The Fight for Gender Equality: 7 Discriminations Women Still Face in The Workplace

By Hallie Boburka

Have you ever heard of a conversation concerning the rights of men? I have not, but I have heard of conversations regarding women’s rights. In comparison to men, women are still seen as the damsel in distress rather than the strong and powerful hero. Women are also considered to be incapable of holding high positions of power and deemed only important for the process of reproduction. Inequality can be seen everywhere and in different forms. A common place for women to experience inequality is in the workplace, often through the form of discrimination.

As nice as it would be for everyone to believe in working women, sadly that is not the case. In a blog post, written by Carolyn Fusima, the opinion of whether women should work or not is weighed. Fusima argues that “women shouldn’t be breadwinners” and “in the normal course of life women should not work as men do.” I disagree with what this writer has to say, and I find that their disbelief in working women contribute to the discrimination’s women face in the workplace. 

There are some people who argue that by seeing more women in male-dominated fields will there be less gender inequality. Authors, Alieza Durana and Haley Swenson, argue that “…women’s representation and visibility as key to gender equality in the workplace. The authors explain that “Inequality in online imagery is just one small step; to get to a more equal future we have to do a lot more than visualize.” Durana and Swenson provide a controversial solution to gender inequality by visualizing women in the workplace more.

Author, Lois Collins, claims that men experience discrimination alongside women. Collins writes about the study sociologist, Jill E. Yavorsky, conducted in which she sent out 3,000 applications for lower-class jobs. She found that “discrimination for men was greatest if they applied for middle-class jobs that are more often associated with women.” Discrimination would be greater for men in lower and middle-class jobs; however, it would be greater for women in higher-class jobs. While these findings can be argued as truthful, the listicle below offers an insight that would prove them wrong.

Contrary to popular belief, sex discrimination is still present in the workplace. This discrimination is specifically targeted towards women. Women are not being treated fairly and are held to different standards than that of their male coworkers. Personally, I believe that women deserve to be treated equally, paid fairly, and given the same opportunities as men. I have assembled a list of the discriminations women continually face in the workplace.

1. The Wage Gap

Perhaps the most infamous discrimination known amongst the workplace is pay inequality. The wage gap is “the ratio of female to male average earning. Currently, for every dollar a man makes a woman makes around 79 cents. When performing the same job and working the same number of hours, how is it fair that the women earns significantly less than her male coworker? It is not fair nor just and only amplifies the acceptance of gender discrimination in the workplace.

• Female Bosses

Who runs the world? Unfortunately, on the employment side of management, females’ bosses do not run the world. Instead, they are faced with discrimination and misogyny. Did you know that only 5% of CEOs are women? With such little representation in high-class jobs, the room for judgment and intolerance is higher.

Martin Abel, a professor of Economics, conducted a study in which he hired employees and found how they responded to a boss with either a female or male name. The results showed that both genders of employees “reacted negatively to criticism given by a female.” From this information it can be assumed that the female boss would be reported more often than the male boss would be. While it could be possible that male and female coworkers are uncomfortable by their female boss, that is no reason to hold a bias against them. This further confirms that gender bias is real, and females experience discrimination more than males.  

• Pregnancy

Bringing a new life into the world is a beautiful thing, but why are some women punished for it? Having a child does not make a mother any less qualified or professional for her job. The Americans with Disabilities Act states that employers must “provide necessary accommodations to pregnant women with certain pregnancy-related conditions.” However, this act does not protect expecting mothers with common to mild pregnancy symptoms. While it is dangerous to take on stressful work assignments as a pregnant woman, it can sometimes be unavoidable. If an expecting mother takes off frequently or must stop working, she faces a horrible reality that she may be fired from her job.

Around 250,000 pregnant employees are refused any requested accommodations per year. A woman cannot control what her body can handle while she is pregnant. No one can imagine what the expecting mother is going through, which makes it completely unfair to have only some pregnancy conditions covered by employers. A man cannot be discriminated against pregnancy, so why should a woman?  

• Sexual Harassment

The Me Too movement is a determined cause to help people come forward and bring awareness to sexual harassment. This form of harassment is seen as unwanted actions or words towards someone in a sexual manner. Women are more likely to report claims of harassment and assault than men in both male-dominated and non-male-dominated careers.

This movement has empowered more women to speak out against their abusers. In 2017, about 16.5% of workplace sexual harassment claims were filed by men; meanwhile 83% of these claims were filed by women. This is an extremely terrifying and threating statistic for women. It is important for young women to be aware of the harassment and discriminations present in the workplace and to understand that it is not acceptable or normal. Those who do report a claim against someone for workplace sexual harassment risk their job and chance of moving up in the company.

• Promotions

A promotion is a great opportunity for workers everywhere. It is rewarding when the promise and dedication you show in your work is recognized. However, that is not always the case. In comparison to 8% of male employees, 29% of female employees believe their gender will hold them back from receiving a promotion. This fact speaks for itself; the progression for female employees in a company is less certain than that of male employees.

It is extremely disturbing to think that there is corruption in giving promotions. If you think that that is unsettling, note that there are more CEO’s named “John” than there are females. This discrimination exemplifies how women and men are not given the same opportunities. Rather than being judged by character, effort, and behavior and employee’s worth and future is determined by their gender.

• Age

It is not polite to ask someone their age. However, it is even worse to victimize someone because of how old they are. In the workplace, female appearances are studied more than male appearances. Since appearance for males tend to matter less compared to females, this type of discrimination affects women more than men.

In 2015, a study was conducted to find who was really affected by age discrimination. The results expressed that “age discrimination in hiring is particularly bad for women.” To better understand this information, let us look at an example. There could be an open position in a company looking for a new employee. The applicants could be an older woman with extensive experience and a younger woman with little experience. It is more likely that the younger woman would receive the job than the older woman, often due to the exposure of appearance discrimination.

• Appearance

Rather than evaluating someone on their job performance or experience, it is more often based on physical appearance. As learned in the previous example of discrimination, appearances are stressed more on women than men. In a study conducted, 32% of people believe there is a vast “difference in the beauty standards that men and women are held to.”

In having a completely guidelines of acceptability for female and male employees, does the gap to gender equality increase .This example of discrimination relates back to the main point that women are held to different standards than men and are not treated equally.

While women still face many injustices towards the fight for equality, their bravery and will to create a better future is embodied. It is important to be aware of the discrimination women face in the workplace. If you are a woman, it is essential that you recognize such bias and prepare yourself for what you will probably face when working. If you are not a woman, it is also critical to educate yourself on such toxic behaviors so that you too can recognize and help change them. In realizing the wrongs that are occurring in the workplace and taking a step forward in the direction of change, do we create a healthier and more positive environment for everyone.