Ethical Analysis of Gender Imbalance in Australian Companies

This essay delves into the issue of gender inequality in Australian employment, exploring the question of whether companies should prioritize female job applicants to rectify gender imbalance. The author examines this topic through the lens of ethical theories, specifically utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and virtue ethics. The essay argues that prioritizing female candidates aligns with utilitarian principles by potentially maximizing overall happiness and societal benefit. From a Kantian perspective, the essay asserts that giving priority to women is the right action, given the existing gender gap. Furthermore, it considers the perspective of virtue ethics, suggesting that a virtuous person would act in a similar manner. The analysis includes discussions on the importance of economic security, leadership roles, and the potential for societal improvements through such policies, ultimately concluding that prioritizing female applicants is an ethical and desirable course of action for Australian companies to undertake.

Running note: GENDER GAP IN EMPLOYMENT
GENDER GAP IN EMPLOYMENT
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
Topic: "Should Australian companies give priority to female job applicants to rectify gender
imbalance?"
Essay part 1
One of the major barrier to the realization of rights and access to opportunities in today’s
era is gender inequality (Sen & Mukherjee, 2014). The gender inequality refers to the unequal
distribution of resources and opportunity unequally between the two prominent genders of the
society. There are certainly sociological explanations of the reasons that have made possible for
gender inequality to survive even today (Barrett, 2014). However, the question arises here is if it
is ethical to differentiate between two genders in any aspects of the society. In the similar
discourse, the paper aims to discuss if Australian companies needs to give priority to female job
applicants in order to rectify gender imbalance. The paper will discuss the topic using the ethical
theories that would help in achieving an appropriate conclusion in regard to female job
applicants.
The gender equality in the corporate world and the employment sector is gradually
improving (Noe et al., 2017). However, there are certain jobs that are far from worse than many
others. In order to understand if companies should give priority to the female recruitment for the
purpose of eliminating gender inequality, it is important to understand the importance of it. In the
past few years, many companies have confirmed that they focused on gender diversity and
therefore make the focus on recruiting females more than males. According to Gacka (2017)
there have been incorrect assumptions have been made that shows gender equality has been
achieved despite the fact that there are disturbing and comprehensive evidences that proves
something wrong. Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jankins has found that it is

2GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
the inappropriate data that have endorsed gender inequality without evidences. According to her
research, there are three key areas that acutely lack equality which demands more progress. The
three key areas involve economic security, leadership roles and violence against women. There is
no active work being done however only a sense in the broader community that gender
inequality is getting being reduced (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2017).
According to Brown et al. (2016), this specific pattern of the society is leading to both
expected and unexpected consequences. When female are the victim of inequality in recruitment,
they fail to achieve the position as per their capabilities. This is only making the potential talent
lack behind in the employment sectors. Females are assigned to specific role and not given the
leadership role that they can master even when they are eligible for it. It leads to a greater section
of the society lack behind, gradually leading them towards poverty. It will not help female
gender achieve the equal position and sustain the other gender inequality associated social issues
such violence against women, patriarchy dominance and global feminization of poverty.
According to the philosophy of utilitarianism, an action can be called an ethical action or
right action when leads to happiness of the greatest number of people. It is a ethical philosophy
that determines the rightness or wrongness of an action by its consequences (Mill, 2016). Any
action leading to the benefit and happiness of greater number of people, it is an action.
Therefore, when the question is raised on prioritizing female recruitment in order to reduce
gender imbalance, it can be stated that organizations should prioritize the female recruitment to
eliminate gender imbalance. Utilitarianism finds an action right or wrong on the basis of the
consequences (Hudelson, 2015). Therefore when organization gives priority to female job
applicants, they are helping in developing a socially inclusive and gender diversity environment.
When female job applicants are given priority they are given the opportunity of balancing the

3GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
gender imbalance. It is not something that is done in favor of them as it is already their
fundamental right which has been suppressed under the years of patriarchal practices. The
inequality between the genders is the result of many years which is ought to take time for
reconstructing the gender balance. It is evident and desirable to rectify the gender imbalance and
it can be done when females are given priority in the areas that have held them back for long
time. Since the result obtained from giving priority to female job applicants is happiness of the
greatest number of people in the society, it is an ethical and right action which should be done.
According to the philosophy of Kant, most things that are considered to be good are not
always good; they can always be used for evil purposes. Things such as intelligence, wealth or
education are certainly powerful tools which has the potential of bringing change in the society
(Bowie, 2018). However, it is not good in itself, the only thing that is good in itself is the good
will. It is a kind of drive towards doing something that is right. For Kant, an individual should
act in a way that is right however not for the consequences that it will provide. Considering the
matter of prioritizing the female candidates in the workplaces from the Kantian lens, female job
candidates should be given priority. Here the intension is to provide females with greater
opportunity asthere are a large gap existing between genders in the economic and employment
sector. The key towards closing the gender gap would be to give more leadership roles to women
(Wood, 2017). Even with all the improvement in the policies and laws in regard to gender
equality, Australia still remains one of the countries with substantial amount of gender gap.
Therefore in order to reduce initially followed by elimination of the gender gap it is important
women are given priority. As research have shown that people are likely to hire people who are
more like them, it is certain that when women are given the leadership roles, they pay the women
employee more than the male CEOs. Therefore, organizations should give priority to female job

4GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
candidates who would be in the leadership roles for closing the overall economic opportunity gap
between the genders. Considering the intension behind taking this specific action of giving
priority to the female job candidates, it can be states as a right thing to do and therefore
Australian companies should do it.
According to Swailes (2013), organizational approaches to talent management are
considered on the basis of a small proportion of relatively high-performing employees are
identified and the ways they manage in relation to the majority. This article considers the ways
talent management is done in organizations and the ways it is to some extent biased. The overall
concept can be discussed with the virtue ethics. When the problem is seen from the perspective
of virtue ethics it has another perspective of answering the question (Bright, Winn & Kanov,
2014). Virtue ethics is based on the person rather than action, where it looks at the virtue or
moral characters rather than the consequences or the ethical duties. A moral person is a person
who possesses virtues and shows it through his or her actions. Any person who have virtues and
lack vices is as considered to be a moral person by Aristotle. Virtue ethics deals with the
rightness and wrongness of individual actions but also provides guidance as to the sort of
characteristics and behavior a good person will seek to achieve (Han, 2015). However, it will be
discussed in the second part of the essay.
As discussed above, one of the major barrier to the realization of rights and access to
opportunities in today’s era is gender inequality. The gender inequality refers to the unequal
distribution of resources and opportunity unequally between the two prominent genders of the
society. Gender gap in the employment sector is certainly reducing however the process needs to
escalate. It is a clear concept when the data on gender gap is seen in Australia that there is a need
of increasing women leaders to increase equality among the genders. Australian companies when

5GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
prioritize female candidate it will escalate the process of closing the overall economic
opportunity. Also, it will lead towards a better society with less social issues associated with
gender inequality.

6GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
Essay 2
According to Swailes (2013), organizational approaches to talent management are
considered on the basis of a small proportion of relatively high-performing employees are
identified and the ways they manage in relation to the majority. Regardless of several literatures
that are growing on talent management there are no papers that provides guidance on the ways of
evaluating from an ethical standpoint after considering the things that are meant by talent. The
article has certainly considered the ethical issues that rise from the operation of talent
management programs. After that to create a framework these considerations are used that has
the potential to influence the practical design of talent programs. It discussed the problems one
faces in identifying the talent and the ways minority groups including women are deprived in
several ways. The ethics in understanding the issue is provides information relevant to
understand the ways ethics are associated with gender inequality. Although the paper has given
some of the significant insights, it has also some lacking. The paper could have focused on
different minority groups specifically. Also, there could be more research with real life example
in the article.
Virtue ethics is the character based ethics which shows an action as the right action as it
would be done the same way by a virtuous person in the same circumstances (Van Hooft, 2014).
A moral person is a person who possesses virtues and shows it through his or her actions. Any
person who have virtues and lack vices is as considered to be a moral person by Aristotle.
Australian companies should give priority to female job applicants as a virtuous person would do
the same in the similar situation. Considering the present situation of women in Australia, there
is a vast gap between two genders in the economic opportunity. Therefore, it is would be morally
right to prioritize female job candidates (Pojman, McShane & Pojman, 2015).

7GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
Virtue ethics is based on the person rather than action, where it looks at the virtue or
moral characters rather than the consequences or the ethical duties (Bailey, 2018). Looking from
the moral perspective, it is important every person get the equal opportunity of the accessing
resources and rewards of environment. Merely for the fact there exist an inequality, it is not
necessary to balance it however it is the right action to treat everyone equally. In order to bring
another gender to the higher level, one has to pull the group that is lacking behind. Therefore,
Australia as a character needs to make decisions that are morally right. Virtue ethics deals with
the rightness and wrongness of individual actions but also provides guidance as to the sort of
characteristics and behavior a good person will seek to achieve. Following the above discussion
which concludes that it is ethical and right to give priority to the female job applicants,
Australian companies should therefore make the right decision of giving priority to the female
job applicants (Blau & Kahn, 2017).
The list of virtues involves a common set of virtues from which all human beings would benefit
rather than different sets for different sorts of people. These virtues are natural to mature human
beings. Although it difficult to acquire it is the right for everyone. In the modern era, there is a
problem with these lists as things changes with time. The traditional list of the virtues was
Prudence, justice, fortitude or bravery and temperance. These are the different than the things
that have significance in the modern times. According to modern Theologian James F Keenan, it
is justice, fidelity, self care and prudence (Raz, 2017).
According to justice, everyone must be treated equally and impartially. Therefore, in
order to have justice, female applicants should be given the priority in employment sector. The
gap between the genders in the economic opportunity is vast that cannot be reached in equal
treatment within few more years. Therefore, it is important to focus on equity rather than

8GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
equality for escalating the progress of reducing the economic gap. Considering fidelity, it
requires that one should treat people who are close with special care. In the same way, it is for
the female population of the Australia that Australian company is making move. When
Australian company makes the change and gives priority to the Australian women while they try
for the leadership role, it is for the women of the Australia that the companies will be working
towards. According to self-care, each person has unique responsibility to care for themselves
including mentally, physically and spiritually. Gender inequality is the cause of depression,
mental health issues for many people. Therefore according to self-care it is the responsibility of
every citizen to care for the citizen of the nation. Female population is inclusive of Australian
populations who have been victim of depression and other mental disorders. Therefore according
self-care, it is important to the care for the own people. Lastly, a prudence person is someone
who must always consider the above mentioned qualities, such as justice, fidelity and self care.
The prudent person must always look for opportunities to acquire more of the other three virtues.
Therefore, as a responsible and morally right company, the company must tale measures that
would eliminate the gender imbalance (Williams, 2018).
As discussed above, virtue ethics is the character based ethics which shows an action as
the right action as it would be done the same way by a virtuous person in the same
circumstances. A moral person is a person who possesses virtues and shows it through his or her
actions. There are certain qualities that make a decision right or wrong. As discussed above,
people must act according to the ethics in order to act in the right way. When female are the
victim of inequality in recruitment, they fail to achieve the position as per their capabilities.
Gender gap in the employment sector is certainly reducing however the process needs to

9GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
escalate. It is a clear concept when the data on gender gap is seen in Australia that there is a need
of increasing women leaders to increase equality among the genders.

10GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
References:
Australian Human Rights Commission. (2017). Change the Course: National report on sexual
assault and sexual harassment at Australian Universities. Australian Human Rights
Commission.
Bailey, S. K. (2018). Ethics and the public service. In Classics of Administrative Ethics (pp. 63-
78). Routledge.
Barrett, M. (2014). Women's oppression today: The Marxist/feminist encounter. Verso Trade.
Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2017). The gender wage gap: Extent, trends, and
explanations. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(3), 789-865.
Bowie, A. (2018). Aesthetics and subjectivity: from Kant to Nietzsche.
Bright, D. S., Winn, B. A., & Kanov, J. (2014). Reconsidering virtue: Differences of perspective
in virtue ethics and the positive social sciences. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(4), 445-
460.
Brown, T. H., Richardson, L. J., Hargrove, T. W., & Thomas, C. S. (2016). Using multiple-
hierarchy stratification and life course approaches to understand health inequalities: The
intersecting consequences of race, gender, SES, and age. Journal of health and social
behavior, 57(2), 200-222.
Gacka, H. (2017). Levelling the playing field: Discrimination against women in sport in
Australia. Griffith Journal of Law & Human Dignity, 5, 189-219.
Han, H. (2015). Virtue ethics, positive psychology, and a new model of science and engineering
ethics education. Science and Engineering Ethics, 21(2), 441-460.

11GENDER INEQUALITY IN EMPLOYEMENT
Hudelson, R. (2015). Modern political philosophy. Routledge.
Mill, J. S. (2016). Utilitarianism. In Seven masterpieces of philosophy (pp. 337-383). Routledge.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Pojman, L. P., McShane, K., & Pojman, P. (2015). Environmental ethics: Readings in theory and
application. Nelson Education.
Raz, J. (2017). The rule of law and its virtue. In The Rule of Law and the Separation of
Powers (pp. 77-94). Routledge.
Sen, G., & Mukherjee, A. (2014). No empowerment without rights, no rights without politics:
Gender-equality, MDGs and the post-2015 development agenda. Journal of Human
Development and Capabilities, 15(2-3), 188-202.
Swailes, S. (2013). The ethics of talent management. Business Ethics: A European
Review, 22(1), 32-46.
Van Hooft, S. (2014). Understanding virtue ethics. Routledge.
Williams, B. (2018). Acting as the virtuous person acts. In Aristotle and Moral Realism (pp. 13-
33). Routledge.
Wood, A. (2017). The final form of Kant’s practical philosophy. In Immanuel Kant (pp. 27-47).
Routledge.