Women and Flexibility in the Workplace (week 2 ) - Assignment Example

? Women through Time: Catalyst of Change in Workplace and Workforce First Submitted The role of women in the society is very important. Through the years, women struggled to achieve equal rights. They struggled to attain more freedom. However, as time passes by, women’s role have changed and therefore, their needs have changed also. With the changing society, women need more flexibility. Women face structural and social issues that affects their flexibility in the workplace. However, there will come a time wherein the workplace will adapt to the changing workforce to be more productive. In the video, Open Mind: Women as Agents of Change Part I (2005), Kathleen Christensen raised the issue of the flexibility of women in the workplace. She argued that women need more flexibility in the workplace and the flexibility they needed is based on structural and social issue. Christensen believed that the private individual issues women are facing are not individual issues. She believes that these issues are structural problems. She believed that the structure of workplace is not suitable for the women especially to the mothers (Open Mind, 2005). For the past years, women are expected to take care of the children, stay and organize home. However, as poverty spreads throughout the country, American women changed roles and entered the workplace which before, is exclusively for men. In 1889, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates opened an opportunity for middle class women to work, thus ignited the evolution of women in the workplace (Giraffe, 2011). This opportunity gave women the chance to go beyond what they are expected to do. This lifted the spirits of many women in the history and inspired them to pursue more participation in the society. Based on the history of America, women served as important instruments of change. Women fought for their rights that resulted to many changes in America. They participated in wars and leadership. Women proved that they are not only for housekeeping but they are also for the works that men usually do (Smith, 2009). The works women do in the society is indeed helpful for the progress of the country, however, their first role as mothers still outweighs their roles as workers in the society. The role of women as mothers and household keeper is in conflict with the demands of the present structure of workplace. The present workplace structure of the society is in conflict with the lifestyle of women. It affects their flexibility in work especially in time. The workplace of the society is designed for male workers. From the beginning, men are the ones working for the family. Most of the employers in workplace demands full time job (Giraffe, 2011). This means that the desired employees should have a lot of time and focus for the work. The jobs that requires full time employees are not suited for women workers who have family. After working, women are expected to organize home and look after their children. The required 40-hour a week for an employee is heavy for a woman who has children to take care of (Open Mind, 2005). This is the reason why some women are not flexible enough to do requirement of their jobs. Aside from the demanding schedule, the structure of workplace is designed for men’s activity. Before, farming is the dominating available work for people. During industrialization, different companies opened and created more jobs. Also the prominent available jobs during that time are on steel, coal, mining and cars industries (Giraffe, 2011). It can be analyzed that throughout the history, the workplace is designed for male workers. Although the war made an opportunity for women to participate in labor work because most men were in the battlefield, the work give to women are just temporary and inappropriate. Today, the available jobs can now be categorized as blue collar and white collar. However, most companies still view women as less competitive compared to men that’s why women cannot sometimes be in the job they wanted to be. The patriarchal society hinders the progress of women in the society (Giraffe, 2011). A condition called glass ceiling is another social issue women commonly face in the workplace. Glass ceiling makes women less flexible in the workplace. Even though many women are capable of being promoted, they are not being promoted and employers choose men to be leaders. Most women are enveloped to works that involve supporting role (Giraffe, 2011). This issue creates not only a big gap between men and women in terms of promotion but also in salary. As men have higher probability of being promoted, they have higher salary compared to women. Women do not only face the issue of salary differences, but also time.. As more women work, their duty as mother is being compromised. Some women lessen their time of sleep in order to satisfy the duty of being a mother and full or part time worker in the society. Also women working at least 40 hours a week have higher risks of having health problems (Open Mind, 2005). Women pay the price of being full time worker and mother with their health. This is not a good way of practicing flexibility. Women can both work and be a household organizer but through paying the price of having health risks. The workforce of today especially women is inappropriate for the present structure of the workplace and the social issues surrounding women hinder their flexibility to progress in the society. 71% of the women in the workforce are mothers that is why it is hard for them to balance their time between family and work. Also, more married couples end up in divorce and most of the time, the children are left in the care of mothers (Giraffe, 2011). The individual personal issue each woman struggles with are not just normal private issues. These issues are rooted to the inappropriate structure of the workplace and the social issues surrounding them. When women that are mostly mothers don’t perform well in their work, it does not simply imply that they are less flexible or competitive to men. When women are absent from their work, it does not also simply imply that women are less responsible or healthy to men. It is just that the workplace women are within is not suited to the roles and lifestyle women have compared to men. As more women enters the workforce, changes continue to happen in the workplace in order to satisfy the emerging new member of workforce. Since the present structure of workplace does not fit the changing workforce, the workplace will adjust to the changing workforce. In present day America, there are four categories of workforce: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials (Giraffe, 2011). With the difference in generation, conflict between the categories are expected. However, as level of competiveness heightens, women are expected to adapt the demands of the society. In the next 10 years, more women are likely to enter the workforce. As stated in Women 2020, less women are going to enter the married life and will devout more time in work. Also, women will play a great role in the consumerist society of America. In the next years, women are more likely to be stronger in decision making and independent, thus making them to participate more in consumption (Birtwistle, 2013). After 10 years, the workplace for women is still under the transition of change. The employees would find it more effective in having mix people in their companies. Companies will adapt to the changing workforce as more women work. Companies will offer different type of work, full time, part time and career flexibility, in order to entertain more women in the workplace. Women serve as mediators in the changes that are happening in the society. The structural and social issue that hinder the flexibility of women are going to be lessen and women will be more independent aggressive in work after the transition stage in the remodeling of the structure of workplace and workforce. References Birtwistle, E. (2013). Women 2020: Our Selves, Our Worlds, Our Futures. Futurist, 47(3), 36-43. Giraffe, V. (2011). Contemporary social problems and the workplace. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education,Inc. PBS Video. (2005, January 12).The Open Mind: Women as Change Agents in America, Part I. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://video.pbs.org/video/1841003503. Smith, B. H. (2009, February 20). My View: History shows women's contribution to U.S.progress. News Bank: America’s News Magazines. Read More