Women University

Multan

Advance Research Methods

_________________________
Research Work

Discrimination and psychological

effects on Gender in Workplace.
 Institute of Management Sciences
The Women University Multan
Dated: 28th, April,2022

Team members :
Arishba Anzal (BBA-18-41)
Mahnoor Iqbal(BBA-18-10)
Sehrish Iqbal(BBA-18-47)
Zufishan Shahid(BBA-18-16)

Supervisor and
Course instructor :

Ma'am Maria Sham

_____________________
 Discrimination and psychological
effects on Gender in workplace
_____________________________
Introduction :
Discrimination can be defined as the unfair treatment of different categories of
people based on race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, and other
characteristics. Given that discrimination operates as a stressor, it may increase
the risk of a wide range of undesired physical and mental health outcomes. Some
of the undesired consequences of discrimination include depression , anxiety,
substance use, suicide, and psychological distress.

The issue of gender equality in employment has given rise to numerous policies in
advanced industrial countries, all aimed at tackling gender discrimination
regarding recruitment, salary and promotion. Yet gender inequalities in the
workplace persist.

The workplace has sometimes been referred to as an inhospitable place for

women due to the multiple forms of gender inequalities present. Some examples
of how workplace discrimination negatively affects women’s earnings and
opportunities are the gender wage gap, the dearth of women in leadership , and
the longer time required for women (vs. men) to advance in their careers.

As it is said that :

Sex is a biological construction but gender roles are a social construct where
men predominately benefit at the expense of women.

For instance, on average women are more likely to work part-time, be employed
in low-paid jobs and not take on management positions.
As same as Women, Men are facing the the problem at the same time. the
literature on male issues in the workplace is scarce and dispersed; there is a lack
of empirical research on the nature and the origins of difficulties, especially from
the managerial perspective; and there is a need for more in-depth understanding
of male difficulties for policy development related to gender equality.

In some places Men get more benefits over Women. And in some places Women
gets more benefits over Men. Both of them are facing issues.

Literature Review :

Terminology and differences :

During the literature review of gender inequality, we found some inconsistencies
in terminology. Namely, there is sometimes confusion between four terms:
stereotypes, inequality, discrimination and difficulties. We want to clarify these
terms and simultaneously set a framework for this study.

In the literature, gender stereotypes are sometimes presented as inequalities (see

Ghiulamila & Levet, 2007). A stereotype can be defined as “the set of attributes
that subjects agreed on as typical of the group” (Judd & Park, 1993: 109). The
notion of inequality represents a discrepancy in the treatment of two or more
comparable groups: i.e. men and women. For example, women earn lower wages
than men. Although we agree that stereotypes lie at the root of gender inequality
and discriminatory practice (Berry & Bell, 2012), they are not the main focus of
our study.

Furthermore, discrimination is “any distinction, exclusion or preference made on

the basis of race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social
origin, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity and
treatment in employment and occupation” (ILO, 1958 cited in ILO, 2011). In other
words, it is a process whereby a dominant group tries to maintain its advantages
at the expense of another group. Discrimination can be conscious or unconscious
based on interiorized social stereotypes such as masculinity and femininity (Belle
& Doucet, 2003; ILO, 2011).
In this section, we have defined the key terms that are important for
understanding the typology and the final framework of male difficulties. These
difficulties are presented in the next section.

Separate spaces for female-

separate space for women in order to address gender inequality is nothing new
(Hassim, 2005). Women do not organize simply because they are women, but
rather shared identities and context influence their organizing together. In her
essay entitled Mobilisation without Emancipation: Women’s Interests, State and
Revolution in Nicaragua, Maxine Molyneux argues that there are two main
reasons why women organize in separate spaces. The first relates to strategy.
Women organize together as they have a shared interest in defeating power
which limits their agency (Molyneux, 1985). Secondly, women organize together
because there is a shared identity which occurs because of the gender division of
labour which unites women together. An example can be made of motherhood
and how the responsibility of looking after the child is ‘expected’ to be done by
the woman in the relationship which is unfair because it Presupposes that women
are biologically capable of looking after children than men. This then unites
women together to fight for issues which address child responsibility. ( journal of
Women studies)

Patriarchy in the Workplace and Unions- Women in Organizations

Patriarchy is an ideology which has been passed down from generations and
argues that paternal authority belongs to the man of the household (Edley &
Wetherell, 1995). This paternal authority is never to be questioned and it is
exercised by the man being seen as the head of the household and the woman
being subservient towards him. This has translated into the workplace as women
have been allocated certain roles in the workforce which are subservient, cheap
and highly exploitative, because being in roles of power and leadership are not
seen in society as being ‘feminine’ (Edley & Wetherell, 1995).This also plays out in
the types of jobs that men and women are allowed to occupy in the workplace,
and in women’s ability to challenge gender oppression as they don’t have a strong
voice to challenge it. The role of women in hospitality and service sector jobs
feeds into the idea of women being better ‘equipped’ in these industries as
compared to men, who belong in the manufacturing and mining industries as
these jobs exhibit their ‘innate’ capabilities because of the sex category they
belong to (West & Zimmerman, 1987).

WORK AND FAMILY CONFLICT: MEN’S SEARCH FOR BALANCE

Despite “the increasing flexibility apparent in the labor market, women continue
to dominate the ranks of part-time workers and men are still more likely to work
full-time than part-time” (Sheridan, 2004: 208). Moreover, Benito-Osorio, Muñoz-
Aguado and Villar (2014: 232) find that companies “employing more women also
are more concerned with offering better work–life balance policies”. It may be for
these reasons that the Families and Work Institute’s report states that men
experience more work–family conflict than women and want to be more involved
in family life (Aumann et al., 2011). Many men, especially fathers, publicly reacted
to this study claiming their right to a more balanced life. Work–life balance is no
longer a private problem – today, it is an organizational issue, since it has an
impact on productivity (Benito-Osorio et al., 2014; Galinsky Matos & Sakai-O’Neil,
2013). The “men’s work and family conflict zone” is divided into two sub-
categories: (1) heavy workload and (2) part-time work and parental leave.

Social judgment- Males in choosing career.

Several studies (Cross & Bagilhole, 2002; Gosse, Parr & Allison, 2008; Heikes,
1991; Lupton, 2006; Murray, 1996; Pullen & Simpson, 2009; Simpson, 2005) have
found that one of the difficulties men face in traditionally female professions is
that of social judgement. They are more likely to be perceived as “not a real man”
(Cross & Bagilhole, 2002: 214) and “weak” (Pullen & Simpson, 2009: 17), and to
be criticized for this professional choice by friends, family members and peers. A
study on counseling students shows that if the male students become integrated
with their classmates, they will suffer constant “teasing and mocking” (Michel et
al. 2013: 478) from their family and friends, creating more distance within these
social circles.

In some places Men get more benefits over Women. And in some places Women
gets more benefits over Men. Both of them are facing issues.
I'm some places female get paid less then males. As the company or the
organization gives the reason that the males have to look after their homes. As
both of them working same time and giving them same working hours.

In some places Where there are Female Peers m, males find difficult in
communicating with them as there are lot of women in work places.

Men Face more work family conflicts. As they has to support their family at any
condition they had to to work and also spend time with their children and family.

Men are facing new forms and sources of competition across Gender.

As well as women they had to compete with social and cultural surroundings.

Men are termed as protective, strong and not expect him to show emotions.
These all should stop and we have to give rights to each and every person what
they deserve.

Problem Statement :

Research Questions:
1. Is work place is really discriminating gender inequalities?
2. Does social judgment for male really exists?
3. Does women really have to work separately in organization?
4. Does women paid less than men for same working hours?

Framework:

Hypothesis:
H1: Gender discrimination in work place.

H2: Physiology distress in work place.

H3: Their is a negative relationship between discrimination and physiological

distress among gender in Workplace.

Methodology:
Sample and data collection :
To understand and interpret the discrimination and physiological effects on
Gender in workplace , we will collect data from various organizations at national
level. Through personal and professional contacts, we will be able to gain access
for the collection of data from the employees of private firms, universities,
government institutions and newly employed individuals.We will collect data
through personally administered questionnaires. We will use google-forms as our
data collection medium. Questionnaires will be distributed (sent to the
respondents) by means of social media platforms (WhatsApp and LinkedIn).The
respondents will submit the questionnaires on google-forms and submitted it
along with their email addresses and names. As the respondents are fluent in
English,the questionnaire will not be translated into any local language. English is
the official language in all public and private sector organizations and the medium
of instruction in all higher education institutions in Pakistan; therefore, the
surveys will be distributed in English.

Primary Data Collection:

The methodology we are using in our research is taken from the “Primary Data”
that we have collected by ourselves. The first-hand data collected by researchers
is actually the primary data such as Questionnaires, Surveys and Personal
interviews etc. Primary data helps to collect all needed information required for
research. Primary Data is the most easiest and simplest data collection way and
recommenced by experienced researchers in their different research articles. The
data we have collected is new and latest. We have collected this data from our
sample and people.

Data collection techniques:

This research is a quantitative research method where the whole 100 units of self
administration Questionnaires will be allocated to women and men who work in
national and multinational organizations. Men and Women both are selected as a
sample in this research work. Men and Women are facing discrimination and
physiological distress in Workplace that is why we have chosen this topic for our
research work. Other than that, the self-administered questionnaires are
distributed with a “snowball sampling approach”. The questionnaires will be
treated to the first batch of respondents which includes their own families and
friends working in a national or multinational enterprise. The primary batch of
respondents is requested to distribute the questionnaires to their colleagues and
friends who work in national or multinational companies. This whole process of
data collection will take about 3 weeks to complete.

Measurement of variable:
The main variable of our research are Discrimination in Gender inequalities,
physiological distress, Gender inequalities. We will show how we are using these
variables in our research and how to measure these variables to make our
research more authenticated and useful in the future. Measurement of variables
is a method in which we will explain how to operationalize selected variables in
our research and how to measure their scale and items. The scale and items of
variables help the researcher to finalize the datacollection method such as
questionnaires or surveys etc.

Variables Scales Item Sources

Gender
inequalities

Discrimination