Racialised and Gendered Barriers in Diverse Settings - Essay Example

?Racialised and Gendered Barriers in Diverse Settings Global trends point to the formation of inclusive organizations that welcome people from all walks of life to contribute their ideas, talents and efforts to the pursuit of organizational goals. The concept of diversity has been broadened to include all “individuals who bring unique perspectives or outlooks to the organization” (Schakelford, 2004, p.53). That means, it not only includes the traditional categories of race and gender, but also people with disabilities, various sexual orientations, and other non-traditional categories considered having “diversity of thought” or those from different disciplines, college degrees, socio-economic backgrounds, etc. However, many organizations and professional careers still remain resolute in embracing diversity and maintain barriers for full inclusion to be carried out. This paper attempts to answer the question, “To what extent and in what sense can we say that professional and managerial careers are gendered and racialised?” It was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who inspired the concept of diversity when he advocated that character is what makes a person and not his skin color. This propelled lawmakers to come up with laws that provide equal opportunity to all (Mor Barak, 2000). These laws have been designed to protect anyone from discrimination for their gender, marital status, cultural background, race, age, disability, religion and other factors that may point out one’s difference from the rest of the group. “Equal opportunity” is a means by which a person receives equal access in society. “Equal opportunities approach” is premised on the principle that all people can avail of certain rights or privileges such as education, employment, health care or other welfare services without any discrimination or any preference whatsoever. The evolution of the workforce to include a more diverse population has highlighted some prejudices that mark resistance to move from more stereotypical roles. Even in today’s “politically correct” environments, prejudice and stereotypes prevent the successful implementation of inclusive policies at the workplace. Such obstacles usually suffered by women, older adults, ethnic and racial minority groups, homosexuals and the disabled include lack of support in their career planning, guidance of these nontraditional employees that is necessary for job advancement and a lonely and unsupportive work environment (Morrison, 1992). In effect, equal opportunities are not provided for all. Although there are different organizations that apply various equal opportunity practices that provide fair conditions for all their members in the process of employment and work (Equal Opportunities, 2006), managerial positions are usually reserved for men coming from the majority cultural group. For example, in a UK organization that subscribes to diversity and inclusive work environments, British men usually hold the top management posts. This may lead one to conclude that managerial careers are gendered and racialised. One explanation for maintaining racialized top management positions may be attributed to fidelity to one’s culture. Hofstede (1994) defines culture as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguished the members of one human group from another… Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture” (p.19). From this definition, one can perceive how much influence culture has on people. Such a definition is paralleled to ethnocentrism. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines ethnocentrism as "regarding one's own race or ethnic group as of supreme importance" (1989, p. 424). This is common especially when managers think highly of the values and level of skills their racial group upholds. Each member’s effectiveness and efficiency are dependent on social and cultural standards and skills of the group. This narrows down the group’s views to their own culture and discourages them from being open to the strengths of other cultures, thus, making leadership positions exclusive to members of their own racial group. This view is echoed by Due Billing and Sundin (2006) when they claim that power inequalities within organizations are maintained when some groups or individuals are more in a position to impose their own understanding of diversity like highlighting stereotyped differences (e.g. they are stronger and more assertive because they are Caucasians while the Asian workers are more meek and submissive) to keep the minority groups in subordinate positions. Such racialised leadership affects aspirations of members from minority groups to pursue their own managerial career plans (Kirton, 2009). The more prevalent prejudice with regards to managerial and professional careers is gender inequality. Many researches have investigated the problem of equality rights and gender prejudices in the workplace. Some claim that because of the established dominance of males in the vast number of areas of public life, women are often placed in a disadvantaged position from the very beginning. Studies have revealed that such gender inequality have grave effects on women’s perceptions of their efficiency and motivation. A direct manifestation of gender prejudice in the workplace is the risk of women for sexual harassment by their male co-workers or supervisors. Schultz, in her comprehensive paper about Sexual Harassment (2003) culled different definitions or descriptions of sexual harassment from three agencies. EEOC guidelines define harassment in terms of “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature” (p.2063) In 1999, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported results of a survey of sexual conduct as viewed by HR professionals as the following: sexual jokes, remarks, teasing sexual touching negative sexual remarks about a group pressured or asked for sexual favours threatened or actual sexual assault displaying or distributing sexual materials or pictures inappropriate e-mails with sexual overtones inappropriate use of the Internet by visiting sexually suggestive sites pressured or asked for a date Schultz cited that in the book of The Bureau of National Affairs, sexual harassment definition includes, but is not limited to, "sexual innuendoes, sexual propositions, jokes of a sexual nature, sexually suggestive cartoons, suggestive or insulting sounds, leers, sexually related whistles, and obscene gestures. In addition, pinching, brushing against another person's body, and subtle pressure for sexual favours is considered harassment" (p. 2064) The discussion section notes that people have varied ideas as to what constitutes sexual harassment and warns that the following acts may be considered harassment by some, even if not considered harassment by others (Schultz, 2003). A male manager habitually puts his hand on the shoulder of a female employee while explaining something to her. An employee tells dirty jokes to co-workers. A supervisor or co-worker repeatedly asks an employee for a date. A co-worker constantly talks about his or her sexual experiences or dreams. Being sexually harassed is not only demeans a woman’s stature but degrades her as a human being. Sexual harassment quite often implies abuse of power and status and is not limited to some inappropriate touches or glances or offensive remarks. Inappropriate remarks indicating sexual harassment are more easily prohibited and punishable since they are more usually witnessed by others. However malicious and unnerving glances, stalking, and eventually inappropriate touching cause more psychological stress and anxiety to the victim and cannot always be proven that it really happened. It is this type of sexual harassment which is particularly offensive and can result in different psychological problems and lower quality of work (Robbins, Bender & Finnis, 1997; Seymor, 1999). Many women claim that they have fewer opportunities to succeed in their work than men do and have to exert greater effort in order to be promoted in their jobs. Men are more readily employed and more supported by their employers than women (Bergman, 2003). One of the researches, conducted in 2002 in the USA studying 500 companies showed that women occupied not more than 15.7 % of corporate-officer positions and only 5.2 % of women were top earners. The other characteristic feature is that the greatest part of all women, who occupy top positions, take not line but staff positions (Hymowitz, 2003). Staff positions are less prominent and therefore women are less likely to receive promotions and attain the very top of job hierarchy. Studies have shown that workers’ job efficiency have much to do with how they perceive their responsibilities and significance in their particular job positions. Valentine (2001) indexed a variety of research studies on how perceptions of own jobs and expectations of other people in the workplace of one’s job efficiency may create self-fulfilling prophesies. Findings in these researches show that no matter how great their managerial competencies are, it is unfortunate that women still deal with the negative stereotypes society has tagged them with, hindering them from job advancement. As leaders, women may be viewed as passive, overly relationship-oriented and emotionally unstable. The masculine task-oriented styles of leadership highly favoured by management are not always exhibited by women. Many of the negative ideas about women in management may affect how they are treated and accepted at work. Watts (2009) discusses women engineers’ dilemma in proving themselves as worthy professionals in their male-dominated careers. The women in her study long for work-life balance in their highly demanding jobs, but their natural tendency to leave for home after office hours to care for their families make them feel unprofessional. This stems from the prevailing gendered assumption that working long hours in the office is a manifestation of relentless commitment to work (Franks, 1999). The question of motherhood arises when making career decisions. These days, women usually postpone a decision to marry and have children until their careers are established. Work-life balance concerns persist throughout a woman’s family life. As mothers, they search for jobs that allow them to still care for the family while earning a living (Reskin, 1993). On the other hand, men have less family duties and women bear the greater responsibility for their families, children upbringing and domestic duties. (Lundberg, Mardberg & Frankenhaeuser, 1994). 1 In the United Kingdom, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (amended 1986 and in the Employment Act 1989) makes it unlawful to discriminate in terms of gender who is offered the job; opportunities for promotion, transfer and training (Equal Opportunities Management Guidelines). The Gender Equality Duty, which is included in the new law, requires public bodies to eliminate sex discrimination and promote equality throughout their services, policies, and employment and recruitment practices. Despite such laws, gendered organizations continue to exist. There appears to be a constant conflict between mutually beneficial relationships and contemporary situations, where males dominate the social, political and professional spheres (Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, & Grunewald, 2000). Numerous researches have shown that there persists an obvious segregation between men and women in certain professions. Job segregation is a work practice that distributes occupations according to sex-role stereotypes. Expected job descriptions correspond to socially assigned gender-specific tasks (Reskin, 1993). Among the male-dominated professions are the following: engineering, plumbing, construction, ICT, etc., usually, jobs where male physical and mental strength are required. Female–dominated professions are far less numerous and for the most part less prestigious. They remain in childcare and education (for the most part primary)(“Investigation..”, 2005). According to official statistics, ? of all working women are still occupied in only 5 profession groups, which are called “five “c` s”: cleaning, catering, caring, cashiering and clerical (“Investigation…”, 2005). Even after several decades of equality legislation this job segregation is clearly apparent and deeply entrenched in the public mind. Slow progress has allowed women to gain job positions in the sphere of accountancy, law and, partially, medicine. Nevertheless, in spite of these changes one cannot observe the same progress in the sphere of science or Engineering (“Investigation…”, 2005). It is interesting to note that jobs initially viewed as female, pay less even if they require just the same qualification levels than inherently male ones. The problem of pay gap was well studied by the Women and Equality Unit and the Equal Opportunities Commission. These units aimed to improve the position of women in the workplace and to increase their wages (Advancing Women in the Workplace, 2004) They studied the employers’ actions and other factors which determine the lower payment of women’s wages. Research funded by the European Commission showed that generally women who work full-time, receive only three-fourths of the hourly earnings of men. This holds true in the European Union in all professions with equal qualification levels and ages of men and women (Equal Opportunity, 2006). The pay gap is partly explained by the fact that women are much more likely to be in lower-grade, lower-paid occupations than men. Another factor contributing to the pay gap is that women in management have less seniority and are rewarded at a lower rate. The pay survey of women in the City of London found a clear age-related factor in that salaries for men and women diverged during their mid-twenties and the gap increased with age (Wren, 1990). Valentine (2001) contends that women are not so visible in positions with executive responsibility. With matched samples of male and female executives, women reported more career barriers and the need for more effort in proving themselves on the job than men. Women suffer more motivational problems and career uncertainties compared to their male counterparts and this may be attributed to the negative experiences at work. On the other hand, men perceived their abilities, contributions and successes higher than they rate women’s characteristics. Sex stereotypes may also afford men many employment advantages. White males are perceived to be the most efficient supervisors and skilled workers, and quite often are the highest compensated demographic group in many industries. Previous research indicates that employees often treat men and women supervisors differently. Some studies have shown that subordinates show a preference for male leadership. Some have concluded that female subordinates trust male supervisors more than they trust female supervisors and others show that subordinates are more likely to blame female managers for negative work outcomes. Manager's perceptions of their own supervisor responsibility also positively affected job satisfaction and employee monitoring, which implies that empowered managers, both male and female, tend to be more satisfied with their current employment situation and are more likely to direct their employees' activities. Monitoring typically involves assessing employee performance, providing employee feedback, and implementing control mechanisms that enable employees to succeed in their jobs. Monitoring can therefore be considered a critical aspect of supervision because it enhances employee performance and productivity. In this regard, women perceived less supervisory responsibility in their jobs than did men. This finding is not unusual considering women's negative work experiences. (Valentine, 2001). A study by Kattara (2005) of career challenges of female managers in Egyptian hotels found out that majority of female managers have great difficulty achieving the position of general manager. The study identified the following factors that prevented these women from reaching the “glass ceiling” of top management: gender discrimination, relationships at work, mentor support and lack of network access (Kattara, 2005). Supporting women workers towards management positions entails more technical support strategies. These include networking, career tracking, mentoring, succession planning and the adoption of a comprehensive approach. (Wirth, 2001). Women who show much promise in leading a company usually outshine others in terms of skills and personality. However in reality, women often have to work harder than men do to achieve the same levels of responsibility. Being part of a network of equally competent workers brings a lot of benefits. It provides invaluable information, visibility and support, especially when job vacancies spring up. Visible women who exhibit the right qualifications may be easily recommended by members of the network. Managing diversity with strong women and racial minority contenders for top positions in racialized, male-dominated organizations and careers pose huge challenges for human resource managers. However, it is not impossible to break down racialized and gendered barriers especially if such contenders are able to prove themselves worthy despite the opposition of men in power. It is about time that equal opportunities for career advancement be distributed to the supposedly “weaker” candidates to pump fresh blood and dynamism to established professional institutions. References Advancing women in the workplace. Labour Market Trends. 2004 Bergman, B. (2003) The validation of the women workplace culture questionnaire: gender-related stress and health for Swedish working women. 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