Discrimination Faced by Single Parents and Disabled Individuals in Workplace

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Introduction
Single parents and physically/ mentally impaired individuals face a plethora of
hardship throughout their life. However, we should always strive for a civil society, a society
where the disabled, disempowered and marginalized people live happily and harmoniously.
An ideal society is a paradigm where individuals from different walks and sections of the
society amalgamate and live harmoniously with each other. However, in workplaces, there
has been an increasing magnitude of differences and discriminations when it comes to
providing opportunities to the socially challenged communities, such as single parents and
disabled individuals (Foreman, 2014). The respective report is divided into two parts, where
the first part analyzes about the discriminations and perks faced by single parents in the
workplace and the second part analyzes the discrimination faced by disabled individuals in
workplace. Both the analyses are interpreted with the usage of diversity management
approaches in order to provide a solution for the respective issues.
Case 1: Single Parents
Single parents can be defined as an individual who has been bringing up a child or
children without the help of a partner. A quintessential single parent, the single mother, is
often considered vulnerable as the society is inherently patriarchal and it believes that a male
member is needed for the upbringing of a child. There has been increasing cases of
discrimination of the single parents in the workplaces and different corporate organizations
(Strand, 2013). The reasons behind the discrimination are enumerated hereafter.
1. Inherent sexism: Single mothers as well as single fathers face inherent sexism
from the society. The single mothers tend to face more misogyny in the workplace
than any other parents because of the patriarchal way of thought that considers
male members to be necessary for a child’s growth and development. The
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workplaces sometimes consider women to be incapable of handing the works of
the organization being her a single mother and the only parent who needs to take
care of the child. Therefore, the workplaces feel reluctant to provide them with
good designations and responsibilities in the office which ultimately affects their
employability and career opportunities within the organization.
2. Social stigma: The social stigma and taboo related to single parenthood is
prevalent even in the western societies where the single parents are either
ostracized or looked down upon. Therefore, such practices are also prevalent in
social arenas which has led to a decline in their employability and opportunities to
lead a dignified life. Indeed, being a single parent is an act of heresy and non
conformation in the society. Therefore, they constantly have to battle with social
stigma which affects their psycho-social behavior and decreases their chances of
getting hired (Nadeau, 2013).
Disability
Disability, according to World Health Organization, can be termed as the disturbances in
body structures or processes which leads to loss in functions or abnormality in psychological
or physiological area (Roulstone, 2013). Disability, which is often called impairment, is
considered to be devastating for an individual as it makes him or her crippled for life and
drifts him or her away from all kinds of self developmental opportunities, including pursuing
higher studies, getting into a job, entering into a marital relationship and so on (Christensen &
Schneider, 2015). However, a civil society should see to it that it provides the disabled people
an opportunity to work and earn a living. However, the workplaces and the corporate society
are still not diverse enough to inculcate the disabled people in the workforce. The reasons for
their seclusion from the society can be enumerated hereafter.
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