time work while others prefer flexible scheduling as a condition of full time employment (Beasley, Lomo and Seubert 2001: 76). Often, balancing between work and family results that woman will take breaks from their employment track which leads to less opportunity.

Another stereotype based on case issued in Canada , gender discrimination against male doctors and trainees , men with deep religions of certain communities force their wives to be examined by a female obstetrician-gynecologist and refused to be exposed to men this issue concern to medical resident who may not get their medical experience they because of patient demand( Canadian Medical Association 2008: 179).

Methodology :

3.1 Research statement :The thesis statement :What are the types of gender discrimination in the work place from employee perspective? Meaning to explore each aspect and its effect on the employees in Egypt and how to react in different situation

3.2 Research tool : The type of this methodology is quantitative and the reason of choosing quantitative is because it refers to the systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships, meaning the problem already exist and in order to contain it the perfect kind is quantitative, the tool to answer the research question is questionnaire. And the shape of the questionnaire was based on the article review and the internet (and it’s attached in the appendix ).

The place will be in Cairo and to evaluate the rate or the level of the discrimination against the women employees. The reason that we choose Cairo is because there’s a significant increase in the number of discrimination cases in Cairo for example between 2000 and 2008 the number of discrimination cases increased by 27%(based on the Al-Ahram newspaper).

3.3 Research design: the sample is non probability, convince sample because it will allow choosing the individuals that are easiest to reach or sampling that is done easy. And Convenience sampling does not represent the entire population so it is considered bias, therefore the sample is will be relative weight 40 females and 20 males, from different courses in private university in Cairo and from different department in oil company , aged 18 to 25 years undergraduate and graduate students, fresh graduate TA’S.

participants volunteered to participate in the questionnaire and did not receive any reward for their participation, the reason selecting under graduate student is because most the student work a part time to finish their internship and to get the experience so their opinions will be supported and they face a lot of challenge in the school and in their work so their opinions will be accredited. Furthermore there were noticeable result that most the people that been asking about the discrimination in their work place they refused and some hesitated to give the frank answer worrying about their boss reaction or their co-workers too , in addition student were more willing to give their frank answers and their opinion without any worries.

3.4 Procedure: first the mailing list which will be available from HR department of the private college , after that will address the questionnaire to fresh graduate TA’s and from different faculties, we will wait one week to collect the responds from the mails and if that was not enough there will be a another round of mails and we will wait for the respond and if that was not efficient we will need to distribute the questionnaire in class and wait for the data collection the total time that it took to design the survey is one week and for distribute the survey among the student in (GUC) is one week , to analyze the result it took two weeks to analysis the survey and three weeks to get the result. The same case for the oil company I will get the email list from Hr department and I will distributed and collect it myself after three days from the distribution

3.5 Analysis: SPSS ( statistical package of social since ) program will be used in this study to order to know the appropriate way to analysis the result of the questionnaire and there’s two ways to approach that, the first is descriptive statistics and the second is frequency and percentage.

The student litter :T-test will be used to answer the research question through SPSS descriptive statistic will be conduct including the major of frequency and probability the major of center tendency contain : mean , mode , median, variance, slandered deviation .

Conclusion:

Discrimination in the labor market occurs when ever workers who are equally productive on average are treated differently, either in hiring, wage rates, job assignments, promotion, or firing. It is appropriate to expect

that in the absence of discrimination, jobs of comparable value would pay the same wages. Requiring equal pay for jobs of com parable worth is simply basic fairness. Although it may not be the whole solution to the problem of labor market discrimination, comparable worth is at least part of the answer

.The main purpose of the present research was to analysis and to explore the types of the discrimination and to show the effect of each one on the people life

the gender or sex discrimination could affect the employees in many different way especially the harassments because is the most common way that could be use as a gender or sex discrimination and it’s very offensive manner, it could lead to encourage or allow other people to do so and that could be physically or verbally and it influence the individual work place. And to sum up the whole research we can see the effect of each type and how people react to each type.

everyone should have the right to treated right and fairly and with respect regardless the age or the color or the gender or the home town we all human and we all seeking for success and we should achieve it in healthy environment and in fair opportunities

and because of these discrimination the government should concentrate on the consequences and put a strict punishment for any one not obey these rules.

A quarter century of female specialists have encountered separation or unreasonable treatment in the working environment, and 17 percent said they have felt sexually annoyed by a kindred representative or director, as per an across the country review via CareerBuilder.com and Kelly Services, led by Harris Interactive. Of the individuals who reported the episode to their businesses, the larger part said the wrongdoer was not considered responsible.

The most well-known episodes of separation or unreasonable treatment included:
Not accepting credit for one’s work (44 percent)
Not having concerns tended to or considered important (43 percent)
Collaborators saying deprecatory remarks to or before the specialist (38 percent)
Feeling thoughts or information are for the most part overlooked (34 percent)
Collaborators were talking behind their backs (33 percent)
Not being given undertakings that give laborer more perceivability in the organization (31 percent)
Being ignored for an advancement (26 percent)

More than 50% of ladies from the GCC feel they win not exactly their male partners and that they have less risk of getting advancement, as indicated by another review on ladies in the work environment. Bayt.com, the online occupations entry, and YouGov Siraj surveyed 2,086 ladies in the Middle East, about a quarter of them in the UAE.

Despite the fact that the greater part accepted they worked equivalent hours and wanted to continue functioning as long, 53 every penny felt they got less pay and 57 every penny said they were more averse to be advanced than their male partners. “This disparity could originate from numerous elements, including obsolete generalizations, and unequal instruction open doors for men and ladies,” said Amer Zureikat, Bayt.com’s local supervisor.

It could likewise be a consequence of working environments that are inadequately prepared for female preparing and profession movement, he included, including maternity leave and childcare choices. “The uplifting news is that with more ladies entering the workforce and climbing the positions and involving senior parts in industry, this difference ought to characteristically revise itself,” said Mr Zureikat. Jeetu Sharma, an examination partner at YouGov Siraj, said that the overview results measure how ladies in the working environment “feel”, not whether they do actually winless or get less advancements.

The size of working environment disparity still confronted by a great many ladies has been revealed by a study that proposes more than 50% of female workers have encountered some type of segregation at work.

The discovering originates from the interval aftereffects of the most considerable study ever directed into the encounters of Britain’s female workforce. Venture 28-40, embraced by Opportunity Now, has as of now been finished by more than 25,000 ladies and plans to get to 100,000 proceeding distributed its last results.

Very nearly a fifth of the ladies overviewed so far say that their professions have slowed down in light of the fact that chiefs neglected to advance them or offer preparing open doors. A little more than one in 10 accomplished inappropriate behavior. The knowledge takes after the news that the sex pay crevice is enlarging without precedent for a long time, as indicated by information from the Office for National Statistics discharged recently.

Imbalance in the working environment still exists, in various ways.

While changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act request that businesses oblige specialists with restorative difficulties from pregnancy, pregnancy itself is not viewed as incapacity. Accordingly, head honchos don’t need to lawfully suit pregnant laborers, notwithstanding for the most minor appeals. For one situation, a lady who worked at a Walmart in Kansas was terminated for soliciting to convey a container from water with her as she supplied the racks. Indeed, even in the wake of giving a specialist’s note, the lady was doubtlessly advised to discard the water or leave.

I’m not going to say that ladies make 77 pennies to each man’s dollar on the grounds that, as opposed to mainstream thinking, that is not really genuine. (In the wake of modifying for excursion time and calling decision, insights demonstrate that ladies make 91 pennies to each man’s dollar.) I will, in any case, question why this rate must be balanced. Numerous occupations are “gendered,” importance they are connected with manly or female intentions. Case in point, female medical attendants are viewed as “typical” while male medical attendants are generally not. As a rule, men are connected with the higher paying renditions of such employments, similar to a specialist. This issue makes you wonder: How would we strip the higher paying occupations of their sex undertones?

As indicated by Harvard Business Review, studies demonstrate that “high-potential ladies are over mentored and under sponsored with respect to their male companions.” What does this mean? It implies that ladies are honored various coaches, who will send them to more presentations and gatherings, however not supports, who can “[use their] impact with senior administrators to promoter for the mentee.” This means more work, yet less association, which doesn’t generally appear like a reasonable equalization.

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), laborers are qualified for up to 12 weeks of maternity leave. That is, unless they work at a little organization or has been utilized for not as much as a year. Something else, 8 weeks is the most extreme time span. The way things are, this law just shields one a large portion of the workforce from unlawful end. In one report, a lady who consented to get a C-segment in return for having 11 weeks of maternity leave was let go in light of the fact that the understanding was not put in composing. As though new mothers don’t have enough issues.

Regardless of the developing number of female providers, ladies are frequently still anticipated that would handle the excellent nurturing obligations. Actually, while 40 percent of mothers work low maintenance to deal with their kids, just 3 percent of men do likewise.

In 2012, when a female official at the Computer Sciences Corporation documented a lewd behavior argument against one of her associates, she was advised to “stop griping” and was later terminated. Prior, in 2011, a day spa laborer educated her supervisor that numerous male clients had presented themselves to her; however the organization did nothing to stop it, guaranteeing that reporting the episode would head out clients. This year, a carrier pilot recorded a sex segregation suit against Delta Airlines, guaranteeing they “overlooked her protestations about being pestered in the cockpit.”

At the point when men and ladies cooperate, the men are more inclined to get the credit — regardless of the fact that she did the majority of the work and he’s lesser. It might be a mix of men being accepted more equipped and ladies not effectively assuming praise for their work.

Exploration demonstrates that ladies must demonstrate that they are equipped for succeeding in a part before they are advanced into it, though men may be advanced on their apparent potential. That implies men regularly climb speedier in associations. “At the point when a men strolls in the entryway, he gets the advantage of male generalizations,”

Examination demonstrates that both men and ladies think ladies ought to be decent and kind and sustaining, and those men ought to be solid. At the point when men show outrage it would seem that quality, however when ladies do likewise, they are seen as excessively passionate and crazy. “These generalizations are profoundly imbued,

There is an example here: negative conduct toward ladies in the work environment is disregarded in light of the fact that it is not a need. A clearing explanation? Maybe. Anyhow, if these stories (and the film Jaws) has taught me anything, it’s that concealing an issue for the purpose of attention or cash doesn’t end well for anybody.

The discrimination against the women should be discouraged at every level. For this purpose government should take necessary actions so as to eradicate this discrimination and women get their due rights. If they are qualified enough to be employed or promoted it should not be the matter that she is discouraged because of the male dominancy rather she should take a stand and be the example for the rest of her coworkers.

The government should adopt a strategy to thoroughly check the credentials of all the males applying for the job and check their previous history to check whether he is involved in any sorts of sexual harassment. For all those who mistreat women at work or at home should be heavily fined and strict action should be taken against them so as to make them learn not to misbehave with females. The society should support the working women to work with full confidence and without getting confused because of males working around them.

In todays world, society has come a long way since the general stereotyping of men bringing home the bacon and the women staying home to cook it. Discrimination is often based on an assumption of white, male, able-bodied or heterosexual superiority. Today, women are out in the workplace working alongside the opposite sex. Women are still not promoted as widely as men in the workplace. In today’s work field, women experience fewer opportunities or encouragement for higher promotions or authoritative positions. Moreover, for those women who are illiterate, they have fewer chances to get job in labour work. However, every company wants fast working people so every company hires younger people. So that’s why the old people and women don’t get job easily. Women are often looked for job advancement that they are more qualified to fill than their men competitors because employers afraid that they will not be as committed to the company as they are to their families, or that they will miss time due to future pregnancies, family obligations or children. “Gender inequalities are an age old problems and a detailed action plan with a definite road map is needed to achieve gender equity”, said Raj Kumar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat; as reported by an article in the TOI. He also said “Gender inequality restricts a society’s economic growth.”

Examples of Gender Inequality at work:

Employers pay unequally based on gender.

Average income of women in Canada : $13806 and average income of men in Canada: $22,673

In Canada today, women constitute approximately 47 per cent of the labour force. Despite recent changes in formal equality – the introduction of protection for women in the Constitution Act, 1982 and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, for example – informal barriers are still present which lead to the discrimination of women (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 89). On the contrary to the first definition of gender discrimination, Julie Walters, an Oakland University professor, and Connie L. McNeely, a George Mason University professor, emphasizes that “even in the 21st century, women faculty members are generally paid less, promoted more slowly, receive fewer honors, and hold fewer leadership positions than their male counterparts, discrepancies that do not appear to be based on productivity or any other objective performance measures.” “Women comprise 66% of the U.S workforce, yet only 21% hold middle management positions, and a mere 15% are at the senior management level”( Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher 340). This statistic shows that women occupy less of the higher authority positions than males. It is stated that “although the equity gap between men and women in management careers appears to be closing, the glass ceiling still persists in today’s business environment” (Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher 340).

Females in the labour market may experience the pay gap, which is when they are paid less because of their sex even if they put in the same effort as a male. In Canada, there is a wage gap 27% in Canada, 23% in USA, 23.2% in Africa.Walters and McNeely states, “A clear violation involves discrimination where employees of one sex are paid at a rate less than that paid to employees of the opposite sex for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires comparable qualifications and skills, effort and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.” Women tend to be paid less because of their gender, yet men with the same position held as a woman, with the same qualifications, and skills will be paid more. The mere fact that an organization would pay anyone less because of their gender is a violation of the Equal Pay Act. It is unacceptable for organizations to pay different wages to men and women holding identical positions, especially if those workers have similar individual characteristics. Even though paying anyone less because of their sex is illegal, it still happens in many jobs. When workers hold similar positions with similar individual characteristics it is very easy to prove that an organizations is partaking in discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sates that women make 65-75 cents of a dollar a male makes. It is estimated that the unequal payment between men and women won’t be fixed until the year 2193 expressed by Sipe, Fisher and Johnson.

In a male dominated work environment, women either have to put on an act to succeed or they are perceived in a stereotypical manor. They are put up against harassment and stereotypical attitudes. Female’s employers can feel a sense of power over their employees, in most cases this power leads to sexual harassment. The closeness the employer feels makes them forget about the professional boundaries that exist and they cross the line. More women feel sexual harassment in male dominated areas, such as blue collar jobs. Women are perceived to be less aggressive than men, they are passive, can’t handle pressure, can’t handle criticism, are not good problem solvers, they are multi-focused, and they are home makers. Family responsibilities are not equally shared with men, leading to additional barriers for women to enter and stay in the workplace and have a career. Organizations feel that men don’t hold overwhelming priorities that will interfere with their work, that’s why more upper management positions are granted to males. However, the data shows that men can also become just as over whelmed with their families and outside responsibilities as women, yet they can hold higher authoritative positions. Asha Kaul, a communications area chairperson at the Gender Resource center in India, explains that”Women often face the double bind. To perform well they must behave like ‘men in skirts’/ ‘conceptual men,’ but cannot lose their feminine qualities for fear of being ridiculed by peers, superiors, and subordinates alike”.

Women have to put on a false act to achieve any type of superiority. They have to act as men while at work, but they have to keep their feminine exterior. Sine women hold several stereotypes they are more likely to quit a job several days after they have begun. In the article ” Gender and Workplace Experience” Kaul expresses that ” after trudging along in an environment created by and for men achieving great heights, women are still entangled in the revolving door and are on most occasions in the exit position”. The pressure of a male dominated field and a stereotypical area is often too much for most women to handle and often leads to women with having no possibility of career advancement or show casing of their abilities. Not only are women stereotyped and discriminated against depending on how old or young they are. If they are a younger female or male, they may be looked at as if they are not as qualified or wise as others who have been there longer than they have. If they are an older female or male, they may be looked at as they are losing skills and forgetting knowledge. Many people can also look at these characteristics as discriminatory and stereotyping.

Many laws have been made to enforce non gender discrimination workplaces; however, there has been strong resistance to enforce some of these laws. The article expresses that ” for 5o years, laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended in 1991, and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 have protected women from overt discrimination” (Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher 339). Many employment discrimination has been eliminated by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibits employment from discriminating against people who are seeking a job at their organization. It also protects discrimination against employees on the basis of race, pregnancy, religion, sex, and nationality, it also protects against harassment. The Equal Pay Act requires employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work, regardless of their gender. Title IX of the Employment Protection covers “every phase and nuance from pre-employment behaviors to culture of the work environment, including promotion and demotion, termination, and hiring, and compensation and resources” (Walters and McNeely 321). In order for a work field to become non-discriminatory the organization has to recognize and enforce the set laws. Recently President Obama proposed the Paycheck Fairness Act, in an effort to close the wage gap among genders. This Act was already passed by the House of Representatives and is currently being looked over by the Senate. Fred W. Alvarez, partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he leads the firm’s employment law litigation practice, and Allison Moser, associate in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, both state the Paycheck Fairness Act ” amends the Equal Pay Act of 1963( EPA) to provide stronger remedies and procedures for gender-based wage-discrimination claims, and to require more active federal government involvement in combating wage disparities. Passage of the Senate bill is likely given the strong backing by nonpartisan groups, including the American Bar Association”. If President Obama’s new law passes, this could potentially end gender discrimination in the workplace. It will enforce that females get an equal pay for an equals day work as males. No single laws can completely extinguish gender discrimination. However, employers have a legal obligation to uphold the laws to not treat women in an unfairly, discriminatory manner.

Employers must recognize gender discrimination, whether it’s towards men or women to eliminate it in the future. Elisabeth K. Kelan, a senior researcher at Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business, informs us that, “organizational members often construct their workplaces as gender neutral despite the fact that gender discrimination exists” (1). Lower economic growth does not just affect women, it can affect everyone. So, when an employer discriminates in his organization he is potentially affecting himself. If an employer constructs their work area as a gender discriminated area they are not setting a good example for their employees, other organizations, and the society. Training is highly recommended to employers and employees to enforce non-discrimination, detect it, and go about reporting discrimination. By recognizing gender discrimination employers can make equal pay for equal work, equal policies for male and female employees, and equal treatment for promotion promotions, pay raises, family needs, and other medical or financial benefits. By correcting gender discrimination, establishments could possibly send a great message to future generations to come. Throughout the research, it was identified that, women in the workplace are discriminated against by receiving lower salaries, fewer promotions, and are often negatively stereotyped; however there are many laws that enforce non-discrimination and there are proper ways to go about extinguishing it.

Conclusion

Overall, Sipe, Johnson, and Fisher emphasize that “employers and employees must recognize and prepare for the continuing existence of gender discrimination in the present workforce, or they may risk real opportunities to correct gender discrimination through training, enforcement, and deliberate human-resource planning”. Overall, the world gender income gap is 15.6%. Throughout, the women have faced a lot of problems because of gender discrimination. They had a high position in the hearts of the people in old days especially in India. They have also paid less. Companies will show all people that no matter what their gender is, they will be encouraged to achieve their best potential.