Gender Discrimination in the UK Workplace

Gender Discrimination refers to the idea that the position of men along with women is not the same in the society. Gender inequality is indicative of the unequal treatment that exists in the society owing to gender. Gender discrimination rises in the society from the distinctions that can be empirically grounded or it can be socially constructed (Levanon & Grusky, 2016). This essay talks about the current roles that the men along with women have in the workplace of United Kingdom. It also elaborates on the future work role in relation to men and the women within United Kingdom.

The gendered organisational theory states that there exist implicit power in the organisations of UK that make the women lose out in relation to labour market power. The leader in the organisation of UK acts as the male notion that helps in permeating power tactics within the organisation (Talbot, 2010).  The language that exists in an organisation can be said to be “man made” and the voice of the women is not heard in the organisations of UK. This helps in providing opportunities to the men to rise ahead in their profession. The language plays an important role in constructing leadership in the organization that tends to be oriented towards the male gender (Pan, 2015).  It has been found out with the help of the research that the men in the organisation are mentored in a better manner for the top roles in the management. The culture that exits in an organisation helps in reproducing and sustaining structural difficulties that the women have to face in an organisation (Heilman & Caleo, 2018).  The difficulties that the women have to face within an organisation puts career constraints that hamper their professional growth in the organisations. The images pertaining to gender are reaffirmed in the organisation with the help of interactions that take place in an organisation (Telegraph.co.uk., 2018). There exists a notion in the companies of UK that the men are the ideal worker who can help in increasing the organisational output.

The men along with the women in organisation view the masculine traits to be more appropriate that can help them in becoming an effective leader. There are managerial stereotypes that pervade in the organization that help the male workers in the organization to rise ahead in their profession (Cps.org.uk., 2018). There exist many women who have been able to break through glass ceiling however ranks pertaining to senior management are dominated by the men. The men in the organisations of UK are better rewarded and they are less stressed as compared to the female counterpart. The women in UK are good achievers in relation to academics however this is not reflected in the arena of that of workplace achievement (Newman, 2014).

The women in the organisations are clustered into various jobs that are called ‘ghetto occupations’. The ghetto occupations are oriented towards the female and they have low status. The women in the organisations are paid poorly and they have few prospects in relation to promotion (Ons.gov.uk., 2018). Women in organisations of UK are overrepresented in that of the low grade occupations that exist at lower end pertaining to career hierarchy. Women in the organisations of UK are lower-paid and they are confined to the traditional occupations like care services along with secretarial work. It has been seen that nursing remains common occupation in relation to professional women whereas software development is the primary arena of employment for the male gender (Roman, 2015).  Persistence of the aspect of gendered job roles leaves the women at a disadvantage in that of the labour market (Acas.org.uk., 2018). The jobs in which the women work like care sector are generally undervalued in the organisations of UK.

Gendered Organizational Theory and Its Impact on Women

Male dominance is a widespread form on inequality in the human history. It is held in the wider society that the role of the women in the society are limited to child-bearing along with nursing. The girls learn regarding the factor of gender identity by imitating an individual female that makes them relate to the others in a personalised way (Equalityhumanrights.com., 2018). The boys on the other hand define themselves as not being woman and they have the tendency of repressing the feminine qualities. The women in broader society are confined to that of private domestic sphere that is different from public sphere of that of male activity. The sexist society makes the women to work in domestic arena whereas the men go outside to engage themselves in other professional work. It is held in the society that men have to deal with the collective affairs like politics, governance along with the external relations. Sphere of the social activity that is associated with that of the males covers the sphere that is associated with the females which is the reason why higher value is laid on social activity of the men in the society.

Vertical segregation is indicative of the clustering of men towards top of the occupational hierarchies. Vertical segregation is said to exist when the women are placed towards the bottom of the organizational hieracrchy. Horizontal segregation is indicative of the fact that even at that of same occupational level the men along with women are provided with various job tasks. Segregation pattern are visible in the advanced industrial societies across the world. The pay inequality exist between the men and the women in the global arena. Horizontal segregation is said to exist in UK as the men and the women are paid in different basis in the various organisations of UK. Vertical segregation is evident in the organisations of UK as the men occupy the managerial positions in the organizational hierarchy. It can be said that ‘career breaks’ have an impact on the progression opportunities of the women in their profession (Roman, 2015). The women have the tendency of not returning to their original career that has an impact on the career prospects of the women. The women takes family leaves in their profession which results in gender pay gap for the women. The women have to complete more unpaid work as compared to the men and they become tired by the time they reach the workplaces (Equalityhumanrights.com., 2018). This diminishes their efficiency in the workplace that ultimately results in gender pay-gap. The women have to face double burden in their family that diminishes their performance in the organization. The barriers that the women have to face in the workplace makes it hard for them to rise ahead in their professional positions. There exist discriminatory stereotyping in relation to leadership attributes and this propels the men forward in the professional positions. Physical strength plays an important role within some industries and hence it hinders the women from engaging in those professions. Gender Pay gap exists in the workplace in UK and the women at the present time make up the 80 % of the median hourly wages of men. It has been found with the help of data that there are more women than men in the society who work on part-time basis but the men experience the most amount of growth in relation to part-time wages.  The women have the tendency of choosing nature of labour force participation on a different basis from that of the men that often has an impact on the professional advancement made by the women. The people in UK hold the notion that men in the family should act as the breadwinner and that the women should be confined to the household.  According to Global Gender Gap Report, the economic participation gap that exist between the men and the women is 58 % and the gap in relation to political empowerment is that of 77 % (Weforum.org., 2018).  The pattern of employment in that of 26 European countries revealed that women were horizontally along with vertically segregated as compared to the men.

Managerial Stereotypes and Gender Discrimination

There are economists who think that automation along with artificial intelligence will be instrumental in taking away the human jobs in the future. World Economic Forum has stated that there will be widening of gender-gap with the evolving of the job market. Report has brought out the fact that by the end of the year 2020, 2.45 million job would be lost by the women (Bbc.co.uk., 2018). The women make up small percentage of the workforce and it can hence be stated that loss of the female gender would be greater (Wired.co.uk., 2018). The employment trends in the arena of new technology suggests that more women would lose out on the best job opportunities if the current trends would continue. The sector of technology has always suffered from gender imbalance and in the coming years the gender gap would be further widened (Visual.ons.gov.uk., 2018).

Gender Equality refers to the state of access to the resources along with opportunities irrespective of that of gender. Gender equality helps in entailing the concept that man along with women can develop the personal abilities that can help them in making choices. Gender equality can be said to be fundamental human right and it can act as the foundation of a harmonious planet (Hbr.org., 2018). The survey that was carried out by World Economic Forum in the year 2017 has stated that Iceland occupies the top position in relation to gender equality. The small island has been able to rank one among the 144 countries in terms of political empowerment among the women. It is the country that has been able to close that of gender income gap and the corporate quotas help in revealing the fact that around 44 % of the representation on that of the company boards is held by the women (Gíslason & Símonardóttir, 2018).  The women have been able to occupy 30 of the 62 parliamentary seats of the Parliament that shows that women have been able to occupy a strong position in the society. Iceland is considered to be advanced in terms of gender equality along with Finland, Norway and the Sweden. In the arena of tertiary education, gender gap has been reversed in Iceland and more women are attending the university as compared to men. The legislation in Iceland is more advanced and the parents have mandatory paternal along with maternal leave. Iceland has been stated to be the most gender-neutral country in the world (Leitner, 2017).

It can be evaluated that leader within an organisation plays an important role in implementing the power tactics in an organization. It can be said that there should not be any kind of implicit power in the organisation that can hinder the progress of the women in the organization. Implicit power that is embedded in the organisation makes the women lose pertaining to labour market power. Language within an organisation being man-made provides opportunity to the male employees to go ahead in the professional career (Heilman & Caleo, 2018). The women’s voice is left unheard in the organisations that hinders the progress of the women in companies of UK. It can be evaluated that managerial stereotypes existing in company acts like a barrier for the women within an organization. The women being able to break through that of the glass ceiling can rise to the positions of senior management in the organization. The men living in organisations of UK are rewarded in a better manner in the organisation that inspires them to perform effectively within an organization.

Gender Discrimination is indicative of idea when the men and the women in the society are provided with differential treatment. There is implicit power in the organisation which makes the women fail in relation to the labour market power. The men within the organisation are provided proper guidance in relation to mentorship that helps them in gaining top roles within the management. Organisational culture plays a crucial role in sustaining the structural difficulties that are prevalent within an organisation. It is held that the masculine traits are more appropriate which can help people in evolving as effective leaders. Managerial stereotypes within an organisation helps the male employees in rising above in the professional path. The women mainly work in that of low grade occupations and generally they are confined to profession like nursing. Segregation pattern can be seen in industrial societies across that of the world. Pay inequality is there in between men and the women in global arena. Career breaks have an effect on progression of women in their professional path. Automation will take away job of the people in the future. World Economic Forum has stated the fact that gender-gap will be widened with evolution of that of job market. 

References

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