Abstract:
The most pressing of the issues that we are faced with nowadays is that of equality and fairness in the context of employment and employment opportunities. The main issue is that of discrimination and equality in employment. It does not matter if the access to employment is similar for all individuals or not as this does not affect your chances of employment, however certain people are indisposed to being discriminated against due to their characteristics. Our research and literature review shows and points to the fact that these issues are intrinsically linked to the race and the gender of an individual. Women are more likely than others to be victims of discrimination in employment and the effect of discrimination can be counteracted by Affirmative Action programs.
Introduction
In an interview Miss Natalie Portman was reported as being concerned about the existing Hollywood wage gap between men and women (Natalie Portman sick of Hollywood pay gap, 2015). Even though Hollywood seems to have just recently found its voice in the debate over discrimination against women in the workplace, this issue is one that is quite old. The discrimination that women face when compared to men is a result of the ever popular “Glass Ceiling” that is cited as a major obstacle to women in every sector. Indeed, in the 2008 election campaign Hillary Clinton also referred to this “glass ceiling” when she conceded her presidential nomination for the Democratic Party to Obama (Nagourney and Leibovich, 2008). In this article the glass ceiling will be discussed with reference to whether its effects can be mitigated by the operation of Affirmative Action Programs.
Equality in work place is one of the most discussed topics these days. Various organizations have been discriminating people based on their gender, race cast and even look at times. People are preferred while being hired based on the way they talk and look. Many a times, even the pay varies for males as compared to females. The discrimination is also reverse when the minority or the weaker person is given undue advantages.
Statement Problem
Women in the workplace are continuously being faced with the ‘glass ceiling’ which prevents them from reaching their true potential. Such an important issue needs to be addressed as women are being obstructed from being valuable members of the workforce due to the operation of such phenomenon. It is my suggestion that the subversive effects of such a phenomenon can be mitigated by the introduction of Affirmative Action Programs aimed at equalizing the representation of women at all levels of the work. Rather than considering women as a weaker gender they should be given equal opportunity and should be paid the same level of the salary. (Chater & Chater, 1992).
Literature Review
There is a contractual relationship existing between the government as well as an individual, living in the state. This is called as occupational inequality and it relates to the type of inequality due to which individuals are discriminated between due to their sex, race or sexuality, among other things. The link between occupation as well as the financial compensation is also focused as it affects the access of individuals to different resources which lead to long lasting effects in the lives of individuals as well as those who are dependent on them (Miech, Eaton and Liang, 2003).
The term given to discrimination that is faced by women in the workforce is called as the glass ceiling and it is defined as an artificial barrier, which is a result of both attitudinal and organizational bias that hinders individuals from advancing upward in the hierarchy of their organization (U.S Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995). Women are also continuously faced with with systematic disadvantages that are in the form of authority, vertical mobility as well as low income and low status jobs. The phenomenon is termed as the ‘sticky floor’ phenomenon as women seem to remain stationary with regard to vertical mobility at their respective workplace. Women who work outside the white collar sector are less likely to be represented and the glass ceiling blocks even those women who are part of this sector.
Obviously occupational inequality has always been considered an issue however; theories differ between why this inequality exists and how it can be completely diminished. According to Richard A. Miech the only way in which this gap between the wages earned by females can be bridged by a change in the economic theory of the society. The essence of his theory is that those who discriminate between races and genders have to pay more to an employee who is a white male and thus they will in effect lose money by following this way of thinking. (Tomaskovic & Donald, 1993) So those employers who are non-discriminating they will have two distinct advantages over discriminating ones; they will have to pay less to their employees and they will indirectly lead to a reduction in the occupational inequality. Miech believes that if this plan is followed then national occupational inequality could also be reduced (Miech, Eaton and Liang, 2003)
Another process that was observed amongst the population is that of “aging effects” which propagates the idea that occupational inequality will subsist as the age of a person advances. This theory divides the labor market into two sectors; in the “primary” sector there are good jobs which have good conditions of work and which also allow for a number of promotions. On the other end are bad jobs in the “peripheral” sector where the advancement of an individual is difficult and working conditions are horrible. The societal mobility of an individual between both the sectors is very difficult and women are highly saturated in the peripheral sector (Miech, Eaton and Liang, 2003)
The most common of the inequality on the basis of gender in the workplace depends on the relationship between power and command on the decisions of the management in an organization (Tomaskovic-Devey). In such societies white men have positions that are higher up in the hierarchy of the company and women are mostly on a lower rung of the hierarchy.
There are four explanations for this gender pay gap. Almost 36% of the gender pay gap can be explained in terms of the working patterns of women. 18% of the gender pay gap is caused due because the labor market has enforced certain strict rules on the basis of which there is segregation between the sexes. 38% is due to the direct discrimination in the job market as well as the different ideas and decisions that both men and women make regarding their careers. 8% of the gender pay gap is due to the differences in the education that older women in the job market have attained when compared to others (Bettio and Verashchagina). However we should also consider the recently conducted research done by Stone which seems to suggest that women are now being ‘forced out’, instead of being allowed to ‘opt out’, due to the existing strong ideologies of caring and these ideologies force these women to invest their time in mothering activities. (Tony, 1997)
The existing unfairness in the society can be remedied by intervention which promotes social change ("Thinking about fairness and inequality", 2009). When a relationship of injustice exists in the society it is exhibited in the form of power relations. The inequality, injustice as well as the power one group exerts over the other combines in the form of oppression ("Thinking about fairness and inequality", 2009).
There are two kinds of thinking which are described in the terms of “fair shares” and “fair play”. The fair play concept believes that any and all inequalities that may arise are all fair if the rules that exist for a person’s ‘pursuit of happiness’ are fair and just When there is equal opportunity then the existing inequality should not pose any issues. So everyone should have “sufficient” resources that would allow an individual to live a life that would allow them to exercise their full rights and liberties (Wellington, 1997). This point towards that fact that everyone should be exposed to equal opportunities and the best one amongst them may get the role.
Equality of opportunity means that not only should there be the absence of barriers but also the equality of the chances of succeeding at something in life. People who have with similar talents should have same kinds of life chances. These issues are mostly all systematic and they are not individual and so only a change at the structural level will affect them (Ryan, 1981).
Only positive actions against discrimination in the form of affirmative action programs can end discrimination as they help all applicants who are adequately qualified to receive equal opportunity for any type of recruitment. These programs increase the representation of these people in the public’s service. However these programs help initiate such changes by acting as intervening measures and by helping the public engage the free market and reverse the effects of any discrimination against certain groups (Chater & Chater, 1992).
However an additional question that we must ask ourselves is that is equality possible and feasible? Lane Kenworthy believes the answer to this question to be affirmative in his text on income equality in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. According to him the people get a lot of benefits as a result of the high rate of income taxes that are paid by them as these factors are connected to how “fair” the system of a society is. Each and every child enters into the world as equals, on the same social ground, and the resources available to parents (like child benefit etc) are possible only due to the high income tax. Kenworthy believes that we should focus, not on the inequality of individuals, but on the inequality of household income (Stone, 2007).
Conclusion
Ensuring equality at work place is one of the most important pre requisite for ensuring satisfied workforce. When employees feel that they are judged only based on the output they give and not any other factor, they are likely to perform better and our motivated to do their best at the work place which eventually increases the productivity and the profitability of the company. (Purcell, MacArthur & Samblanet, 2010).
God has made every man in the same way and that is the reason why no law or no religion has put anyone superior to the other being. Taking from this, a lot of the organizations are working globally to ensure that no inequality or injustice prevails in the organizations based on the race, caste or gender. Human resource departments along with various other human rights organizations are now also paying great attention to this and are working seriously towards curbing this menace from the society and give equal opportunity to everyone.
References
Bettio, Francesca and Alina Verashchagina. Frontiers In The Economics Of Gender. London: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Chater, R. & Chater, C. (1992). POSITIVE ACTION: TOWARDS A STRATEGIC APPROACH. Women In Management Review, 7(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09649429210014342
Miech, Richard A., William Eaton, and Kung-Yee Liang. "Occupational Stratification Over The Life Course: A Comparison Of Occupational Trajectories Across Race And Gender During The 1980S And 1990S".work occup 30.4 (2003): 440-473. Web.
Natalie Portman sick of Hollywood pay gap. (2015). Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 April 2016, from http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a661787/natalie-portman-is-tired-of-the-hollywood-pay-gap-there-is-an-outrageous-discrepancy-between-men-and-women/
Purcell, D., MacArthur, K., & Samblanet, S. (2010). Gender and the Glass Ceiling at Work. Sociology Compass, 4(9), 705-717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2010.00304.x
Stone, P. (2007). Opting out?. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tam, Tony. "Sex Segregation And Occupational Gender Inequality In The United States: Devaluation Or Specialized Training?1". American Journal of Sociology 102.6 (1997): 1652-1692. Web.
Thinking about fairness and inequality. (2009). Retrieved 26 April 2016, from https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/ContemporaryAmericanSociety/Chapter%2010%20--%20inequality%20&%20fairness%20--%20Norton%20August.pdf
Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald. Gender & Racial Inequality At Work. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 1993. Print.
Wellington, S. (1997). Breaking the glass ceiling. Leader To Leader, 1997(6), 37-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ltl.40619970611
