Gender Inequality at Workplace - Essay, Sociology, University

This argumentative essay delves into the persistent issue of gender inequality in the workplace, asserting its continued presence despite societal advancements. The essay explores various facets of this inequality, including pay disparities, limited promotion opportunities for women, and the prevalence of sexual harassment. It examines the societal and biological factors that contribute to these disparities, highlighting how women are often perceived as subordinates. The analysis includes statistical data on wage gaps, representation in leadership roles, and the impact of workplace culture on women's experiences. The essay draws on research to illustrate the challenges women face and the systemic barriers that hinder their advancement. The conclusion emphasizes the need for change and the importance of eradicating gender-based inequalities to foster a more equitable and inclusive work environment. The essay uses APA format, including citations and references, and adheres to the word count limit.

Running head: GENDER INQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
GENDER INQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
Name of the Student:
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1GENDER INEQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Concept/Body..................................................................................................................................2
Depth analysis..................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

2GENDER INEQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
Gender Inequality in the workplace is evident in today’s world. Do you agree or not
Introduction
Gender inequality tends to mean that men and women are not equivalent and that sex
tends to influence or impact upon the living experience of an individual. The differences tend to
live because of the dissimilarities in biology, cultural norms, and psychology. It is to be noted
that though some of the dissimilarities are grounded empirically, the other forms of distinctions
appear to be created by society (Buchanan, 2014). The inequality in gender is being followed
because of the biological difference between the male and the female, and because of the
acceptance of the females as the subordinates or the “other” to that of the man. Gender inequality
in the workplace is still evident in the today’s world. This paper will be focusing on the
inequalities that tend to take place in the workplace because of the difference in gender.
Concept/Body
Despite being established in life, women are still treated as the subordinate other in
comparison to that of the man. “The modern workplace is a pivotal arena for shaping societal
gender inequalities” (Kalev & Deutsch 2018). According to Kiser, (2015), Gender dissimilarity
in the office is a type of discrimination of the sex, which results in the disadvantageous treatment
of an individual. Though in the present scenario, women are established, they are still considered
to be “less” in their respective workplaces. It is to be noted that women are more accomplished
than males in Canada. Various researches that have been conducted in this field tend to claim
that women have acquired more amount of education degrees in comparison to men, and yet they
tend to earn less in comparison to the men. However, “Occupational gender segregation remains

3GENDER INEQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
one of the defining elements of gender inequality in modern societies” (Cohen, 2013). The
statistics of claims that the women earn 80 percent of what men are being paid and yet the
statistics of the 2018 claims that the difference of pay scale between the masculine and the
females has yet widened. On the other hand, women also tend to get the advantage of staying at
home for their parental responsibilities. They get paid leaves during the time of pregnancy, as
well as various other advantages. However, “gendered understanding of motherhood frequently
limited the expectations of even the most-feminist identified women when they approached their
employers about compensation and about accommodations that would facilitate better work and
family balance” (Harris & Estevez, (2017). According to Stamarski, Hing & Leanne, (2015).,
the rate of leaves from the sides of the women is twice the rate of leaves that are being taken by
the men.
Sexual harassment is one of the common incidents that women tend to suffer in the
workplace. According to the survey conducted by the nonprofit stop street harassment, 38
percent of the women tends to suffer from a sexual form of harassment in the workplace. In
comparison, 81 percent of the women claim that they have experienced some form of nuisance in
their respective lives. However, it is to be noted that the factors related to the work are some of
the reasons for the amplified risk of sexual nuisance in the workplace. Researches that have been
done in this field tend to claim that the women workers who tend to work in restaurants are more
likely to get sexually assaulted because they tend to rely more on the tips of the customers as
their source of the income (Harris & Estevez, (2017). Therefore, it can be said that the type of
work tends to have a huge role in determining the beginning of sexual harassment.
Women are less promoted in comparison to that of the man. Even though the women are
more cultivated in comparison to that of the males and even creating nearly half of the

4GENDER INEQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
workplace, various researches that have been done in this filed tend to claim or indicate the fact
that the women are less promoted in work in comparison to that of the males. This is evident by
the fact females makeup to about 5 percent of the Ceo’S. on the other hand, it is to be noted that
only 10 percent of the females are the top wage earner in comparison to that of the males (Hirsh,
Hollingdale, & Stecy-Hildebrandt, 2013). However, one of the reasons that tend to lie behind the
fact that women are not able to establish themselves in higher up decision-making type of
models is because of the lack of the female role models in the office who can make the other
females motivate and encourage and even make them believe that the higher position of jobs is
something which is not unattainable. “The findings show that the separatist model has been
successful in terms of fostering leadership development amongst women within the union as well
as improving women’s self-esteem” (Khuzwayo, 2016).
Negotiating factor of the women regarding their pay of work is very less. One of the
problems with which the women tend to suffer in the workplace is that they fail to ask or discuss
a higher amount of pay in the job. In the subject of unequal pay, the fear of conversing about
money is an issue that tends to affect the women more meaningfully than that of the women.
Women who tend to negotiate with heir amount of pay are often considered or are viewed as the
one who is greedy or desperate (Kalev, & Deutsch, 2018). It is mainly of this that the women
tend to hesitate when it comes to asking about their worth in the workplace for which they are
working. It is to be noted that the research conducted by the glassdoor tends to claim that the
negotiation on the amount of pay was done much lesser by women in comparison to that of the
males. It is being indicated that 70 percent of the women accepted the money that was being
provided to them in comparison to the males.

5GENDER INEQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
Women as role models who can encourage the other women to prosper in their respective
lives are very less. According to Khuzwayo (2016), only 23 companies out of 239 companies
across the world tend to have founders who are female. On the other hand, there are only 4
percent of the US Fortune Fortune 500 companies tend to have a CEO who is a female. Apart
from this, the numbers are highly depressing in the context of the women with colors as the
researches tend to indicate that only 4 percent of the women of color tend to hold a position of
higher rank in the top companies. In the 2018 woman in the workplace study, it is being
identified that out of 100 men getting promoted to that of the manager level, only 79 women are
being promoted. In the micro-level, it can be seen that only 60 black women are being promoted.
However, on the other hand, according to Williams, Kilanski & Muller (2014), since women are
generally more educated to that of the males, they tend to bring more talent and skills in the
workplace (Blau, 2016). On the other hand, various studies and researches that have been
conducted tend to indicate there are certain jobs which are best done by the females. According
to Kiser (2015). the retail jobs are being better done by the females in comparison to that of the
males. This is being agreed by 31 percent of the people, while only six percent of the people
think and support for the male (Albiero et al., 2020). On the other hand, 19 percent tends to think
that female s would perform better as a manager of the hospitality industry while less than 8
percent of the people tend to feel that about the males.
Depth analysis
The analysis that can be made from this argumentative essay is that the position of the
women as the subordinate “other” to that of the men is being followed through the time. One of
the primary reasons that tend to lie behind this is that of the biological difference that tends to lie
between them. Another analysis that tends to lie is that of the acceptance of the women as the

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subordinate role to that of the man. It is the women who can come out of their position can claim
their position as the significant one rather than being the “other” to that of the man.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that consciously or unconsciously, the inequality in gender
may tend to take place in the workplace. However, it must be eradicated so that an individual
irrespective of one’s gender, would get the opportunity to showcase his or her talent and get the
accurate appreciation that he or she tends to deserve in the workplace. Women must themselves
break the norm that is being traditionally followed to create a better future for themselves as well
as for the upcoming generation.

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References
Buchanan, T. (2014). The influence of gender role attitudes on perceptions of women's work
performance and the importance of fair pay. Sociological Spectrum, 34(3), 203-221.
Cohen, P. N. (2013). The persistence of workplace gender segregation in the US. Sociology
Compass, 7(11), 889-899.
Harris, E. C., & Estevez, M. L. (2017). THE ROLE OF GENDER AND MOTHERHOOD
IDEOLOGIES IN PERPETUATING WORKPLACE INEQUALITY. Journal of
Research in Gender Studies, 7(2).
Hirsh, E., Hollingdale, H., & Stecy-Hildebrandt, N. (2013)Gender inequality in the workplace.
In Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kalev, A., & Deutsch, G. (2018). Gender inequality and workplace organizations: understanding
reproduction and change. In Handbook of the sociology of gender (pp. 257-269).
Springer, Cham.
Khuzwayo, Z. (2016). Separate space: An approach to addressing gender inequality in the
workplace. Journal of International Women's Studies, 17(4), 91-101.
Kiser, A. I. (2015). Workplace and leadership perceptions between men and women. Gender in
Management: An International Journal.
O'Brien, K., Fitzsimmons, T. W., Crane, M., & Head, B. (2017). Workplace gender inequality as
a Wicked Problem: Implications for research and practice. In Academy of Management

8GENDER INEQUALITY AT WORKPLACE
Proceedings (Vol. 2017, No. 1, p. 14717). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of
Management.
Stamarski, C. S., Hing, S., & Leanne, S. (2015). Gender inequalities in the workplace: the effects
of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers’ sexism. Frontiers
in psychology, 6, 1400.
Williams, C. L., Kilanski, K., & Muller, C. (2014). Corporate diversity programs and gender
inequality in the oil and gas industry. Work and Occupations, 41(4), 440-476.
Blau, F. D. (2016). Gender, inequality, and wages. OUP Catalogue.
Albiero, V., KS, K., Vangara, K., Zhang, K., King, M. C., & Bowyer, K. W. (2020). Analysis of
gender inequality in face recognition accuracy. In Proceedings of the IEEE Winter
Conference on Applications of Computer Vision Workshops (pp. 81-89).