Gender Issues in Work Organizations

Gender Issues in Work OrganizationsGenderIs the range of physical, mental, and behavioral characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between, Masculinity and Femininity. Depending on the context, the term may refer to biological sex.

Gender Inequality- Refers to unequal treatment of perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences.Some common inequalities that take place in the workplace are the gender-based imbalances of individuals inpowerand command over the management of the organization. Women are not able to move up into higher paid positions quickly as compared to men. Some organizations have more inequality than others, and the extent to which it occurs can differ greatly. In the workplace the men usually hold the higher positions and the women often hold lower paid positions such assecretaries.

Differentiation and hierarchy in the labour market and unequal opportunities in working life between women and men still prevailYear after year, employment statistics describe the continuing gap between women and men in Labour Force Participation; permanence of gender segregation within labour markets; atypical forms of working such as Part-time Work and Fixed-term Contracts.Gender Inequality in relation to Human CapitalHuman Capital Theories- Refers to the education, knowledge, training, experience, or skill of a person which makes them potentially valuable to an employer. Human Capital Theories has historically been understood as a cause of the gendered wage gap but is no longer a predominant cause as women and men in certain occupations tend to have similar education levels or other credentials.

Even when such characteristics of jobs and workers are controlled for, the presence of women within a certain occupation leads to lower ages. This earnings discriminations is considered to be a part of Pollution Theory.Pollution Theory- This theory suggests that jobs which are predominant by women offer lower wages than do jobs simply because of the presence of women within the occupation. Occupational Gender Segregation

Is understood as the concentration of men and women.Is one of the barriers which prevents women and men from fulfilling their potential in the labour market, and conseqently contributes the to the pay gap. (e.g. caring, catering, cleaning, clerical, cashering) and the lower grades within an organisation.Can be understood to contain two components or dimensions:Horizontal and Vertical Segregation

Horizontal SegregationOccupational sex segregation occurs as men and women are thought to possess different physical, emotional, and mental capabilities. These different capabilities makes the genders vary in the types of jobs they are suited for.This can be specifically viewed with the gendered division between manual and non-manual labor.

Vertical Segregation- Occupational sex segregation occurs as occupations are stratified according to power, authority, income and prestige associated with the occupation and women are excluded from holding such jobs.Since 1960s, occupations have become segregated based on the amount femininity or masculinity presupposed to be associated with each occupations.

And based on the census data, women occupy the service sector jobs at higher rates than men. Womens overrepresentation in service sector jobs , as opposed to jobs that require managerial work acts as a reinforcement of women and men into traditional gender roles that causes GENDER INEQUALITY.What are the causes of Occupational Segregation:

Gender Stereotype Social Attitudes (Both Explicit and Implicit) which stereotype the roles of women and men have in our society. This attitudes can influence subject choice in school and can limit their career aspirations. Inflexible Working Women with children face constraints in terms of finding work.Under-valuing of Roles and Occupations Perceived to be Womens work.Statistical DiscriminationIs cited as a cause for income disparities and gendered inequality in the workplace. Indicates the likelihood of employers to deny women access to certain occupational tracks because women are more likely than men to leave their job or the labor force when they become married or pregnant. Women are instead given positions that dead-end or jobs that have very little mobility.Discrimination in the Work PlaceMany types of discrimination in the workplace are partly to blame for the wage gap. Allocative discrimination describes the phenomenon that women are differentially allocated to occupations and establishments that pay lower wages.

Evaluative discrimination describes the idea that occupations held by women are typically paid less than occupations traditionally held by men, despite the fact that skill requirements and other factors are the same.

Within-job discrimination describes the possibility that women are paid lower wages than men in similar occupations in the same establishment.In one study researchers sent identical curricular vitae to psychology department assistant professor openings, but it was manipulated by applicants sex, to be male or female; the male candidates were judged worthy of being hired 73% of the time, while female applicants were judged worthy of being hired of 45% of the time.

Women are currently most underrepresented in the following occupations; Management, Technology, Mathematics, Architecture, Engineering, Science, Production and Transportation.

Gender discrimination suggests that women are losing employment opportunities unfairly to men in the said occupations.Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Workplace Inequality.The single greatest contributor to the GLBT experience in the workplace is the decision of the employees to come out or remain closeted at work.

Brian McNaught, a lauded leader of gay sensitivity training, explained the pressures that surrounds a decision, noting that, Gay people who have to worry about what will happen to them if they come out generally produce a lower level than gay employees who dont, it takes a lot of energy who put on a mask, he also said that there are 54% of closeted employees; and in 2009 survey, theyve concluded 51% of GLBT employees.

It is documented that being a gay negatively impacts an employees opportunity for promotion, 28% of gay employees remain closeted, because in many states it is perfectly legal to fire an employee for being gay.GOD BLESS