Category: Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is a complex phenomenon that does not seem to have a conclusive argument. According to Rives and Yousefi (1997), the statement above is right in its articulation that the problem is prevalent and widely spread all over the world (p. 90).

This has prompted scholars to critically debate about the issue with varying opinions among those that support it and those that oppose it.

The argument supporting gender inequality derives its support from the belief that there is injustice that stems from unequal access to resources and opportunities based on gender or sex.

Rhode (1997) says that as a result, gender equality movements have sprang up allover the world from the beginning of the last century culminating to passage of various acts by different governments allowing inheritance of property by people of both genders and criminalizing any act that is contrary to those (p.102).

Despite the strides made by society in stemming gender inequality, it will be naive to assume that gender equality has been achieved in the world today.

Rhodes (1997) further says that Even the most advanced societies that boast of constitutions that guarantee universal freedoms and human rights experience different forms of discrimination based on sex (p. 114).

Rhode (1997) concludes that gender inequality nowadays has become synonymous with the struggle of women fighting for the same treatment as men (p.76). It is not correct however to assume that only women are negatively affected by gender inequality.

Historically however, traditions of different peoples who inhabit the earth have been biased against women often showing open prejudice against them compared to men REFERENCE (own words).

Women have since time immemorial been subjected to restrictions that have ensured they are treated as sub humans. All cultures from European, Asian, and African have considered women to be subordinates to their men.

These discrimination has been passed on to successful generations through socialization and has over time been accepted a way of life REFERENCE (own words).

Rives and Yousefi (1997) say that little boys are taught from a young age to behave in a superior manner while girls are taught to respect men and look upon them as the providers and ultimate destiny deciders (p.106).

Men are regarded as the heads of the family and major decision makers. Women are traditionally not allowed to inherit property as it is assumed that they will get married and would have access to the husband’s property. Even then, few have a major say on the how family property should be managed REFERENCE (own words).

Rhode (1997, p. 28) says that besides general cultural traditions, religion has played a major role on propagating gender inequality and sex discrimination. For instance, the world’s two major religions; Christianity and Islam have openly shown preference of the men folk to women.

Women are not allowed to hold high positions in these religions because they were not considered full human beings. Only men went out to talk to God, wrote the holy books, and up to date, carry out religious functions.

The language itself used in these books makes no effort to hide its prejudice against women as human beings are referred to as men.

While some sections of Christianity have undergone reforms and accommodated women in their ranks, many have not. Islam on its part is more or less, what it used to be since its inception as far as women issues are concerned (Rhode 1997 p. 28).

According Ridgeway (1992, p.86), it may not be correct per se to say that its only women who are aggrieved by the gender imbalance but majority of the cases that depict gender inequalities involve women on the receiving end

According to Oxfam (2011, p 1), quoting UN (2005, pp 2), gender inequality that has resulted in the discrimination of women through denial of basic human rights is a leading cause of poverty in the world today.

Oxfam (2011, p 2) adds that majority of women in the world have little or no control on matters of sexuality, reproduction and marital choices.

Oxfam (2011 p 2) further adds that women have diminished recourse to legal and political protection and recognition. Women also rank poorly in terms of access to public knowledge, and decision-making power compared to their male counterparts.

According to Robeyns (2002, p.457), positions like the above mean women have reduced participation in public affairs hence increasing their vulnerability to abuse and subordination.

Many organizations have carried out research to paint the clear picture of the problem. This paper will focus on some of the studies carried out so far, the sectors that have been hardest hit by gender discrimination and some of the forms through which gender inequality has manifested itself in the society.

Facts about Gender inequality

Oxfam (2011, p 3) referring to IPU (2009) estimated in 2009 that only 18.4% of women made up composition of parliaments in the world. Far less women contributed to major decision making in the world. It therefore means few women participated in making laws and decisions that directly affect them

UNESCO estimates that there are almost 780 million illiterate people in the world (United Nations 2005, pp 2). Furthermore, there are over 75 million school drops out in the world according to the UN body.

Two thirds of the illiterate population is women while over 55% of the school dropouts are girls (United Nations 2005, pp 2). The blatant lack of access to information as shown above clearly puts women at a disadvantage in terms of access to information and knowledge REFERENCE(own words).

Statistics about wage earnings too paint a grim picture about the position of women. According ITUC, women make an average of 84% of what men mage in income.

This is besides the fact that they are largely concentrated in the informal sector and exposed to dangerous working conditions. Ridgeway, (2011, p 326) says that the instability associated with this work and the low earnings have compounded the problem leading to income disparities between men and women.

By virtue of giving birth, women are exposed to more risk than men are.

The world health organization estimates that over half a million women die from complications related to pregnancy while millions ranging from 8-20 million suffer irreversible injuries and permanent disabilities from pregnancy related complications (United Nations 2005, pp 3).

Factors cited earlier as low pay and lack of education contribute greatly to this situation. Further highlighting the poor treatment of women in healthcare, the UN estimates that more than half of the people living with HIV in the world are women (United Nations 2005, pp 3).

According to Ridgeway (2011), both men and women are exposed to the same risk of contracting the virus.

However, lack of access to health care by women in equal measure as men, coupled with low pay, minimal rights to decide sexual matters and lack of adequate information due to illiteracy have contributed o the high cases of HIV in women (p.127).

Though both men and women experience domestic and sexual violence, the problem is more prevalent in women than men are. Systematic rape is common in many countries that leave women traumatized, pregnant, or infected hence living disjointed lives.

The UN estimates that between 10-68% of women experience domestic violence and abuse from their sexual partners. The high cases show trend where culprits are not brought to book due to weak institutions or laws that are biased against women or not updated to deal with delicate women issues (United Nations 2005, pp 4).

While men suffer as causalities in conflicts, women and children make up over 85% of refuges in the camps. The women are usually not well looked after and the men who survive the conflicts often flee their families.

Laws to address the situation that is highly disadvantageous to women are almost non-existent (United Nations 2005, pp 4).

The above statistics depict a precarious situation for women and do not at all reinforce a notion that gender inequality may be a two-way phenomenon where men are also negatively affected. Even if there is a situation like that, women are clearly more affected than men are REFERENCE (own words.)

Manifestation of gender inequality

Gender inequality has manifested itself through many ways in society. In most of these cases, its women who bear the brunt of the injustices that are as a result of the inequalities.

According to Jacobs (1995) there are numerous practices carried out all over the world that amount to gender discrimination, the Asian and Middle East region has some of the most disturbing cultural practices that do not favor women (p. 68).

Divorce

Miller et al (2009, p. 257) says that in western cultures, divorce is accessed by either partner who feels aggrieved hence cannot continue to stay in the arrangement.

However, some cultures like in Lebanon the divorce process is extremely punitive to women until many prefer to stay in their dysfunctional marriages to divorce. The laws governing such places have heaped both legal and financial obstacles on the part of women who would like to divorce effectively locking them out of the process.

Egyptian women are allowed to initiate divorce if they wish. However, the law makes it difficult for them to be granted their wish since it requires them or their families to repay dowries. The law further demends that they give up all the rights on the couple’s finances.

In Lebanon, women who experience domestic violence must produce an eyewitness for them to be granted divorce proceedings, a requirement that is quite stringent and difficult to fulfill.

The situation is no different in Israel. The right to divorce can only be given by the husband and never the wife. On the other hand, men in the above territories can do as they please as far as divorce is concerned Miller et al (2009, p. 305).

Education

According to Spade, and Valentine (2008, p. 203), access to education by girls is lower compared to that of boys. Everywhere in the world with the exception of a few countries, the enrollment of boys is always higher than that of girls.

In Afghanistan for instance, the Taliban regime that aggressively enforced fundamental Islamic practices banned enrolment of girls to school. Still the literacy rate of women in the country is low owing to the fact that there is a shortage of female teachers, who must teach girls from a certain age.

The most discriminative practice in the country involves taking girls to school at puberty, effectively ensuring lack of uniform education among women from an early age.

Freedom

Some communities in the Middle East and Africa demand that women walk accompanied by a male relative, even if the male companion is the age of a child. In other countries of the Middle East, husbands have the right to restrict their wife’s movements by filling papers at the airport that ban their women from traveling.

In other countries like Libya, married women must have a written permission from the husband authorizing her travel abroad. The practices are quite discriminative to women especially considering the demand places women at par with children Miller et al (2009, p. 310).

Women in such communities cannot decide what is right for them. Jacobs (1995) says that religious and selfish interests reign supreme and women are the losers at the end of it all (p. 56).

Violence

In the Middle East there are no laid down judicial procedures combating violence against women, especially sexual violence. Men have absolute control over women and battering is always treated as a domestic matter outside the state’s jurisdiction.

The system is not favorable at all to women who experience violence of any kind. Police stations do not allow reporting of cases of abuse nor do they take actions when actual cases are reported (Jacobs 1995, p 80).

Female infant discrimination

Blau (2006, p.308) says that there is a traditional believe that boys are better than girls are. Preference for boys over girls has led to increased infanticide, neglect, and abandonment of girls by parents who are desperate for boys.

In China and India, for instance there are high abortion rates of female fetuses by parents in search of boys. Such cases show the level of discrimination and outdated thinking that people have towards women.

Sectors hardest him by gender inequality

According to Tischler (2007, p.48), effects of gender inequality are universal. Many systems through which human beings operate have had negative impacts of gender inequality.

Education, the economy and labor markets and politics are some of the sectors that have experienced gender inequality and the negative consequences that are associated with it.

Education

According to UNFPA, education for girls ensures long-term economic benefits for the entire society, access to more economic opportunities by girls and engagement in public life (United Nations 2005, pp 5). Educated women tend to make wise choices about health by bearing fewer children.

On the other hand, education increases girls bargaining power in sexual matters resulting in reduced chances of infection by HIV. The agency however casts some doubt about the achievement of millennium development goals on gender balance in the enrollment of girls into school.

According to the organization, there has been some progress but regions like south western Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa still lag behind in the enrollment of girls to school.

Blau (2006, p.308) adds that in countries that fall in these regions, choices about sending children to school are made and more often than not boys are sent to school while girls are left out (p.198).

Some of the issues that discourage girls from going to school include provision of safe transport, construction of separate amenities from both genders and discouragement of gender stereotyping in classrooms.

The above are very prevalent and greatly contribute in to the gender inequality that is witnessed in the education sector. The same situation is witnessed in the secondary school level where enrolment of girls is same as that in primary school. In some cases its lower (United Nations 2005, pp 5)

Labor Market

Bruckner (2004) says that, to ensure economic security for women and sustainable development and growth of economies, gender inequality must be done a way with in the labor sectors (p.84).

According to the UN, gender inequality in the Labor market is manifested through occupational discrimination, wage gaps based on gender and the uneven representation in informal employment, unpaid work, and high rates of unemployment (United Nations 2005, pp 5).

The UN further says that the majority of the working poor in the world are women. The working number up to 500 million and out of that, women comprise 60%.

The undervaluation of women’s work and the potential of clashing of their careers and other obligations like giving birth and raising families, contributes to the situation above (United Nations 2005, pp 5).

Kendall (2007, p. 248) says that some countries have even gone further and placed restrictions on the type of work that women should do and the earnings they should make.

Further more women earn less even when they do the same kind of work as men. Bruckner (2004, p.157) asserts that far less women own businesses compared to men and over 60% of all women who work in household businesses are not paid for their services.

National assemblies

There has been significant increase in the number of women elected to their national assemblies over the last decade. Despite the progress, national parliaments are yet to achieve the gender parity that they are supposed to have.

Lie & Brym, (2006, p. 69) assert that some of the factors that have ensured limited women participation include traditions about the role of a woman in different cultures. Women traditionally were not expected to live a public life. The tradition is still existent and greatly hinders women’s ascension to politics.

According to Bruckner (2004), another factor that has hindered their full participation is their economic status is that many belong to the low cadre class and cannot afford the resources necessary to join politics (p. 58).

Owners of such resources are mostly men. Finally the role of women in society as care givers and major raisers of families have complicated their chances of joining politics and vis avis the national assemblies (United Nations 2005, pp 6)

Towards gender equality

The 19^th century Suffragette movement gave rise to the struggle for gender equality. Since then much has been achieved though more needs to be done. A number of countries now have laws that criminalize discrimination on the basis of sex.

However, considering the fact that subordination of women is ages old, it will take an extremely long time to undo the negatives that womenfolk have gone through for them to be in the same level as men.

References

Blau, D. F. (2006) The Declining Significance of Gender? New York: Russell sage foundation.

Bruckner, H. (2004) Gender inequality in the life course: social change and stability in West Germany. New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Jacobs, J. A. (1995) Gender inequality at work. Philadelphia: Sage Publications, the University of Michigan

Kendall, D. (2007) Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. Belmont: Wadsworth- Cengage Learning.

Lie, J. & Brym, J. R. (2006) Sociology: your compass for a new world. Belmont: Thomson Learning.

Miller et al. (2009) Gender Inequality. New York, VDM Publishing House Ltd.

Oxfam. (2011) Gender inequality: key facts. Web.

Rhode, L. D. (1997) Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender Inequality. New York: New York Law and Publishing Company.

Ridgeway, L. C. (1992) Gender, interaction, and inequality. London, Springer Verlag New York Inc.

Ridgeway, L. C. (2011) Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rives, M. J, and Yousefi, M. (1997) Economic dimensions of gender inequality: a global perspective. United States, Greenwood Publishing Group.

Robeyns, I. (2002) Gender inequality: a capability perspective. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, Faculty of Economics and Politics.

Spade, J. Z. and Valentine, G. C. (2008) The kaleidoscope of gender: prisms, patterns, and possibilities. London: Sage Publications.

Tischler, L. H. (2007) Introduction to Sociology. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage learning.

United Nations. (2005) State of the World Population: Gender Equality Fact Sheet. UN. Nd

Gender inequality is a global issue where men and women enjoy different levels of representation in various spheres of life. Generally predisposed against females, multiple factors conspire to limit their opportunities for education and employment, as well as, in more extreme cases, lead to violence. The causes of such inequality can stem from biology, culture, and technology. This essay will examine some of the causes that affect the gap in the treatment of men and women, and its ramifications, particularly regarding developing countries. One particular metric that will be used is female labor force participation (FLFP).

Biology

Humans are sexually dimorphic species; males and females exhibit different physical characteristics. While these differences have led to often oppressive cultural norms, they are impossible to reject. Large parts of developing nations are pre-industrial, where “individuals do not receive any education and primarily work in agricultural jobs as unskilled workers” (Hiller, 2014, p. 457). The labor efficiency in such jobs affects the roles available to men and women. For instance, some regions of India have soil that is more suitable for deep tillage and, therefore, the use of plows — heavy tools that require upper body strength to operate. As a consequence of this, “in parts of India with soil suitable for deep tillage, there is lower FLFP and a more male-skewed sex ratio” (Jayachandran, 2015, p. 72). In these regions, men had a physical advantage, which led to their higher representation in the labor force and positions of power.

For comparison, China’s agricultural areas provide a different example: regions that specialize in tea production. There, women have a “comparative advantage in picking tea leaves” (Jayachandran, 2015, p. 72). After economic reforms in those areas, various improvements have been noted regarding gender equality, as female children became more desirable and women more financially independent. These findings suggest that physiological differences, but also opportunities to make the best use of the advantages posed by these differences, play an important role in creating gender equality or inequality.

Culture, society, and law

While physical differences may have caused an initial degree of gender inequality, cultural norms always form in response to them, strengthening this imbalance for the future, when physical differences are no longer relevant. Usually, this takes the form of a strong patriarchal tradition under which men take on a more proactive role in society. In contrast, women are relegated to more subservient and supportive positions. As a result of such traditions, women can face opposition when they seek education or employment or attempt to act outside of their society-mandated roles.

Girls’ education opportunities are not necessarily enforced explicitly by existing laws or regulations. The choice to educate a child is primarily made by their parents, according to social and cultural norms. Hiller (2014) explains that “if a ‘strong norm’ exists, according to which husbands should be the primary breadwinners of the family, parents grant a low value to the education of their daughters” (p. 457). Therefore, young women are often denied the schooling necessary to find better work.

Tradition and religion still play a significant part in women being underrepresented. While laws may be proposed that seek to create opportunities for women, they are turned down for such reasons. Nigeria is one such country, where “customary and religious arguments were the major justifications put forward by [local] legislators for their rejection of bills to promote women’s rights and gender equality” (Para-Mallam, 2017, p. 28). This legislative issue reinforces the existing inequality, keeping women in a disadvantaged position.

Technology and Infrastructure

The points listed above concern pre-industrial societies, but as they develop, technology and improvements to infrastructure present new circumstances that can increase gender equality. As women tend to be engaged in various domestic chores in such cultures, making said chores easier and more efficient frees up their time. For instance, work such as fetching firewood and water is generally performed by women — therefore, providing plumbing and electric heating “will disproportionately free up women to work outside the home more or enjoy more leisure” (Jayachandran, 2015, p. 74). This change, in turn, would allow them more opportunities for education or work.

Advances in medicine are another change that improves women’s opportunities, mainly when it concerns obstetrics. Jayachandran (2015) notes that “childbearing is not only more common in developing countries; it is also more dangerous” (p. 74). It has been observed that improvements in this area in several countries reduced maternal mortality and complications at childbirth that might have had long-term effects. This change led to an increase in women’s ability to return to work after giving birth (Jayachandran, 2015). Similarly, access to contraception has been observed to free up women’s time available for education and work, consequently allowing them to gain more equal positions with men and creating a quantitative increase in FLFP.

Improvements in infrastructure can serve to increase gender equality in rural areas. Parents in these regions tend to be protective of their daughters. However, Jayachandran (2015) notes that “it is difficult to say how much of the limited mobility is out of genuine concern for women’s welfare … and how much is simply a way to stifle female autonomy” (pp. 77-78). This protectiveness makes parents less likely to choose to educate their daughters, especially if a school is not available nearby. Studies have observed that “a village school essentially closes the otherwise-large gender gap in enrollment” (Jayachandran, 2015, p. 78). Therefore, a single school can serve to educate boys from a significantly larger area than girls.

Consequences

A significant difference in the treatment of men and women has significant consequences, most of which are negative. Since the causes persist in families, discrimination starts there, as parents consider investing in sons seems to be the better option than daughters. In day-to-day life, Para-Mallam (2017) found that Nigerian “rural men spend approximately two hours less than women doing work … and have one hour per day more for rest and recreation” (p. 28). In the distribution of a community’s shared resources, Agarwal (2018) points out that often, “female-headed households with few family members to help them are the most disadvantaged” (p. 282). Finally, common property in countries with a high level of gender inequality is “a high level of violence against women and girls perpetuated by individuals, groups and the state” (Para-Mallam, 2018, p. 29). All of these effects not only harm women’s lives and limit their opportunities, but also perpetuate the inequality already present, making it more difficult to create more equal conditions.

Conclusion

Gender inequality is still an issue even in First World nations. Current research in developing countries allows examining its causes and ways to reduce the gap in treatment. While simple biological reasons can initially explain inequality, culture and religion can perpetuate it into modernity. However, it has been noted that advances in technology, medicine, and infrastructure act as a countermeasure, gradually shortening this gap. Effects of gender inequality can range more work and less leisure time for the disadvantaged gender to limited education and employment opportunities, to violence.

References

Agarwal, B. (2018). Gender inequality, cooperation, and environmental sustainability. In J-M. Baland, P. Bradhan, & S. Bowles (eds.), inequality, cooperation, and environmental sustainability (pp. 274-313). New York, NY: Princeton University Press.

Hiller, V. (2014). Gender inequality, endogenous cultural norms, and economic development. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 116(2), 451-481.

Jayachandran, S. (2015). The roots of gender inequality in developing countries. Annual Review of Economics, 7(1), 63-88.

Para-Mallam, F. J. (2018). Gender equality in Nigeria. In A. Örtenblad, R. Marling, & S. Vasilijević (eds.), Gender Equality in a Global Perspective (pp. 23-53). New York, NY: Routledge.

Background

Gender inequality refers to plain and concealed disparity between individuals performing a common task with regards to gender. Historical data shows that there is a statistically considerable difference between male and female employees in most economies around the world, however, the figure has been declining, thanks to campaigns by pro-women groups and the increasing literacy levels among women.

At the workplace, gender inequality has often favored men over women and in most cases, this anomaly occurs over persons of similar qualifications. Baffling statistics on gender inequality in the labor force shows that the problem is persistent and will not be eliminated soon.

While 90% of all adult men are employed, only 75% of women are in employment. Besides, women who hold job positions receive unfair treatment at work over male employees. The differences are in the form of pay differences for similar job roles and qualifications, promotions, job appraisals and labeling of jobs as male or female jobs.

Gender discrimination in the labor force varies across the demographic groups. For example, The National Committee on Pay Equity reports that while women still earn three quarters of what their male counterparts do, the percentage earning for colored women is even more appalling; African American women earn 67.5 % of what men earn, Latinas’ receive 57.7%, while Asian Americans receive 90%, all figures relating to the 2010 Census results (NCPE, para. 1, 2).

It is not fair to pay women lower wages than men as both genders have the same ability and perform similar work under the same conditions. This trend continues despite the same statistics indicating that 40% of women were the principal breadwinners for their families in 2009 (NCPE, para. 3, 4).

Objective

The aim of this article is to assess the assertion that gender inequality exists in the labor force. The paper will draw on figures and reports from global development agencies to fully ascertain the truth of this workplace anomaly and its effects on the victims. Due to the importance of gender equality to economic development, the paper will give strategies for combating this menace.

A Global Phenomenon

The World Bank (2001) reports that gender inequality in the labor force is prevalent all over the world, however, the rates vary from country to country. Indeed, in 2009, the International Labor Office (ILO) reports that if not acted upon immediately, gender inequality could create nearly 22 million unemployed women by the end of the year (ILO).

The annual Global Employment Trends for Women report showed that out of the global workforce of 3 billion people, 1.2 billion were women, representing 40.4% while global unemployment rates for women stood at 7.4% compared to 7.0 percent for men. The table below shows global adult employment-to-population by gender for 1998 and 2008.

Figure 1: Global adult employment-to-population proportions in 1998 and 2008. Source: ILO.

The report shows that even though unemployment rates have fallen over the ten-year period between 1998 and 2008, gender inequality in the labor force remains constant over the eight geographical blocs, however, Latin America and the Caribbean registered significant progress in reducing gender inequality in the labor market. It is obvious that despite positive developments made in some regions, far fewer women take part in the labor market as compared to men.

In some developing economies, failure to take up job opportunities is not a choice, but a duty; it is possible that the women in these regions would take up employment if the were allowed by the social norms (Cotter et al, pp. 35).

This does not imply that these women stay at home doing nothing; a majority of them perform household chores and unpaid family care tasks. Such roles do not count as employment. While it may not be right to say that all women want to be employed, it is positive to say that women would want the same independence as men in choosing whether they should take up employment opportunities.

Social Effects of Gender Inequality in the Labor Market

Women’s weak participation in the labor market, lesser control over material goods and resources, and taking up job opportunities that are vulnerable and with lower pay makes them vulnerable to any form of economic crisis (ILO, para. 9). Women may cope with such a situation by working longer hours or taking up numerous job opportunities with lower pay, this aggravates the situation and makes it hard for them to tend to the social responsibilities such as family care and performance of household chores (Chen, Pp. 12).

Studies have shown that women do not mention family roles such as caring for young children when attending an interview. Although labor laws in many countries ban employees from questioning family responsibilities directly, it often comes up in some form during the course of the interview, an affirmative answer reduces the chances of landing a job.

Majority of women who take up jobs have to balance between employment and family responsibilities, besides, employees may terminate the services of a female employee when it is discovered that they are pregnant, men are rarely faced with such situations (Gluck, para. 6). Since several studies have shown that 40% of women are the principal breadwinners for their families, gender inequality at the workplace shakes the basic structure of the society: the family.

Finding a Solution to Gender Inequality

Gender inequality in the labor force can be averted by enacting legislation that require employees to recruit a certain percentage of female workers in their workforce. Stringent punitive measures should be meted upon firms that fail to implement this legislation, however, exceptions should be made on jobs that are clearly well-fitting to males, such as drilling and mining. Such a measure will ensure that more women get employment opportunities.

Another strategy that can reduce gender inequality is promoting female education, especially in developing countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Societies in these continents have traditionally assumed that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, therefore, literacy among women is quite low and this hinders them from taking up well-paying jobs.

This can be achieved by investing in physical infrastructures such as roads, schools, health institutions and other social structures that will improve women’s health and awareness. Besides, poverty alleviation by constructing roads, setting up irrigation schemes, moveable irrigation systems, and other agriculture-based projects will empower women in these societies and reduce gender inequality in the labor force (ILO).

Works Cited

Chen, Derek. Gender Equality and Economic Development. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3285, 2004.

Cotter, David A., Hermsen, Joan M., Vanneman, Reeve. Gender Inequality at Work. 2004. Web.

Gluck, Samantha. The Effects of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace. 2011. Web.

International Labor Office. Global Employment Trends for Women, 2009. Geneva: ILO Press, 2009.

International Labor Office. Global Employment Trends. Geneva: ILO Press, 2010.

International Labor Office. ILO warns economic crisis could generate up to 22 million more unemployed women in 2009, jeopardize equality gains at work and at home. 2009. Web.

NCPE (National Committee on Pay Equity). Wage Gap Remains Static. 2010. Web.

World Bank. Engendering Development. Washington, D.C, 2001.

This document aims to highlight the gender-based issues that are prevalent in the workplace from two points of view, the social constructionist and the essentialist.

The social constructionist point of view is based on the observation of how the phenomena pertaining to gender inequality take place and are generated fu to the development in the society and culture. It tends to depict gender inequality in terms of the traditional role of the genders in society and how they affect the personality and the perspective of the people in the current society. The historical and cultural aspect of the topic is taken into consideration through the social constructionist point of view. The main objective of the constructionist point of view is that it is aimed at uncovering how the individuals and the groups tend to participate in the creation of their perceptions of gender and women in the workplace.

The essentialist is actually the opposite of the social constructionist. The essentialist tends to take the entity or the phenomena as a characteristic of its traits. Essentialism tends to select only one source of the women’s identity, like the gender and based all its observations on that.

The different issues that are faced by the women in the work place pertain to the quality of work and responsibility assigned to them. Other issues specific to women in the work environment pertain to sexual harassment, the presence of the glass ceiling at directorial and executive positions, as well as the difference in pay that they received as compared to men in the same position. The opportunities available to women are also limited in quantity which increases the competition of women in the workplace.

The socio-economic proportion of the economy in even the developed countries is largely biased and favored towards the male gender. This is mostly because of the taken-in-granted view of the female gender as a contributor towards the increase in socio-economic growth. The education level of females in the developed country has increased multifold, which is enabling them to seek diversified jobs in all aspects of the economy. However, the limited choices available in the industries do not make way for the full exploration of the ability of the female population as a participant in the economic growth of the region.

Research pertaining to the inequality of gender in employment has depicted that preconceived criteria and gender expectations for a position ten restrict the job scope. They tend to put invisible limitations for the men as well as the women employed in these positions. This tends to modify the performance of the individual resulting from a rather decreased quality of performance. “Interactional sex categorization also biases the choice of comparison others, causing men and women to judge the rewards available to them differently. Operating in workplace relations, these processes conserve inequality by driving the gender-labeling of jobs, constructing people as gender-interested actors, contributing to employers’ discriminatory preferences, and mediating men’s and women’s perceptions of alternatives and their willingness to settle for given job outcomes” (Ridgeway, 1997).

From the constructionist point of view, this discrimination takes place due to the preconceived notions of society as to which jobs are suited for the female gender and what career paths are more suitable for the female professionals. From the cultural aspect, the job of the female is supposed to relate to nurturing and taking care of the children. As a result, the female working force tends to be concentrated in jobs that are related to nursing, teaching, or operating other services, especially for the female population, i.e., running a beauty salon, etc. Aside from this, the ethnicity of the woman also tends to define what jobs and career paths should be adopted by her. People rarely envision a black female as a doctor or a biochemist. They usually envision her to be running a small business or a beauty salon etc. The white women, on the other hand are considered to be a candidate for the positions of doctors and teachers. The Latino and Asian women, on the other hand, are usually considered to be more suitable for the entertainment and show business in terms of movies, modeling, television, etc.

The essentialist point of view depicts that because the job candidate is a woman, it is not possible for her to carry out certain aspects and duties of the job. She might not be able to handle the working hours, the stress, or jiggle the work and home environment. Her physical characteristic of being a female tends to put restrictions on her, even though this is only in the minds of the people responsible for the recruitment and placement of employees in the industry. As a result, the woman is considered to be suitable for certain jobs and not suitable for others.

Another issue that pertains to the increase in gender inequality in the workplace is the issue pertaining to the wage gap between men and women employees. Although the percentage of women employed in the workforce has increased from 30 percent in the 18950s to almost 47% now, discrimination in terms of pay and remuneration is still present in the industry. This discrimination tends to allot a higher degree of rewards to the male workforce than the female workforce. By 2001 the women in the workforce were earning about 76percent of what was being earned by the men. This put the ratio of women’s remuneration to be three forth that of the men. This was regardless of the fact that women were putting in overtime or more working hours. Women tend to be even paid lower than the men in occupations that are predominantly oriented towards females. “One of the things that make this development especially dramatic and significant is that the recent changes contrast markedly with the relative stability of earlier years. On the other hand, there is still a gender pay gap. Women continue to earn considerably less than men on average, and the convergence that began in the late 1970s slowed noticeably in the 1990s” (Blau and Kahn, 2007).

The females also have to suffer more harassment, tension, and stress in the workplace due to their gender, and yet still, their compensation is much lower than that of the men in the same positions. They tend to be exposed to more sexual harassment and assaults when compared to men; however, the compensation and remuneration of the females in the industry does not take this into account when devising wage levels for the women in the workforce. Aside from this, the women also experience lower-valued pensions. They are half as much likely as the men to have a retirement provision in their employment contracts. This is again due to the counterproductive characteristic of the female workforce having relatively lower pay as compares to men.

The argument that is put up against a higher remuneration of women, in this case, is that they tend to take more vacations and leaves. One highly stressing point is the leave for maternity taken by the female population in the workforce. However, the critics have pointed out that even men have now started to take maternity leaves when their partners are expecting, and somehow this is not considered to be of importance and value when establishing the wage rate and remuneration for the person.

From the social constructionist point of view, the supporting role of the women tends to be a main characteristic of the women. The female workforce is culturally supposed to support the operating of the household where the man is thought of to be the dominant role player in the family. However, in the real case, the man is usually simply responsible for providing the finance for the running of the household while all the managerial and supervisory of the operations are carried out by the female. However, from the constructionist point of view, the financial provider-based role of the man tends to be one of the main reasons as to why they are provided with higher salaries as compared to women. The supportive role of the woman is extrapolative and is carried forward into the work environment, where her contributions are considered as a supportive function. Therefore the pay level provided to them is considerably lower. The essentialists seem to argue that as the employee is simply a female, she is supposed to have a lower pay scale as compared to the men in the same position.

One of the main issues that are faced by women in the workforce pertains to the glass ceiling effect. The term glass ceiling was initiated in 1986. It is the concept that refers to the barriers to promotion and fathering of a female in the workforce simply based on her gender. These barriers are mostly faced by those women to aspire to atta9n senior positions in the corporate world. Originally it has been the belief of the employers and the companies that the senior positions are more appropriate for the men in the workforce as they tend to be more demanding, having a higher degree of authority and responsibility, and are critical in nature. One of the industries where this is most prominent is the law and regulation industry. Traditionally the founders of the law firms have been m men; however, due to equal employment opportunity being adopted by the business, they are now hiring females as well. However, when it comes to making decisions pertaining to promoting an employee to be a partner in the law firm, the other partners are usually biased towards promoting men rather than women. This clearly depicts the glass ceiling that is faced by women when striving to attain higher positions in companies. “Professional work involves three forms of uncertainty — problem variability, strategic indeterminacy, and dependence on autonomous actors — that weaken the association between performance and ability, leading organizational decision-makers to weigh gender more heavily in promotion decisions. Strategic indeterminacy also increases the need for trust, so decision-makers feel more comfortable promoting candidates of their own sex” (Gorman, 2006).

The different signs of the glass ceiling present in the industry pertaining to barriers for women are apparent in different forms. They are invisible, covert as well as overt in nature. From the constructionist point of view, these barriers to the glass ceiling are actually a result of gender stereotypes. However, aside from this, they are also affected by the type of leadership style in the company as well as the tokenism of the high managerial rank. One of the major signs that depict the presence of the glass ceiling is the gender-biased compensation provided in the industries. The discrepancies in salaries are largely favorable to the men in the workforce whereby making them the more suitable candidates in terms of employment. Other factors that add to it are the various experiences that are offered to the men in the positions, which make them liable and more suitable for promotion onto high-ranking corporate managerial jobs. The women are often not offered such opportunities to expand their skills. This results in a very obvious lower experience, and therefore they are rejected from further promotions.

From the constructionist point of view, the other factors that contribute to the promotion of women in corporate positions are related to the culture of the region and the company it self. “Corporate policies and practices can subtly maintain the status quo by keeping men in positions of corporate power. Boards of directors, which are mostly comprised of men, sometimes perpetuate the status quo by selecting CEOs who look like them” (‘The Glass Ceiling: Domestic and International Perspectives, 2004). Aside from this, the work/social and home life that is balanced by the female is also a large contributor to the glass ceiling experienced at times of pay increase and promotions.

The essentialist, however, state that as the candidate is a female she is not able to handle the stress, the long hours and the effort required in the demanding higher ranked positions. As a result they are experiencing the glass ceiling due to the nature of their gender.

In the 1990s the Wall Street was shaken by charges of sexual harassment. Countless suits were prosecuted against prominent companies pertaining to inequality of opportunities for women at the companies as well as sexual harassment in the work environment. Following such accusations “many firms on Wall Street implemented strict sexual harassment policies, and even family friendly work-life balance policies.” (‘Women on Wall Street’, 2007) However despite the presence of such rules, the inequality of gender in the work environment is still existent. The reason for this is mostly due to the fact that the rules and regulations that were devised by the authorities were centered mostly to favor the companies in the end. Moreover the culture has been predominantly male oriented all over the world as a result especially when opportunities pertaining to higher positions in the corporations and work abroad placements arise, the women are usually put aside as unsuitable candidates.

“Although women have made enormous gains in the business world–they hold seats on corporate boards and run major companies–they still comprise only 10% of senior managers in Fortune 500 companies.” (Meyerson & Fletcher, 2000) The companies have been able to employ women in managerial position and in the workforce by coercing them to be more like men. The comparisons in terms of efficiency, work performance and profitability for them are always made with men, and as a result they are taught to act more like men in order to compete in the corporate world. Aside from this special benefits and policies have been used to employ women in order to avoid the accusations for gender inequality ion the company. However, all these efforts have been focused towards providing a removal of the symptoms of the problem and not the solution. In order to make way for a truly equitable industry in which the gender inequality is not present. The culture of the people the centered perspective of the management has to be changes. This is not possible to do in a short period of time.

This is due to the fact that the reasons for the gender inequality as provided by the constructionists come from the culture and traditions that are inherent in the society. These opinions and cultural views provide for the issue of gender inequality in all aspects of life. As a result in order to tackle this, a cultural reform needs to take place. This is not a straightforward problem as a result it cannot be addressed to by making regulations or implementing simple procedures. However the following steps can be taken to ensure a more equitable position for the different genders in the corporate world.

In order to avoid gender inequality the HR professionals need to be trained in the aspect of focusing on being professional and not exhibiting favoritism towards their exes. They need to be aware of the present laws of employment and need to adhere to the equal employment clause. Aside from this they need to understand the effects of issues like sexual harassment in the workplace and the glass ceiling barriers which are faced by the female workforce. Aside form this the a constructionist solution would be to change the culture in the organization and the regions. This can be done by teaching children about gender equality at an early age. The students in professional business colleges should also be made to experience negative gender equality pertaining to the sex therefore giving all men and women an experience of how it can affect humans. From the essentialist point of view however the gender inequality can be solved by focusing not on the gender but on the efficiency of the person. The performance and the efficiency of the person should dictate the suitability of the candidate for the job, the level of pay that should be awarded to them as well as the promotion that it requires.

The above discussion has been able to conclude the points of view of the constructionists as well as the essentialists pertaining to the various issues to of gender inequality which are faced by the women in the workplace. Aside from this specific solutions for tackling the issues of gender inequality have been devised according to the different sources identified by the constructionists and the essentialism. These solutions are aimed at making both long term and short term reforms to eradicate inequality for the women as well as the men on the workplace.

References

“The Glass Ceiling: Domestic and International Perspectives”, HR Magazine 2004 -Research Quarterly, 2004, Vol. 49, pp. 2-10.

Blau, F.D., Kahn, L.M., “The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women Gone as Far as They Can”, Academy of Management Perspectives, 2007, Vol. 21 Issue 1, pp. 7-23.

Gorman, E.H., “Work Uncertainty and the Promotion of Professional Women: The Case of Law Firm Partnership”, Social Forces, 2006, Vol. 85 Issue 2, pp. 865-890.

Meyerson, D.E., Fletcher, J.K., “A Modest Manifesto for Shattering the Glass Ceiling”, Harvard Business Review, 2000, Vol. 78 Issue 1, pp.126-136.

Ridgeway, C.L., “Interaction and the Conservation of Gender Inequality: Considering Employment”, American Sociological Review, 1997, Vol. 62 Issue 2, pp. 218-235.

Roth, L.M., “Women on Wall Street: Despite Diversity Measures, Wall Street Remains Vulnerable to Sex Discrimination Charges”, Academy of Management Perspectives, 2007, Vol. 21 Issue 1, pp. 24-35.

Introduction

Background

The issue of gender inequality across industries has persisted into the 21st century. However, it should be acknowledged that positive progress has been made, and women are now a significant part of the global workforce. Currently, attention has been turned to women in leadership positions and the issues and challenges they face. According to Torrens University Australia (2019), a lot of progress has been made in terms of gender equality in the hospitality industry, but the main challenge is breaking the ceiling. In other words, women are still facing difficulties ascending to leadership positions. Those who have managed to become leaders face multiple challenges, including stereotype threats, as explained by Hoyt and Murphy (2016, p. 387). Therefore, it can be justified to claim that the issues and challenges facing women in leadership are evidence of the fact that gender inequality exists in leadership.

The hospitality industry is among those that appreciate the services of women. However, the global outlook of the sector indicates that male domination persists, even though the dynamics in corporate leadership are changing. In other words, women are increasingly taking up leadership positions. The focus on specific countries in the literature regarding female leadership is scant, especially for France and its hospitality industry. However, some people believe that France is one of the countries that have made more significant progress in gender equality. Such scholars as Khan (2019, p. 22) even go further to state that France has no gender inequality, even though some incidences indicate that the country has not completely achieved gender equality. Therefore, it would become interesting to examine the French hospitality industry and the issues facing women in leadership positions.

Problem Statement

The current literature regarding the challenges and issues facing women in leadership positions in the hospitality industry in France is inadequate. Globally, the problem of women breaking the glass ceiling and ascending to leadership positions is a common phenomenon. Tourism and hospitality are among the most significant industries globally, making it a perfect choice of context when examining gender inequality and related concepts. Most importantly, France is among the few countries in the world with a legal framework and infrastructure dedicated to pursuing gender balance. However, such writers as label the country’s situation as a gender balance paradox. The rationale is that France has been inspiring, fascinating, and frustrating in its efforts. The problem is largely unknown as it applies to the hospitality industry. Therefore, there exists a major research gap that needs to be bridged by undertaking an empirical study that clarifies the current situation of gender balance in corporate leadership in France’s hospitality sector. Even though there is evidence of women leading major companies, the question of the issues and challenges they face remain unanswered.

Research Questions and Objectives

The main research objective is to explore the major issues and challenges facing women leaders in French hotels. The specific objectives will include determining the percentage of women in leadership across the country’s hotels. Additionally, the problem of gender inequality in corporate leadership in France’s hospitality industry is explored. Lastly, a primary examination of such issues as stereotyping, discrimination, prejudice, and family demands is conducted to determine how they affect women in leadership. The research questions for this research are outlined below:

• What is the current percentage of women leaders in the hotel industry in France?
• How is gender inequality reflected in corporate leadership in France’s hospitality industry?
• How do such issues as stereotyping, discrimination, prejudice, and family demands affect women leaders in the hospitality industry?

Research Hypothesis

• H1: The corporate leadership in France’s hospitality industry is dominated by men.
• H2: There still exists gender inequality in corporate leadership in France’s hotel industry.
• H3: Women leaders in France’s hospitality industry face such challenges as stereotyping, discrimination, prejudice, and family demands.

Literature Review

The current literature on women and leadership has extensively explored the issues facing women across the world. However, it is important to highlight that mostly generalizations have been made, especially regarding the fact that women face multiple barriers in their pursuit of corporate leadership positions. The available literature should be adequate to lay the foundation for this research because it helps highlight the research gaps and areas that require further empirical inquiry.

Gender barriers to women’s pursuit of top management are a common topic in literature. A study conducted by Rincón, González, and Barrero (2017, p. 322) explores the evolution of women in the top leadership position and finds that the barriers that females face are noticeable. Examples highlighted include stereotyping of women, which makes it hard for them to become accomplished leaders. Additionally, Rincón, González, and Barrero (2017, p. 324) find that the global fraction of women leaders does not represent a third of the leaders across companies in Europe. Even though these researchers do not exclusively focus on the hospitality industry, their study successfully paints a picture of gender representation in management positions and highlights the key issues women face.

Rising to managerial positions is a result of building successful careers over a period of time. An overview of career development for females in the hospitality industry has been presented by Kumara (2018, p. 330), who defines career progression as a lifelong process where one selects and makes decisions associated with their occupations. Kumara (2018, p. 331) also finds that the process for women is marred by such barriers and challenges as irregular working hours, hiring practices, gender stereotypes, glass ceiling, dual roles, visibility factors, and cultural barriers. Gender segregation and lack of female role models have also emerged as key inhibitors to career development. The main point is that the global hotel industry has been affected by male dominance where recruitment practices for managerial positions favor male workers. Such is a situation that has been labeled by Kumara (2018, p. 331) as the “old boy’s network’, which simply means males are hiring fellow men in certain positions. For women, these privileges do not exist, which makes it difficult for them to break the glass ceiling.

Tourism and hospitality are also industries in the world. Some people see this as an opportunity to increase the number of female workers. According to Kestwal (2017, p. 149), one of the key hindrances to career progression for women is the long working hours required. However, it is important to acknowledge that the decision not to pursue a career is personal and depends on the culture and lifestyle of the women involved. The most crucial aspect is that in the hospitality industry people holding higher positions in the organizational hierarchy have more responsibilities. Kestwal (2017, p. 149) also explains that the work rates and performances demanded as one climbs the corporate ladder discourage women because most cannot match their male counterparts. Therefore, research about the issues and challenges facing women in leadership should be informed by these findings, which illustrate that women face tougher tests even before they can become top managers.

Many studies of women and leadership in the hotel industry focus on the glass ceiling and the challenges faced for one to become an accomplished executive. A case study of Madrid has been presented by González-Serrano et al. (2018, p. 91), who find that even though there is a strong presence of females in the sector, access to management positions remains limited. Additionally, the common issues in the Madrid case study include the glass ceiling, verticle segregation, and discrimination. A case study for Cairo by Yasin et al. (2019) reveals that such social challenges as traditional customs, cultures, and beliefs affect the presence of women in the hospitality industry, especially their ascent to leadership. Therefore, it can be argued that the current literature has conclusively established what makes it difficult for women to become leaders.

With the literature provided above, it is apparent that the challenges and issues are preventing more women from joining leadership positions. However, very little has been done to establish what issues and challenges face those who have managed to overcome all obstacles to joint top corporate leadership. Such sentiment has been expressed by Hoyt and Murphy (2016, p. 391), who acknowledge that a lot has been done on barriers to women’s leadership and that it is time to explore what happens to female leaders. The researchers establish that there are high expectations for women leaders, which make their jobs difficult. A two-pronged problem suggested by Hoyt and Murphy (2016, p. 391) is that, on the one hand, highly communal women receive criticism for having deficiencies in leadership. On the other hand, those who are agentic are regarded as not being female enough.

Most of the literature regarding the barriers to leadership highlights such issues as stereotypes and other social challenges. Hoyt and Murphy (2016, p. 391) explain that these issues are also experienced once women have attained leadership positions. Social rejection is another element that prevents women from performing effectively in their management roles. Such an aspect is the result of social norms, where women in leadership are perceived to have broken the norms (Rincón, González, and Barrero, 2017, p. 322). Therefore, most of the challenges preventing women from pursuing corporate leadership also hinder them from effectively performing once they have attained executive positions.

The major research gap manifested in the literature review is that many studies examine barriers to leadership but fail to explore what happens once women have become managers. Secondly, a few recent case studies focus on specific countries, which means that cross-country comparisons may not be possible. The current literature only serves to justify the fact that there is a lot to be done to update knowledge and understanding regarding gender issues in business and leadership. Most importantly, there is no case for France or many studies that explore the country. In other words, a study examining the issues facing women leaders in hotels in France will be one of the first attempts on the topic. There may be a few scholars and studies showing that France is progressive on matters of gender balance. However, some would still insist that the representation of women in leadership does not reflect a commendable achievement. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore the situation in France, especially in the hospitality industry, which is known globally to be a leading employer of women.

Methodology

Philosophy and Approach

All researchers are guided by their own approaches to research and tend to follow a particular philosophy. In scientific research, the term philosophy can be used to describe the development of knowledge, research assumptions, and nature (Zukauskas, Vveinhardt, and Andriukaitienė, 2018, p. 123). The reasoning behind the research and the selection of methods used are also part of the philosophy. For this study, the research philosophy selected is positivism, which holds that the social world can be objectively understood. Scholars using this philosophy believe that reality is objective, and they analyze while dissociating themselves and their personal values from the phenomenon being studied. In terms of the research approach, this study will be descriptive because it seeks to describe the challenges and issues facing women leaders in the French hospitality industry. The phenomenon may not be new, but the absence of adequate data and previous studies justify this research approach.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research methods are a perfect way to conduct primary research, especially where the researchers are making the first attempt on a subject. A quantitative study can be described as a research undertaking that focuses on quantifying and analyzing numerical data to obtain results (Apuke, 2017, p. 41). Therefore, the basic characteristics of quantitative research are that the data collected is quantifiable and that the analysis used statistical methods and tools. The primary data collected for this research will be quantified and analyzed statistically. Such descriptive elements as percentages and means will answer the first research question. The other two questions will require more complex analysis, including correlation analysis.

Research Design

The design adopted for this research is the case study, a design that has been used across multiple disciplines, including social sciences and business. However, it is important to acknowledge that most case studies use qualitative approaches. The features of this research make it possible to apply a case study design. For example, the focus on a single country and a single industry means that an in-depth exploration of the problem can be accomplished in line with the requirements of a case study. Therefore, the findings obtained from this research will be used to make generalizations not only across other countries but also in other industries.

Data Collection and Analysis

Primary data will be collected through the use of online surveys. The current COVID-19 pandemic restricts movements and physical contact, which means the most favorable option left is to engage respondents through the use of other means. The first research question can use secondary data, potentially from market research or other industry-specific data. However, the second and third research will require the development of questionnaires to be administered through the use of emails and messaging applications. A sample of 50 women leaders in the hotel industry is selected using the convenience sampling technique. In terms of data analysis, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) will be used to analyze the numerical data. A correlation analysis establishes the link between the highlighted challenges and the number of women in leadership, and the job satisfaction levels of female managers.

Ethical Considerations

The researcher observes all ethical guidelines associated with a primary study. Most importantly, the current pandemic requires the researcher to take extra precautions regarding the interactions with respondents. As an online survey, there will be no harm or physical harm caused to participants, including exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Other forms of harm will be avoided by such measures as upholding anonymity and confidentiality. Privacy will also be observed, and all participation will be made voluntary and backed by informed consent.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion

The current literature suggests that the focus among scholars has been on the barriers faced by women pursuing leadership positions. The situation has been the same across the world and industries. Tourism and hospitality are among those with the highest numbers of female employees. The main purpose of the study is to find out the gender dynamics in leadership in France’s hospitality industry. A key research gap has been identified in that the case study of France and its hospitality sector have not been subjected to a scholarly examination.

Therefore, this research will be a descriptive and quantitative study, which means that numerical data will be collected and analyzed. Considering the current situation with the pandemic, an online survey has been selected as the safest data collection method. Most importantly, the data will be analyzed using SPSS, which helps develop both descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Lastly, the researcher upholds all ethical standards in the conduct of the research, especially regarding the engagement of the respondents.

Recommendations

The nature of this research and the amount of data available presents some difficulties for the researcher. Therefore, several recommendations can be made regarding the approaches used. First, convenience sampling is the best technique because the targeted respondents are perceived to be facing certain challenges already. Only those who are comfortable with the research can participate, which means that informed consent will be sought before the questionnaires are administered. The researcher should explore multiple hotels across the country and find out those with female managers before initiating contact with them. Such information can be easily available on the internet, especially on social networking sites, including Facebook and LinkedIn. With these sites, the employee profiles and positions within companies can be seen, including their contact information. Social media can also be a perfect tool to administer the questionnaires once the sample has been selected.

The second recommendation involves the framing of the questions to drive both useful feedback and allow the quantification of the data. The hypotheses developed will be a useful tool in this regard because they make it possible to measure the response rates supporting each one of them. Therefore, it can also be recommended that a larger sample be used to make generalizations easier. Since no interviews are used, which could be time-consuming, the researchers can afford to recruit as many respondents as possible. In this case, an estimated 250 would be a large enough sample. However, this recommendation depends on the number of female personnel in top management positions across the country and how many of them will be willing to participate. The answer to the first research question can determine the sample size used for this research.

Reference List

Apuke, O. (2017) ‘Quantitative research methods: a synopsis approach’, Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 6(11), pp. 40-47.

González-Serrano, L. (2018) ‘Women and the glass ceiling in the community of Madrid hotel industry’, International Journal of Human Resources Development and Managemen, 18(1/2), pp. 91-111.

Hoyt, C. and Murphy, S. (2016) ‘Managing to clear the air: stereotype threat, women, and leadership’, The Leadership Quarterly, 27(3), pp. 387-399.

Kestwal, A. (2017) ‘The challenges and issues of women in the hospitality industry’, 8(3), pp. 147-157.

Khan, Y. (2019) ‘Cross-cultural leadership and the hospitality industry: a leadership style towards success in organizational goals in France’, Hospitality & Tourism Management International Journal, 1(4), pp. 20-25.

Kumara, R. (2018) ‘Career development of women in the hotel industry: an overview’, Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 10(1), pp. 330-338.

Rincón, V., González, M. and Barrero, K. (2017) ‘Women and leadership: gender barriers to senior management positions’, Intangible Capital, 13(2), pp. 319-386.

Torrens University Australia, 2019. 4 women leaders in hospitality and their views on gender equality in the industry. Web.

Yasin, E. (2019) ‘What challenges affect women working in the hotel industry? evidence from five-star hotels in Cairo’, International Journal of Heritage, Tourism and Hospitality, 13(1), pp. 35-47.

Zukauskas, P., Vveinhardt, J. and Andriukaitienė (2018) ‘Philosophy and paradigm of scientific research’, in J. Vveinhardt, (Ed.). Management Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility. London: IntechOpen, pp. 121-139.

The story of Ama Aidoo In the Cutting of a Drink tells about gender inequality, which is expressed in the clash between the typical values of rural residents and the values of people living in the city. The story is told by a person who directly faced the problem of sexual inequality himself. The main character has not seen his sister for a long time and goes searching for her in the city of Accra. In the city, they are overcome by a sense of misunderstanding since he is among people whose values he is not used to, and they are new to him.

The most important aspect of this work is the attitude towards women, which shows that the female sex was perceived as a commodity. The author demonstrates this through the narrator’s sister Mansa, who sells herself in a nightclub in Accra. The capitalist system of the city forces women to drive themselves into slavery, which is generally accepted there. Mansa says that work is work, from which it can be concluded that women do not want to change it (Aidoo, 1970). A woman is not considered as a mother or a wife but only as a commodity.

The main character is faced with all the horror of the capitalist system of Accra, which forces women to sell their bodies and spend time with different men. Some men are ready to pay for it and have no further obligations toward these women. In turn, women are ready for this since their main goal is survival. The realization that women are ready to be just a commodity is revealed to the main character. At the end of the story, he realizes that any work is work. The problem of gender inequality exists, and, unfortunately, it is quite difficult or almost impossible to eradicate it. This story interested me precisely because such a problem still takes place in some undeveloped countries.

Reference

Aidoo, A. (1970). In the cutting of a drink. Longman.

Based on a social structure and society’s economy, as well as the culture of any individual group living there, gender inequality can take many various shapes. Even if there is talk about gender disparity, women often have the edge over males in identical circumstances. There are disputes about the sexual desire of men and women and how it is applied, and the use of physical strength of men on women. This study paper evaluates three texts: Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, and William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. The books mentioned above are excellent examples of traditional feminist literature and provide a historical analysis of gender inequality. These three stories show many examples of gender inequality in this time period through the themes, dialogue, and setting.

Gender inequality manifests itself in various ways, including sexual violence and the exploitation of women. This has been demonstrated in the Trifles. In the story setting, the article shows how women are only left for tasks such as breeding and are only relegated to being breeders (Glaspell 3). It suggests that women are to be used and nothing more. They cannot hold positions and be followed. According to Samman, in her analysis of the Trifles, only women tend to worry about Trifles (Glaspell 5). Similarly, she notes that the book’s title has been used symbolically (Sammam 71). “Mr. Hale makes a general statement approved by the other men in the play accusing all women of worrying over trifles” (Sammam 71). Men in the story fail to notice these trifles because they are in women’s territory.

The area of female sexual desire is contentious, while the male species are given the authority to make decisions regarding women’s sexuality – a thing they know little to nothing about. Women are not expected to communicate their desires, much less have any at all (Puthiyedath 43). The right to talk about it has been taken over by patriarchal culture, and women no longer have the voice to express it. A woman with a sexual yearning is considered a temptress in patriarchal discourse. Similar voice theft occurs with the main characters in The Yellow Wallpaper, who, instead of having a chronicler, actually writes her narrative on the walls of her mental and physical prison with her body (Puthiyedath 45).

The articulation of a woman’s body and repression of her feminine voice. The heroine of The Yellow Wallpaper experiences a similar fate while being in a location that is both geographically and culturally distant, highlighting the inherent homogeneity of Unmuting Women’s Bodies.

Trifle’s play setting is meticulously described in detail to show Mrs. Wright’s kitchen, a degradation of the female character (Sammam 72). A position or place in space characterized by emotional investments or identifications constructed and given significance by social power relations is what is meant by the dramatic “place” (Sammam 71).

The play’s gender disparities are connected to this idea of space. The ladies in the kitchen pick up on Minnie’s prevalent emotions, which include helplessness, victimization, dread, despair, and loneliness. The domineering, manipulative spouse brings on these emotions. Since they “do not imagine a place be any joyful for John’s existing in it,” they are aware of the causes of the house’s sadness (Sammam 71). The women are compelled by their behavior to defend Mrs. Wright. On a farm, there is a ton of labor tremendous be done. Additionally, they comment on how the guys are acting, hinting that men’s hands are not necessarily as clean as they may be.

Male dominance and patriarchy over females clearly show gender inequality and the preference for men. Glaspell has utilized the theme of patriarchy in society to show gender inequality in his book Trifle. On the same note, a closer analysis of the book by Li demonstrates similar notions. Li remarks that the three female characters in the play—Minnie Foster, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hales—have all experienced what it is like to be speechless in front of men and to have their worth diminished by them. Men dominate and have unrestricted freedom to express themselves across the play, while women are at the men’s mercy and denied a voice (Li 37).

In the court setting, it is evident that men’s words have unquestionable authority and that women must submit to their commands notwithstanding their will (Li 37). As the main suspect in the murder case, Minnie Foster ought to be allowed to represent herself in court. She is never visible on stage, though, throughout the whole performance. In a way, the male characters have been given much power, which in the real sense, belittles women.

Another manifestation of gender inequality is when girls in the same socioeconomic class receive less schooling and educational benefits than boys. This has been shown in Gilman’s Yellow Wallpaper by analyzing Puthiyedath’s comparative study of the exact text. A writer who is banned from writing by her spouse is Gilman’s main character (Puthiyedath 47). He makes the case that his wife, who has just given birth to their first kid, ought to have some time to herself. Reading and writing require excessive mental effort and slow down the healing process. The author knows that a period of forced idleness is worse for her mental health than a moment of moderate exercise (Puthiyedath 47).

Her spouse, on the other hand, dismisses her proposals out of hand. Her sadness is said to be caused by her inability to regulate her enthusiasm and imagination, like many feminine illnesses such as hysteria. The treatment he suggests is a rest cure.

By utilizing the theme of feminist rebellion, Yellow Wallpaper, in turn, expressed women’s desires to be free from the oppressors, in this case, the men, and try to balance the scale of gender inequality (Özyon 117). Özyon’s analysis of the female protagonist in Gilman’s Yellow Wallpaper shows it all. She is tied by an invisible but constantly present rope since, as a mother and a wife, she does not adhere to the norms of society. She is consequently referred to as “a madwoman in the attic,” as Özyon bluntly describes her (Özyon 117). The terms “help, meant, comfort, rest,” and “burden” give the idea that she is feeling somewhat guilty about not performing the tasks expected of her as a mother and a wife, even if she disobeys societal norms and seems to be rebelling against her husband and the standards of society as a whole.

The gender inequality in the family has also been outlined in the family setting, where the male siblings tend to believe they have power over their sisters and can decide on their behalf (Özyon 118). The analysis of Yellow Wallpaper shows that the narrator’s spouse is not the only patriarchal society symbol who helps to keep her confined to this isolated dwelling like a mad woman. Her brother, a doctor, makes the same diagnosis as John: she has a little hysterical inclination or a brief nervous depression. As a result of being encircled on all sides, she has nowhere to go, no one to turn to for assistance, and nobody who can relate to or comprehend what she needs and wants so much (Özyon 119). The only thing she accomplishes during her time behind bars is to take down the yellow wallpaper in her chamber, where she claims to have seen a lady figure trying to escape behind bars.

Gender inequality can also be seen in the dialogue in some of the stories. Analysis of Özyon in Gilman’s work of Yellow Wallpaper shows some of the conversations in which male patriarchy has manifested. Even John’s use of words while speaking to his wife reflects the language of patriarchy as a dominant force. “A wonderful little goose,” he calls her (Özyon 118). He implies that he does not consider her seriously because of her reduced status as a woman in that patriarchal system. Even his gestures and body language are oppressive, in addition to the phrases he employs to refer to her: “‘Better in body perhaps,’ I said, but I had to stop because he sat up straight and gave me such a hard, critical look that I was unable to continue” (Özyon 119).

As a result, in addition to his words, his actions make the protagonist feel like a helpless young girl in his presence. Even speaking about how she feels regarding her health is forbidden. Because of this, even while the narrative implies an indictment of the patriarchal system, it does not seem to be very useful in the context of the protagonists, or the woman character’s, revolt, which prevents this narrative from being referred to be an utterly feminist work.

The theme of classism has been used in Rose for Emily to show the gender inequality in the community. An in-depth analysis of Faulkner’s a Rose for Emily family and social setting offers the menace towards the female gender (Feng 85). Emily is a victim of social inequalities by nature, even though she profits from them in many ways, financially and socially. Members of the community view her exploration of free love as a shame and a negative influence on the youth and the younger ones because of her “inborn nobleness,” which her father uses to chase away everything and everyone who violates their customs (Feng 85). Even now, they can keep her from being with the person she loves. Therefore, as a staunch supporter of classism, Emily is forced to isolate herself in a locked house when the contemporary notions of equality arrive from the north to her community during the Civil War.

Emily has been used as a symbol of alienation in the community setting. At the same time, the townspeople do not believe Emily is one of them (Feng 86). Rather than being referred to as a typical Jefferson citizen at the commencement of the tale, she is called “a fallen monument,” “a tradition, a responsibility, and a concern” (Feng 86). She is not like a person. The community residents never consider Emily as one of themselves but rather as a duty “upon” the town (Feng 86).

They also view her as a source of rumors at the same time, however. Although she is frequently discussed, nobody is concerned about her. In reality, Emily is either highly regarded by the entire community or as an outsider open to criticism and whose death “would be the greatest thing” (Feng 86). Since nobody has ever been allowed inside Emily’s house, even while emitting lethal odors, it represents estrangement. As a result, Emily’s mansion serves as a fortress that keeps the outsider Emily off from the locals. To achieve this impossibly unachievable love, Emily devotes the rest of her life to the remote castle with Homer, which again exposes the harshness and depravity of the ancient south culture.

In conclusion, this research has outlined the significant gender inequalities manifested in the three works: Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, and William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. This research has shown that the area of female sexual desire is contentious. Similarly, male dominance and patriarchy over females clearly show gender inequality and the preference for men. Another manifestation of gender inequality is when girls in the same socioeconomic class receive less schooling and educational benefits than boys. The gender inequality in the family has also been outlined in the family setting where the male siblings tend to believe they have power over their sisters and can decide on their behalf.

Works Cited

Feng, Shiying. “Fallen Monument: A Marxist Analysis of William Faulkner’s a Rose for Emily.” International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology, vol. 3, no. 3, 2021, pp. 85-87. Web.

Li, Huiqing. “The Awakening and Rebellion of the Voiceless: An Interpretation of Glaspell’s Trifles.” Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, vol. 5, no. 14, 2022, pp. 36-39. Web.

Özyon, A. “A journey of feminist rebellion through Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper and her novel Herland.” International Journal of Language Academy, vol. 8, no. 5, 2020, pp. 115-124. Web.

Puthiyedath, Sangeetha. “Unmuting Women’s Bodies: A comparative study of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper and Lalitambika Antharjanam’s ‘Revenge Goddess.’” Trivium, vol. 4, no. 2, 2020, pp. 42-55. Web.

Samman, Maram. “The Bird Imagery in Suzan Glaspell’s Trifles and Joseph Kramm is the Shrike: A Feminist Comparative Study.” Critical Space, vol. 6, no. 3, 2018, pp. 67-80. Web.

Glaspell, Hannah. Trifles. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.

Introduction

Although researchers have quantified the extent of gender pay inequality in the workplace, they hold different opinions regarding the best strategies to use in addressing the problem (Abendroth et al. 2017). This paper compares two strategies for reducing the gender pay gap in China. They include the introduction of a skills-based approach for approving pay increments and the inculcation of a transparency culture in the workplace where people can see how managers make decisions to increase pay.

The context of this review is within the transport department of the Chinese government. At the end of this report, one strategy will emerge as the best. The effectiveness and public acceptance of this strategy define the two main evaluative criteria for selecting the best plan. However, before delving into the details of this analysis, it is first important to understand the background of the topic.

Background

Gender inequality in the workplace is a thorny issue in human resources circles. The gap in pay between male and female employees has particularly drawn the attention of intergovernmental organizations and observers, including the European Commission (2012) and the Economist (2017). Statistics reported by the European Commission (2015) reveal that men have consistently out-earned women across the board. These statistics have shown consistent patterns of bias in many countries. For example, a report developed by Calfas (2018, p. 1) revealed that up to 80% of companies operating in the United Kingdom (UK) paid women less than they did their male counterparts.

The median pay gap between both genders is estimated to be 9.7% (Calfas 2018, p. 1). These statistics represent the same outlook in America because women earn about 80 cents for every dollar paid to a male colleague (Wolfe 2018, p. 1). In China, the same pattern is reported because the earning gap ratio has worsened from 75% in 1988 to 82% in 2009 (Gu 2017). This pay gap is largely attributed to existing biases in the gender labor division (Gu 2017). Several options could mitigate this problem.

Introduction of Options

Using Skill-Based Assessments

A skill-based assessment structure is one that approves pay increases based on an employee’s mastery of skills or the acquisition of education certificates (UK Government Equalities Office 2017). In this type of system, employees receive additional pay after demonstrating that they have mastered certain skills needed to fulfill a specific job requirement (Chenoy 2017). This type of assessment criterion places an emphasis on a person as opposed to a job because skills are essentially individual-based (Auspurg, Hinz & Sauer 2017).

The use of skills as the main criteria for recruitment and promotion could address the gender gap divide in the transport department of the Chinese government. Since men mainly dominate this sector, it is important to use a skill-based approach to make pay increase decisions as opposed to a gender-based assessment criteria because the latter plan would make it easy for managers to overlook women for promotion by men being the majority.

Introduce Transparency in the Pay, Promotion and Reward Structure

Traditionally, the criterion for making payments, rewarding employees, or even promoting them is a relatively secretive undertaking of the Chinese government. However, introducing a transparency policy in this process could help to reduce the divide in the gender gap because it allows people to understand the criteria for approving pay increases. This provision allows employees to question the methodologies used to make such decisions. By embracing such a strategy, it would be easy to comment on the promotion, reward, and pay structures used by managers to award payments and expose their decisions to varied opinions, which may ultimately improve their performance (UK Government Equalities Office 2017).

Requirements

The requirements for selecting the right type of pay minimization strategy is premised on whether the technique chosen could receive a public acceptance or be effective in accomplishing the task it is designed for. Public acceptance is a key requirement for the implementation of the strategy because the department of transport is subject to public participation laws. For example, it would be inconceivable for the department to adopt a strategy that would support the recruitment of more women if doing so contravenes public expectations of service delivery, as envisioned by the Chinese society. Therefore, public acceptance of the proposed strategy is an important consideration.

The effectiveness of the department is also of equal importance to this analysis because the decision to select the best strategy will be based on the ability to effectively minimize the gender pay gap. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy will be viewed in the context of how it links the goals of gender pay minimization with the methodologies that will be used to meet the objective. The strategy will also only be considered effective if it only uses the resources allocated and delivers the anticipated results.

Comparison

McGregor et al. (2017), Bishu and Alkadry (2017) propose using a skill-based assessment criterion to make all pay increment decisions. They point out that this type of strategy has a high level of efficacy because researchers have affirmed its use in several case studies (McGregor et al. 2017; Bishu & Alkadry 2017). For example, the UK Government Equalities Office (2017) affirms its efficacy by reporting its success in an empirical study that used randomized control trials.

Part of the results showed a high level of efficacy in the use of skill-based assessment in recruitment, progression, and promotion. Therefore, it could be assumed that its use in the Chinese transportation industry would similarly demonstrate the same level of effectiveness. Based on the high level of effectiveness associated with the skills-based approach, it is one of the most widely adopted models of making pay decisions (McGregor et al. 2017).

If the introduction of a skill-based assessment strategy is evaluated based on its public acceptance appeal, it fails to perform as well as the option to improve transparency in the pay model. Stated differently, people are more likely to support increased transparency in human resource practices, as opposed to the introduction of a skills-based model to inform salary increment decisions. The reason is that a skills-based model is poorly understood not only by organizations but also by researchers alike (Quintana-García & Elvira 2017).

It is also one of the most under-researched areas of human resource management, as explained by Pendleton and Robinson (2017). These insights show that it would be difficult to garner public support for this type of strategy, especially in a government department where public opinion is valued.

Comparatively, the introduction of a transparent system of promotions could benefit from increased public acceptance because transparency is an age-old virtue in public service administration (Agu 2016). In other words, the strategy is best suited for government offices and departments because they are supposed to satisfy public interests. Levin et al. (2016) support this view by saying that transparency promotes accountability.

Other researchers, including Agu (2016), have also highlighted the importance of eliminating ambiguity in the operations of government departments. Overall, the verdict is that increased openness to government promotion strategies has been successfully practiced within the public service sphere. Therefore, it is likely to have the same impact if adopted in the Chinese transport department. As a result, within the context of discussion highlighted in this paper, promoting transparency in the government department is likely to get more public acceptance compared to the introduction of a new policy to base pay increments on skills.

Introducing a culture of transparency in the pay, promotion, and reward structure of the Chinese transport department would not register the same level of effectiveness associated with using a skills-based approach to base all future pay decisions. Vinkenburg (2017) highlights the mismatch in effectiveness levels by saying that the introduction of a culture of transparency in organizations has not always yielded the best results in public governance because if implemented alone, it is insufficient to minimize pay gaps in the workplace. Therefore, other strategies or techniques have to support it.

Researchers such as Agu (2016) have also pointed out that transparency has often failed to improve the performance of governance standards in some organizations. This weakness is mostly attributed to the low effectiveness of the strategy in fulfilling tasks it is designed to complete. Based on these assertions, the effectiveness of a culture of transparency does not match that of using a skills-based approach to minimize pay gaps in the workplace.

Conclusion

This paper shows that the gender pay gap in the workplace is a problem in public service delivery. The issue is characterized by one gender receiving significantly more pay than the other does, simply by being male or female. Several researchers have proposed different strategies to address this problem. However, in this paper, two techniques were explored. The first one was introducing a skills-based approach to making promotion, rewards, and pay decisions, while the second one involved inculcating a culture of transparency in the workplace where people can see how the organization makes such decisions.

Both strategies could deter the use of gender-biased strategies to award pay increases. A comparison of these two strategies reveals that a skills-based technique is highly effective but has a low probability of being publicly accepted. Comparatively, a culture of transparency has a high public appeal but low effectiveness. This analysis means that both strategies have equal merits and demerits. Nonetheless, the use of a skills-based strategy should be adopted instead of the transparency-based model for reasons that are explained in the recommendations section below.

Recommendations

The Chinese department of transport should adopt a skills-based strategy because public buy-in can be attained by educating employees and the public about its importance. Doing so would make people understand that this technique is more effective than simply promoting the use of transparent human resource management procedures in the workplace. Therefore, educating the public about the high effectiveness of this strategy would make them recognize that their focus should be on adopting a plan that best minimizes gender pay gaps as opposed to one that only allows more opportunities for scrutiny.

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