America: tracing the progress of women - Essay Example

?America: Tracing the Progress of Women Introduction Women in today’s world are considered a very important part of the society. They are not only responsible for bringing up a healthy family but also considered important contributors of the economy of any country. The country I have selected is the United States of America which is known for its emancipation of women. Even in the United States, women are belittled and stereotyped to be cold and hostile. Even those women who are successful in professional life are considered more ruthless and their delicate impression is taken away from them (Dill 1). There are lot of issues and challenges being faced by women in the United States in terms of legal system, as well as in corporate lives. Women are encouraged to be of open mentality and they are given independence in choosing their priorities of life. However, gender discrimination still prevails at job because of the perception of society that women are more family oriented and they cannot work competitively. Even at workplace, there needs to be a realization of the fact that male and female employees need different leadership styles. Same leadership approach cannot work for both genders. Managers need to know about the gender differences and their different psychology, as well as communication style differences. Legal System Female attorneys are not given that much credibility as male attorneys. Although they appear to be very supportive for women, there back office environment in office is still stereotypical where a woman is considered nonprofessional and non-serious in terms of job. Although there is heavy induction of women in law colleges, their percentage as lawyers nationwide is low. Those who are lawyers possess low chances of advancement in their career (Dill 1). Legal system has an objective to spread and promote justice in the society but itself cannot maintain a fairness and stereotypes women. It will take time to meliorate; perhaps, in some time, the state of affairs will improve. Criminal Justice System More than one million women in the United States are under the control of criminal justice system; among them, more than 200,000 women are in local and federal prisons. Out of those women, 30 percent are black women (Women in the Criminal Justice System, 1). It means that law is biased and black women are treated unfairly. It becomes very hard to retain familial bonds and their children are brought up by foster mothers. Such children are not brought up the way they should be. They become victim of complexes as they are called children of criminal mother. Incarcerated women become victims of different physical and psychotic disorders and are not given a proper treatment. After their incarceration, they cannot be settled in society as other members and there are numerous challenges which they have to face. Societal Norms However, societal norms are somehow different in women and men and both genders are stereotyped to be in their societal relations. Even the purpose of negotiation is different for both genders. Men are said to negotiate to achieve an upper hand in agreement but women are mostly trying to bring agreement (Robinson, Frost and Buccigrossi 2). We associate different gender roles with the personalities of men and women and those have become standards. However, in the United States women’s role has been emancipated and taken more like men. There is total work equality in the United States and both the genders balance out work (Burda 7). There is no compromise on professionalism and things happen at job in the same way for both genders. There is no relaxation and no privileges to women and they are not given time for their family lives. Professional life in mathematics, technology and other fields of both genders is the same in the United States. Companies are so much dedicated to fulfill their mission and vision that they cannot compromise on professionalism. Perks and privileges are somehow discriminating for both genders; female professionals are underestimated by men and this is again a result of stereotypical thinking. In America, women have option to decide about their career or future if they want to get married. Any woman is given this right to decide her life according to her wishes and no interference is allowed (Ingram 1). However, when she enters professional life, she experiences discrimination which discourages her to a great extent. A study conducted on cardiologists in the United States explains that women are less satisfied with their work and dissatisfied with the advancement opportunities offered to them (Burke and Mattis 262-267). They report discrimination and stereotyping in their roles (Limacher et al 828). They also experience problems in any profession because of the family adjustments problem. They are outperforming men in professionalism at the expense of their family lives. Maintaining successful family and professional life is the biggest challenges being faced by women. From childhood, little girls are brought up with love and affection, taking care of their dolls and being soft and gentle. However, when they enter the professional life, they have to face millions of males who are stereotypical and want to challenge woman. This creates a role conflict in women’s mind about what to become or what not. When a woman is excessively emancipated, she loses her love and affection side and becomes totally dedicated to work. As a result, they have problems finding life partners because men want a delicate woman who is of soft nature and more family oriented. However, at work place, the pay gap between men and women and discrimination of rewards and incentive schemes discourage them further and they become victims of demotivation. Employers need to take some steps to ensure gender equality, as well as support and encourage women psychologically to make them useful members of the organization. Women have got their roles expanded in today’s world and they have their own career aspirations to follow (Jacobs 98). Now women in the United States are integrating into the other fields which were previously dominated by males, e.g. accounting, law, technology etc. However, there are number of challenges that women have to face while progressing in their fields. Some of the important issues are multiple role conflict and stress management. Women are thought to have a different leadership style and they are considered non effective leaders. Although the differences in the nature of men and women is disappearing at work place, still those stereotypical beliefs exist which underestimate women. On the other hand, women also face work and family conflict as they are not able to give proper time to their family; as a result, they become psychologically disturbed and dependent on men for helping to keep balance in work, social and family life (Jacobs 99). Although there is continued struggle for gender equality in the United States, a Government Accountability Report said that women earned almost three fourths of the weekly earnings of men (Longley 1). This pay gap has been persistent during past two decades 1990 and 2000. These pay differences exist due to a number of reasons. The most important reason was that men work mostly on full time schedule whereas females could not work full time. Also men with the children were paid more as compared to women, who were paid 2.5% less if they have children (Longley 1). Also women got fewer years of work experience and it was difficult for them to retain one job. They had to switch jobs depending upon the flexibility of time schedules and other family issues. However, today in the United States, this pay gap has reduced to a great extent. Women earned 82.8% of weekly wages of men, up from 76.1% from the previous decade, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics (Cauchon 1). In fact, women have outperformed men in most of the fields like construction and manufacturing industries. So men are losing their jobs at a faster rate than women due to recession. This has improved the situation of women but it has not freed women from the excess responsibilities and resulted in lot of conflicts regarding work life balance for women. At a young age, men and women in America are brought up with excessive socialization about behavior which is taught to them to get positive outcomes (Litwin and Hahn II). However, male managers who are not competent enough are given support from top management and they are assisted in understanding different gender roles (Powell 130-133). However, if a woman, being a senior manager, is unprepared, she is more likely to be resisted by senior managers if the top managers are mostly men (Litwin and Hahn II). This difference in behavior towards male and female managers is very important and needs consideration because it really demotivates women who are competitive and challenging (Powell 132). At workplace, whenever men and women interact, gender differences issues appear. There are communication based misunderstandings or experience based differences. The communication style of women is different which can prove out to be problematic for them. Women’s expectations from job and work environment are also different. They want a comfortable work environment with less hassle and smooth working flow. They want a job which gives them relaxed timing schedules as they have other family commitments too. But employers do not realize these needs of difference in leading men and women. Conclusion Although America is a developed nation which has struggled a lot for minimizing the gender differences between men and women, it continues to create challenges for women. Personality of women is different from that of men no matter how working environment and pay structures are made equal for all employees. Women, because of their soft nature, are not considered good leaders and they are not taken seriously by men. The trend in America is changing, giving women a more exposure to workplace and women being more competitive than ever. Still challenges exist when it comes to work life balance. Women are not able to give proper time to family and job and remain successful. Family issues arise and divorce ratio is increasing because of misunderstandings. Male dominated society is being changed but challenges for women are increasing. At workplace advancement opportunities given to women are less and they are discriminated. Society has formed stereotypes about women. Compensation and rewards schemes of companies are not same for women and men. There are fewer incentives given to women. If women get promotion, they are not supported and encouraged by top managers the same way as men. Top managers need to be more supportive and collaborative to encourage and motivate men and women employees so that workforce works effectively to fulfill vision and mission of the company. Works Cited Burda, Michael. "Total Work, Gender and Social Norms." 2007. Burke, Ronald J and Mary C. Mattis. Supporting Women's Career Advancement: Challenges And Opportunities. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005. Cardiol, J Am Coll. "The ACC professional life survey: career decisions of women and men in cardiology ." Journal of American College of Cardiology (1998): 827-835. Cauchon, Dennis. "Gender pay gap is smallest on record." 14 October 2010. usatoday.com. 8 May 2012 . Dill, Amanda James. "Professional Women: Gender Bias in America's Legal System." 21 March 2006. yahoovoice.com. 7 May 2012 . Ingram, J. LaVelle. "“Honorary Men”: The Role of Women in America ." 2010. lifeinusa.com. 8 May 2012 . Jacobs, Pearl. "Professional Women: The Continuing Struggle forAcceptance and equality." Journal of Academic and Business Ethics (n.d.): 98-111. Litwin, Sophie Hahn and Anne. "Women and Men ." Thesis. 1995. Longley, Robert. "Why Women Still Make Less than Men." about.com. 8 May 2012 . Powell, Gary N. Women and Men in Management . London: SAGE Publication In., 2010. Robinson, Marcus, et al. "Gender: Power and Privilege." 2003. workforcediversitynetwork. 10 05 2012 . Wendy Wood, P. Niels Christensen, Michelle R. Hebl, and Hank Rothgerber. "Conformity to Sex-Typed Norms, Affect, and the Self-Concept." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1997): 523-535. Women in the Criminal Justice System. Research. Washington: Sentencing Project, 2007. Read More