INDEX

Sr. Topic Page no

1 Executive summary 1

2 Objectives of studies 2

3 Research Methodology 3

4 Introduction 4

5 Meaning of gender inequality in work place 5

6 History of gender inequality in work place 6

7 Gender inequality in work place world wide 8

8 The 10 worst countries for gender inequality in work place 10

9 Gender inequality in work place today 11

10 Gender inequality in work place in India 13

11 Reason for Gender inequality in work place and how it happens 17

12 Cause and effect 19

13 Prevention of Gender inequality in work place 21

14 Legislation 24

15 Type of Gender inequality in work place 30

16 Myths on Gender inequality in work place 35

17 Gender inequality in work place in statistics 37

18 Role of NGO’ s in Gender inequality in work place elimination in 38

India some NGO ‘s for gender inequality in work place

19 Gender inequality in work place: STILL A BIG 39

CHALLENGE

20 World against gender inequality in work place 42

21 Suggestion 43

22 Conclusion 45

23 Bibliography 47
 SUMMARY
Gender inequality is the idea and situation that women and men are not equal. Gender
inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals wholly or partly due to
their gender. It arises from differences in gender roles. Gender systems are often
dichotomous and hierarchical. Gender inequality stems from distinctions, whether
empirically grounded or socially constructed. Women lag behind men in many domains,
including education, labor market opportunities and political representation.

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 Objective
Survey data support hypotheses regarding differential access to workplace power among
women and minorities relative to white men. Specific findings indicate that, relative to
white men, all groups encounter increasing inequality at higher levels of power, but only
black women seem to experience this form of inequality as a result of direct discrimination.
Further analysis indicates that network assistance is more a response to this form of
discrimination than an indirect cause. Finally, analysis shows that most groups attain power
through homosocial reproduction, but what differs is the opportunity to engage in such
reproduction, wherein white men excel. These findings imply that while women and
minorities face lower odds than white men of achieving higher levels of workplace power,
the reasons for this disadvantage vary among respective groups and thus will likely require
different remedies.

2
 REASEARCH METHODOLOGY

SECONDARY DATA:
Secondary data are those, which have already been collected by someone else
and which have been passed through statistical process. This due are collected
from following sources.
 Magazines
 Journals
 Newspapers
 Internet website

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 Introduction
Despite federal and state laws enacted to protect workers from gender inequality, the
problem still exists in ways as subtle as veiled remarks or as overt as unequal pay or unfair
promotions. Although gender discrimination is typically thought of as directed toward
women, workers of both sexes can be subjected to gender inequality.

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 Meaning of gender inequality in work place

Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality,

height, weight, accent, or race in the workplace. When researchers study trends in
occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation pattern of groups
across occupations, for example, the distribution of men compared to women in a certain
occupation. Secondly, they focus on the link between occupation and income, for example,
comparing the income of whites with blacks in the same occupation.

5
 History of gender inequality in office place
Christine de Pizan, an early advocate for gender equality, states in her 1405 book The Book
of the City of Ladies that the oppression of women is founded on irrational prejudice,
pointing out numerous advances in society probably created by women.

Shakers

Life of the Diligent Shaker, Shaker Historical Society

The Ritual Dance of the Shakers,Shaker Historical Society

The Shakers harvesting their famous herbs

The Shakers, an evangelical group, which practiced segregation of the sexes and strict
celibacy, were early practitioners of gender equality. They branched off from a Quaker
community in the north-west of England before emigrating to America in 1774. In America,
the head of the Shakers' central ministry in 1788, Joseph Meacham, had a revelation that
the sexes should be equal. He then brought Lucy Wright into the ministry as his female
counterpart, and together they restructured the society to balance the rights of the sexes.
Meacham and Wright established leadership teams where each elder, who dealt with the
men's spiritual welfare, was partnered with an eldress, who did the same for women. Each
deacon was partnered with a deaconess. Men had oversight of men; women had oversight
of women. Women lived with women; men lived with men. In Shaker society, a woman did
not have to be controlled or owned by any man. After Meacham's death in 1796, Wright
became the head of the Shaker ministry until her death in 1821.
Shakers maintained the same pattern of gender-balanced leadership for more than 200
years. They also promoted equality by working together with other women's rights
advocates. In 1859, Shaker Elder Frederick Evans stated their beliefs forcefully, writing that
Shakers were "the first to disenthrall woman from the condition of vassalage to which all
other religious

6
systems (more or less) consign her, and to secure to her those just and equal rights with
man that, by her similarity to him in organization and faculties, both God and nature
would seem to demand". Evans and his counterpart, Eldress Antoinette Doolittle, joined
women's rights advocates on speakers' platforms throughout the northeastern U.S. in the
1870s. A visitor to the Shakers wrote in 1875:

Each sex works in its own appropriate sphere of action, there being a proper
subordination, deference and respect of the female to the male in his order, and of the
male to the female in her order [emphasis added], so that in any of these communities the
zealous advocates of "women’s rights" may here find a practical realization of their ideal.

The Shakers were more than a radical religious sect on the fringes of American society;
they put equality of the sexes into practice. It has been argued that they demonstrated
that gender equality was achievable and how to achieve it.

In wider society, the movement towards gender equality began with the suffrage movement
in Western cultures in the late-19th century, which sought to allow women to vote and hold
elected office. This period also witnessed significant changes to women's property rights,
particularly in relation to their marital status. (See for example, Married Women's Property
Act 1882.)

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 Gender inequality in work place world wide
Gender inequality is a result of the persistent discrimination of one group of people based
upon gender and it manifests itself differently according to race, culture, politics, country,
and economic situation. It is furthermore considered a causal factor of violence against
women.
While gender discrimination happens to both men and women in individual situations,
discrimination against women is an entrenched, global pandemic.] In the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, rape and violence against women and girls is used as a tool of war] In
Afghanistan, girls have had acid thrown in their faces for attending school. Considerable
focus has been given to the issue of gender inequality at the international level by
organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD), and the World Bank, particularly in developing countries. The
causes and effects of gender inequality vary geographically, as do methods for combating it.
Asia
One example of the continued existence of gender inequality in Asia is the "missing girls"
phenomenon "Many families desire male children in order to ensure an extra source of
income. In China, females are perceived as less valuable for labor and unable to provide
sustenance." Moreover, gender inequality also reflected in educational aspect in rural China
. Gender inequality existed because of gender stereotypes in rural China, families may
consider that is useless for girls to acquire knowledge at school because they will marry
someone one day and their major responsibility is to take care of housework. When people
have expectations on the gender roles, that considering marriage is the major goals of a
girl's life in rural China, gender inequality easily existed to limit the rights and opportunities
of women.
Cambodia
A Cambodian said, "Men are gold, women are white cloth", emphasizing that women had a
lower value and importance compared to men. In Cambodia, approximately 15% (485,000
hectares) of land was owned by women. In Asian culture, there is a stereotype that women
usually have lower status than men because males carry on the family name and hold the
responsibilities to take care of the family. Females have a less important role, mainly to
carry out domestic chores, and taking care of husbands and children. Women are also the
main victims of poverty as they have little or no access to education, low pay and low
chances owning assets such as lands, homes or even basic items.
In Cambodia, the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) was formed in 1998 with the role of
improving women's overall power and status in the country.
Europe
Europe, as a whole, has a decent amount of disparity when in reference to Global Gender
Gap Report put out by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2018. The Global Gender Gap
Report ranks nation between 0 and 1. A nation with 35 women in political office and 65 men
in political office would get a score of 0.538 as the WEF is measuring the gap between the
two figures and not the actual percentage of women in a given category. While Europe holds
the top four spots for gender equality, with Iceland, Finland, Norway and Swedenranking 1st
through 4th respectively, it also contains two nations ranked in the bottom 30 countries,
Albania at 108 and Turkey at 120. The Nordic Countries, for several years, have been at the
forefront of bridging the gap in gender inequality. Every Nordic country, aside from Denmark
who is at 0.778. In contrast to the Nordic nations, the countries of Albania and Turkey
continue to struggle with gender inequality. Albania and Turkey failed to break the top 100
nations in 2 of 4 and 3 of 4 factors, respectively. However, despite the disparity, European

8
nations continue to make advances in the many factors that are used to determine a
nation's gender gap score.
Western Europe
Western Europe, a region most often described as comprising the non-communist members
of post-WWII Europe, has, for the most part been doing well in eliminating the gender gap.
Western Europe holds 12 of the top 20 spots on the Global Gender Gap Report for overall
score. While remaining mostly in the top 50 nations, four Western European nations fall
below that benchmark. Portugal is at number 37 with score of 0.732 while Italy (70), Greece
(78) and Malta (91) received scores of 0.706, 0.696 and 0.686, respectively.
Eastern Europe
A large portion of Eastern Europe, a region most often described as the former communist
members of post-WWII Europe, resides between 40th and 100th place in the Global
Gender Gap Report. A few outlier countries include Lithuania, which jumped nine places
(28th to 23th) from 2013 to 2018, Latvia, which has held the 15th spot for two consecutive
years, Albania and Turkey.
India
India ranking remains low in gender equality measures by the World Economic Forum,
although the rank has been improving in recent years. When broken down into components
that contribute the rank, India performs well on political empowerment, but is scored near
the bottom with China on sex selective abortion. India also scores poorly on overall female
to male literacy and health rankings. India with a 2018 ranking of 103 out of 144 countries
had an overall score of 0.665, while Iceland, the nation that topped the list, had an overall
score of 0.858 (no gender gap would yield a score of 1.0). Gender inequalities impact India's
sex ratio, women's health over their lifetimes, their educational attainment, and economic
conditions. It is a multifaceted issue that concerns men and women alike.
The labor force participation rate of women is 33% in 2018.Nancy Lockwood of the Society
for Human Resource Management, the world's largest human resources association with
members in 140 countries, in a 2009 report wrote that female labor participation is lower
than men. Out of India's 397 million workers in 2001, 125 million were women, states
Lockwood.
India is on target to meet its Millennium Development Goal of gender parity in education
before 2016. UNICEF's measures of attendance rate and Gender Equality in Education Index
(GEEI) attempt to capture the quality of education. Despite some gains, India needs to triple
its rate of improvement to reach GEEI score of 95% by 2021 under the Millennium
Development Goals. A 1998 report stated that rural India girls continue to be less educated
than the boys.
United States
The World Economic Forum measures gender equity through a series of economic,
educational, and political benchmarks. It has ranked the United States as 50th in terms of
achieving gender equity. The US Department of Labor has indicated that in 2018, "the
median weekly earnings of women who were full-time wage and salary workers was... 80
percent of men's The Department of Justice found that in 2018, "the percentage of female
victims (26%) of intimate partner violence was about 5 times that of male victims (5%)". "The
United States ranks 41st in a ranking of 184 countries on maternal deaths during pregnancy
and childbirth, below all other industrialized nations and a number of developing countries"
and women only represent 20% of members of Congress.

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 Top worst 10 countries for inequality in work place
The ten lowest ranked countries in terms of gender equality according to the GII for
2011, 2012, and 2017.

HDI GII GII GII GII GII GII

Country Rank Ranking Value Ranking Value Rank Value
2017 2017 2017 2012 2012 2011 2011

Yemen 178 160 0.834 148 0.747 ---- ----

153 159 0.741 ---- ---- ---- ----

Papua New Guinea

Afghanistan 168 153 0.653 147 0.712 141 0.717

Niger 189 151 0.649 146 0.707 144 0.724

Congo 176 152 0.652 144 0.681 142 0.71

Liberia 181 154 0.656 143 0.658 139 0.671

186 158 0.708 --- ---- ---- ----

Chad
Central African
188 156 0.673 142 0.654 138 0.669
Republic

Mali 182 157 0.678 141 0.649 143 0.712

Sierra Leone 184 150 0.645 139 0.643 137 0.662

Côte d'Ivoire 170 155 0.663 ---- ---- ---- ----

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 Gender inequality in work place in today’s world

The Global Gender Gap Index reveals that all countries can do more to close the gender gap. Across the
Index, there are only five countries that have closed 80% of the gap or more. In addition, there are 64
countries that have closed between 70% and 80% of their gender gap. A further 65 countries have
closed between 60% and 70%, while 10 countries have closed between 50% and 60%. In 2018, only one
country (Yemen) had closed less than 50% of their overall gender gap. However, there is wide variety in
progress on closing the gender gap in every world region, with both success stories and
underperforming countries in each.
Considering the average gap that remains to be closed in each world region, based on
the Report’s updated regional classification, At a global level, only two regions—Western
Europe and North America—have a remaining gender gap of less than 30%, at 25% and 28%,
respectively. Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern Europe and Central Asia are
virtually tied at a remaining gender gap of exactly 30% each. They are followed by East Asia
and the Pacific, with a remaining gender gap of 31.7%, Sub-Saharan Africa, with a gap of
32.1%, and South Asia, with a gap of 33%. The Middle East and North Africa region is yet to
close a gender gap of just under 40%. The reader should note that population-weighted
group averages are used throughout the Report.
Despite its high regional average, there is wide spread of outcomes among the 20 countries
covered in the Western Europe region. A similarly wide spread of country performance also
exists among the 30 countries covered in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Here, this diversity
of outcomes is frequently driven by different performance on the Educational Attainment
subindex. In other regions, the largest diversity of outcomes exists across the Economic
Participation and Opportunity and Political Empowerment subindexes, while performance
differences across the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes tend to
be comparatively minor.

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12
 Gender inequality in work place in India

Girls and women constitute almost half of the population of India, yet they are deprived of
access to resources and opportunities in comparison to their male counterparts, often
becoming victims of discrimination due to their gender. Almost every Indian would agree
that of all the women they know, most are a victim of discrimination in their everyday life.
Women below the age of 30 earned 23.07% less than men, while those in the age group
of 30-40 years earned 30.24% less than men.

Gender inequality is a global concern and does not receive the kind of attention it
deserves. According to World Bank, in 2018, the total participation of women in the
labour force was pegged at only 26.97%. Even though the figures were expected to
increase, the astonishing reality is that there has been a 23% decline in the female labour
force participation in our country over the last 25 years. In a country where women
constitute almost half of the population (48%), these numbers present a challenge that
we as a society must aim to overcome.
The type of work women are entrusted with, coupled with the conditions under which they
work and the opportunities they get to advance, differ widely from what men are offered at
a workplaces. From women being overlooked for certain jobs on account of their gender to
being offered inequitable wages and development paths, gender disparity presents itself in
several ways in workplaces. Patriarchal binaries affect the very system we all function in,
and a deep realization of this can be seen in the way it presents itself in the hierarchies
established in corporate India.
The hard facts

The gender pay gap in India for the year 2018 was recorded at 29.53% by WageIndicator,
and a curious stat is that this gap increases with age. Women below the age of 30 earned
27.07% less than men, while those in the age group of 30-40 years earned 34.24% less than
men.
There's a clear gap in growth charts in a career for a man and woman in India.
Surprisingly, educational qualifications also end up increasing this wage gap.
The inequality women face at the workplace is but a symptom of the broader issue. In rural
India, the average salary received by regular employees was ₹ 590.66 per day for women
compared with ₹ 670.23 per day for males (during 2017-18). The discrepancy—₹ 650.7 and
₹ 835.52 per day for women and men respectively—was evident in urban areas too.

13
One of the biggest reasons why women occupy fewer leadership positions is the lack of
support after marriage, both professionally and domestically.

There is also a dearth of women in key and senior leadership positions in India. In some
cases, even though there are women members on the board, organizational policies that are
governed by gender equality still have a long way to go to create a space which encourages
women to advance their careers. One of the biggest reasons why women occupy fewer
leadership positions is the lack of support after marriage, both professionally and
domestically. Although times are evolving and there are even cases of women being the
"bread-winners" and men the "home-makers", women are still subtly pressured to make
professional compromises for the family. Biases in performance appraisals and difficult
work- life balance choices make these issues that much more challenging. Wider power
structures that impede this equality are ignored by organizations, betraying the deeply
embedded nature of these hierarchies that ultimately skew equality.
The way forward

Work-life balance in today's context is especially important for married women with
children. Even though technology has facilitated telecommuting and the ability to stay
connected irrespective of someone's location, concrete steps to better work-life policies are
still under- developed. However, to shape and mould an equal hierarchical structure, it's
important to change mind-sets of individuals within organizations. Conscious and
unconscious biases must be eradicated in a systemic manner.

The leaders of corporate India, especially the large number of men that find themselves
in their position, must take steps to address this inequality. Mechanisms must be
promoted to address patriarchal biases and policies must be established to abolish
gender inequalities in the workplace. Most importantly, a free space for dialogue should
be created where employees can speak about discriminations they face while working in
an organization.
Mechanisms must be promoted to address patriarchal biases and policies must be
established to abolish gender inequalities in the workplace.

The term "work" should be redefined with the concept of equality forming the bedrock on
which organizations are created. Informal cultural norms need to be constantly re-
examined, helping India move towards its goal of being an equal, holistic workplace for
members of all genders.

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India presents a unique set of challenges that are rooted in diverse cultural, religious and
social stereotypes, and collective action must be directed towards establishing parity in
gender roles and women in the workplace. India's women and girls have the capability to be
powerful community leaders, and the onus of change lies on every one of us. Gender
inequality is a real issue that grips modern India and our quest to establish a truly equal
society must pick up pace.

Oxfam India has partnered with Global Citizen India, a social action platform that comprises
a distinctive mix of events, grassroots activism, media campaigning and online activation, to
catalyze India's 15-year journey towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and
to bring about the end of extreme poverty. With Global Citizen India, Oxfam India believes
that gender inequality is a key barrier to India's development and is committed to
motivating young Indians to address critical challenges through collective action. More than
600,000 young Indians have already taken action on the Global Citizen India platform on
issues such as women's safety in cities and rural communities, aiming to drive a perception
change about the role a woman plays at home and at work.

15
16
 Reasons for gender inequality in work place & how it happens

Women have never been in a stronger position to lead, change and shape the economic,
social and political landscape. The 21st century has seen a dramatic shift in "traditional"
family dynamics and greater recognition of gender in legislation has helped pull apart
gender-role divisions. As a result, women are far more economically independent and
socially autonomous, representing 42% of the UK workforce and 55% of university
graduates. Yet women are still less likely than men to be associated with leadership
positions in the UK: they account for 22% of MPs and peers, 20% of university professors,
6.1% of FTSE 100 executive positions, and 3% of board chairpersons. This stark inequality is
consistently reflected in pay gaps, despite the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1975.
Income inequality has risen faster in the UK than any other OCED country and today women
earn on average £140,000 less than men over their working careers.

In recent reports 2.8 million unemployed women said that they want to find employment,
and nine out of 10 people want to see men and women equally represented in leadership
positions. If the intention to change is there, and basic social and political frameworks
support women in the workforce, then we need to look beyond facts and figures to establish
what other factors contribute to the gaping hole in gender equality. While statistics offer
insights into current patterns and behavior’s, they do not address why the skills and talents
of women are not being fully utilized.

A relatively neglected factor is the role of stereotypes, reinforced by social and cultural
norms, which underline certain expectations about gender. Decades of research has shown
that stereotypes about men and women have a huge impact on our beliefs about how they
should (or should not) behave. Consequently, gender stereotypes reinforce social status and
gender hierarchies: for example, surveys and experiments show that women are generally
perceived as more "communal" and "loyal", whereas men are described more as
"protectors" and "competent". Of course, not everyone subscribes to these stereotypes, but
there is evidence that men and women who behave in ways that contrast with these
traditional stereotypes – such as career women or stay-at-home dads – are likely to be
evaluated negatively by others. A lifetime of exposure to what women should be, how they
should behave and who they should represent drives and reinforces unconscious and unseen
biases

Unconscious bias is particularly important as it arises from the implicit assumptions and
unspoken attitudes, beliefs and expectations that we all have about others. Study after
study has highlighted that both men and women have unconscious gender biases. For
example, people view men as more capable leaders, men are rewarded more highly than
women – just having a male name is more likely to get you the job. If you are a mother,
your chances of getting the job are reduced by 70%. Overcoming stereotypes and
unconscious bias can only be achieved if we are all willing to address our own immediate
judgments and can put in place practices and procedures to mitigate their potential
effects.

When we pair the psychological evidence with the economic facts, the argument for gender
equality is overwhelming. Research consistently shows that groups perform to a higher
standard if the gender balance is even, or when women outnumber men. For example,
Catalyst research found that companies with high-level female representation on boards
significantly outperformed those with sustained low representation by 84% on return on
sales, 60% on return on invested capital, and 46% on return on equity. The Women's
17
Business Council predicts that we could add 10% (that is over £150bn) to our GDP by 2030 if
all the women that wanted to work were employed.

In the long-term encouraging women to participate in the labour market is vital to ensure
economic growth at both micro and macro level. As we face an increasingly ageing
population and the resulting shortage of skilled workers, it is fundamental that we also
depend on high female employment and high wage returns in order to manage the skills
deficit.

We are taking bigger and bigger steps towards providing more flexible workplaces, better
parental leave policies and more chances for women to get back into the workplace. But
these opportunities are wasted if our stereotypes and biases distort the way we evaluate
others, and often to their disadvantage.

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 Causes & Effects

Gender inequality in the workplace is one of the burning and evergreen issues found in our
society along with other discrimination. Everyone boasts about giving equal rights to men
and women, but only in terms of advice and preaching to others. However, are we really
following this practically? So far, women have been fighting for their rights only in some
places. They have been getting pretty good education and have proven themselves that they
are capable of standing equally with men. But human mentality is quite different, and this
age-old perception that women are weak and cannot be equal to men is not going away that
soon. Gender discrimination goes way down below expected range when it comes to work
place.
Though, women perform better than men at many situations in workplace, they still lack
proper support from men. When it comes to challenging jobs or anything worth great
credit, women are always ignored and downsized in the work place. This has become a
human tendency from very long time. This gender inequality in the workplace has led to
serious consequences in the society. Gender pay gap always exists in the pay role all over
the world. Read this business case to understand more about gender discrimination.
Gender discrimination in the workplace might happen right during the hiring process
when men are hired rather than women for specific job positions. It also might vary from
harassment to pay to raise.

Causes of gender inequality in the workplace:

Some issues may be related to getting raises, better performance, better ranking system,
etc. Hence, politics plays a key role in pulling down women and bring about this gender
discrimination in the workplace. Men might be jealous of women, so they are more
concentrating on how-to pull-down women than trying to improve their skill set to come up
in the profession by doing better performance.
Women are also responsible for maintaining their families along with work. They will
definitely expect certain amount of flexibility in their job. This may not be supported at all in
most of the workplaces, thus women will have to face serious setback on their job front.
This is one of the causes of gender inequality in the workplace that woman has to balance
both professional and personal front.

Effects of gender discrimination in the workplace:

It has been age old belief in our culture that women are weak and fit to be sitting at home,
nurturing children, etc. This is the greatest prejudice in our society. Moreover, businesses
and office environment is nothing less for women.
Productivity may be low when there is lot of partiality. Women are always beaten (not
physically) but professionally, and men concentrate more on how to pull down other
female colleagues than trying to climb the ladder themselves. Also, when a woman is hurt
emotionally, the motivation and morale is highly reduced. This is very bad for any work
environment. Therefore, they shall not be able to perform well at their job, that makes
productivity lower.
Promotions for women employees are also hindered when there are so much of gender
inequality in the workplace. The effects of this may not seem very serious on the first
hand, but they will gradually effect both professional and personal life, thus harming a
lady’s morale
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20
 Prevention of gender inequality in work place

Gender inequality is found in varying degrees in most societies around the world, and the
United States is no exception. Just as racial/ethnic stereotyping and prejudice underlie
racial/ethnic inequality, so do stereotypes and false beliefs underlie gender inequality.
Although these stereotypes and beliefs have weakened considerably since the 1970s
thanks in large part to the contemporary women’s movement, they obviously persist and
hamper efforts to achieve full gender equality.

A sociological perspective reminds us that gender inequality stems from a complex mixture
of cultural and structural factors that must be addressed if gender inequality is to be
reduced further than it already has been since the 1970s. Despite changes during this
period, children are still socialized from birth into traditional notions of femininity and
masculinity, and gender-based stereotyping incorporating these notions still continues.
Although people should certainly be free to pursue whatever family and career
responsibilities they desire, socialization and stereotyping still combine to limit the ability of
girls and boys and women and men alike to imagine less traditional possibilities. Meanwhile,
structural obstacles in the workplace and elsewhere continue to keep women in a
subordinate social and economic status relative to men.

To reduce gender inequality, then, a sociological perspective suggests various policies

and measures to address the cultural and structural factors that help produce gender
inequality. These steps might include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Reduce socialization by parents and other adults of girls and boys into
traditional gender roles.
2. Confront gender stereotyping by the popular and news media.
3. Increase public consciousness of the reasons for, extent of, and consequences of
rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography.
4. Increase enforcement of existing laws against gender-based
employment discrimination and against sexual harassment.
5. Increase funding of rape-crisis centers and other services for girls and women
who have been raped and/or sexually assaulted.
6. Increase government funding of high-quality day-care options to enable parents,
and especially mothers, to work outside the home if they so desire, and to do so
without fear that their finances or their children’s well-being will be compromised.
7. Increase mentorship and other efforts to boost the number of women in
traditionally male occupations and in positions of political leadership.

As we consider how best to reduce gender inequality, the impact of the contemporary
women’s movement must be neither forgotten nor underestimated. Since it began in the
late 1960s, the women’s movement has generated important advances for women in
almost every sphere of life. Brave women (and some men) challenged the status quo by
calling attention to gender inequality in the workplace, education, and elsewhere, and they
brought rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence into the
national consciousness. For gender inequality to continue to be reduced, it is essential that
a strong women’s movement continue to remind us of the sexism that still persists in
American society and the rest of the world.

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Reducing Rape and Sexual Assault

As we have seen, gender inequality also manifests itself in the form of violence against
women. A sociological perspective tells us that cultural myths and economic and gender
inequality help lead to rape, and that the rape problem goes far beyond a few psychopathic
men who rape women. A sociological perspective thus tells us that our society cannot just
stop at doing something about these men. Instead it must make more far-reaching changes
by changing people’s beliefs about rape and by making every effort to reduce poverty and
to empower women. Sexual violence in women’s lives: Findings from the women’s safety
project, a community-based survey. Violence Against Women, 1, 6–31. observed, a
sociological perspective on rape “means calling into question the organization of sexual
inequality in our society.”

Aside from this fundamental change, other remedies, such as additional and better funded
rape-crisis centers, would help women who experience rape and sexual assault. Yet even
here women of color face an additional barrier. Because the antirape movement was begun
by white, middle-class feminists, the rape-crisis centers they founded tended to be near
where they live, such as college campuses, and not in the areas where women of color live,
such as inner cities and Native American reservations. This meant that women of color who
experienced sexual violence lacked the kinds of help available to their white, middle-class
counterparts (Matthews, 1989), Matthews, N. A. (1989). Surmounting a legacy: The
expansion of racial diversity in a local anti-rape movement.

22
 KE Y T A KE AW A YS

 Certain government efforts, including increased financial support for child care, should
help reduce gender inequality.
 If gender inequality lessens, rape and sexual assault should decrease as well.

23
 14. Legislation
(Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012)

The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Act) replaced the Equal Opportunity for Women
in the Workplace Act 1999. The strengthened legislation aims to improve and promote
equality for both women and men in the workplace.
The principle objects of the Act are to:
 -promote and improve gender equality (including equal remuneration between women
and men) in employment and in the workplace
 -support employers to remove barriers to the full and equal participation of women in the
workforce, in recognition of the disadvantaged position of women in relation to
employment matters
 -promote, amongst employers, the elimination of discrimination on the basis of gender
in relation to employment matters (including in relation to family and caring
responsibilities)
 -foster workplace consultation between employers and employees on issues
concerning gender equality in employment and in the workplace
 -improve the productivity and competitiveness of Australian business through
the advancement of gender equality in employment and in the workplace.
The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 requires non-public sector employers with 100 or
more staff (relevant employers) to submit a report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency
between 1 April and 31 May each year for the preceding 12-month period (1 April – 31
March reporting period).
Links to the Act on the Australian Government ComLaw website can be found below.

 Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

 Workplace Gender Equality (Matter in relation to Gender Equality Indicators)
Instrument 2013 (No. 1)
 Legislative Instrument Explanatory Statement
 Workplace Gender Equality (Minimum Standards) Instrument 2014

Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

No. 91, 1986
Compilation No. 18
Compilation date: 25 March 2015

Includes amendments up to: Act No. 5, 2015

Registered: 25 March 2015
About this compilation
This compilation
This is a compilation of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 that shows the text of
the law as amended and in force on 25 March 2015 (the compilation date).
This compilation was prepared on 25 March 2015.
The notes at the end of this compilation (the endnotes) include information about
amending laws and the amendment history of provisions of the compiled law.

24
Uncommenced amendments
The effect of uncommenced amendments is not shown in the text of the compiled law. Any
uncommenced amendments affecting the law are accessible on ComLaw
(www.comlaw.gov.au). The details of amendments made up to, but not commenced at, the
compilation date are underlined in the endnotes. For more information on any
uncommenced amendments, see the series page on ComLaw for the compiled law.
Application, saving and transitional provisions for provisions and amendments
If the operation of a provision or amendment of the compiled law is affected by an
application, saving or transitional provision that is not included in this compilation, details
are included in the endnotes.
Modifications
If the compiled law is modified by another law, the compiled law operates as modified but
the modification does not amend the text of the law. Accordingly, this compilation does not
show the text of the compiled law as modified. For more information on any modifications,
see the series page on ComLaw for the compiled law.
Self-repealing provisions
If a provision of the compiled law has been repealed in accordance with a provision of
the law, details are included in the endnotes.

Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in relation to Gender Equality Indicators) Instrument

2013 (No. 1)

as amended made under subsections 3(1A) and 13(3) of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

Compilation start date: 1 April 2015

Includes amendments up to: Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in relation to

Gender Equality Indicators) Amendment Instrument
2015 (No. 1)

25
About this compilation

This compilation
This is a compilation of the Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in relation to Gender
Equality Indicators) Instrument 2013 (No. 1) as in force on 1 April 2015. It includes any
commenced amendment affecting the legislation to that date.
This compilation was prepared on 30 March 2015.
The notes at the end of this compilation (the endnotes) include information about
amending laws and the amendment history of each amended provision.
Uncommenced amendments
The effect of uncommenced amendments is not reflected in the text of the compiled law
but the text of the amendments is included in the endnotes.
Application, saving and transitional provisions for provisions and amendments
If the operation of a provision or amendment is affected by an application, saving or
transitional provision that is not included in this compilation, details are included in
the endnotes.
Modifications
If a provision of the compiled law is affected by a modification that is in force, details
are included in the endnotes.
Provisions ceasing to have effect
If a provision of the compiled law has expired or otherwise ceased to have effect
in accordance with a provision of the law, details are included in the endnotes.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in relation to Gender Equality Indicators) Instrument

2013 (No. 1)

SUMMARY

THE Workplace Gender Equality (Matters in relation to Gender Equality

Indicators) Instrument 2013 (No. 1) (the Instrument) is made by the Minister for
Community Services, the Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development
and the Minister for the Status of Women. The purpose of the Instrument is to provide a
reporting framework in relation to gender equality indicators for relevant employers.

BACKGROUND

the instrument is made under subsections 13(3) and 3(1a) of the workplace gender equality
act 2012 (the act). subsection 13(3) provides that the minister must, by legislative
instrument, specify matters in relation to each gender equality indicator. subsection 3(1a)
provides that the minister may, by legislative instrument, specify matters for the purposes
of subparagraph (f) of the definition of gender equality indicators in subsection 3(1) of the
26
act. subparagraph (f) of the definition of

27
gender equality indicators in subsection 3(1) of the act states that gender equality
indicators mean any other matter that is specified in an instrument under subsection 3(1a)
of the act.

a relevant employer must prepare a written public report containing information

relating to the employer and to the gender equality indicators for each reporting
period.

in specifying matters under the gender equality indicators, the intention is to establish a
long-term data set to provide evidence-based insight at the workplace and industry level.
reporting is intended to provide employers with the information to better understand the
gender equality characteristics of their workplaces and is intended to encourage measures
that improve gender equality outcomes. information obtained from reporting in relation to
each gender equality indicator is expected to be valuable for employers and, at the
aggregate level, to inform policy development and provide an improved understanding of
the experiences of women and men in Australian workplaces.

the gender equality indicators, listed in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of the definition
of gender equality indicators in subsection 3(1) of the act, were developed to reflect the
most pressing contemporary challenges and circumstances in relation to gender equality in
Australian workplaces.

paragraph (f) of the definition of ‘gender equality indicators’ in subsection 3(1) of the act
enables the minister to, by legislative instrument, specify any other matters to be
identified as a gender equality indicator.

Workplace Gender Equality (Minimum Standards) Instrument 2014

Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012

I, ERIC ABETZ, Minister for Employment, make the following instrument under subsection
19(1) of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.

Dated 26th March 2014

ERIC ABETZ
Minister for Employment

1 Name of instrument
This instrument is the Workplace Gender Equality (Minimum Standards)
Instrument 2014.

2 Commencement
This instrument commences on the day after it is registered.

3 Authority
This instrument is made under subsection 19(1) of the Workplace
Gender Equality Act 2012.

4 Definitions

28
 In this instrument:
Act means the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.
Employer means a relevant employer that is the employer of 500 or
more employees in Australia.
Note: relevant employer is defined by subsection 3(1) of the Act.
Unless words are defined to the contrary in the definitions they have the
same meaning as the Act.

5 Minimum Standards
(1) The minimum standards set by subsection 5(3) apply in relation to an Employer
for the reporting period commencing 1 April 2015 and each subsequent
reporting period.
(2) In relation to the reporting period commencing on 1 April 2014, the
minimum standards set by subsection 5(3) apply to an Employer for the
period 1 October 2014 to 31 March 2015.
(3) For subsection 19(1) of the Act, the following minimum standards are set:
(a) Employers must have in place policies or strategies to support one or
more of the gender equality indicators specified in column 1 of the
following table; and
(b) the policies or strategies put in place for paragraph 5(3)(a) must aim to
achieve the particular objective for a gender equality indicator specified
in the corresponding column 2 of the table.

Column 1 Column 2
Item Gender equality indicator Objective
1 Gender composition of Supporting gender equality in
the workforce the Employer’s workplace
2 Equal remuneration In relation to employees of
between women and men the Employer, equal
remuneration between
women and men
3 Availability and utility of Flexible working arrangements
employment terms, for employees of the Employer
conditions

29
 Column 1 Column 2
Item Gender equality indicator Objective
and practices relating to flexible with caring responsibilities
working arrangements for
employees and to working
arrangements supporting
employees with family or caring
responsibilities
4 Sex-based harassment Sex-based harassment and
and discrimination discrimination prevention in
the Employer’s workplace

30
15. Types of gender inequality in work place:

93% of workplace deaths (fatal occupational injuries) in the US between 1980 and 1997
were men (97,053 deaths). The male fatality rate (8.6 per 100,000 workers) was 11 times
greater than the female death rate of the 1980-97 time range (0.8). This accounts for the
other 7% of work place deaths (6,886 deaths).

Income disparities linked to job

stratification[edit] Main article: Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap is the average difference between men's and women's aggregate wages
or salaries. The gap is due to a variety of factors, including differences in education choices,
differences in preferred job and industry, differences in the types of positions held by men
and women, differences in the type of jobs men typically go into as opposed to women
(especially highly paid high risk jobs), differences in amount of work experiences, difference
in length of the work week, and breaks in employment. These factors resolve 60% to 75% of
the pay gap, depending on the source. Various explanations for the remaining 25% to 40%
have been suggested, including women's lower willingness and ability to negotiate salaries
and sexual discrimination. According to the European Commission direct discrimination only
explains a small part of gender wage differences.

In the United States, the average female's unadjusted annual salary has been cited as 82%
of that of the average male. However, multiple studies from OECD, AAUW, and the US
Department of Labor have found that pay rates between males and females varied by 5–
6.6% or, females earning 94 cents to every dollar earned by their male counterparts, when
wages were adjusted to different individual choices made by male and female workers in
college major, occupation, working hours, and maternal/paternal leave. The remaining 6%
of the gap has been speculated to originate from deficiency in salary negotiating skills and
sexual discrimination.

Human capital theories refer to the education, knowledge, training, experience, or skill of a
person which makes them potentially valuable to an employer. This has historically been
understood as a cause of the gendered wage gap but is no longer a predominant cause as
women and men in certain occupations tend to have similar education levels or other
credentials. Even when such characteristics of jobs and workers are controlled for, the
presence of women within a certain occupation leads to lower wages. This earnings
discrimination is considered to be a part of pollution theory. This theory suggests that jobs
which are predominated by women offer lower wages than do jobs simply because of the
presence of women within the occupation. As women enter an occupation, this reduces the
amount of prestige associated with the job and men subsequently leave these occupations.
The entering of women into specific occupations suggests that less competent workers have
begun to be hired or that the occupation is becoming deskilled. Men are reluctant to enter
female- dominated occupations because of this and similarly resist the entrance of women
into male- dominated occupations.

The gendered income disparity can also be attributed in part to occupational segregation,
where groups of people are distributed across occupations according to ascribed

31
characteristics; in this case, gender. Occupational gender segregation can be
understood[who?] to contain two components or dimensions; horizontal segregation and
vertical segregation. With horizontal segregation, occupational sex segregation occurs as
men and women are thought to possess different physical, emotional, and mental
capabilities.
These different capabilities make the genders vary in the types of jobs they are suited for.
This can be specifically viewed with the gendered division between manual and non-
manual labor. With vertical segregation, occupational sex segregation occurs as
occupations are stratified according to the power, authority, income, and prestige
associated with the occupation and women are excluded from holding such jobs.

As women entered the workforce in larger numbers since the 1960s, occupations have
become segregated based on the amount femininity or masculinity presupposed to be
associated with each occupation.[citation needed] Census data suggests that while some
occupations have become more gender integrated (mail carriers, bartenders, bus drivers,
and real estate agents), occupations including teachers, nurses, secretaries, and librarians
have become female-dominated while occupations including architects, electrical engineers,
and airplane pilots remain predominately male in composition. Based on the census data,
women occupy the service sector jobs at higher rates than men. Women’s
overrepresentation in service sector jobs, as opposed to jobs that require managerial work
acts as a reinforcement of women and men into traditional gender roles that causes gender
inequality.

Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, by sex, race, and ethnicity,
U.S., 2009. “The gender wage gap is an indicator of women’s earnings compared with
men’s. It is figured by
dividing the average annual earnings for women by the average annual earnings for men.”
(Higgins et al., 2014) Scholars disagree about how much of the male-female wage gap
depends on factors such as experience, education, occupation, and other job-relevant
characteristics. Sociologist Douglas Massey found that 41% remains unexplained, while
CONSAD analysts found that these factors explain between 65.1 and 76.4 percent of the raw
wage gap. CONSAD also noted that other factors such as benefits, and overtime explain
"additional portions of the raw gender wage gap".

The glass ceiling effect is also considered a possible contributor to the gender wage gap or
income disparity. This effect suggests that gender provides significant disadvantages towards
the top of job hierarchies which become worse as a person’s career goes on. The term glass
ceiling implies that invisible or artificial barriers exist which prevent women from advancing
within their jobs or receiving promotions. These barriers exist in spite of the achievements or
qualifications of the women and still exist when other characteristics that are job-relevant
such as experience, education, and abilities are controlled for. The inequality effects of the
glass ceiling are more prevalent within higher-powered or

32
higher income occupations, with fewer women holding these types of occupations. The
glass ceiling effect also indicates the limited chances of women for income raises and
promotion or advancement to more prestigious positions or jobs. As women are prevented
by these artificial barriers, from either receiving job promotions or income raises, the effects
of the inequality of the glass ceiling increase over the course of a woman’s career.

Statistical discrimination is also cited as a cause for income disparities and gendered
inequality in the workplace. Statistical discrimination indicates the likelihood of employers
to deny women access to certain occupational tracks because women are more likely than
men to leave their job or the labor force when they become married or pregnant. Women
are instead given positions that dead-end or jobs that have very little mobility.

In Third World countries such as the Dominican Republic, female entrepreneurs are
statistically more prone to failure in business. In the event of a business failure women often
return to their domestic lifestyle despite the absence of income. On the other hand, men
tend to search for other employment as the household is not a priority.

The gender earnings ratio suggests that there has been an increase in women’s earnings
comparative to men. Men’s plateau in earnings began after the 1970s, allowing for the
increase in women’s wages to close the ratio between incomes. Despite the smaller ratio
between men and women’s wages, disparity still exists. Census[38] data suggests that
women’s earnings are 71 percent of men's earnings in 1999.

The gendered wage gap varies in its width among different races. Whites comparatively have
the greatest wage gap between the genders. With whites, women earn 78% of the wages
that white men do. With African Americans, women earn 90% of the wages that African
American men do.

There are some exceptions where women earn more than men: According to a survey on
gender pay inequality by the International Trade Union Confederation, female workers in
the Gulf state of Bahrain earn 40 percent more than male workers.

In 2018, a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) reveals the wage gap
between Cambodian women factory workers and other male counterparts. There was a $32
USD monthly pay difference conveying that women have a much lower power and being
devalued not only at home but also in the workplace.

Professional education and careers

The gender gap also appeared to narrow considerably beginning in the mid-1960s. Where
some 5% of first-year students in professional programs were female in 1965, by 1985 this
number had jumped to 40% in law and medicine, and over 30% in dentistry and business
school. Before the highly effective birth control pill was available, women planning
professional careers, which required a
long-term, expensive commitment had to "pay the penalty of abstinence or cope with
considerable uncertainty regarding pregnancy. “This control over their reproductive
decisions allowed women to more easily make long-term decisions about their education
and professional opportunities. Women are highly underrepresented on boards of directors
and in senior positions in the private sector.

Additionally, with reliable birth control, young men and women had more reason to delay
marriage. This meant that the marriage market available to any women who "delay[ed]
33
marriage to pursue a career... would not be as depleted. Thus, the Pill could have
influenced women's careers, college majors, professional degrees, and the age at
marriage."

34
Studies on sexism in science and technology fields have produced conflicting results.
Corinne et al. found that science faculty of both sexes rated a male applicant as
significantly more competent and hireable than an identical female applicant. These
participants also selected a higher starting salary and offered more career mentoring to the
male applicant Williams and Ceci, however, found that science and technology faculty of
both sexes "preferred female applicants 2:1 over identically qualified males with matching
lifestyles" for tenure-track positions. Studies show parents are more likely to expect their
sons, rather than their daughters, to work in a science, technology, engineering or
mathematics field – even when their 15-year-old boys and girls perform at the same level
in mathematics.

A survey by the U.K. Office for National Statistics in 2016 showed that in the health sector
56% of roles are held by women, while in teaching it is 68%. However, equality is less
evident in other area; only 30% of M.P.'s are women and only 32% of finance and
investment analysts. In the natural and social sciences 43% of employees are women, and
in the environmental sector 42%.

Customer preference studies

A 2010 study conducted by David R. Hekman and colleagues found that customers who
viewed videos featuring a black male, a white female, or a white male actor playing the role
of an employee helping a customer were 19 percent more satisfied with the white male
employee's performance.

This discrepancy with race can be found as early as 1947, when Kenneth Clark conducted a
study in which black children were asked to choose between white and black dolls. White
male dolls were the ones children preferred to play with.

Gender pay differences in the medical field

Although the disparities between men and women are decreasing in the medical field,
gender inequalities still exist as social problems. From 1999 to 2008, recently qualified
female doctors in the US made almost $170,000,000 less than their male counterparts. The
pay discrepancy could not be explained by specialty choice, practice setting, work hours, or
other characteristics. A case study carried out on Swedish medical doctors showed that the
gender wage gap among physicians was greater in 2007 than in 1975

35
36
16. Myths of gender inequality in work place:

Workplace Issues: Is Gender Equality In The Workplace In Fact A Myth? Gender inequality
in the workplace seems to be an everlasting problem that can’t be completely solved, in
spite of all the effort. It is not a rare thing to witness or experience some discrimination
while at work if you are a woman. In order to achieve equality, there should be no
difference in addressing, opportunity to progress, nor in work distribution, benefits and
salaries, regardless of whether you are a woman or a man.

Improvement In Recent Years?

Even if gender equality is a sensitive issue mentioned now and then, and even if in the past
decades there have been improvements when this issue is concerned, there are still people
with prejudice. If you think that this is nonsense and that men and women are treated
equally, that both have the same rights and that both are given a chance to achieve their
own success, think about this: how come that new statistics and analysis show that women
who graduated university and are employed earn up to 2.500 $ less than the men with the
same working position and the same education? And these differences in salaries are still
present. This is called wage discrimination, or the gender pay gap, and these terms are
unfortunately developed due to this inequality problem between the sexes in the
workplace.

Main Problems

All of this starts with the attitude of the employer. Business people often choose what’s best
for their work, and a woman who is likely to be dedicated to her family is not a good choice
for a business person who wants to progress. What they might not be aware of is that this
will actually impact their business in a completely different way. There is no need for terms
such as “glass ceiling” and “pink collar employees” – what is needed at any workplace is
equality among sexes – equal salaries for the same amount of work done, equal
participation in all activities related to work and strict rules forbidding discrimination of any
kind at the workplace. There is also another problem when discrimination at work is
concerned and that is a scenario in which the employers are choosing the right person for a
certain working position – not only that some of them tend to objectify women and employ
them because of all the wrong motives, but others aren’t even going to consider employing
women. This is because some people divide occupations into male and female jobs and this
is precisely why it is not such a common thing to see a woman employed in a “male-
dominated” industry.

Why Is Gender Inequality Bad For The Employer?

There are several reasons why gender inequality can affect the development of your
business and these reasons show why one should avoid inequality business-wise, and not
because of righteousness or justice. Firstly, it is widely known that women care about
education more than men – sorry guys but these are the statistics, and because of that,
they are often more experienced and can be equally good if not even better than some
male employees. So, as an employer who doesn’t promote equality, you are likely to miss
such a good employee. Some

37
recent analysis showed that companies who have an equal number of men and women
employees tend to be more successful and better organized due to the perfect mix of all
the necessary skills and knowledge.

You, Affected Ones, What Can You Do?

Search for better employers who promote gender equality at work. It is hard to try and
influence someone’s opinion, especially if they are your superior. If you are feeling
threatened in any way, quit the job. There is no need to stay surrounded by people who are
not going to appreciate your efforts. On the other hand, if you were unfortunate enough to
experience some harassment or mistreatment, there is no need to cover your employer or
work colleagues. According to some previous work from David King, the percent of women
who went from being verbally abused to sexually harassed at work is higher in cases where
those women kept it all a secret. If you are a professional, no matter the gender, your rights
as an employee and your rights as a human being shouldn’t be denied – you have every right
to demand them.
People should be aware that these things still happen and only awareness and action
against these horrible deeds can make improvement when gender inequality is
concerned.

38
17. Gender inequality in work place in sttistic:

39
18. Role of NGO in gender inequality in work place:

NGO Participation
The active participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is a critical element in
the work of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). NGOs have been influential in
shaping the current global policy framework on women’s empowerment and gender
equality: the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. They continue to play an
important role in holding international and national leaders accountable for the
commitments they made in the Platform for Action.
UN Women facilitates the participation of NGOs in sessions of the CSW. NGOs that are
accredited to and in good standing with the United Nations Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) may designate representatives to attend the annual sessions of the CSW. The
number of representatives who can attend open official meetings can be contingent on
the availability of space.
 Eligibility
 Registration and grounds pass collection
 Opportunities for NGOs to address the Commission
 NGO advisories

40
19. Gender inequality in work place (still a big challenge):

A man has a role to play in changing workplace cultures to everyone’s advantage, not just
women’s.

Despite a decades-long push by scholars, activists, politicians, and business leaders, women
remain underrepresented at every level in corporate America. According to findings from a
study by leanin.org and Mckinsey & co., released last month and covering 118 companies
and nearly 30,000 employees, a wide range of diversity policies and programs hasn’t moved
the needle. We need to try something new.

Changing the culture

It’s clearer now than ever that addressing the gender problem only through corporate
initiatives isn’t enough. In 2013, a pew research center studyshowed that not only do
millennial women earn degrees at higher rates than men (whose workforce participation
rates have been dropping with each generation) and are more likely to work in managerial
roles, they also enter the workforce at near pay parity with men. Yet despite these
improving demographics, women are still getting left behind.

Despite . . . Improving demographics, women are still getting left behind.

What are we doing wrong?
There are likely a number of factors, but misallocated effort is one of them. Our focus should
be less on protecting women through specialized programs and more on changing workplace
cultures to everyone’s advantage.

That’s where men come in. Since men currently occupy 83% of c-suite positions, 77% of svp
positions, 73% of vp level positions, and 63% of manager level positions–according to the
same leanin/mckinsey study–not much can be accomplished without engaging those male
business leaders.

Here are three strategies for persuading professional men to take on issues of women’s
advancement in the workplace as their own.

1. Show how diversity benefits everyone

In principle, most men support gender equality at work. The researchers found that some
70% of men believe gender diversity is important. However, only 12% believe women have
fewer opportunities than men at work.

That’s a serious disconnect, but it isn’t so hard to account for, especially as men watch their
female coworkers opt out of opportunities. For instance, the gap between men and women
who strive for promotions widens with each step towards senior management. At the entry
level, 39% of women and 47% of men in the leanin/mckinsey study said they want to be

41
promoted, while at the senior levels, those figures are 60% and 72%, respectively. A gap of
eight percentage points widening to 12 might not seem staggering, but when you recall how
few women actually make it to upper management, the ambition shortfall is considerable.

You might therefore assume that women’s underrepresentation in leadership positions has
less to do with the workplace failing women than with women rejecting leadership. But that
isn’t entirely the case. To be sure, women choose not to compete for those positions for a
variety of complex reasons, from discriminatory executive cultures to the detours of
parenthood, just to name two.

Our focus should be less on protecting women and more on changing workplace cultures to
everyone’s advantage.

But the numbers point to a culture problem that doesn’t just affect women. For instance,
55% of childless women and 58% of working mothers in the survey cited the stress and
pressure of leadership role as their reason for opting out of them. Men aren’t far behind,
with 49% and 48%, respectively, in agreement. If the expectations of leadership are
unsustainable for so many, it’s clear that a more inclusive and diverse executive culture
would benefit just about everyone.

2. . LET MEN DISCUSS T HE PROBLEM PRIVATELY

What if men were able to have a closed but facilitated conversation about the leadership
gaps and workplace issues facing the women in their workplace? In the LeanIn/McKinsey
study, 13% of men said they felt it was harder for them to advance because of gender
diversity programs. That view might be easy to disagree with, but it’s impossible to ignore.
What else would men admit to feeling if they could speak more freely? We first need to be
able to express our concerns and biases before we can put them to the test and consider
them more objectively.

Take Wharton Business School’s gender-equality club for men, Duke Business School’s Male
Ambassadors Program, and Stanford Business School’s WIMen. These organizations highlight
men’s agency and allow professional men to examine, confront, and take ownership of the
problem in their own ways. Research conducted by gender intelligence specialist Barbara
Annis points up an important truth: Men and women typically think and act differently, and
failing to recognize those differences often leads to workplace conflict. When it comes to
problem-solving adjustments in the workplace, it’s crucial to give men a chance to offer
solutions.

13% of men said they felt it was harder for them to advance because of gender
diversity programs. That view might be easy to disagree with, but it’s impossible to
ignore.

3. . BROADEN THE CONCE PT OF EFFECTIVE LEAD ERSHIP

Let’s face it. Contemporary workplace culture often associates stereotypically masculine
attributes with success. A Catalyst study asked corporate leaders to judge male and
female leaders’ effectiveness based on the 10 behaviors commonly associated with
leadership,
including “taking-care” traits (supporting, collaborating, rewarding, and inspiring) as well
as “taking-charge” traits (analyzing, influencing, and delegating). Male respondents
believed men to be more effective than women on all of the “taking-charge” traits, and
women
42
respondents for the most part agreed. This is in addition to a 2014 Gallup poll that showed
that 26% of men and 39% of women still preferred a male boss if they were taking a new
job.

Until we can break through those biases–among women as well as men–top-down,

women’s- only efforts are doomed to fail. Instead, let’s start rethinking what constitutes
effective leadership itself. Sure, one way to go about this is to ask for more women leaders.
But another way is to support effective male leaders who don’t have conventionally
masculine leadership traits. After all, the data suggests it’s both men and women who need
to include more stereotypically feminine qualities in their visions of leadership.

If we can reimagine leadership as a more collaborative, supportive vocation, those

qualities won’t appear so gendered in the first place. And that, hopefully, can start making
senior positions appealing and accessible to a much more diverse pool of talent than we’re
used to.

43
20. World against gender equality in work place:

Discussion: Gender Equality in the World of Work. Getting to equal by 2030:

Women in the workplace

Women make up more than half of the world’s population and half of the world’s potential.
Yet, women and girls often lack access to vocational education and skills training. Many also
lack the basic functional skills, such as literacy and numeracy, to participate meaningfully in
the work force. The effective participation of women in education and training is a
particularly powerful tool for alleviating poverty and promoting economic and social
empowerment. Skills for employment not only equips women with the competencies they
require for specific jobs but allows them to improve their employability and develop their
social skills. They also learn to actively participate in civil society and politics.

The UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda provides, among others, a roadmap for
accelerating gender equality and empowering all women and girls. It aims to end
discrimination against women, by ensuring equal access to quality technical training and
skills development and promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all
women and men, and equal pay for work of equal value. Indicators established for each of
the sustainable development goals provide the means for tracking and measuring progress.

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 21. Suggestions:

1. Increase the Gender Representation On Your Board of Directors

Where the board of a company has at least one woman on its board, it is likely to crush
the competition. Unlike in the employment context, you can specifically target women
for positions on the Board. No discrimination issues.
2. Make Affirmative Efforts to Increase Diversity Of Applicant Pool For Leadership
Positions
Where there is gender diversity on the senior leadership team, companies outperform
their competitors. While we always should hire the most qualified person, we should
make sure that we cast a wide net to increase the diversity of the applicant pool. For
example, consider circulating to managers resumes without names. This not only will help
eliminate unconscious bias relative to gender but also race, religion etc.
3. Decision Making Process
Diverse teams should help to ensure that there is not conscious or unconscious gender bias
in decision-making. How do you avoid the unconscious? Bring it to conscious awareness
through training, discussed below.
4. Education of The Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
The SLT need to understand the legal issues associated with gender discrimination. It is
not enough simply to reference it generally. Focus also on unconscious bias and how
conscious systems can minimize the risk of it. Don’t forget to focus on covert bias, too.
5. The Assignment Process
It is important to evaluate critically your organization’s work assignments systems to make
sure the work is being distributed fairly and equitably and not based on personal
relationships or there is a real risk of “like me” bias. I could go on and on but I won’t, except
to
say: no system not only produces chaos but also can help create guard rails for a boys’ club.
6. The Money
We have a gender gap when it comes to pay. There are fair questions about whether the gap
is solely due to gender.
But no reasonable person can deny a gap exists and it must be closed. Here are
some recommendations for how to do so:
7. The Social Inclusion
Social inclusion is a big part of business inclusion. Candidly, I bristle at the term, “social
inclusion” because it diminishes its importance. A conscious effort should be made to
ensure that social inclusion is, well, inclusive. Not everything needs to take place on a golf
course.
8. Work-Life Management
Work life management benefits all but, with more women as primary caregivers, it is
particularly important in minimizing gender inequality. By way of example only, the focus
should be less on face time and more on the bottom line. We need to train managers how
to control their control issues.
9. The Evaluation Process
In my experience, the evaluation process often benefits men as a result of unconscious
bias. We need to evaluate the evaluators!
Be careful not to evaluate based on projected confidence rather than actual competence.
Focus on the performance, not the person!
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10. Evaluation of Our Leaders

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 Some leaders engage in behaviors that are contrary to gender equality. Make them pay a
price on their evaluations and in their compensation.
11. Empowerment of Women
We talk a lot about sensitizing leaders. We need to empower women, too. While we
always need to be clear that employees can bring a complaint, teach power tactics, too.
Excluded from a meeting where you clearly belong? Join the meeting and say something
like: “Someone mistakenly left me off the invitation list. Don’t be too hard on them.’
12. The Men
Men must play a role in remedying gender inequality. Women alone cannot resolve it,
particularly in organizations where men dominate the power circles. Nor should they.
This takes time and effort and it is not fair to expect women to carry this burden alone.
Men who are women’s allies sometimes face bias from men and women alike so focus
on that, too.

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 22. Conclusion:

In this century, a woman actively participates in workplace. Many women desire a career
and a place in this world. They want to stand on their own two feet, to become self-
independent individuals, independent and free from other individuals. One thing that is clear
is that women in all careers are striving to gain equality in die work force today. Through
their determination, women now have the ability to break out of the gender roles that were
created for them by society.

One of the issues that have affected women in the workplace is that of stereotyping of
women. Throughout history women have taken the role of housewife, mother, and
nurturer. Women are stereotyped to stay at home and take care of the house and
children.

It has been their job to cook the meals, do the laundry, and manage the children’s
school activities. Even today, motherhood is still considered to be die primary role for
women. Women who do not take on this role are still thought of as selfish.

Women that look to establish careers outside the home, for years, were thought of as being
selfish and self-centered. Because women were viewed as homemakers they were often
given jobs that were meaningless, and they were not thought of as managers or
professionals.

Even today, women are not treated the same as men. One area that clearly shows this
oppression is the area of equal pay for equal jobs. Another area in which women are at
a disadvantage in the workplace is through discrimination. Discrimination can be an
uncomfortable situation for the women involved.

There are two types of discrimination, indirect and direct. Indirect discrimination might be
a women being overlooked for a promotion, or an employee displaying inappropriate
sexual material in the workplace.

Direct discrimination may include a women being discharged from her employment because
she is pregnant, or being excluded from after work group events.

Another major area were women have been affected in the workplace is sexual
harassment. Sexual harassment is closely linked to sex discrimination. Sexual
discrimination forces women into lower paying jobs, and sexual harassment helps keep
them there.

One tiling is clear, whether the problem is sexual harassment or sexual discrimination
the problem continues to exist in the workplace, creating tension that make their jobs
more difficult. In the last decade, companies have turned their attention to some of
these issues.

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There has been more training and education about women’s issues. Even though there is
more corporate training for these issues, this training may not work, but start educating
people.

Women need to overcome the image that they are sensitive people, which let their
emotions control their mind. They need to prove that they can think with their minds and
not their hearts when it comes to business. Most people want to correct the unequal
treatment of women in the workplace.

One method that can be used to support equality would be to introduce federal legislation
to guarantee equal pay for equal work. The logistical problems associated with this
solution would be great. How would people measure the value of one person’s work to
another’s?
Who would decide this and how would it be implemented?

Our attitudes toward women in the workplace are slowly starting to change. More
opportunities are appearing for women workers today than ever before. The unequal
treatment of working women will take years to change, but change is occurring.

This topic will remain until people treat and pay women equally, based upon their abilities.
There have been many remedies introduced into the workplace that have tried to address
the injustice toward women in the workplace.

Although there have been many improvements for women in the workplace but there are
still many inequalities for women when compared to men. Remedies are needed to secure
a fair and equal role in the workplace.

This change can only fully occur when we change the attitudes of every individual
toward women. When we accomplish that then we can finally achieve gender equality in
the workplace.

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23. Bibliography:

Wikipedia
Google
Research
pdf

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