Impact of Gender Discrimination within ASDA UK Retail Industry

This research report investigates the impact of gender discrimination on employee productivity within ASDA, a UK retail organization. It identifies different types of discrimination, examines their impact on employee productivity, and explores the challenges ASDA faces due to gender discrimination...Read More

RESEARCH PROJECT
(Impact of gender
discrimination within a
workplace of an
organisation in context with
UK retail industry)

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background of the topic.........................................................................................................3
Research aim, objectives and questions.................................................................................3
Research Rationale.................................................................................................................4
Potential value of the research................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
What are the different types of discrimination existing in an organisation?..........................5
How gender discrimination has impacted over the productivity of an employees within
ASDA?...................................................................................................................................6
What are the major challenges faced by ASDA due to higher gender discrimination in the
working environment?............................................................................................................6
MAIN FINDINGS...........................................................................................................................8
Frequency Distribution Table.................................................................................................8
Data interpretation and graphical presentation.......................................................................9
CONCLUSION, EVALUATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................15
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................15
EVALUATION....................................................................................................................15
RECOMMENDATIONS.....................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................17
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Background of the topic
Discrimination is referred as a practice in which an employee is treated differently on the
basis of colour, gender, religion, age, status and many more. This is the situation that may occur
between employees, colleagues and employers or between an individual and a third party. In
simpler words, it is a unfair treatment of a candidate or an employee based on the category or
class to which they specifically belong (Heilman and Caleo, 2018). Discrimination on the basis
of any factor in a workplace is illegal but then also many employees are treated differently in the
workplace. Employees are the most precious asset of the organisation because they are
responsible for doing functions of the organisation so that determined goals could be attained.
But when an employee is treated differently or discriminated on the basis of their gender,
religion, age, national origin etc. their level of productivity gets down and they make mind set of
leaving the organisation (Sipe and et. al., 2016). Therefore, the current investigation is upon
discrimination on the basis of gender and its impact over productivity of an employee. The
company selected for the current research report is ASDA because it has been recorded that in
this organisation employees have been discriminated on the basis of their gender.
Research aim, objectives and questions
Research Aim
To determine the impact of gender discrimination on employees’ productivity within an
organisation: A study on ASDA
Research Objectives
 To identify the types of discrimination exists within an organisation
 To determine the impact of gender discrimination on employees’ productivity within a
workplace of ASDA
 To examine the challenges faced by ASDA because of gender discrimination in the
workplace
Research Questions
 What are the different types of discrimination existing in an organisation?
 How gender discrimination has impacted over the productivity of an employees within
ASDA?

 What are the major challenges faced by ASDA due to higher gender discrimination in the
working environment?
Research Rationale
The major purpose of doing the present investigation is to showcase the impact of gender
discrimination on the productivity level of employees so that company operating with this type
of practice can stop this and treat every employee equally (Verniers and Vala, 2018). There are
two personal objectives that are attained by two different perspectives which are: personal and
professional. In terms of personal perspective, I shall get to know about the research skills
needed to conduct research as well as increase my knowledge regarding the topic. In respect of
professional perspective, I will get to learn about the various kind of discrimination and the
measures that I can take for eradicating this when I will be in my professional career.
Potential value of the research
The present investigation has great potential value because it is conducting on the topic of
discrimination in an organisation to create awareness among the readers so that they can learn
this practice is illegal and can put an organisation in a problem (Parker and Funk, 2017). This
report is quite valuable as this will give in-depth information to many researchers, students,
organisations etc. on the topic of gender discrimination within an organisation.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review that has focused on addressing the questions of whole investigation with
the help of secondary information. The sources used for attaining objectives and answering the
research questions are: books, publications, newspapers, websites of the organisation and
government, articles and many more.
What are the different types of discrimination existing in an organisation?
According to Yang and Sooksmarn (2020), any kind of discrimination in the workplace is
considered as illegal for many decades but it is still there. The only best method for stopping
workplace discrimination is speaking up about such incidents, bringing lawsuits and putting a
light on discriminatory practices. Some of the common kinds of discrimination in the workplace
are defined below and the ways to spot them.
Race Discrimination: This is the kind of discrimination that exists both in the workplace
as well as society. It is very common and specific minority groups are not selected in the
recruitment procedure of the organisation. Even if they are hired they are not even promoted and
comes under unfair scrutiny. Hence sometimes, they are wrongfully terminated and this
discrimination is a common factor in the modern workplace (Bader and et. al., 2018).
Age Discrimination: Age discrimination is the kind of discrimination that is one of the
fastest growing examples of discrimination in the companies today. Generation of baby boomer
faces this kind of discrimination and also faces financial insecurity into retirement. It is quite
hard for older people to get job when the organisation gives more importance to younger
employees.
Religious Discrimination: Religious discrimination is illegal to differentiate against
someone for their religious beliefs. This type of discrimination generally takes the form of
harassment at workplace about their beliefs or hiding any worker from public facing
responsibilities because of religious clothing.
Gender Discrimination: Gender discrimination is the other kind of discrimination which
occurs when an employee is treated differently on the basis of gender and many evidence
highlights that it is rampant in the workforce. It is taken in many forms: it could be failure to
recruit but generally women are not trained for higher position in the workplace, they are
sidelined or they are paid less and many more.

How gender discrimination has impacted over the productivity of an employees within ASDA?
According to Krishna, Kim and Shim (2021), gender discrimination is the kind of
discrimination that takes place in the organisation and this directly impact productivity level of
the employees. This is known as the illegal practice but still it happens in many organisations. It
is very common to understand that when employees are discriminated on the basis of their
gender they become less aligned towards defined aim and objectives. When an employee is
facing gender discrimination at work, mental health challenges generally follow. This increases
their anxiety level and be prone to outbursts and depression. When mental health issues take
place employees do not feel motivated to do their work and become less confident and this
ultimately negatively impacts their productivity level. When an employee experiences gender
discrimination at work then it increases the conflict in the whole working environment. As the
team gets more interested towards the drama of the office rather than productive work. This
clearly shows that productivity level of the employees gets down. Conflict situations are not
good for the organisation and it directly impacts the job performance of whole team or
department (Adesoy and et. al., 2017). With the occurrence of gender discrimination conflict
increases in the workplace and employees make certain mind set at that time. This ultimately
decreases the overall morale of the team. Hence, with the existence of gender discrimination
morale of employees goes down and it creates negative impact on corporate culture and
employees start leaving the organisation.
What are the major challenges faced by ASDA due to higher gender discrimination in the
working environment?
According to Kim and et. al., (2019), gender discrimination is one of the biggest challenge
for a company because it directly impacts the working environment of the company. Some of the
challenges faced by an organisation due to gender discrimination are:
High employee turnover: One of the major challenges faced by ASDA is increased
employee turnover due to gender discrimination. When employee feel that they are treated
differently on the basis of their gender they make mind set of leaving the organisation so that
they can join other organisation for getting higher pay and equal treatment. With this company
has to recruit candidates again and this directly increases the cost of whole organisation.

Lower productivity level: The other major challenge is lower productivity level as morale
and motivation level of employees goes down and they do not work on their assigned roles and
duties. This makes organisation to suffer and face many losses. When employees do not feel
motivated or encouraged due to discrimination they face their productivity level decreases
(Coffman, Exley and Niederle, 2018).
Unattained targets and objectives: Another major challenge for the organisation is
unattained targets and objectives. Gender discrimination in the organisation shows that there are
more conflicts in the working environment. When this is created more in the workplace the
different departments and teams get interested towards drama and do not focus on completing
their assigned work and duties.

MAIN FINDINGS
This is the chapter in the present investigation that has aimed at collecting primary
information with the help of instrument called questionnaire (Kumar, 2018). This also assists in
the collection of quantitative data so that objectives could be attained with reliable and relevant
piece of information (Pandey and Pandey, 2021). 30 managers are selected from the organisation
ASDA so that they can share their experience in relation to gender discrimination in the
workplace.
Frequency Distribution Table
Q1) Have you ever experienced any kind of discrimination in your
working organisation?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
Q2) Do you think ASDA discriminates employees on the basis of their
gender?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Q3) As per your experience in ASDA, what type of discrimination have
you faced?
Frequency
a) Age discrimination 5
b) Gender discrimination 12
c) Religion discrimination 6
d) Race discrimination 7
Q4) As per your opinion, how does gender discrimination affects your
productivity level?
Frequency
a) Positively 3
b) Negatively 22
c) Neutral 5
Q5) What is the biggest challenge faced by ASDA because of higher
gender discrimination in the working environment?
Frequency
a) Negative working environment 5

b) High employee turnover 4
c) Unachieved target and objectives 7
d) Lower productivity level 10
e) More conflicts 4
Q6) As per your view, what is the best way of eliminating gender
discrimination that should be adopted by ASDA?
Frequency
a) Evaluating and standardising pay 10
b) Reviewing hiring and recruiting procedure 12
c) Offering flexible work operations to every employee 5
d) Establishing mentoring programs 3
Data interpretation and graphical presentation
Question 1: Ever experienced any kind of discrimination in your working organisation
Q1) Have you ever experienced any kind of discrimination in your
working organisation?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
Interpretation: As per the assembled data, it is analysed that majority of participants
have answered that they have experienced discrimination in their working organisation. This
could be easily determined by them the opportunities they get as well as pay they get for their

work. They have seen that they are treated differently just because they belong from different
religion, colour and many more.
Question 2: ASDA discriminates employees on the basis of their gender
Q2) Do you think ASDA discriminates employees on the basis of their
gender?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Interpretation: According to the above drawn graph, it is analysed that large number of
respondents had answered that the company discriminates and differentiates on the basis of their
gender. They said that men employees get more preference in the recruitment procedure in
comparison of female employees. Therefore, this clearly shows that somewhere in the workplace
whole organisation supports gender discrimination which is totally wrong.
Question 3: Type of discrimination have you faced
Q3) As per your experience in ASDA, what type of discrimination have
you faced?
Frequency
a) Age discrimination 5
b) Gender discrimination 12
c) Religion discrimination 6
d) Race discrimination 7

Interpretation: As per the shown tabular data, it could be interpreted that 12 respondents
have believed that gender discrimination is one of the biggest kinds of discrimination prevailing
in the workplace of ASDA. They have said that their managers treat employees on the basis of
gender and give opportunities to male employees because they think they are more efficient and
effective towards their work.
Question 4: Does gender discrimination affect your productivity level
Q4) As per your opinion, how does gender discrimination affect your
productivity level?
Frequency
a) Positively 3
b) Negatively 22
c) Neutral 5

Interpretation: With the mentioned information, it is analysed that 22 respondents have
said that gender discrimination negatively impacts productivity level of employees because they
think they are not going to get high pay or greater opportunities just because of their gender so
automatically their productivity level gets down. It is also determined that 3 employees said that
they are positively affected with gender discrimination because they get more opportunities when
others do not get the same.
Question 5: Biggest challenge faced by ASDA because of higher gender discrimination in the
working environment
Q5) What is the biggest challenge faced by ASDA because of higher
gender discrimination in the working environment?
Frequency
a) Negative working environment 5
b) High employee turnover 4
c) Unachieved target and objectives 7
d) Lower productivity level 10
e) More conflicts 4

Interpretation: From the above mentioned piece of information, it is analysed that more
number of respondents have said that lower productivity level is the biggest challenge faced by
company because employees do not take initiative to perform their assigned duty and
responsibility. This ultimately decreases the productivity level of the organisation and this also
reduces the brand image of the organisation.
Question 6: Best way of eliminating gender discrimination that should be adopted by ASDA
Q6) As per your view, what is the best way of eliminating gender
discrimination that should be adopted by ASDA?
Frequency
a) Evaluating and standardising pay 10
b) Reviewing hiring and recruiting procedure 12
c) Offering flexible work operations to every employee 5
d) Establishing mentoring programs 3

Interpretation: According to the collected piece of information it is analysed that majority
of representatives have said that reviewing hire and recruitment procedure is the best method of
eliminating gender discrimination from the workplace. This will assist in hiring more diverse
workforce and also help in building strong brand image.

CONCLUSION, EVALUATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
From the above collected data it can be summarised that discrimination is illegal but still it
prevails in the working environment of an organisation. Gender discrimination is the kind of
discrimination in which an employee is treated different on the basis of their gender. When
individuals working in the organisation is discriminated their productivity level goes down and
they form mind set of leaving the organisation. The other major reason of productivity level
going down is that employees think they are not going to be appreciated in the organisation just
because they do not belong from favourable category of gender. There are many other kinds of
discrimination that prevail in the working environment but the top place is acquired by gender
discrimination which is the barrier in the path of success and development of many employees.
The report has also used primary and secondary methods for the collection of content so that
every defined objective could be easily attained. Questionnaire has been developed so that
primary data can be captured while secondary data is gathered with the help of books, articles,
journals and so on. Therefore, the purpose of collecting in-depth information about the gender
discrimination is gathered and the defined aim is attained.
EVALUATION
According to the above recorded information through questionnaire it is evaluated that
many respondents have experienced discrimination in their working organisation on the basis of
their gender (Rashid, Safdar and Batool, 2021). They believe that women employees are given
less opportunities in comparison of men employees because companies believe that men
employees are more talented and efficient for performing several functions of the organisation
(Manzi, 2019). It is also evaluated that when employees are treated differently their interest
towards work goes down and this directly impacts their productivity level. Therefore, gender
discrimination is not right practices and it needs to be avoided for the success and development
of whole organisation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
As per the assembled data it is recorded that still in this modern age of business gender
discrimination prevails. For eliminating this issue there are certain recommendations that are
recommended to the company which are:

 ASDA should focus on eliminating gender pay gap so that women employees can be paid
equal amount in comparison of male employees. So, the organisation should evaluate
their present pay structure for making sure that they can be aware of any discrepancies.
Therefore, ASDA should pay same amount for the same job. This will help in building
confidence among employees and aligning their efforts towards attaining goals of the
company.
 The other significant recommendation to ASDA is reviewing their hire and recruitment
process. The company should open vacancy for females as well as males so that they can
have diverse workforce. For this they should review their current structure and avoid
using certain words that only target certain type of gender. This will help company to
have large number of candidates for interview and have various number of alternatives
for attaining their objectives.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adesoy and et. al., 2017. Perceived discrimination experienced by physician mothers and desired
workplace changes: a cross-sectional survey. JAMA internal medicine, 177(7), pp.1033-
1036.
Al Kilani, M., 2016. An overview of research methodology in information system (IS). Open
Access Library Journal, 3(11), p.1.
Babii, A., 2020. Important aspects of the experimental research methodology. Вісник
Тернопільського національного технічного університету, 97(1), pp.77-87.
Bader and et. al., 2018. Institutional discrimination of women and workplace harassment of
female expatriates: Evidence from 25 host countries. Journal of Global Mobility.
Coffman, K.B., Exley, C.L. and Niederle, M., 2018. When gender discrimination is not about
gender. Boston: Harvard Business School.
Heilman, M.E. and Caleo, S., 2018. Gender discrimination in the workplace.
Kim and et. al., 2019. Gender discrimination in the workplace: effects on pregnancy planning
and childbirth among South Korean women. International journal of environmental
research and public health, 16(15), p.2672.
Krishna, A., Kim, S. and Shim, K., 2021. Unpacking the effects of alleged gender discrimination
in the corporate workplace on consumers’ affective responses and relational
perceptions. Communication Research, 48(3), pp.426-453.
Kumar, R., 2018. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage.
Manzi, F., 2019. Are the processes underlying discrimination the same for women and men? A
critical review of congruity models of gender discrimination. Frontiers in psychology, 10,
p.469.
Pandey, P. and Pandey, M.M., 2021. Research Methodology Tools and Techniques.
Parker, K. and Funk, C., 2017. Gender discrimination comes in many forms for today’s working
women. Pew Research Center, 14.
Rashid, S., Safdar, S. and Batool, S.B., 2021. University Students’ Perceptions about Gender
Discrimination at the Workplace.
Sipe and et. al., 2016. Taking off the blinders: A comparative study of university students’
changing perceptions of gender discrimination in the workplace from 2006 to
2013. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 15(2), pp.232-249.
Verniers, C. and Vala, J., 2018. Justifying gender discrimination in the workplace: The
mediating role of motherhood myths. PloS one, 13(1), p.e0190657.
Yang, T.J. and Sooksmarn, S., 2020. The gender discrimination in the workplace: A study in
China. Rajapark Journal, 14(32), pp.214-222.

APPENDIX
Q1) Have you ever experienced any kind of discrimination in your working organisation?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2) Do you think ASDA discriminates employees on the basis of their gender?
a) Yes
b) No
Q3) As per your experience in ASDA, what type of discrimination have you faced?
a) Age discrimination
b) Gender discrimination
c) Religion discrimination
d) Race discrimination
Q4) As per your opinion, how does gender discrimination affects your productivity level?
a) Positively
b) Negatively
c) Neutral
Q5) What is the biggest challenge faced by ASDA because of higher gender discrimination in
the working environment?
a) Negative working environment
b) High employee turnover
c) Unachieved target and objectives
d) Lower productivity level
e) More conflicts
Q6) As per your view, what is the best way of eliminating gender discrimination that should be
adopted by ASDA?
a) Evaluating and standardising pay
b) Reviewing hiring and recruiting procedure
c) Offering flexible work operations to every employee
d) Establishing mentoring programs