Gender Discrimination in the Workplace Term Paper

Gender Discrimination still continues unabated even after so much awareness is generated and legislations enforced to that effect. It is the responsibility of the human resource managers to oversee the company's policies and to ensure that fair treatment is meted out to women in the organization.

Gender discrimination still continues to be a universal problem and even in the United States, the nation known for its freedom and equal rights women haven't faired any better. Discrimination is most obvious in the workplace where women continue to be viewed inferior. Right from hiring workers, to position and pay details, there is a marked discrimination at every point. Instances of sexual harassment have not ceased and there is without any doubt a male hegemony in the corporate sector. Even in multinational companies, which have a human resource management department, to address the concerns of the workers, discrimination continues unabated. Let us discuss the topic in a little detail so that we would get a better perspective of the problem.

Hiring workers

There is clear evidence that in general men are the preferred candidates for any position (other than those excusive for women) in the job market. Even when candidates form both the sexes possess similar qualification employers show a distinct bias in favor of men. An audit study conducted on restaurant recruitment pattern in Philadelphia attested to the existence of discrimination. In the above study mock resumes were used to find out the hiring pattern of restaurants throughout the state. The results revealed that women in general received offers from poor paying restaurants while the bigger well paying restaurants preferred men. [Neumark]

When it comes to promotions there is an even more blatant discrimination against women. Men occupy most of the high-ranking positions within a corporate structure even when women with similar qualifications and experience are available. A study conducted by the U.S. General accounting Office pertaining to the performance of women in the managerial cadre clearly indicated that "an invisible- but impenetrable- barrier between women and the executive suite, preventing them from reaching the highest levels of the business world regardless of their accomplishments and merits." [John D. Dingell]. This makes clear the existence of discrimination and the reason why women tend to be relegated to lesser roles within the office. The research also shows that "While women make up 46.5% of the workforce, they represent only 12% of all corporate officers" [John D. Dingell]

Even in the scientific circle women are seen in the lesser light. The outcome of a study conducted by Nancy Hopkins (senior biologist), on the working conditions of women in the MIT, was a startling revelation. The study highlighted the glaring discrepancy in the recruitment pattern and the discrimination meted out to women scientists. The shocking observation was that for a period of 10 years from 1985 to 1994, the number of women researchers and teachers working in the MIT's were less than 1/10th of the men. Helen Davies, a senior microbiologist of the University of Pennsylvania says, "It rates as one of the most important reports on academic women in science in the past two decades because it concerns one of the most important research universities and resulted in an admission of discrimination,." [Natasha Loder]

Salary Scale (Differences)

Though virtually every state has enforced fair wage acts there is still a lot of difference in wages earned between the two sexes. Over the last 20 years or so the wage statistics indicate that women earn only around 75% of what men earn. This disproportionate payment is often dismissed under the grounds of the long leave of absence due to pregnancy and other domestic problems that women have to attend to. According to the 1999 statistics released by 'American federation of labor unions' there still exist a huge difference between the wages of men and women. "Equal pay….....