Abstract
The number of women in the workplace continues to increase. A lot of women keep on joining occupations that were previously reserved for men. Notwithstanding the increase in women’s involvement in the workplace, a lot still needs to be done to guarantee equality. The study indicates that women come across challenges in an attempt to get promotions. The majority of women hold positions that cannot help them get promotions.
Furthermore, the notion that women do not dedicate themselves to organizations deprives them of a chance to get leadership positions. Today, occupational inconsistencies are perceptible across employment levels. Women are underrepresented in most professional levels. Moreover, women are underrepresented in many industries. Women encounter many challenges in the workplace. They range from wage gap, sexual aggravation, ego clashes, gender prejudice, to inability to strike a work-life balance. Notwithstanding most organizations having policies that proscribe sexual nuisance and other kinds of discrimination, male workers continue to commit the crimes. In some organizations, managers promote vices.
Women’s involvement in the workplace has numerous reimbursements to countries. It helps to raise the gross domestic product of a state. Moreover, an increase in the number of women in the workplace contributes to improving the economies of developing nations. On the other hand, the contribution of women in workplaces impacts child-rearing negatively. It also affects the learning program of children. Presently, numerous laws defend the rights of women in the workplace. The rules aim to encourage fairness in the workplace.
Introduction
In the past, it was hard to find women in the workplace. Gini (1998) maintains that women were supposed to stay at home and take care of the family. For decades, religious beliefs and cultural practices prevented women from joining the workforce. Besides, women were not allowed to pursue education. Consequently, they lacked the requisite experience to accede to the workforce. Gini (1998) alleges that women could not take the high status and well-paying careers. In the twentieth century, the situation changed as people transitioned from labor-intensive jobs to office careers that did not entail a lot of work. Besides, women started pursuing higher education.
Thus, they could easily join workplaces that were previously a reserve for men. Today, there are many women in the workplace. In spite of women entering the labor force, they encounter numerous challenges that include inequality. According to Gini (1998), “restrictions on women’s access and participation in the workforce include the wage gap, the glass ceiling, and inequities most identified with industrialized nations with nominal equal opportunity laws” (p. 9).
In spite of an increase in women’s participation in the workplace, organizations are yet to guarantee equal representation amid genders. This article will discuss the women’s participation in the workplace, the challenges that they encounter, legislation that protect the interests of women in the workplace, and women in the workplace leadership.
History of Women Participation in the Workplaces
Before the 19th century, a majority of the women engaged in agricultural activities. The industrial revolution witnessed in the early 19th century led to the transformation of workplaces across the world. Most people who resided in urban areas started working for salaries. Many women engaged in the most difficult jobs like coal mining. In the middle 19th century, a high number of women in the United States started working in textile industries (Fletcher, Jordan, & Miller, 2000).
Some women worked as hawkers. Inequality in remuneration was prevalent during this period. Many employers preferred to recruit women because they were easy to manipulate compared to men. Pregnant women were supposed to remain in workplaces until they deliver. In 1891, the United States government enacted a law that gave pregnant women the right to take early maternity leave. A census conducted in 1870 in the United States revealed that 15% of the country’s workforce comprised women (Fletcher et al., 2000). Many women worked as teachers and dressmakers.
In the early 20th century, “women were regarded as society’s guardians of morality” (Fletcher et al., 2000, p. 249). Society did not view women as employees or moneymakers. Instead, the public expected them to remain at home and take care of children. Only men were supposed to work and provide for the family. Fletcher et al. (2000) posit that the First World War facilitated the involvement of women in the workforce in the United States.
The increase in demand for goods in Europe led to the United States allowing women to partake in the workplaces. Initially, most women worked in factories. With time, they started to work as secretaries and salespeople. In the 1920s more women made their way into the workforce. The Second World War resulted in the creation of countless jobs for women. Many American women joined the military.
According to Fletcher et al. (2000), the “quiet revolution” that started in the late 1970s led to an increase in the number of working women. Many women started pursuing university and college education. As a result, they got an opportunity to join occupations that were deemed a reserve for men. Many women began working as physicians, dentists, and lawyers. The “quiet revolution” continues up to date. Many women continue to join the labor force in different occupations. They no longer work only as secretaries and teachers. Instead, they continue to occupy professions that were previously dominated by men.
Women Participation
At the international level, the participation of males and females in the workplace has declined significantly over the last twenty years. Nevertheless, in some regions, the degree of women’s involvement has gone up, thus reducing the gender gap (Raber, 2008). Despite the changes, the level of women’s participation in the workplace is still small. According to Raber (2008), a significant share of women is yet to join the workplaces.
A majority of women in Africa and Asia work as farmers. On the other hand, most women who are in paid occupations work as hawkers. According to Raber (2008), some features of women’s roles in the workplace have improved over the years. For instance, today, many women work as medical professionals. Over 30% of medical professionals comprise women. Initially, women used to work as nurses. Today, many women work as physicians (Raber, 2008).
Tzannatos (2008) contends that in many cases, the chances of women to prosper in the workplace depend on their line of profession. The contexts in which women operate influence their growth. For instance, in the medical field, it is difficult for women to become medical consultants. Most women opt to serve in the field of primary care. Mcilwee and Robinson (2003) aver that the prospects accessible to women depend on the choice of work, the degree of wages, maternity rights, job flexibility, and the extent of fairness in the recruitment procedures. The perceptions about the professions that women should embrace and other stereotypes exacerbate these factors.
Research shows that women have small chances of advancing in their careers. In most organizations, a small share of women is promoted from one level to next. Besides, the representation of women across occupational levels is wanting. Men are at least 15% more represented than women (Mcilwee & Robinson, 2003). It implies that women encounter barriers to advancement in workplaces.
Mcilwee and Robinson (2003) argue that women’s participation in the workplace is age-dependent. A lot of women aged between 20 and 24 are either working or searching for employment. The level of involvement keeps on varying as women grow old. In 1978, most married women did not participate in the labor force. Instead, they stayed at home and took care of the children. However, today, the trend has changed. A lot of married women play critical roles in workplaces. The increase in casual and part-time jobs has enabled women to participate in the workforce. Over 46% of women in the United States work as either casual or part-time workers (Mcilwee & Robinson, 2003).
Changes in the labor market have impacted women’s contribution to the workplace. Today, a lot of women work as managers, personal and community service employees, and professionals. Tzannatos (2008) maintains that women hold over half of the professional jobs. The professional occupations have grown tremendously such that they account for the highest proportion of careers that women hold.
Today, a big number of women no longer serve in administrative and clerical occupations. The two professions were previously considered a reserve for females.
Women in Workplace Leadership
According to Hoobler, Lemmon, and Wayne (2011), an increase in the number of women in the workplace has led to them fighting for leadership positions. Research shows that a majority of the highly learned women who decided to leave their jobs in the 1990s to take care of kids are reporting back to work. It underscores the reason why there has been an increase in the number of women who serve as chief executive officers.
The economic crisis witnessed in 2008 proved that women could do well as organizational leaders. Today, at least 13 of the American companies led by women perform exemplarily. Their shares have the highest value in the market. Hoobler et al. (2011) claim that despite the rise in the number of women leaders in the workplace, more needs to be done.
Hoobler et al. (2011) identify two factors that prevent women from participating in leadership in the workplace. According to Hoobler et al. (2011), a small number of women hold positions that can enable them to ascend to leadership. Many women who serve at the management level are responsible for managing lines. In other words, they serve in positions that focus on critical operations. At the vice president level, a majority of the women hold staff duties.
On the other hand, many men assume the line roles in almost all levels. Hoobler et al. (2011) maintain, “Line functions are close to the company’s core operations and provide critical preparation for top roles” (p. 153). The lack of many women who serve in the line roles deprives them of an opportunity to hold top spots in the institutions.
According to Tzannatos (2008), the perception that women cannot fully commit themselves to work inhibits their upward mobility. Many people believe that women cannot assume leadership positions because they take caregiving responsibilities at home. Many organizational leaders use the family-work conflict predisposition to evaluate males and females. As a result, it becomes hard for organizations to promote women. Tzannatos (2008) alleges that there are many unmarried women with no children or dependants in the workplace. In spite of these women having limited responsibilities, they hardly assume the leadership positions.
Tzannatos (2008) claims, “Just being female seems to signal to male and female managers that a woman will let the outside responsibilities interfere with her job performance, or perhaps she will someday” (p. 559).
In other words, many women fail to assume leadership positions because they are viewed as not dedicated to their work. Even though there have been some improvements since 2012, the number of women in senior positions is still low.
Occupational Disparity
Savery (2006) attributes job selection to the standard wage differentiation between men and women. Savery (2006) argues that a majority of the careers that recruit a high number of women pay reduced wages. On the other hand, male-dominated occupations are known to offer good salaries. A study conducted in 2014 found that there were over 73 million employed women in the United States. They represented 47% of the country’s total workforce (Turner, 2016).
In spite of many women joining the workforce, occupational disparities still exist. According to Savery (2006), there is an uneven representation of genders not only across industries but also occupations. The percentage of women in certain professions is little. Today, “less than 15% of the computer network architects and electrical and electronic engineers are female) (Savery, 2006, p. 14). On the other hand, over 90% of the kindergarten teachers, and speech and language interpreters are women (Savery, 2006). Nonetheless, both males and females are equally represented in some occupations. Savery (2006) posits, “The number of men and women who work as artists and biological scientists is almost the same” (p. 15).
Work-related inequalities differ with industries as well. In 2014, over 75% of people who worked in the health services sector and education were women (Turner, 2016). The high percentage of women in these industries was a result of their overrepresentation in professions naturally related to these sectors like nursing and teaching. Turner (2016) posits that women in other professional groups are also overrepresented in the health services industry and education. Turner (2016) posits, “About 20% of women in business, management, and financial jobs work in the health services industry as well as the education sector” (p. 1158).
Challenges that Women Encounter
Wage Disparity
A lot of research accounts for the percentage of women in the workplace. Some research focuses on women’s qualifications and issues related to the pay gap. However, limited studies account for how women feel in the workplace or how they do in their daily operations. The studies do not account for the challenges that women face in the workplace. A survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in liaison with the Rockefeller Foundation identified the challenges that women face in the workplace (Savery, 2006).
Most women identified gender wage disparity as one of the challenges that they grappled within their day-to-day business. Indeed, in the United States, the pay gap is a major concern among women. According to Turner (2016), women earn less than men despite being in the same job group. In the United States, the wage gap between men and women increases with age. As women grow old, the pay gap between them and their male counterparts widens.
According to Turner (2016), most employers have a notion that a woman cannot remain in an organization for long. They believe that women are bound to quit jobs after they bear children or get married. Consequently, they decline to offer good wages to women. Some women earn low wages as they cannot go for challenging occupations. Many women opt to take jobs that are less demanding to enable them to have adequate time with children. Parenthood deprives women of the opportunity to work in occupations that offer high wages.
Work-Life Balance
Delina and Raya (2013) define work-life balance as “an employee’s perception that multiple domains of personal time, family care, and work are maintained and integrated with a minimum of role conflict” (p. 281). Work-life balance is a major challenge to many employees, particularly married women. Today, a majority of the occupations demand long working hours. As such, it becomes hard for women to work and take care of their children and families.
Delina and Raya (2013) hold that women have a distinct trait that makes them do everything perfectly. A study by the European Labor Relations Observatory found that a lot of women encounter difficulties in balancing between their professions and domestic duties. A majority of American women cite work-life balance as their primary concern in the workplace. The women rank this challenge ahead of short maternity leave, access to childcare, and flexible working hours. In China, a lot of women have neglected their responsibilities as mothers to earn a living. They cannot find a balance between taking care of their children and working.
According to Delina and Raya (2013), the inability to strike a balance between work and life makes it difficult for women to advance their careers. Additionally, it becomes hard for many women to succeed in their responsibilities in the workplace. A lot of women opt to sacrifice their health to strike a balance between work and life. They spend a better part of the day working either at home or at workplaces. They do not get adequate sleep.
Harassment
Most women in the Group 20 nations cite sexual harassment as a major challenge in workplaces. At least 30% of women experience sexual harassment in one way or another (Fitzgerald, 2004). Unfortunately, a majority of the women do not report the cases of sexual harassment to their leaders. Sexual harassment arises in different ways. They include inapt comments, soliciting sexual favors, kissing or hugging, and unwanted touching among others.
Cases of sexual harassment are rampant in the United Kingdom. Research shows that at least 52% of working women undergo sexual harassment in the workplace (Fitzgerald, 2004). An analysis of sexual harassment at workplaces shows that young women are highly susceptible to the vice. Fitzgerald (2004) claims that authority dynamics contribute to sexual harassment. Senior employees sexually harass young women because they fear them. Additionally, a majority of young women are not in senior positions. Thus, their male counterparts do not fear them.
As per Fitzgerald (2004), older women also suffer from sexual harassment. Nonetheless, a majority of older women are accustomed to such behaviors. Many do not consider sexual harassment as a major challenge. A study shows that women who work in the hospitality and manufacturing industries are at a high risk of sexual harassment (Fitzgerald, 2004).
In spite of some organizational leaders emphasizing zero tolerance for sexual harassment, they do not take stern measures to curb the vice. In some instances, organizations cannot curb sexual harassment because leaders are the main perpetrators of the crime.
Gender Bias
Many women cite gender bias as a serious challenge that they face in the workplace. Most corporate offices have endeavored to stem gender bias. Nevertheless, government agencies and private organizations are yet to curb the problem. In most organizations, women are denied the opportunity to work in certain areas. For instance, many organizations decline to assign women to occupations that require hard physical work or regular travel. The agencies believe that women are not fit for such jobs. According to Issacharoff and Rosenblum (2007), some companies use troubling questions when interviewing women for job positions.
For instance, some companies require women to give details about family planning and marriage life (Issacharoff & Rosenblum, 2007). The good news is that some major organizations like the United Nations have raised concerns regarding gender bias in the workplace. Some companies that provide maternity leave to women decline to retain their positions. Once a woman returns to work, she is forced to change a career post. Such a situation affects a woman’s ability to offer efficient services. Some women are even forced to undertake training to change their roles.
Ego Clashes
According to Macmillan and Gartner (2007), most men do not feel well reporting to female managers. Macmillan and Gartner (2007) maintain, “An alpha male will feel his ego is crushed when he has to report to a female manager” (p. 951). In most cases, women feel like they have offended men whenever an altercation arises. A woman will try to humble herself despite her position. A majority of women who work as managers cite ego clashes as significant challenges that they face occasionally.
They claim that handling their colleagues is a difficult task. One requires having unique communication skills to understand and relate to all employees. Whenever a woman becomes assertive, the workers claim that she is bossy. It becomes hard for a woman to issue instructions or manage the subordinate staff. Macmillan and Gartner (2007) argue that internationalized misogyny makes it difficult for women managers to control workers, particularly men.
Effects of Women Participation in the Workplace
Positive Impacts
According to Kravitz (2003), women’s contribution in the labor force has both positive and negative repercussions. Women facilitate organizational growth. Research shows that women discharge duties with a lot of keenness. As a result, they help an organization to overcome possible costs that arise due to carelessness among employees. A study carried out by a consultant firm; Catalysts found that organizations that have a high number of women in leadership positions perform well financially (Kravitz, 2003).
Besides helping an organization to grow economically, women’s participation in the labor force contributes to boosting the gross domestic product of a country. In the United States, economists argue that allowing many women to participate in workplaces can help to raise the gross domestic product of the country by nine percent (Kravitz, 2003).
According to Kravitz (2003), women’s participation in the workplace helps organizations to attract and retain talents. Many women do not prefer to work in male-dominated workplaces. Therefore, companies that do not hire women to miss the opportunity to attract and exploit vast skills that women have. In developed economies, women’s participation in the workplace can help to mitigate the adverse effects that result from a shrinking workforce. Kravitz (2003) maintains that women spend a significant share of their income to educate children. Thus, the participation of women in the workplace could help to boost economies of the developing countries. According to the International Labor Organization, women’s involvement in the workplace contributes to reducing the degree of poverty in developing countries.
Negative Impacts
Women must instill good discipline in their kids. Their participation in workplaces denies them an opportunity to spend adequate time with children. It becomes hard for women to monitor, supervise, and reprimand their children. As a result, children develop bad morals while some even engage in delinquencies. Kravitz (2003) argues that the increased participation of women in the workplace can lead to a rise of a generation that is short of good morals.
Many women claim that it has become difficult to access quality child care. The demand for child care has led to facilities that look after kids raising their fees. Women spend a significant share of their income on child care. Women’s participation in the workplace affects the learning program of many children. According to Kravitz (2003), some schools adjust their teaching programs to enable children to have time with their parents. For instance, some American schools have programs that provide for short summer holidays and extended school days.
Laws that Protect Women
Incessant inequalities in the workplace have led to countries enacting legislation to protect women. Besides, there has been the creation of international organizations that fight for the rights of women in the workplace. According to Novkov (2004), the International Labor Organization enacted a law to protect women who work as domestic workers, particularly immigrants. Some of the legislations that protect women include the Equal Remuneration Convention, Maternity Protection Convention, and Discrimination Convention (Novkov, 2004).
The Equal Remuneration Convention aims at harmonizing salaries and wages. The legislation prohibits organizations against offering higher wages to men than women in the occupation. On the other hand, the Maternity Protection Convention that was passed in 2000 seeks to ensure that women do not lose jobs after they go for maternity leave (Novkov, 2004). In the past, many women could lose their jobs after going for maternity leave. Some women were forced to change their careers when they returned to work.
The Discrimination Convention aims to ensure that organizational leaders do not discriminate against women. Before the enactment of the agreement, some organizations declined to hire women for no apparent reason. Some occupations were exclusively meant for men (Novkov, 2004). Thus, it was hard for women to secure positions in those professions. The Discrimination Convention gave women a chance to join occupations of their choice.
Conclusion
The population of women in the workplace continues to increase. Today many women have joined occupations that were once a reserve for men. Despite the increase in female participation in the workplaces, a lot of women are yet to accede to the labor force. Research shows that women encounter difficulties in getting promotions. Most women hold positions that cannot elevate them to leadership positions. Additionally, the general perception that women cannot devote themselves to an organization deprives them of an opportunity to assume leadership roles.
The occupational disparity is apparent across the employment levels. Women are underrepresented in most professional levels. Besides, they are underrepresented in some industries. Women encounter a myriad of challenges in the workplace. They include wage gap, sexual harassment, ego clashes, gender bias, and inability to strike a work-life balance. In spite of most organizations having policies that prohibit sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination against women, male employees continue to perpetrate the crimes. In some organizations, leaders encourage vices. Research shows that women’s participation in the workplace has numerous benefits.
It helps to boost the gross domestic product of a nation. Additionally, an increase in the population of women in the workplace contributes to boosting the economies of developing countries. Conversely, the participation of women in workplaces impacts the child’s upbringing negatively. It also affects the learning program of a child. Currently, numerous laws protect the rights of women in the workplace. The laws seek to promote equality in the workplace.
Recommendations
Presently, many women have advanced their education and skills. Thus, they can handle occupations that require a lot of experience. For organizations to curb occupational disparity, they should come up with policies that encourage women to take even the most challenging jobs. Additionally, the International Labor Organization should encourage corporations to promote fairness regarding wages and promotions. Organizational leadership should give women a chance to work in posts that can elevate them to management positions. It will help to raise the number of female leaders in the workplace.
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