Strategies to Address Sexism in the Workplace

This document discusses the issue of sexism in the workplace and provides strategies to address it. It includes a case study and outlines three strategies that can be used to curb sexist behavior while still remaining respectful to colleagues and superiors. The document also highlights the impact of sexism on work and the laws that may be broken. It concludes with recommendations for future improvements.

CHCDIV001 Work with diverse people
Case Study v1.0 (2016/10/27)
CHCDIV001 Work with diverse people
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Assessment
Case study
Please read through the following case studies. Reflect on your learning and your own
research within this unit.
Prepare a response that responds to each of the issues presented below. Your responses
must reflect your knowledge, skills, and application for this unit.
Scenario 1
Danielle is the practice manager of a large dental practice in the city. She is the only
female staffer at the management level. The CEO often refers to her as the ‘office mum'
although no male manager is ever referred to as the ‘office dad'. He also expects her to
handle office birthdays and always asks her to organize coffee for their monthly
managerial meetings. Danielle is becoming really frustrated with these requests and the
‘office mum' label. She tells her CEO of her concerns, and he responds by telling her that
she is being ‘overly sensitive'.
Do you believe that the CEO is displaying any sexist behavior, or is Danielle being overly
sensitive? Outline your reasons for your response.
Outline at least three strategies that Danielle could use to curb this behavior while still
remaining respectful to her CEO and colleagues.
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Case Study v1.0 (2016/10/27)
A sexist is a person who exercises discrimination against or stereotypes others based on
gender. Here, the CEO is displaying sexist behavior by always referring to Danielle as
‘office mum'. Danielle has the right title that colleagues should use which is ‘practice
manager’. Moreover, the CEO always expects Danielle to be the one to handle office
birthdays. She is also the only one he asks to organize coffee for monthly meetings. The
CEO believes that these are duties of a female and Danielle should handle them. I also
believe the CEO dismisses Danielle as ‘overly sensitive’ because she is a woman.
Strategies Danielle could use to curb sexism:
1. Danielle should advocate for equal treatment of both sexes. She should reason with
the CEO that task assignment should be based on ability, not gender.
2. Danielle should try to educate her colleagues or share her concerns with them. This
will make staff, in general, to understand, acknowledge and shun sexism.
3. Danielle, being a practice manager, should develop a policy that will address
sexism.
Scenario 2
You are the team leader of a practice where one of the employees constantly makes
‘jokes’ about people being ‘bipolar’, ‘going postal’, or being ‘off their meds’.
You happen to know that one of the other employees — within earshot of these
comments — is on medication for depression.
Outline at least three strategies to stop the bad behavior without revealing confidential
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Case Study v1.0 (2016/10/27)
information, and discuss why you would use them.
‘Being bipolar’ means having a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings
that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). ‘Going postal’
means becoming extremely and uncontrollably angry, often to the point of violence. ‘Being
off meds’ means not taking one's prescribed medications. These are health issues that a
serious employee should not joke about.
Strategies to stop bad behavior without revealing confidential information:
1. Organizing training-A short training exercise should be conducted to sensitize the
employees on how to handle one another. The presenters should be drawn from
outside the department or organization. The focus of the training should be on
respect to colleagues and etiquette. Using outsiders as the presenter will help avoid
any suspicion and accidental disclosure of information1. Training is good because it
will cover a number of issues related to etiquette such as interpersonal skills, proper
communication, discriminations, stereotyping, discipline, among other things.
2. Display workplace etiquette rules prominently- As a team leader, I can develop
workplace etiquette rules that all workers I lead should observe. The rules should
include but not limited to avoidance of stereotypes, careless talks on people's health
and insensitivity. This strategy is good because it is non-confrontational.
3. Policy review- If in a position I can recommend for workplace policy review that
can address social distress to victims of such careless talks. This strategy is also
good because it is non-confrontational
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4. Guidance-I can arrange for one-on-one guidance session with the employee where
he/she is guided on the harm of negative talks to others. This can be done without
necessarily disclosing the information about the victims. If the organization has a
professional counselor then he/she is the right person to conduct guidance.
Scenario 3
In the lunchroom at your workplace, a colleague is reading the paper. After reading an
article about increases in funding for health and housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people, they make a comment about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people ‘expecting Government handouts’ and say that they ‘should stop living in the
past’. The person always prefaces these comments with “I’m not racist, but…”
You know that this is an opinion that this person has expressed before and that it seems
to be deeply ingrained. Nobody else seems to mind this behavior, and you are also
aware that a number of other colleagues also think this way to some degree even if they
do not come out and say it very often. Sometimes, the lunchroom discussions get quite
heated, with people using derogatory terms when making comments about Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people.
You are working in a situation where you and your colleagues are frequently dealing
with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indeed, there are some Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people working with you. You notice that another colleague,
whom you know to be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, becomes upset and leaves
the room.
• How does this impact the way you carry out your work, both in working with your
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colleagues and in dealing with your customers? Have any laws been broken?
• What are some of the issues affecting this situation, and what are you able to tell the
non-indigenous workers about issues affecting Indigenous Australians?
• How would you respond to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person who
left?
1. This is a case of racism in the workplace. This situation makes it difficult for me to
deliver services because I serve customers who view me suspiciously. The
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers would wish to know if I identify
with them and positive towards their race. Serving my customer s in a place where
they are aware some of my colleagues don’t wish those well limits my interaction
with them because I cannot establish a cordial relationship with them. In working
with my colleagues, it is difficult to build teamwork because racism causes division
among the staff. The racial division also slows down the decision-making process
because one side can easily oppose the other based on racial hatred2. Stereotypes
and derogatory terms involved in these discussions may raise the tempers which in
term kills the moods at work. Staff may practice racial discrimination in service
delivery.
Yes, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 has been broken. The Act states:
It is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if:
(a) the act is reasonably likely in all the circumstances to offend, insult, humiliate or
intimidate another person or group of people,
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and
(b) the act is done because of the race, color or national or ethnic origin of the other person
or some or all of the people in the group.
The colleague talks negatively about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders publicly in
a manner that insults, humiliates and intimidates these indigenous Australians. This is why
the colleague (indigenous Australian) is upset and decides to walk away.
2. There are many social, political and economic issues affecting the indigenous
Australians:
Health Issues:
For instance, they generally have poor health status due to economic disadvantage,
resource alienation, and political oppression.
Economic Issues:
Indigenous Australians are known to have the lowest economic status of all
Australians. Their poor socio-economic, education and employment levels have led
to financial hardship, poverty, debt, homelessness, family breakdown, social
isolation, and crime. They also have rampant cases of domestic violence.
Socio-political issues
Indigenous Australians are not well-represented in elite and mainstream power
structures.
I’m able to tell non-indigenous workers that the indigenous Australians, like other
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Australians, deserve the best. They deserve equal opportunity to access proper
healthcare, education, housing, and employment. They should also be enabled to
access social justice and be involved in mainstream political organs. I can also draw
their attention to the anti-racism laws like the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.
3. I would try to reach for the Aboriginal and Torres Trait Inlander person who left
and convince him that not everyone is a racist. I would tell him to ignore the
negative discussion about his/her race and remain positive about the organization. I
would also advise him to team up with like-minded colleagues to collectively fight
racism. I would advise him to remind the colleague and others of the racial
discrimination acts to shun the negative discussions.
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Quality outcomes
Ensure the following for your submission:
i) It is grammatically correct.
ii) It is error-free.
iii) It is written in simple English.
iv) It comprises of an average of 15 words for each sentence.
v) There are separate paragraphs for each new content/topic or discussions. Include
references to relevant legislation, which must be defined.
Attach any models, tools, or resources that could be used in an organization to improve the
case study situations presented.
Tip: Read all text aloud in order to identify any gaps and correct them. Ask another person
to proofread your work in order to check for accuracy before you submit.
A minimum of 1,000 words is required (attachments are not to be included in word
count).
Writing strategies and actions for future improvements
A case study is designed for you to demonstrate your skills in reading, accurately
interpreting and providing workable responses and strategies.
Check that your responses provide:
1. Identification and clarification of the key issues. Discuss and provide some
suggestions as to what has caused these.
2. Key facts and information that is relevant and demonstrates your ability to provide
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solutions.
3. Templates and resources that could assist managers in the future when managing their
teams.
4. Recommendations, both short term and long term, to improve the current situation.
Also, ensure the appropriate use of headings and formats so as to reflect a professional
presentation.
Notes
1. CHERYL LINDY and FLORENCE SCHAEFER, "Negative Workplace
Behaviours: An Ethical Dilemma for Nurse Managers" (2010) 18(3) Journal of
Nursing Management.
2. Jian-Qun SUN, Jin-Yun DUAN and Xiao-Ming TIAN, "Employees’ Discretionary
Work Behaviours in Organizations" (2013) 20(4) Advances in Psychological
Science.
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CHCDIV001 Work with diverse people
Case Study v1.0 (2016/10/27)
Bibliography
1. LINDY, CHERYL and FLORENCE SCHAEFER, "Negative Workplace Behaviours:
An Ethical Dilemma for Nurse Managers" (2010) 18(3) Journal of Nursing Management
2. SUN, Jian-Qun, Jin-Yun DUAN and Xiao-Ming TIAN, "Employees’ Discretionary
Work Behaviours in Organizations" (2013) 20(4) Advances in Psychological Science
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