Free Essays on Inequality In The Workplace

Time for Change Today’s society’s concept of gender related to the division of labor in the workplace, and related to issues of power and control is a stereotype. The division of workplace labor by gender is based on the false ideology of innate sex differences in traits and abilities, which operates through various control mechanisms. These control mechanisms are primarily exercised by men over women and exaggerate differences between the sexes, especially surrounding women’s presumed inability for doing â€Å"male† work. Most forms of workplace control take the form of harassment, sexual bribery, gender based jokes and comments, which passively but briefly makes gender differences stand out conspicuously in the aspect of work relations. This reinforces such notions that men in Western societies have traditionally acquired and maintained the majority of wealth and power in society, and so in the workplace. In a sense, women’s traditional roles and identities have been formed and maintained by the workplace. The concepts of male and female are not independent relationships of the workplace; since they indeed have been strongly influenced and determined by the relationships of male and female in our society at large. The gendered division of labor has its origins in the home, and maintains its structure in the workplace. This can be seen inside families through the distinctions between paid work and non-paid work, and the separation of the private and public spheres where women are viewed as attached to the private and men to the public domains. This is an important issue because while home and work may physically be separated for working men and women, home is often not a haven for women but just another place of work. The gendered division of labor then, is not limited to the paid work force; it also applies to the unpaid work at home. The issues surrounding power inequalities in the workforce may be explained historica... Free Essays on Inequality In The Workplace Free Essays on Inequality In The Workplace Time for Change Today’s society’s concept of gender related to the division of labor in the workplace, and related to issues of power and control is a stereotype. The division of workplace labor by gender is based on the false ideology of innate sex differences in traits and abilities, which operates through various control mechanisms. These control mechanisms are primarily exercised by men over women and exaggerate differences between the sexes, especially surrounding women’s presumed inability for doing â€Å"male† work. Most forms of workplace control take the form of harassment, sexual bribery, gender based jokes and comments, which passively but briefly makes gender differences stand out conspicuously in the aspect of work relations. This reinforces such notions that men in Western societies have traditionally acquired and maintained the majority of wealth and power in society, and so in the workplace. In a sense, women’s traditional roles and identities have been formed and maintained by the workplace. The concepts of male and female are not independent relationships of the workplace; since they indeed have been strongly influenced and determined by the relationships of male and female in our society at large. The gendered division of labor has its origins in the home, and maintains its structure in the workplace. This can be seen inside families through the distinctions between paid work and non-paid work, and the separation of the private and public spheres where women are viewed as attached to the private and men to the public domains. This is an important issue because while home and work may physically be separated for working men and women, home is often not a haven for women but just another place of work. The gendered division of labor then, is not limited to the paid work force; it also applies to the unpaid work at home. The issues surrounding power inequalities in the workforce may be explained historica... Free Essays on Inequality In The Workplace Gender equality in the workplace has been an obvious problem since women first left their â€Å"jobs† as housewives to work at a real job. Ethnic equality has also been an apparent problem that has been gratuitously ignored. But what about those who belong to both of these categories? Many women of a minority race have been getting the short end of the stick for years, yet no one seems to be doing anything about it. It is a common trend worldwide for women to earn less than men. Although females’ wages have increased 140 percent since 1960, there’s still a long haul ahead (Gray, p.1). On average, women earn 73 cents for every dollar earned by men (Gardner, p.1). Why is there this difference? Is it because men are more qualified than women? Studies show that the gap between the wages of men and women is narrower in fields of work where the number of males and females are closer to equal. Yet in higher-ranking jobs, where males greatly outnumber females, the gap grows wider (Gray, p.1). As for the gap in the earnings of various races, the figures aren’t much more promising. In the early 1990’s, African Americans earned 20 percent less than Caucasians. Many employers believe that minority groups are â€Å"less dependable† than whites are. Some employers seek minorities as workers solely to improve their image as a â€Å"diversified and cultured† business. Although numerous companies claim to be indifferent to ethnicity, most still ask job seekers to identify their race on employment applications (â€Å"Earnings Inequality Between Black and White Men†, p.1). While women make less than men, it has been shown that black women make 63 cents for every dollar a man makes. Hispanic women make 53 cents for every dollar a man makes. Believe it or not, the gap for black and Hispanic women has actually widened in past years (Gardner, p.1). These minority women are also said to be shown less respect by their colleagues and th...