Equality in the Workplace

Amber Leick
DeVry University Online

Equality in the Workplace

When looking at a company’s promotion policy, Maria who is Latina filed a complaint for being unfairly eliminated for consideration for a promotion position distinctly because she has an accent. She has a graduate degree and has more work experience being at her company for ten years, more time than most of the other workers. She is the only worker of color in her department, and her dedication to her family had her in trouble for coming in late and receiving tardiness complaints. Her accent was stated as an issue when dealing with costumers. The person who received the promotion was a male Alex, with less experience at the job, but better upper management evaluations. Maria argued her poor evaluations were biased from her white, male supervisors. Maria was noted for being a good employee, but is loud and aggressive in her approach to work with others in the company. I feel Maria was treated unfairly for being promoted. Both women and people in the minority struggle when looking at how both are treated in the workplace. Women are facing problems of equality in job advancements and having equal pay. Minorities are underrepresented, and are struggling to find work. This paper will look at the issue of males versus females in the workplace, and the majority versus the minority in the workplace. Many people believe there is not discrimination or hardships that women or the minority face when working. People are under the impression that we have come a long way and have overcome treating individuals unequally. The truth is we have come a long way and made an enormous amount of progress, but there is work that needs to be done when looking specifically at women and minorities in the workplace. The struggles these individuals are facing are unfair and there must to be more awareness of this unequal treatment. Looking at a few research articles we can determine how women and minority individuals are treated unfairly, and come up with a solution to focus on the equality of both groups in the workplace. Women are struggling with not getting the same job advancement as males, and are not paid the same amount for doing the same type of work. “Men get more of the critical assignments that lead to advancement than women do” (Women in the Workplace: A Research Roundup, 2013). Women in the workforce are at a disadvantage when it comes to advancing in their corporation. Men have more of an opportunity to progress and receive assignments that benefit their own growth in the company. If you were a female working for a company where you constantly see men advancing, getting better projects and budgets, would you have a strong work ethic knowing you most likely will not get the same advancements as your male coworker? I am sure women are lacking motivation to succeed when they are not seen as a strong asset to the company, like their male coworkers are. Women are also looked down upon when they take a pregnancy leave, men do not have to do that and therefore can put in the extra hours at work and not have to take as much time off as women. Every man and women wants to be seen as equally competent at their job, they do not want to be given less work, or unfair treatment simply because they are a female. Women put in the same time and effort as men, and if both have the same degree and same amount of work experience, which will be the one to get a better chance at job advancement, it will be the men. This inequality of men getting the more critical assignments, and the assignments that lead to advancement needs to be acknowledged by the upper management at a company and worked out so everyone is receiving the same treatment, and has the same opportunity to advance in the workplace. Another topic that needs to be discussed in terms of inequality in the workplace is the differential in pay between males and females. Females are still receiving less pay then males for doing the same job. “Women have made great strides in the workplace, but inequality persists. On average in 2010, women only made 77 cents to every dollar a man earned. There’s still a gender gap that needs to be rectified” (Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace). Women are still not treated equally in payment in the workplace. There is a difference in pay between men and women. Women are working the same jobs as men but are getting paid less. This is something that needs to be addressed. Women have worked hard to have the same rights as men, and finally we see more women receiving an education and going on to get their bachelor and master’s degrees. Women have pushed for so long to be able to do the same things as men. When it comes to education, getting hired for a job, and then getting paid for doing the job, women need to be making the same amount as men. There are different situations that will impact how much an individual gets paid, but if they have equal educational experience and work experience then there should be no difference in the amount of pay both males and females are receiving. Women are making 30 cents less than men as stated above. As a manager it is important to recognize what the individual brings to the company, and go beyond the traditional stereotype that men are the ones in the business, and will make more because women are meant to be at home caring for the children. This is especially important for single mothers who are working, receiving less pay then men, and have to support themselves and their children. With women being paid less then men this can be extremely challenging. We are seeing an increase in having men stay home and care for the children, and providing the opportunity for women to work. As this issue is being addressed, hopefully one day women will be seen as the same level as men, and receiving the same pay that men do in the workplace. Not only do we see women suffering in the workplace, but we also look at minorities and how they are impacted by discrimination compared to the majority. We are seeing, “…the American economy is no longer formally segregated, the data clearly show a workforce where minorities remain greatly underrepresented at management and leadership levels and overrepresented in low-wage work” (Bouie, 2011). The minority population is having difficulties being represented equally in the workforce. After affirmative action was passed, the minority still struggles to have the same opportunities as the majority when working. Minorities are facing problems when we look into research on the minority workers in upper management and lower duties of work. Rarely do we see a minority as part of the upper management, and we are seeing several lower jobs given to those in the minority. “Minorities are still concentrated in the lower rungs of the American workforce; 53 percent of laborers, 50 percent of service workers, and 33 percent of office and clerical workers are people of color” (Bouie, 2011). What is it that the minority lacks to be underrepresented at these management and leadership positions? Previously mentioned before with females in the workplace, it is hard for minorities to get better job advancements, and that is just how it is. Diversity in the workplace is extremely crucial for a business to be successful. If you do not have women, members of the minority, or members of the majority, it is likely that the business will not succeed. It is important to have different people with different backgrounds to provide unique input. “Companies interested in recruiting and training a diverse workforce have reached a point where persistent gaps in educational performance and achievement put an inherent limit on that possibility… institutions should continue to strive for workplace diversity, greater integration will only come with a substantial, sustained effort to address racial economic and social disparities that put minority employees at a greater disadvantage from the outset” (Bouie, 2011). It is important to recognize that diversity in the workplace is important. There is some evidence of the positive outlooks that we have when looking at how far we have come when working towards getting rid of discrimination in the workplace. “The economic data clearly show that our nation—and, by extension, our workforce—will continue to become increasingly more diverse, as racial and ethnic minorities make up a larger portion of the population, as women continue to enter the workforce, and as gay and transgender individuals, as well as people with disabilities, continue to play a vital role in growing our economy.” Changes are being seen in the workplace in terms of hiring different races. When looking at the data, recently the numbers have increased, but they are not as good as it could be. Diversity in the workplace is crucial when interacting with diverse customers. It provides different perspectives and will also be beneficial when working with diverse clients. Conclusion In a perfect world there would be equality between men, women, majority, and minority individuals. Fortunately there has been progress made and laws passed to change the direction of the past to represent fairness between everyone. Although we have seen changes, we still are seeing inequality as stated previously in the essay. Awareness and open-mindedness are two important factors that managers must recognize when hiring an individual. Women are still receiving positions that are inferior to men, and continually get paid less for having the same qualifications as men. The minority is still finding it difficult to find work, and when they do, they struggle to receive the same opportunity as the majority. This essay exemplified the struggles faced by women and the minority and hopefully in the future there is more changes made to create equality for everyone. Maria was correct to file a complaint about not getting a promotion. She had all the qualifications by having a degree, and tons of work experience at the company. I think Maria should have been hired for the promotion to add a different aspect to the company. Her different background compared to the other all white, male managers could have benefited the company. I do believe it was wrong to hire Alex, and Maria’s aggressive, loud personality could be turned into something beneficial, and not be something against her. Managers must keep an open mind when giving a promotion, and it would have definitely added a new perspective by having a Latino female as part of the upper management.

References

Bouie, J. (2011, March 30). The Segregated Workplace. The American Prospect. Retrieved August 4, 2014, from http://prospect.org/article/segregated-workplace
Burns, C., Barton, K., & Kerby, S. (2012, July 12). The State of Diversity in Today's Workforce. Center For American Progress. Retrieved August 4, 2014, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/report/2012/07/12/11938/the-state-of-diversity-in-todays-workforce/
Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace. (n.d.). Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace. Retrieved August 4, 2014, from http://www.summer.harvard.edu/blog-news-events/gender-inequality-women-workplace
Women in the Workplace: A Research Roundup. (2013, September 1). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved August 4, 2014, from http://hbr.org/2013/09/women-in-the-workplace-a-research-roundup/ar/1