Gender and Power in the Australian Workplace

Gender and Power at Workplaces 1
GENDER AND POWER IN THE AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACE
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Gender and Power at Workplaces 2
Gender and Power in the Australian Workplace
Gender Discrimination in the Australian Workplace
Gender discrimination is still a component that prohibits the full achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Majority of developing countries have recorded high
number of gender related cases. Although gender segregation is dominant in the developing
countries, there are several cases that also exist in the advanced nations. Australia, despite its
high rate of development in majority of the economic and social sectors, there are instances that
illustrate a rise in gender discrimination especially at the workplaces. The essay intends to
discuss the disparities that exist in the Australian workplaces. The paper attempts to describe the
cases of female boss harassment in the country. The paper further endeavors to integrate class
and ethnicity in majority of the situations of gender imbalance. Moreover, the write-up issues the
possible recommendations to reduce the cases of gender discrimination and harassment in the
Australian job markets.
Gender equality in Australia as a nation is mixed. The Australian population has realized
great achievement in the education sector. However, the country’s performance in the Global
Gender Gap Index is relatively low. The involvement of women in the Nation’s economic
growth lags behind in relation to the participation of women in other countries. Despite the
success of the Australian people quality education, women representation in various industries is
still low. For instance, science, technology, engineering and math are fields which are still
experiencing male domination (Webster, 2014). Webster (2014) reveals that, on the other hand,
men experience under-representation in female-dominated economic sectors. The women
dominated sectors include small business enterprises such as retail, hospitality, and eldercare.

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Although one may argue that the low number of workers of both genders in sectors dominated by
either sex acts as a balance in representation, the total number of industries that favor masculinity
exceeds the jobs that are feminine friendly.
The gender imbalances in the Australian workplaces are controversial to the fact that the
country serves as a member to various human rights treaties. For instance, Australia is a member
to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAWA). CEDAWA has the role of providing legal structure for the enhancement and
accomplishment of human rights for women (Webster, 2014). Despite the membership to the
numerous conventions on gender balance, current studies reveal that gender segregation is still
common and the reduction is still low. Reports from recent researches further indicate that
various male dominated sectors show a decrease in the representation of women. Although there
has been an increase in the chief management positions held by women workers, a majority of
the senior roles are given to the male employees. The representation of women cuts across all
sectors of the Australian labor market such as the public, the private and the community fields
(Fincher, 2014). Study by Fincher, (2014), that female-workers occupy positions in both the
private and public sectors of Australia cannot serve as evidence that there is gender equality.
What one needs to focus on as a determinant for gender balance is the ratio of the women
employees to the men especially in the senior management dockets. Under-representation of the
women in the country’s employment sectors is a clear implication that the gender disparity is still
persistent.
In addition to the gender representation at the workplace, there is a gap in the choice of
women and men for certain responsibilities. Job allocation in several industries depends on the
structural arrangement of the management. Majority of the female employees’ posses’

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administrative functions while their male counterparts acquire operational roles in certain sectors
of the economy. Such differences in allocating duties imply that the society perceives women as
ineffective in performing some duties and as such, the executives allocate such roles to the men
(Fincher, 2014). There was a period where several groups of the Australian job applicants had
strong desire to occupy positions in the male-dominated sectors. The efforts to reduce gender gap
in responsibilities, however, rely on the employers as it is their role to advertise, hire and set
work schedules. The women verses the male segregation remains persistent since a majority of
the employers channel the women to casual and temporary responsibilities while assigning
permanent duties to the male applicants. The perception that the executive officers of firms had
towards female candidates is indication gender segregation is dominant despite the desire that the
women exhibited through the job applications.
The government and other organizations strive to reduce gender discrimination that
occurs in various sectors of employment. In my own understanding, I perceive that gender
equality shall remain unachievable due to various factors that relate to the female employees.
The representation is likely to reduce when the women get children (Guest, 2018). Family affairs
keep a high number of mothers away from their work places and as such, reducing their capacity
to engage fully and maintain the same level as the male staff. Segregation may also arise when
the female workers get pregnant or during their maternity leave. Some of the women in Australia
play a role in unpaid domestic activities especially children and other dependant individuals. The
preferences to work in such sectors which have relatively low earnings make women to rank
lowly than men who would avoid such domestic responsibilities.