Women in the work place Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Women in the work place - Research Paper Example The unjust power dynamics between men and women has evidently and significantly affected women in our society in general. This is for the reason that the situation of women is at a disadvantageous point as compared to that of men. Women are considered as second class citizens who are regarded as powerless and in need to depend on men. The normative standard expects men to dominate over women. In addition to that, such system of patriarchy is supported and intensified by our society through the unceasing reinforcement of the male domination via a wide array of institutions such as religion, government, family, education, and often than not, the institution of workplace as well. In the institution of workplace in particular, women’s participation in the labor force has been massive in every region of the world. Though the condition of women has considerably improved nowadays, it is the case that discrimination against them in the workplace still exists. Based on the report by th e International Labour Organization (ILO), the old ways of discrimination still exist together with the new ones (39). As a matter of fact, the gender – based discrimination does manifest itself in so many ways and in terms of employment, it occurs in all the stages of the process (ILO 39). That is to say, men are more preferred than women (ILO 39). It is also the case that women are given more workload in both paid and unpaid labor than men (ILO 39). Despite the more workload given to women, Kelan suggested that there exists a payment gap. As suggested by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are financially discriminated since they work 41 to 44 hours per week but earn just 84.6 per cent of what men are paid for these hours while those women who work more than 60 hours per week receive just 78.3 per cent of that of men (Kelan). This underpayment is only one of the discriminations of different sorts that women do experience. Even though women have the potentials that en able them to receive higher level of status in various companies, gender stereotyping affects how women think about themselves (Snowdon). Apart from that, the women’s role in economic growth is crucial but the thing is, still women face so many obstacles to get hired and be promoted in the workplace (â€Å"The importance of sex†). Given this background, the focus of this paper is to primarily critically analyze the position of women in the workplace. Specifically, it aims at identifying the forms of discrimination that women do suffer in employment. Also, it targets to know the barriers of why women do have such unequal top management positions with that of men in the labor force. Basically, this paper argues that women, although have what it takes to reach the top – management positions that men play in the workplace, still are at a disadvantageous position of being discriminated due to the unfair consideration because of one’s gender. Women in the Workp lace Women’s participation in the labor force has significantly improved as compared before. As a matter of fact, their participation in the workplace is massive which can be seen in every region in the world. In fact, as of today, there are great numbers of women can be found participating in public service since women are encouraged to join in the labor market (ILO iii). According to Kaylan, the rate and extent of advancement that women have created in the American work force are not realized by many of us (14). There are more women than men participating in the labor force of professional occupations which includes professional, financial, management and business professions. As a matter of fact, women have already reached the top of the corporate ladder. In the Fortune 500 companies,