The Discrimination of Women in Workplace, Essay Example

According to Crompton (1997), today, many analysts are trying to find excuses to explain why women are under-represented in managerial position. While several authors claim that women are less qualified, less motivated to succeed, statistical data seems to be proving the opposite. The fact that women are not given equal chances for career development, and the lower average pay of women is worrying. The below essay will reveal statistics and analyse secondary research articles in order to find the reasons for women’s under-representation in managerial positions, and companies’ minority talent management approaches. The main thesis the author is examining is that employers generally discriminate against women and do not provide them with career development opportunities equal to men’s.

Statistical Data

According to the recent WHO publication (2008), women make up 43 percent of the global workforce today. However, there are some roles and areas of work where the majority of employees are women. The WHO (2008) reports that within the health care sector 75 percent of workers are women. In the United Kingdom, according to the Office for National Statistics (2013), employment of women aged between 16 and 64 increased 53 percent in 1971 to 67 percent in 2013. Men’s employment rate, at the same time, declined from 92 percent in 1971 to 76 percent in 2013. This means that an increasing number of women work, while employment rate of men is declining. At the same time, the statistical data also highlights an important aspect of employment in the UK and gender equality: Only 33 percent of managers and senior officials are female. While the percentage of managers and executives who are women is higher in Britain than the average rate of the EU, it still shows that – while women work – females are under-represented in higher paying jobs and managerial roles.

Research Review and Analysis

Not providing equal career development opportunities for women is a form of discrimination. Davey (2002) talks about this issue in detail. She created a research study based on women’s representation in social work; an area that employs mostly female workers. She states that there is a clear “direct discrimination in the ways women are appointed and developed in their careers” (Davey, 2002, p. 2.) The research compared career progression patterns of males and females in five social services departments located in England and two agencies in Scotland. The results showed that only 37 percent of women in social work progressed into a line manager role, compared to 39 percent of men. The gap was even greater in field social worker roles: only 22 percent of women progressed further, compared with 46 percent of men. Simply stating that women have different priorities than men, and would prefer looking after their families instead of building their career was also found untrue. 34 percent of those who had no children at home were interested in managerial roles, compared with 56 percent of women with kids aged 0-4, and 66 percent of female workers who had children aged between 13 and 20.

The Office of National Statistics (2013) also revealed similar trends in the labor market, regarding women’s discrimination. One interesting finding is that in 2013 “a higher percentage of female graduates (27%) compared with males (13%) worked in lower middle skill jobs” (Office of National Statistics, 2013, p. 15). It would be unreasonable to state that women “chose” to work in a job that required a qualification lower than theirs. Statistics suggest that they were not offered jobs that matched their skills and qualification. This, in turn, indicates that they suffered from workplace discrimination.

The WHO report (2008, p. 2) showed that in the United Kingdom, there is a huge gender gap between occupational earnings of health care professionals. In midwifery, women were paid around 82 percent of men’s wages,  but in other health associate professions, they got less than 60 percent. Nursing professionals who were females – on the average – earned about 75 percent of men’s salary. This data set shows that women are not only discriminated against when it comes to career progression, but are also underpaid compared with men working in the same role.

The UK Feminista website (n.d.) found that around 70 percent of those who earn the National Minimum Wage in Britain are women. Further, according to the review of the statistics, the article found that 54 percent of women in part time work are employed below their capabilities and potential. At the same time, women have a very low (17 percent) representation in UK FTSE 100 companies’ board of directors.

Conclusion

The above data of research and statistics has revealed that women are disadvantaged in the workplace in many ways, compared with men. They get paid less for doing the same job, and have fewer chances of career progression. While some authors say that the majority of women are not motivated to progress their career, and are more interested in looking after children, this is not the case. The number of women working today is much higher than ever, and those with family commitment are still interested in leadership training. It seems like companies need to address the issue of women’s under-representation in executive and managerial roles by ensuring that they provide them with equal pay and career development opportunities.

References

Crompton, R. (1997) Women and Work in Modern Britain. Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Davey, B. (2002) Management progression and ambition: women and men in social work. Research Policy and Planning (2002) vol. 20 no. 2

Office of National Statistics UK (2013) Full report – Women in the labour market. Retrieved from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_328352.pdf

UK Feminista (n.d.) Facts and statistics on gender inequality. Retrieved from http://ukfeminista.org.uk/take-action/facts-and-statistics-on-gender-inequality/

WHO (2008) Gender and health workforce statistics. Retrieved from  http://www.who.int/hrh/statistics/spotlight_2.pdf