Race vs. Gender Inequality in the Workforce, Essay Example

On the way of building a democratic society nowadays it is vital to respect individual’s rights and freedoms as well as to demolish all kinds of inequalities and discrimination. As long as people have the opportunity to practice their skills and abilities equally in comparison to others, both the society and the individual will benefit. When talking about gender inequality, it is important to mention that across all advanced, postindustrial societies women continue to face certain gender differentials in labor participation rates, working hours, and income (Jacobs & Gerson, 2007). While, in regards to race inequality, it should be noted that with the growing tendency of workforce diversity the labor force is being enriched with people of various race, national, and ethical origin, which is raising a number of concerns for the employers (Kennedy-Dubourdieu, 2007). The aim of the above questionnaire was to identify the levels of race and gender inequalities in the workplaces in the last year period.

What was intended to be accomplished by the incorporation of the questionnaire was the comparison of the levels of the race and gender inequalities in the work places nowadays. The prime goal was to identify which type of the inequality was the most obvious and emerging for the chosen period of time. Such results might help to get a better picture of the contemporary workforce issues and on-going tendencies in the labor force environment (Gonzalez, Fernandez, & Price, 2004).

The questionnaire was organized in such a manner so that to avoid any kind of ethical dilemmas or provocative questions. The questions enabled both currently employed and unemployed people to be equal participants as well as age and professional criteria were not identified or mentioned. As the purpose of the survey was to find out the proportion of race to gender inequalities, no other measurements than the occurrence of that specific acts were questioned. That would not only provide the clear picture of the required data, but would also enable to achieve fairly clear and perspective results, which could be later used in discussion.

The hardest part in designing the questionnaire was to come up with the appropriate and well-weighted questions. As words which have a common meaning to the designer of the questionnaire may mean something different to other people, there was a need for consideration what each question might mean for the perspective respondents (Bell, 2006). The wording should have been kept easy and simple, while, at the same time, the meaning should have brought with it the essential information for the future analysis of the received data. Testing the questionnaire, on the other hand, was not as challenging as designing it. At this point the key was to come up with a qualified and adequate sample so that the results of the survey would have a qualitative value.

The testing of the questionnaire could be regarding as successful and non-problematic. Taking in consideration the size of the survey, it is important to point out that the respondents didn’t spend too much time answering the questions, which ensured the favorable conditions for them not to get bored or distracted. When asked about the overall impression, the majority of the respondents admitted that the fairly small number of questions, their clarity and simplicity combined with easy-followed instructions provided sufficient grounds for the successful completion of the questionnaire. However, a couple of the respondents were not sure of whether their personal experience was enough to provide reliable and concrete answers. But, all in all, the questionnaire went well, with no signs of respondents’ dissatisfaction or inconvenience in coming up with the answers.

As far as I can judge, the strengths of above questionnaire are the following: the appropriate number of the sufficient and laconic questions, which, on the one hand, provide an opportunity to get the responses from various viewpoints and, on the other hand, make it possible for the respondents’ attention not to get loose or distracted from the main points of the questions. The simplicity of the questions also adds up to the overall favorable impression of the questionnaire resulting in the efficiency of the gathered data. However, there is a couple of areas of improvement that I find important to mention as well. Analyzing the respondent’s reaction to the survey, I would make a couple of changes if I were to do the survey for the second time. First of all, I would try to come up with a couple of more questions, which would emphasize the areas or types of both gender and race inequalities. This will not only allow to get a deeper view into the field of proposed interest, but will as well enable to clarify whether the  respondents have a clear understanding of what the mistreatments on gender and race grounds stand for. Furthermore, I would try to get a better sample for the testing of the questionnaire: mainly, my main emphasis would be aimed at reaching out for as diverse sample as possible, intending to include people with as many different backgrounds as possible.

When considering the possible results of this questionnaire, I would suggest that it would be useful in providing information about the overall number of gender and race inequality occurrences. However, this survey would not reveal the information on the types of inequalities and their backgrounds. It would be useful for coming up with the proportional analysis and figuring out the ongoing tendency of which type of the inequality is more obvious or widely spread nowadays. For the more detailed and concrete information, further surveys would have to be incorporated.

Finally, when thinking about the possible survey respondents, I would suggest using as diverse audience as possible. Asking people with various national, gender, race, religious and ethical background to answer the survey questions would, on the one hand, provide an adequate sample credibility as a huge amount of personal experience will be included and, on the other hand, would help to avoid any kinds of discrimination or inequality as it is.

References

Bell, Judith. (2006). Designing and Administrating Questionnaires. Doing Your Research Project (pp. 125-140). McGraw-Hill International.

Gonzalez, G. G., Fernandez, R., & Price, V. (2004). Labor versus Empire. Routledge.

Jacobs, J. A., & Gerson, K. (2007). Work, Family and Social Policy. The Time Divide (pp. 120-130). Harvard University Press.

Kennedy-Dubourdieu, E. (2007). Race and Inequality (p. 40-60). Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.