Impact of Bi-Cultural Experiences and Stress on Work and Career, Essay Example

Cultural and societal issues have impacted the UK’s business system. British society has a long history of class differences, and these distinctions have shown themselves in the business sector structure. Training programs should be a top priority for businesses. Women may be discouraged from applying to jobs since many training programs cater to men. Many organizational structures and policies discourage women because of their procedures.

Ethnic, racial, and gender minorities were the complicated issues after World War II in the career journey of women. After World War II, the number of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom grew significantly, reaching 5.5 percent of the population at the 1991 Census, which included a question on ethnic groupings for the first time. During the post-World War II reconstruction of the British economy, there was a severe lack of workers. British companies advertised for workers in the Caribbean and on the Indian subcontinent; citizens from Commonwealth nations were allowed to join Britain until 1962 (Fan, J., 2018). They were allowed into the UK to fulfill the booming British economy’s demands. There were a lot of job openings for jobs that the white population no longer wanted to do, and migrant workers shifted to public service jobs that paid less than private-sector jobs.

West European nations exploited immigrant labor to amass wealth. There were huge migrant groups in major cities of Britain, and they quickly became the victims of white racism. There was a preconceived notion that non-whites were subhuman, causing inequalities in the recruitment processes. Racism and discrimination began to be addressed in the UK in the 1960s when the country realized that it had to deal with the multicultural aspect to reduce discrimination and racism (Cho et al., 2019). According to an edited collection on racial relations in Britain, the 1976 Race Relations Act had little influence on the situation despite its statutory provisions. It is stated that ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom have made progress despite racial prejudice and adversity, though some groups have fared better than others.

First, women would require their employers to create a culture of work-life balance in the workplace through the engagement of the 30-hour workweek option and flexibility of working location. One of the advantages of having a consistent structure is that it alleviates workers’ anxiety who know they have other responsibilities outside of work (Afifi et al. 2020, p. 20). Women think that the stress they experience at home may be alleviated by working in a stable atmosphere. Women also want to be involved in things that aren’t only work-related, such as providing significant and helpful community involvement activities. One of the most crucial factors for married women who have children is a flexible work schedule from their company.

Many obstacles stand in the way of women achieving leadership positions in organizations. The selection procedure used by most firms is one of the most prevalent and well-known roadblocks to professional advancement. Women do not have the opportunity for advancement to high levels of management due to ethnic and racial issues in the recruitment and promotion of workers. Eighty-eight percent of companies said that a lack of comprehensive supervisory and line expertise was a major factor in their choices not to promote female employees.

Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

Organizations in the West are working hard to foster the advancement of female executives who can contribute significantly to the bottom line. When it comes to reaching the top, 60% of successful women don’t desire to enter the C-suite (Dashper, 2018). The UK is undergoing changes that will benefit both men and women if business leaders commit to change and help women fulfill their family responsibilities. As a result of sexism in the workplace, female professionals have declined to cause fewer women`s positions in the highest level of management. When it comes to gender roles in the workplace, some cultures believe that women should not be allowed to do certain tasks because of their cultural beliefs. However, even though women can now hold professional positions formerly reserved for males, many obstacles prevent them from succeeding.

Another issue women encounter in the workplace is the strong sense of community with the other women. Many workers choose to band together because they have a common interest. Due to the lack of female leaders, there are few female advisors. Women are more restrained in the workplace due to their lack of access to strong female role models. People are drawn to the same kind of mentors because they can regularly relate to the issues they face. Men don’t have the same problems as women, and they often don’t want to share their knowledge with female students (Gabriel et al., 2018, p. 362). Similarly, the demands of men and women are different when it comes to what their professors expect from them. Many males avoid mentoring women because they see women as more sensitive, less competent at addressing issues, and more concerned about workplace sexual harassment. Few women hold professional-level positions requiring advanced degrees because of historical gender disparities in education and training. Because of this, most women have been unable to develop the professional abilities necessary to get good-paying employment (Verniers and Vala, 2018). On the other hand, women still lack the belief that they can succeed at the highest levels of management. Conversations between men and women reflect their higher self-assurance, which is well-documented.

Many businesses are expanding internationally, creating new challenges for women. Senior and top leaders are held to a greater standard of accountability. Many companies’ top executives are forced to relocate around the globe due to the demands of their jobs and organizational moves. Many women who have children and a working spouse or significant other find moving difficult. The most major challenge has not been family troubles but accepting alternative behaviors and cultural norms (Dickens and Chavez, 2018, p. 760). Even though women are more likely than males to accept a greater salary, a significant proportion of women fail due to low levels of salaries. In some civilizations, women face hostility to women in leadership roles. Many countries will avoid recruiting or elevating a woman as a senior leader because they believe that women cannot conduct business efficiently in a company. Many senior managers and executives claim that women don’t want to go beyond their existing positions. However, a recent survey found that 60% of women who aren’t supervisors in their companies want to be at the top. Because of the various obstacles, they confront in their path to becoming a supervisor, women may lose their will to succeed.

Women and men should be equally represented in the workforce of companies. The company’s recruiters are recruiting no significant numbers of women. Fewer women are working in organizations than men are telling sign of the gender pay gap. Women have a harder time reaching the upper echelons because of the disparity between women and men in the workforce (Fine, Sojo Monzon, and Lawford-Smith, 2020). Companies should be concentrating on training and recruiting methods that allow for equal numbers of men and women to be hired. As a first step, more money should be invested in training programs that enable equal employment rates for men and women. Example of training programs, the organization should offer financial education for all employees. In addition to their roles in the workplace, many women are the primary caregivers for their families. Promotions cause parents to choose between their children and careers as their requirements and responsibilities grow more demanding.

The conventional attitudes of many in society about the lowly position of women in society and the workplace must be challenged by corporations. Women’s advancement in the workplace may be encouraged through marketing and advertising that focuses on women’s advancement. Advertising might also persuade a large number of businesses to abandon gender stereotypes, opening the door for more women to apply for higher-level positions. Lippert and Damaske state that four million women own businesses in the United Kingdom (2019, p. 890). In addition, numerous women have and continue to rise in the ranks. Marketing women to the top positions ensures that everyone should have equal access to advancement possibilities.

It is one of the best measures of gender inequality to look at the salary disparity between men and women. In the past, the compensation for women has been lower than that of men for equal work. This may prevent women from pursuing careers in firms that would enable them to rise to positions of power and prestige. A closer look at the gender gap over the last several years suggests that economic growth has not resulted in a reduction in the disparity (Koffer et al. 2022, p. 280). This shows that, despite advances in decreasing the gender gap, it seems that men and females are still paid differently. As a result, one action a corporation may take is to pay women at the same level as men. If more women could compete for higher managerial occupations, it would lead to better salaries and the engagement of equal rights.

External Stress

In today’s family structure, women are still expected to care for their children and the household as a whole, but the global economy also expects them to work, which may lead to a lack of work-life harmony. As a result of the demands of family responsibilities, many executive occupations now need a significant amount of time and effort, which a working mother cannot spend (Abubakar, 2018). Despite having a home spouse and house help, women in high-ranking positions at work may experience stress when they realize that they are still expected to be the main care provider for their children (Pachankis et al. 2020, p. 613). Therefore, due to the conflicting demands of work and home life, women often struggle to achieve a healthy work-life balance Others are taking a leave of absence from their jobs to spend more time with their families, but this comes with the added burden of not making a living.

The workplace realities for women have shifted dramatically, putting them under a great deal of stress as they attempt to juggle two sets of responsibilities: one at home with raising a family and the other at work. According to conventional wisdom, women have traditionally had harder times than males when juggling family and career due to working culture (Rai and Agarwal, 2018). A woman may have to give up one aspect of her life to excel on the other, for example, since each area has different expectations and conventions (Luanglath and Mohannak, 2019). Many working women have trouble juggling work and family obligations because they are under too much stress from their jobs, have too little personal time, or are expected to meet additional family obligations, according to research into the causes and effects of poor work-life stress (Mittal and Bhakar, 2018. P. 10). The extended hours that women put in at work might hurt their personal and family lives. It indicates that individuals confront high levels of stress and anxiety, conflict at home, and an inability to fulfill their full potential in a setting with a poor work-life balance. A lack of time for family life causes them to be irritated and angry all the time.

Labor Market

Discriminatory institutions in the workplace affect ethnic minority women’s job experiences distinct from white women. The ethnicity and national origin of the various groupings of ethnic minority women also play a role in this. It is also important to remember that black women’s experiences are not necessarily distinct from other groups. Men’s control and exploitation of women’s labor power and patriarchal ideology’s interventions at the economic level provide the material basis of patriarchy (Huang et al., 2019). Patriarchal connections oppress all women, but it is important to be aware of the unique circumstances of black women. For ethnic minority women, the idea of a straight professional path with upward mobility may be even more elusive than it is for white women.

Racist attitudes and prejudices in the workplace might put ethnic minority women at a disadvantage for advancement in the workplace. Ethnic minority women face a barrier that prevents them from moving up the corporate ladder to more senior positions. Stereotyping is the practice of assigning a set of qualities to a person based on their membership in a certain group. Ethnic minority women’s stereotypes result from their dual position as women and members of an ethnic minority. They impact how these women are seen in their workplaces, what responsibilities they are expected to take on, and the possibilities they are offered. Muslim women’s morality is a major concern, and it is generally expressed in terms of sexual purity and outward modesty in practical terms creating a big employment gap holding women back.

A significant shift in most women’s lives has been brought about by globalization. It might contribute to the difficulties of striking work-life balance stress. As a result of having easier access to more productive resources due to economic globalization, women now have more options than ever before. In contrast to when women were expected to remain at home and care for their children, women are more educated and have changed their perspectives (Assari and Bazargan, 2019, p. 3539). Due to this, new responsibilities and the potential to form new positive identities outside of their home duties have been provided.

The jumble of duties has exacerbated the inability to balance work and home life. Women’s success in the workplace has been boosted by increased access to high-quality education, yet a work-life balance has become a major concern. When it comes to work-life balance, women have traditionally had a hard time juggling both their career and their family commitments, which has made them particularly vulnerable to the issue of work-life conflict (Ip et al. 2020, p. 416). To compete with their male coworkers for promotion and progress, women must work longer hours than their male counterparts.

A husband whose woman works outside the house is considered not capable to manage her. Fearing the loss of power that comes with allowing their spouses to run their enterprises, many men refuse to let their wives do so. The larger danger is the societal stigma that may cling to a guy if his wife is wealthier (Rosette et al., 2018). Many societies globally, not just those in Africa, consider such significant social disgrace and dishonor of the family name unacceptable results (Chandola et al. 2019, p. 780). Although old socio-cultural ideas underlie these anxieties, men’s and women’s attitudes may be changed via education. Women’s empowerment via education and men’s increased financial security will cause fair understanding in career growth in consideration of the cultural aspects.

Over the last several decades, considerable strides have been made toward reducing gender disparities in the workforce. However, more measures are required to establish equality of opportunity. Women’s development in the workplace and other areas of society, such as politics and local government, may be aided by the actions outlined above (Fan, 2018). To be clear, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to helping women break through the glass barrier. As a result, it may require a series of actions to convince firms that women can compete with males and rise to higher positions in the workplace (Kairys, 2018). It’s also important to keep in mind that achieving equality for women may take time. Some of the following suggestions may not be realized for decades. The ideas above seem to be a good starting point for ensuring that women have equal access to the workforce.

Conclusion

Women’s communication and leadership styles vary from those of males because of the inherent differences between the sexes. Men have a chance to the inherent managerial office more than a woman due to advanced communication and leadership styles. The debate shows that women’s responsibilities in society and their productivity at work might be negatively impacted if they abandon their feminine features in favor of more masculine ones. Women need to avoid adopting masculine characteristics since leadership qualities do not consider sex. When it comes to leadership, the person in charge is also a community builder who believes that authority should be shared. Holistic thinkers develop trust among their employees by focusing on the future rather than the present. Female employees in an organization should not adopt more masculine traits to succeed. An organization’s breadth and diversity must be expanded to include women.

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