Gender Equality in the Workplace

Gender Equality in the Workplace

Introduction

Attention-arousing material: Gloria Steinem has famously said that "a gender-equal society would be one where the word 'gender' does not exist: where everyone can be themselves.”

Thesis Statement: Today I will inform you about important benefits regarding gender equality within the workplace. I will discuss various issues dealing with gender equality in the workplace, as well as offer input on how to promote gender equality within the work environment.

Body

1. First, I am going to inform you of basic facts regarding gender equality in the workplace.

1. Gender equality can be mastered with effort when individuals, whether they may be man or woman, have the qualifications to enjoy opportunities, benefits, and resources equally.
2. Framing a workplace where diverse talent can evolve and grow without coming in contact with certain barriers will aid bringing about a greater diversity.
3. Gender equality has the ability to increase overall income and reduce expenses, as well as improve workplace performance and competitiveness.
4.  “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, men dominate blue-collar jobs, whereas, women are working clerical and service positions, and it is said that women have to work longer in a lower level position before they have the ability to advance.”
5. According to the International Labor Organization, “Women’s participation in the U.S. labor force climbed during the 1970s and 1980s, reaching 60% in 2000. However, in 2010 this figure has declined to 46.7% and is not expected to increase by 2018.”
6. In 1984, the Sex Discrimination Act became highly active in Australia, making it highly against the law to discriminate any individuals that fall under the categories: gender, martial status, sexuality, family responsibilities, or pregnancy.
7.   “In recent decades, Australia and many other countries worldwide have made significant progress in improving gender equality, especially towards education.”

Summary: It is important in workplaces to be aware of gender equality overall because it could easily benefit a company in a positive way.

Transition: Now that I have informed you on some basic facts about gender equality in the workplace, I will now explain specific issues regarding gender equality in the workplace.

1. There are multiple issues that come up in a workplace regarding gender equality.

1. With a constant amount of barriers that prevent women from achieving higher positions in the workplace, women appear to dominate at being the center of family life.

1.  Maternity leave, organizing family life, childcare, or possible care of the elderly.
2. According to The Atlantic, “When she was pregnant, Peggy Young, a former United Parcel Service (UPS) driver, requested an adjustment to her workload, per her doctor’s recommendations. The company refused to put her on unpaid leave, citing her inability to lift the 70 pounds required of her in the job description, and she ultimately sued.” It was decided in the Supreme Court that UPS should make special accommodations for pregnant women that allow them to continue working, as they would do for people with specific health conditions.

1. Women are constantly being faced with issues that do not readily come up with the male workers.

1. According to an article that Sam Turner of Deseret News published, “59% of women feel that they have fewer opportunities because of their gender. 66% of women said that they felt excluded from key social/networking events because of their gender. 88% of women said that they had experienced clients/colleagues address questions to male peers that should have been addressed to them.”

1. Wage discrimination creates an immense downfall when it comes to the movement in fighting for gender equality.

1. Women are often receiving a lower pay rate than men for working the same position. This can be referred to as a gender gap.
2. Reports from PayScale, a jobs website, looks further into the gender gap for different occupations.

1. “According to their data, female doctors make 29.2% less than their male counterparts, but that gap shrinks to just 4.6% after introducing the controls. This is in part because women are more likely to work in pediatrics, while men are more likely to work in the better-paid field of surgery.”
2. The great recession of 2007 to 2010 affected men more than women. Men lost their jobs more than the women did but they also experienced a quicker recovery from it.

1. With all sincerity, I have a friend that I have interviewed about gender equality within her major. She is a nursing major at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and says they strive to maintain a variety of men and women in the program. She told me that they have more women than men in the program. Nevertheless, they wished more men would be interested because of the benefits that men would bring to their nursing program.

Summary: Overall, women are the minority in the workplace. Women tend to choose the careers that are more advanced, which is where men are getting paid more than women. In more common jobs, the wage gap is consistently the same. Women choose these jobs because they need the flexibility, since in most cases they are the primary caregivers for families. If women do not start going after higher paying jobs, then the wage gap will always persist.