What are the workplace issues that women have to face and what are the solutions to change the issues?
Women have been attempting to defy social expectations and norms. They have been protesting for equal rights and battling for a position in the world where they belong. But there is still a long way to go for women, particularly in the workplace. While it may appear that the world is changing and that the number of women working is increasing, the truth is very different.
Women Representation
From entry-level positions to the C-suite, women continue to be underrepresented at every level of the workforce. Senior managerial positions see a worsening of this underrepresentation. Only 22% of executives in the C-suite are female. Only 38% of women are promoted to managerial positions, compared to 62% of men in those jobs.
Gender pay gap
Despite attempts to dismiss this problem as a myth by some, statistics show that this is untrue. Although there are those who dispute the existence of the gender pay gap, the facts are clear: If you are a woman seeking the same job as a male, you will likely receive a lower wage. For every dollar that males make, women earn 77.9 cents. According to Payscale research, the median wage for women in 2018 is about 22% less than the median salary for men.
The fight for equitable pay is still going on in India. The daily wage in India’s rural agricultural areas is 264.05 for men and 205.32 for women, according to the Labor Bureau. The average daily wage rate in non-agricultural sects is 205.90 for women and 271.17 for men.
Sexual harassment
Numerous incidents of workplace sexual and non-sexual harassment of women were made public by the #MeToo movement. Unwanted verbal, visual, nonverbal, or physical harassment were all instances of this.
The prevalence of discrimination and harassment at work has increased recently as more women have had the guts to speak out about their harrowing encounters.
Sexual remarks about a person’s body, appearance, or clothing are just one example of sexual harassment. Other forms include unwanted physical advances and any other nonverbal behaviors that might foster a hostile, offensive, or intimidating environment.
Even if there are laws in existence to penalize such actions, victims of sexual harassment have discovered that doing so puts their careers in danger and makes them an outcast at work.
According to the Women in the Workplace survey, 35% of women who work full-time in the corporate sector have been sexually harassed. According to another EEOC survey, 75% of women who experience such hostile circumstances won’t report their harassment. Particularly when the abuser holds a top position.
The main excuse for not reporting is the worry about losing their jobs. According to the same EEOC study, “retaliation” affected 75% of harassment victims after they reported it.
Unemployment penalty
Women are subject to a greater unemployment penalty while raising children. This implies that women who take lengthier breaks find it considerably more difficult to get new employment.
The penalty for being unemployed for less than three months is merely 3.4 percent, whereas the penalty for being unemployed for more than a year is 7.3 percent.
According to the survey, 11% of women between the ages of 20 and 29 had been unemployed for 12 months or longer, compared to 4% of men in the same age group. Men and women who are unemployed fall into the 30- to 44-year-old age bracket at rates of 10% and 20%, respectively. In the end, the gender pay gap makes it more challenging for women to hold senior-level positions.
Race and Ethnicity
According to 64% of Americans, racism is still a significant social issue. The issue persists in the workplace as well. People of color and women of different ethnicities continue to be passed over for jobs by white men and women.
Race discrimination claims made up 33.9% of workplace discrimination claims in 2017, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Pregnancy discrimination
When it comes to starting a family, many working women are in a tough situation. When a woman is treated unfairly as a result of her pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, this is known as pregnancy discrimination. Additionally, it includes prejudice against expectant women and actions like social exclusion, stereotyping, invasive remarks, changing of chores, a lack of career advancement prospects, and wage decrease. According to The Guardian, prejudice against mothers results in over 50,000 women losing their employment.
Pregnancy discrimination is a form of workplace discrimination that occurs when women are let go, denied jobs, or treated differently because they are pregnant or nursing a child.
The discrimination may take the form of disrespectful remarks about a person’s physical or medical condition made by senior authorities, clients, peers, or customers. Other examples include companies limiting a woman’s working hours, income, and perks, declining to promote her, or making her take unpaid time off (paid or unpaid).
Menstrual pains
Every woman has experienced prejudice while getting her period at least once in her life. They receive taunts such as “stop fussing, are you having a period?” when they display emotions like anger or frustration. Women experience excruciating physical pain during their periods. Male coworkers viewing women taking leave while menstruating as an excuse not to show up to work is a classic illustration of everyday sexism.
Career Advancement
For young female workers who must put in more effort than their male counterparts in order to receive recognition or acclaim, career advancement is more difficult. Unknown as to why, there is a widespread perception in most organizations that men rise more quickly and that women are ‘incompetent,’ even when they are not given the chance to prove themselves. In contrast, just 85 women are promoted to executive positions for every 100 men. Although there may be a positive increasing trend, it is still necessary to address the imbalance between the number of female and male leaders and the prospects for job progression in the workplace today.
Work-life balance
Lack of work-life balance is another obvious issue that working women encounter. Of all, juggling a job and personal life is a challenge for everyone. Workers who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that they were unable to switch off and establish boundaries with their work, which served as a particularly stark reminder of this. Even in heterosexual unions, women still have to deal with cultural expectations regarding their place in the family. Working women were under a lot of pressure due to imbalance, which had a negative impact on their careers and opportunities for advancement within their roles but also led to serious burnout.
Women bosses
Many men perceive female bosses as posing a threat. Numerous studies have demonstrated that males like male over female bosses. Since the 1950s, there has never been a time when more than 25% of respondents to a Gallup poll indicated that they would prefer to work for a woman.
This is the cause of the underrepresentation of women in the workforce because there aren’t enough strong female leaders at the top and no one to motivate and support women who are just starting out in the workforce and are in entry-level positions.
Conclusion
People everywhere talk about progress and fostering an environment where everyone is treated fairly. But why does it come to an end with women? Why is it that women are expected to strike a balance between work and home responsibilities while males are expected to provide for the family financially? Why is the word “feminist” associated with so much anger and scorn when males have stepped out to support women in all of their endeavors? It’s time to dismantle toxic masculinity and educate people about how feminism aims to eliminate gender disparities in all spheres of life—political, economic, social, and personal.