Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Introduction
Gender inequality is still a very prevalent issue in North America especially in the workplace. Inequality is present in both the norms within the workplace in reference to the pay gap, the ambition gap and the social norms that influence individual perception1, 2, 3, 4 . Furthermore, the expectations in North America society create high ideal expectations for motherhood and household duties which inhibits female performance in the workplace. Finally, assault and harassment are more prevalent for women than men in the workplace 5.
Norms in the Workplace
Over the past century a lot of progress has been made in regard to women in the workplace. However, stark inequalities still exist.
The Gender Pay Gap
Full time working Canadian women earn 74 cents per hour for every dollar made by men regardless of their age, education or occupation. To further the effects of this pay gap women are stuck in lower paying jobs with 45% of employed Canadian women working in low paying occupations 2. In addition to this only 25.6% of senior positions in the workplace are held by women and only 25% hold board seats 6. The effects of this pay gap is that women end up having to work for longer to save for retirement, they receive smaller social security checks due to smaller pay roll contributions and it increases the number of women living in poverty in comparison to men 2. It is estimated that 3% more women than men live in persistent poverty 7
The Ambition and Perception Gap
The lower number of women in top corporate jobs can be related to the internal perception gap between men and women. Women are more critical of themselves, believing they are internally less competent than their male counterparts 3. Females more frequently attribute success to external forces while males attribute success to internal characteristics such as their work ethic, personality and skills 8. These perceptions are guided by descriptive and prescriptive expectations 1. Descriptive refers to what women are like and prescriptive refers to how women are expected to behave. These expectations can result in a devaluation of female performance, denying women credit fort their success or even penalizing their competence. In other woods women are made to feel like they are personally not competent enough to reach the same heights as their male counter parts. This means that unless females are pushed to further their careers they often will not believe they have the skills or abilities for the job, even though they could be fully prepared.
Professional Ambition is an expectation of men while for women it is optional and may even be considered negative. Men are applauded for being ambitious and powerful while for women this mean even come with a social penalty and associated costs. This all works to prevent equally competent females reaching the top of corporate ladders within North America 1, 9 . All of these factors work to prevent equally competent females reaching the top of corporate ladders within North America. When women begin their careers they are often as ambitious as males, but organizational cultures that bias towards men and their promotions work to degrade female ambition 10. This means that the every day practices carried out within organizations inherently impact female's goals and career paths, putting women at a long term disadvantage.
Unequal Expectations
The Motherhood Penalty
Next, women are penalized for having children because caregiving work is not recognized or rewarded. Mothers are at a systematic disadvantage in terms of pay, perceived competence and benefits relative to childless women and this is known as the motherhood penalty. Mothers earn 15% less than men and 5% less than women without children11. It is important to recognize that for many women ambitions differ and that for some women raising children successfully is their dream ambition, however the gendered stereotypes that are introduced in childhood are later reinforced for women and become self-fulfilling prophesies12.
Household Expectations
Women are forced to work through the trade-offs between work and family from a younger age compared to men and inaccessibility to affordable childcare means this trade-off is much more challenging. Over the past decade child care costs have risen at double the rate of the median household income so despite more modern methods of employment and childcare the result of becoming a mother decreases the likelihood of participation in the workforce 4. This is significantly influenced by socioeconomic factors with lower income families having more co-parent earnings than middle and high-income families and this can align with racial demographic factors. Therefore, the gender inequality prevalent for mothers is not always a personal decision rather it is influenced by social norms, familial expectations and workforce realities.
Violence and Abuse in the Workplace
Women are more likely to experience patterned violence resulting in injury and high levels of fear, especially in the workplace. Two tenths of females in the workplace have been harassed or assaulted in the workplace 13. What is worse is that only one quarter of the victims reported it to management due to perceived reprimands of being fired. The lack of reports were due to perceived inactivity by the company or not believing that the event was serious enough to require action.
Intersectionality
It is important to note that opportunities for Aboriginal women in the workplace are not equal, causing inherent lack of chances to move up the corporate ladder. Even though there is anti-discrimination legislation in place to protect Aboriginal people, they are more subject to discrimination despite the already increased rate of abuse that females receive in the work place 14. In other words there is an injustice between policy and practice in that the Federal Employment Equity Act of 1986 prevents any discrimination and malpractice. But there are cases of malpractice that need to be addressed in order to truly achieve equality in the workplace. Aboriginal Women receive on average $6,264 less than non-Aboriginal women 15, showing these women are put at a further systematic disadvantage in terms of pay. Furthermore, Aboriginal women, and those of other minority groups are more greatly discriminated in the workplace and the result of organizational cultures that discriminate is worse for intersectional women. This results in an enhancement of all the effects mentioned in the above sections.
References
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13 https://globalnews.ca/news/3934928/canadian-workplace-harassment/
14 Statistics Canada. (2017, October 25). Indigenous Peoples and human rights. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/rights-indigenous-peoples.html
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