The Bias to Women in the Workplace - Essay Example

Introduction It has become a common perception that there are more men at the top management positions than women. There are empirical bases for this claim. In fact, it has become an alarming concern that hiring in the workplace, especially in giving equal opportunity between men and women for the top jobs should be taken into account, for it raises concerns about inequality, bias and other negative connotations against the women’s interest. From the point of view of the management, the ideas pertaining to culture and gender might substantially be some important considerations for this, especially in understanding as to why there are only few women in the upper management class. Questions such as linked to their capacity in management and dealing with people might be substantially considered. On the other hand, the concept about organizations dominated and governed by men cannot be overlooked. In fact, majority of businesses around the world have men, as Presidents or Chief Executives, leaving many women down to lower management level in the organization. Will this imply that women are just second best to men, especially in dealing with the organization? This might be a hasty perception, but there are some supporting evidences to strengthen the idea that women generally lag behind men in the workplace primarily in obtaining higher level positions. Will this then imply that men are the tough guys for the job at the higher management spot? Consequently, will this also imply that women are not more likely as capable as men in the workplace, primarily for higher or executive positions? Perhaps, the answer to these questions might be clear to some, but the most interesting point is not to finding answers for them, but observing around would suffice the need to grasp as to how women might have been left behind in handling top jobs. After this, it is essential to point out some reasons as to why women may have absolutely been left behind by men in the quest for higher or top positions in an organization. Knowing all of this information may lead to understanding the key areas or issues behind men prioritized over women for the top jobs. The concept of management approach that prevails over time in the organization, primarily in the world of business should be highlighted for this. Prior to this, the idea of knowing what other studies reveal is of prime importance to the discussion. What some studies reveal Compared to men, there are more women who are not in the upper management. In a study, the data in 2008 revealed only 46.5 percent of the US labour force comprised women, but only around 51 percent of them are holding managerial and professional jobs, and around seven percent of women from the population of executives hold the title of chief executive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO), and executive vice president (EVP) (Hoobler, Lemmon & Wayne, 2011). The report of Clark and Hobbins (2014) reveals that women comprise only of just a quarter of those working in the key management positions of Australian companies. The report added that women are at a serious disadvantage as to mounting the higher management positions, as based on the opinion of Helen Conway, director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). The Grant Thornton International Business (2012) published that women in senior management are still not enough. The report reveals that in 2004, there were only 19 percent of women in the top management, more than 24 percent in 2007 and continued to level that same percentage in 2009, but it went down to lower than 20 percent in 2011 and rose back to 21 percent in 2012. All of these studies suggest that women are eventually underrepresented in upper management. It is however clear that the gender discrimination in hiring and compensation is considered illegal in the workplace with the institution of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Civil Rights Act of 1964. These laws suggest that women cannot be significantly lagged behind men in various opportunities in the top management. However, the prevailing studies and claim continue to ignite the fact that men are more likely to take the spot of higher management positions. The advocates of the women’s rights are claiming that this is still a good picture or implication of gender inequality in the workplace. This leads to various speculations that women are not any good than men. Thus, hiring them would imply a less chance for the company, firm or organization to survive or compete in the future. This may sound like a trigger that would have to be pulled in order to make a strange reaction or response from the advocates of women’s right. However, a clear picture of evidence suggests that women are still far behind men, especially in their numbers in the firm or organization for the top positions. There are many reasons to consider as to why women may have been left behind by men in their journey towards the upper management. In order to see this, there are various perspectives that need to be understood. The historical perspective All of the studies were conducted at highly advanced countries, where the outmost sophistication or adhering to modern thoughts prevails. It is of prior importance to take a look at this point more closely or in detail, in order to understand the prevailing culture and gender issues in the management. It is of great value to consider that these advanced countries are looking primarily for competitive advantage. When it comes to this, strategic inputs are necessary, and it takes more energy in order to obtain the target goals in the end. Men are considered tough for the job, as cultures like the United States or Western Countries are established by great men. From the past, men were considered conquerors, and such strength and aggressive efforts are still mirrored at present at the majority of management-related tasks at the workplace. Men are therefore not only the ones entrusted most to do the heavy lifting at the workplace, but they also hold the other extreme of the organization, the top position. Based on the history, men were considered to have had employed the aggressive efforts in major development, success or triumph. Thus, there is lingering culture of considering men as the tough individuals for the tough jobs. Such mindset creeps into the world of business. Look around and you will find majority of business tycoons are men. Only few spots have been left for women. The prominent business of Apple has Steve Jobs, Gates at Microsoft and Zuckerberg at Facebook and the list goes on. Try to continue scan the list and find that only few women who actually managed to make it. Oprah and McCoy may be prominent, but they have mastered their own craft, at some point, particularly in business in line with the things about women. However, this may still be a few cases of women having reached at the upper management compared to men. The probable reasons Dudman (2014) argued that there are few modern or common misconceptions about the lack of senior women in the workplace, specifically at the top. These include the reasoning such as: “(1) With babies, women are not able to have a good chance of achieving top management, (2) The market for jobs is fair, but women may not just do not want senior positions, (3) Women may not work hard enough, (4) Obtaining higher position in the workplace is applicable only for rich, middle-class women, (5) With women on the top management does not make any difference. However, based on the survey of the Pew Research Centre (2015), the following are reasons that hold women back from top jobs: 43 percent of the respondents agree that women are held to higher standards and the same percentage of the respondents believe that there is insufficient level of readiness to hire or elect women especially in the top executive business positions. The readiness of hiring or electing women especially in the top executive business may mean something. This even implies that the prevailing perspective is not yet ready to take into a look of having the business world or top management to be dominated by women. In addition a certain standard has to be met by women. It is now important to consider to who or which this one has been benchmarked. Obviously, for centuries, the management world was consistently dominated by men. This should remarkably consider that fact that women, held to higher standards are eventually have to comply with the standard set on men executives. The cultural approach cannot be overlooked It is therefore clear, if one will look at the perception and the prevailing empirical evidence that the women being subjected as the second best to men, especially in the top management is directly relevant to the prevailing cultural approach of various businesses and management about women in the workplace. The thought that the readiness to hire or elect women is still low at some point, is remarkable evidence that could suggest many businesses, firms or organizations out there are not yet ready to accept the idea about having women as their chief executives, president and so on. However, this does not change the fact that there are also various businesses out there that are employing women at the upper management. In fact, they have stayed for years. Cite the case of Avon for instance. However, the business itself proves to be more of understanding or caring women, and that is the reason why McCoy might have been good at the business. However, this gives us the picture that the employment of the business or firm of women at the upper management depends on its prevailing business or approach. There are strategic advantages that could be offered if the right human resource is placed at the right job. In the case of women, it is good to hire an executive that knows well about the things that the products or services address for women, for instance. In this case, it would be uneasy for men to understand more about the things of women. In the same way, the language of men might be most effective when it comes to technology, engineering and so on. Of course, this is not to discriminate women at some point, but reality speaks that more men are exposed to these jobs than women, who are more likely to take control in the aspects of lower management class. This can be substantially argued of course. Women are capable of doing what men can do. Women could be good at the quality control department, calculations and business analysis. However, the prevailing notion about men to be as the potential leaders in various firms still dominate in this modern age of thought. This trend has never ceased at some point from the past until present, because one can deduce the fact that it has become, integral component of culture in the management. It has become part of the business, and in one way or another, it is difficult to eliminate or eradicate such orientation in just a one-night stand. It takes a process, just as how men were able to dominate in the upper management. Conclusion In a nutshell, women may have eventually lagged behind men in the upper management even though they might have such comparable performance or capacity with men. The chance is that men might have established the standard for women and such brings the opportunity of various organizations to hardly adapt a new form of thinking or management approach that will give equal chance between men and women in the upper management. The management approach might be therefore influenced by the prevailing thoughts, or cultural practice, and in such a case, women may have to prove more just to say something that as far as performance is concerned, they could also make a difference for good, especially in the workplace that the upper management is most likely dominated by men. References Clark, E., & Hobbins, R. (2014). Women under-represented in management positions, paid 24 percent less than men according to Workplace Gender Equality Agency report. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-25/women-under-represented-in-management-positions/5914652 Dudman, J (2014). Five myths about why there aren’t more women at the top. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2014/mar/08/international-womens-day-female-public-leaders Grant Thornton International Business Report (2012). Women in Senior Management: Still not enough. Retrieved from http://economie.fgov.be/nl/binaries/Women%20in%20senior%20management.%20Grant%20Thornton%202012_tcm325-254146.pdf Hoobler, J. M., Lemmon, G., & Wayne, S. J. (2011). Women’s underrepresentation in upper management: New insights on a persistent problem. Organizational Dynamics, 40, 151 – 156. Pew Research Center (2015). What’s Holding Women Back from Top Jobs. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/01/14/women-and-leadership/st_2015-01-14_women-leadership-0-01/ 1214626 Essay, Gender & Sexual Studies "Women in the workplace, Upper management" Deadline: 2015-03-03 12:49 PM Time left: 8h 23m Status : in progress Number of pages: 8 Cost per page: $4.00 Total: $32.00 Created: 2015-02-17 4:47 AM Level: College Grade: Guaranteed 2:1 Standard (Normal Charge); Pages: 8 Style: APA Country: Sources: 5 Language Style: English (U.S.) Project description This paper is for "Culture and Gender Issues in Management" class. It should discuss why more women are not in upper management. The paper is not to exceed 12 type-written, 12 POINT, double-spaced pages nor be less than seven pages. Paper will include a cover page and reference page based on the APA format (6th edition) provided by the instructor. (LATE SUBMISSION OF PAPERS WILL AUTOMATICALLY LOSE 5 POINTS.) 2).The paper should include at least five (5) references on the topic, citing sources following APA (6th edition) format only for the paper and discussion boards. Please use the Wilson Library resources to cite from dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference books. As an example, Wikipedia.org is not considered a scholarly reference and should not be used for your papers. You may use one reference from a website or other on line source that is not found through the standardscholarly search engines. If you have questions, please ask. Special Note: Follow standard APA (6th edition) guidelines regarding sourcing and references. YOU WILL LOSE POINTS IF YOU DO NOT PROPERLY CITE RESEARCH PAPER AND COMPLETE REFERENCES. 3).Topic can be about any subject, which has a direct bearing on the aspects of Culture and Gender Issues in Management. This may include a management approach, techniques or concepts that would be helpful or of special interest to you. The topic may also be an exploration of an issue which is of special concern to those cultures and genders in management. Read More