Nguyen Hang

Topic 3: Most high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the workforce in many
developed countries is more than 50% female. Companies should be required to allocate certain
percentage of these positions to women. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Outline (Disagree)

1. Women being unsuitable

- Health
+ Physically inferior  Unable to handle too much work burden
+ Mental problems: Discrimination from employees (Stereotypes)
- Company’s productivity
+ Intrusion from family responsibilities (child bearing and rearing)
 Unable to contribute full time to work
2. Inappropriate proposal
- Unfairness
+ Unqualified women being employed >< Qualified men facing redundancy
 Public outcry  Aggravate the issue of gender equality
- Company’s growth
+ Former male chief officers outperforming female
 Reduced productivity  Company’s profits
- Be judged on one’s own merits (qualifications, experience, skills)

Essay:

In this day and age, matters related to gender equality have never failed to capture public’s interest.
Noticing that most chief positions in businesses are taken over by men while female employees
constitute more than half of human resources in many developed nations, it is proposed that companies
should spare certain proportions of these jobs dedicated to women only. I am, however, in full
opposition to this idea concerning problems faced by women and companies as well as the
inappropriate nature of this proposal.

In the first place, the suggested policy of women dominating some high-level positions pose undesirable
consequences to the female employees. Multiple researches have acknowledged most women’s
inherent inferior physical strength compared with their male counterparts, indisputably with the
exception of some cases when women are at the top of their body spectrum. Therefore, should women
be forced to occupy such executive jobs which intrinsically have a heavy workload, they will necessarily
be susceptible either mental or physical illnesses such as depression or burnout. Furthermore, a
company’s productivity is also likely to be considerably affected should this policy be introduced. This is
mainly because countless responsibilities women have to shoulder apart from working such as bearing
and rearing children. As a result, women’s inability to contribute full time to a company’s development
possibly leads to a reduction in profits, further adversely influencing its financial stability and reputation.

That the proposed policy of sharing chief positions to both men and women is nowhere near sound
should also be taken into account. Firstly, the reservation of high-level work for women results in
unfairness among the workplace. The probabilities are that insufficiently qualified women will take over
the role which was originally occupied by highly experienced men. This, consequently, in every
likelihood, will provoke public outcry and constant sabotage from male employees, further aggravating
the problem of gender equality in society. Another dire repercussion of this unjust proposal is
undoubtedly companies’ decreased efficiency. Female employees with unsuitable qualifications and
skills can hardly make equal contributions as their male counterparts who have previously brought
about immense profits to the company. This, altogether, leads to an overall downward trend in such
businesses’ development, triggering these companies’ workers and existence alike.

In conclusion, it is my firm belief that distributing high-level positions to both men and women will
necessarily exert unfavorable impacts on women’s well-being and company’s progress, thus proved to
be inequitable. Instead of this, men and women would better be judged on their own merits with similar
criteria including their competency and suitable qualifications so as to ensure transparency within the
workplace.