The Role Of Gender In Team Collaboration - Essay Example

The Role Of Gender In Team CollaborationLearning Activity #1  The pros of completing this week’s case study are the improvement of knowledge regarding gender-based strengths and weaknesses of men and women in groups/teams and awareness of skills needed to handle current workplace challenges, while the cons are exclusion of men and women who defy gender stereotypes and tendency to overlook companies that may have benchmarks already when it comes to challenging gender stereotypes and in promoting gender equality in top management positions, high-paying positions, and gender wage.

The first pro of the case study is improving knowledge on gender-based strengths and weaknesses of men and women in groups/teams. I learned how gendered communication and decision-making can affect the kinds of jobs and wage levels of women and men (Parcheta et al., 2013, p.244). The second pro of the case study is awareness of skills needed to handle current workplace challenges. I learned that women should enhance their communication and negotiation skills that are related to their performance (Bear & Woolley, 2011, p.148). They should not be afraid in being aggressive in fighting for equal pay or promotion.

The cons of doing the case study are related to examining exceptions to gender stereotypes and social generalizations. The first con of the case study is it does not consider men and women who do not fit in gender stereotypes. Some women are not timid in negotiation processes, while some men are not that aggressive in fighting for higher pay. The case study assumes that men and women in general have these gender-stereotyped characteristics, thereby neglecting individual differences. The second con of the case study is it has the tendency to overlook companies that may have benchmarks already when it comes to challenging gender stereotypes and in promoting gender equality in top management positions, high-paying positions, and gender wage.

Some companies are making headways in undercutting gender bias and promoting equality across all workplace avenues.Learning Activity #2 One of the actions that can help stop sexual harassment in the workplace is to promote refresher trainings on sexual harassment using office hours time. Using office/employment time is already a strong signal that the company takes sexual harassment seriously because learning about it is part of paid labor. In addition, refresher courses update employees about sexual harassment reports and their resolutions at work or in the industry, thereby showing that the company does not take harassment reports lightly.

In addition, sexual harassment seminars should have the result of empowering male and female victims in expressing their complaints without being judged because of their gender. McLaughlin, Uggen, and Blackstone (2012) stressed the importance of increasing the power of women in the workplace to reduce sexual harassment (p.18). Gender empowerment can be attained through promoting women to high management positions and high-paying jobs, among others. Firms must also have policies, values, and practices of work-family balance ingrained in their culture, so that men and women will have more respect for each other, since they are all family members.

Having a family-comes-first policy, for instance, does not necessarily mean that the organization should be disregarded, but that people are provided enough time for their family roles and responsibilities that will eradicate gender stereotypes, which tend to fuel sexual power plays. In addition, I will also promote effective grievance procedures. These procedures must be confidential and enable swift resolution through both legal and organization-based mechanisms (McLaughlin et al., 2012, p.18). Sexual harassment policies, thus, must be clear on what constitutes sexual harassment, where the limitations of sexual behavior, including jokes and non-verbal actions, are well-defined and sanctioned (Williams, Giuffre, & Dellinger, 1999, p.91). These are only some of the actions that will eradicate sexism that usually drives sexual harassment cases.

ReferencesBear, J.B., & Woolley, A.W. (2011). The role of gender in team collaboration and performance. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 36(2), 146-153.McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., & Blackstone, A. (2012). Sexual harassment, workplace authority, and the paradox of power. American Sociological Review, 20(10), 1-23.Parcheta, N., Kaifi, B.E., & Khanfar, N.M. (2013). Gender inequality in the workforce: A human resource management quandary. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 4(3), 240-247.Williams, C.L., Giuffre, P.A., & Dellinger, K. (1999). Sexuality in the workplace: Organizational control, sexual harassment, and the pursuit of pleasure.

Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 73-93.