Gender Discrimination In Corporate America

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Abstract

In the early nineteenth century in the United States of America, the workforce was mainly male dominated. Women were portrayed as having duties of staying home and raising families. This all took a turn when the United States beginning in the year of 1939. This is when we entered the second world war and as some of the effects a war has on a country is that it needs a great number of supplies to be successful. With most of the males in our country over seas fighting the war this was one of the biggest sparks for women as they entered the workforce.

Ever since women has taken a step into the workforce they have been subjected to discrimination. It comes in different forms such as not getting paid as much as male counterparts, not getting promotions and raised based off the fact that they are females, and even sexual harassment from bosses and employees.

Introduction

Gender discrimination in the workplace throughout the history of the United States has shown its still a major topic in our society today. Women have experienced a inequality in the social and professional aspects of life. Ever since women have been a part of the workforce they have ben discriminated against just based off their gender. There are certain jobs that pay men more than women for the same amount work completed just based off the fact that a male did it. Women also face many other forms of discrimination besides just unequal pay, they face employment discrimination as for some jobs they will not be hired just based off the fact that they are a women. They also faced lack of promotions in the workforce due to the fact that they are women, and male counter parts often get the promotion without the amount of skill the women had.

Origins of Women Discrimination in Workforce

During the early 1900’s there wasn’t an abundance of women in the workforce. Women were normally the ones that would take care of the family, do chores around the house such as cooking and cleaning. However, this all came to massive change starting in the 1940’s. While our country was participating the second world war, in order to be successful in a war you need to have an abundance of materials and other items ignorer to succeed and win. With the majority of men in the battle fields fighting the war, these products still had to be produced and with men to make them, women stepped up and entered the workforce. This event would change history forever as women proved that they were capable of doing “men” work, and do it well. Women felt a new sense of independence and freedom because they were doing the same work as the men did. This is also when we were introduced to the topic of gender discrimination in the workforce as women’s employment was only encouraged as long as the war was on. Once the war was over, federal and civilian policies replaced women workers with men. Many were also fired from their jobs so the returning veterans could be re-employed.(Women and work, 1997)

However through, the years after the second world war the United States saw a great increase in economic growth and this would lead to more job opportunities. Many jobs now were available to women as they were considered “women’s work”. “The proportion of women in the labour force as a percentage of women of working age (15-64) increased from 45.9% in 1955 to 51% in 1965.” (Green net) As more women began to enter the workforce they mostly entered certain jobs. These jobs consisted of nurses, house cleaning, and banking. These jobs wereconsidered for women so the pay wages were significantly lower. The reason for these lower pay wages were that the women income was not considered a necessity for a family as their earning was often looked at as just some extra spending money.

Gender Discrimination in Todays World

As we move forward to todays day and age we can see that, women are still facing some of the hardships that they faced over a half a century ago. Women are still being discriminated against in the workplace, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistic, in 2013, among full- time, year-round workers, women were paid 82 percent of what men were paid.(BLS, 2014) It is said that the organizations that are pro-equal pay, including some unions, support the idea that the government should set wages for all jobs. To the contrary, the organizations that are proponents of equal pay are not for job wages being set by the government-they wish to have the discrimination taken out of pay scales from within the company. Commonly, this pay gap is attributed to the fact that women in the United States are still expected to attend to familial obligations over work. About four-in-ten working women (42%) in the United States say they have faced discrimination on the job because of their gender. (Parker, 2017)

Companies have to realize that women do attend to family obligations, like having a child, caring for a sick family member, or caring for an elder; but they also do not give up on work. In fact as shown in the picture below women in the professional workforce has been increasing since 1966.(EEOC, 2013)

When women were the primary source of income they weren’t able to provide to families and spouses as we saw in (Fronterio v. Richardson), Sharron Fronterio was a lieutenant in the United States Air Force, and when she wanted to claim her husband as a dependent she wasn’t allowed to. Males in the Air Force were allowed to claim their wives as dependent, but if a women wanted to do that they were denied that privilege. This cases would help women as it was ruled that, this law not allowing women to claim their dependents as a violation of equal protection of law. Women’s changing roles in society has resulted in this workplace problem. Women are allowed and often encouraged to work but they are not rewarded or compensated at the same level, for their efforts, that men in the work force are. The pay gap would be narrowed if companies were more conducive to family schedules. Men and women would receive equal pay for the same job. Companies would benefit by retaining quality employees. Men and women need to start out making the same amount of money for the same job, companies need to offer women ample maternity leave, families need to be offered childcare. There also needs to be a flexible work environment, and men should never be discouraged from taking paternity leave. Men should be able to take time off also to care for a newborn and let the women have a chance to get back to work. It is difficult for women in todays society.(Segal, 2015) In order for women to be respected at the same level men are in the workplace there needs to be a redistribution of domestic and family work. It’s acceptable now for women to work, but a women job for her children and families have not changed.

According to The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, Women are more likely than men to work in professional and related occupations. In 2013, 29 percent of women worked in professional and related occupations, compared with 19 percent of men. Within this occupational category, though, the proportion of women employed in the higher paying job groups is much smaller than the proportion of men employed in them(BLS, 2014) If women are more educated and are working in professional jobs they should be paid the same as male counterparts working the same job.

The Glass Ceiling

Gender discrimination in the workplace is not only evident in the pay gap but also in sexual harassment and the “glass ceiling” in organizations.(Davis, 2017) As we have learned in class glass ceiling began as a reference to discrimination against women in the work force. “Glass ceiling” compasses of many different kinds of discrimination against women workers including, differences in pay for comparable work, sexual harassment in the workplace, and companies that do not have family-friendly policies. The glass ceiling is an unwritten rule in many businesses. The ceiling is an invisible barrier that usually affects minorities and women.

This barrier is extremely debilitating for women in their job because it makes them feel inferior and that their bosses do not take them seriously because of their sex. Women feel that their bosses aren’t taking them seriously because the bosses do not view them as potential candidates for the most prestigious positions in the establishment. The glass ceiling is another oppressive means used by corporate America to keep women out of powerful positions as some managers believed, once the women came back to work that she would be less dedicated to her job due to maternal duties.(Davis, 2017) According to “A 2003 report by the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission showed that only seven to nine percent of upper management at Fortune 1000 firms were women.”(Davis,2017)

Laws that Assist Women in the Workforce

Laws have been put into place to help women as they face discrimination in the workforce such as the Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act was a huge step in the right direction for women equality as it contained the following:

Title VII forbids discrimination in any aspect of employment, including

Hiring and firing Gender Discrimination in Corporate America 10
Compensation, assignment, or classification of employees
Transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall
Job advertisements
Recruitment
Testing
Use of company facilities
Training and apprenticeship programs
Fringe benefits
Pay, retirement plans, and disability leave
Other terms and conditions of employment (AAUW)

Another law that furthered the advancement of women being treated daily in the workforce was the Equal pay act of 1963. “Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), landmark U.S. legislation mandating equal pay for equal work, in a measure to end gender-based disparity. The National War Labor Board first advocated equal pay for equal work in 1942, and an equal pay act was proposed in 1945. Eighteen years later, on June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law. It was enacted as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards act of 1938, which regulates minimum wages, overtime, and child labour.'(Fugiero)

Cases that helped shaped women in the workforce

Many cases have gone all the way to the supreme court to justify if they were constitutional or not. There are many cases that have helped and shaped women rights in the workforce. The most notable cases that helped shaped aid in light of women discrimination in the force are, Fronterio V. Richardson, E.E.O.C V. Brown and Root, Lindahl V. Air Force, and Price Waterhouse V. Hopkins. Each of these cases have carved a path in equality for women in the workforce. Fronterio V. Richardson was a big supreme court case at the time of 1973 (Fronterio v. Richardson). As Fronterio who was a lieutenant in the United States air force claimed that it was discrimination against women to not be allowed to claim their husbands as a dependent. Men were able to claim their wives as dependent but women were not allowed to do the same. The ruling of this case was it was a violation of due process, as what is available for men has to be available for women also. (Oyez, 2018)

In the E.E.O.C V. Brown and Root case, Sarah Joan Boyes was employed by Brown & Root as an electrician’s helper. Brown & Root is a construction company and Ms. Boyes was assigned to work on an overhead steel beam that was part of a structure being erected at Escatawpa, Mississippi. She became paralyzed by fear and was unable to move, a condition known as ‘freezing.’ It was necessary physically to assist her to climb down. Brown & Root discharged Ms. Boyes from her job for the stated reason that she was ‘not capable of performing assigned work.’ After she was fired, another female worker was hired to fill the position of electrician’s helper.(openjurist) A male that committed the same act as Sarah Joan Boyes, and was not fired over it. This was classified as disparagement treatment, as the women and male were treated differently based of the same act on the job site.(E.E.O.C V. Brown and Root)

In the case of Lindahl V. Air France, Michelle Lindahl, brought this suit against her employer, Air France, for sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) based on Air France giving a promotion to a young male instead of to her, a 49-year-old female. When promotional decisions are handled based off the gender of the person this is when discrimination comes into act. The manager didn’t inform female workers off the possibilities of promotion and went ahead and promoted a male. As we learned in class this is a classification of disparate treatment.(Lindahl V. Air France)

In the case of Price Waterhouse V. Hopkins, Ann Hopkins worked at Price Waterhouse for five years before being proposed for partnership. Although Hopkins secured a $25 million government contract that year, the board decided to put her proposal on hold for the following year. The next year, when Price Waterhouse refused to re-propose her for partnership, she sued under Title VII for sex discrimination. Of 622 partners at Price Waterhouse, 7 were women. The partnership selection process relied on recommendations by other partners, some of whom openly opposed women in advanced positions, but Hopkins also had problems with being overly aggressive and not getting along with office staff.(oyez, 2018) She was criticized for being over aggressive and not acting and speaking in a lady like manner. She was also told that she should talk and dress more femininely. Under Title VII, this is classified as discrimination.(Price Waterhouse V. Hopkins)

Citations

Striking Women. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/post-world-war-ii-1946-1970
May, E. (1977). Women and Work. Retrieved from http://historylink.org/Content/education/downloads/C21curriculum_Unit5/C21curriculum_Unit5 resources/Unit5_READINGS_WomenandWorkAfterWWII.pdf
Characteristics of major collective bargaining agreements, July 1,2014. (2014). Washington, D.C.: The Bureau. BLS
Segal, J. A. (2018, April 11). 10 Tips to Fight Gender Discrimination. Retrieved from https:// www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/010215-gender-discrimination.aspx
Parker, K., & Funk, C. (2017, December 14). 42% of US working women have faced gender discrimination on the job. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/12/14/gender-discrimination-comes-in-many-forms-for-todays-working-women/
Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved November 13, 2018, from https:// www.oyez.org/cases/1988/87-1167
Davis. (2017, November 15). The Glass Ceiling Effect And Its Impact On Women. Retrieved from https://www.everydayhealth.com/womens-health/glass-ceiling-effect-its-impact-on-women/
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http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/12/14/gender-discrimination-comes-in-many-forms-for-todays-working-women/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/12/14/gender-discrimination-comes-in-many-forms-for-todays-working-women/
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1988/87-1167
https://www.everydayhealth.com/womens-health/glass-ceiling-effect-its-impact-on-women/
Gender Discrimination in Corporate America 15 Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/reports/american_experiences/women.cfm
Fugiero, M. (2018, June 03). Equal Pay Act of 1963. Retrieved from https:// www.britannica.com/topic/Equal-Pay-Act

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