1. Purpose
Gender differences should not affect treatment in the workplace but unfortunately, I as well as countless numbers of women have experienced this trauma. There are many instances and forms that gender inequality exposes and some refer to the unequal values assigned to men and women when formulating laws and policies in the society as well as in the workplace. The workplaces in Saudi Arabia are filled with these unequal gender practices that impose the artificial glass ceiling in Saudi Arabia and other countries which hinder the progress of women in the workplace. The research in this paper addresses the ability of society to illustrate the gender gaps and attempt to offer solutions to move forward together. Ultimately, the purpose of this research is to understand and overcome sexism in the workplace in Saudi Arabia.
Video interviews are scheduled in which I will ask questions of the participants and to also write in their daily journals. Diaries are important written history. The video calls show another insight and also give the added benefit of the non verbal communication. The respondents can discuss their experiences and details of their problems in the workplace in addition to the follow-up questions. The results of the video interviews and the diaries will be used to contribute to the information
2. Qualitative Research
The research in this paper is both; phenomenology and heuristic inquiry. Phenomenology is a qualitative tradition in which one focuses on asking questions on gender inequality to a group of women who experienced this or in other words for a group of people by focusing on their lived experiences. For example, in previous studies the women in the defense industries made good subjects as they had suffered the effects of gender inequality in the workplace .Qualitative heuristic research, on the other hand, refers to a qualitative tradition where one focuses is a discovery method in which dialogue and discovery are important components of the study. These two qualitative research techniques as my experience with sexism in the workplace as well as the experience of other women who have encountered sexism in the workplace will be measured .
3. Preliminary Research Questions
a. How is sexism evident in the workplace in Saudi Arabia?
b. How can we reduce and eventually overcome gender inequality in the workplace?
These questions beg to be answered in light of the experience of women in the workplace. Since many women experience these practices in the secretive or guarded workplaces publicizing the information is difficult to get women to speak about. Fear of reprisal is a very real concern. Many companies are finding that gender inequalities in all levels of employment are still existent and many women do not report for fear of male repercussions . Studying these research questions can lead to significant changes in the everyday lives of people and their experiences.
Gender discrimination against women in the workplace is effective in the banking industry in Saudi Arabia as my personal experiences can attribute. Previous studies have indicated that gender stereotyping and organizational factors encourage gender discrimination. This particular study is especially relevant because it is being performed by women who received the gender discrimination. Promoting gender inequality without a gender perspective only serves the skew the results as different problems concerning equal pay and the basis of potential bargaining cultures that can be construed .
This particular research focuses on the gender challenges facing women leaders and workers in Saudi Arabia . Women have taken roles in the workplace that had previously been given only to men. The increasing amount of women facing the gender inequalities is increasing in the past years since the women have taken these positions.
4. Data Collections
In order to have a meaningful sample for this research it is important to select women in the workplace that have been victimized by gender inequality. Since my past allows me to select women from the Saudi Arabian workplaces they will be the feeder for data collection. Purposeful sampling is widely used in qualitative research for the identification and selection of information rich cases that are related to the phenomenon of interest . Therefore the method of data collection in this study will be the video interviews and the documents that we are calling diaries that the women are keeping.
The subjects will be selected through personal relationships that were made during my time of working for the Saudi Arabia bank. Additionally, as in many phenomenological studies, or lived studies, need to involve the people who are living and experiencing the phenomena or happening that is being studied . The heuristic research methods are the use of the diary. These diaries will assist the women in reacting to the situation immediately as it happens. The diary also allows for the continuum of reactions and occurrences so as to effectuate a meaningful picture of what is happening in the workplace.
The access to the women in the research begins with my experience at a Saudi Arabia bank. Witnessing the gender inequalities first hand, there developed a desire to research a method to help reduce these inequalities in some way. In my post graduate degree program I am majoring in Public Administration which prepares civil servants to work in the public sector. Many of the women that I worked with led e to focus my research on sex discrimination. Getting the authorization to conduct the research of the five participants involves the managers of the organizations as well as the five women chosen for the study. With the knowledge gained from this study, hopefully the results will help to influence the implementation of policies that promote equality in the private service sector.
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