Women in this country face workplace gender discrimination on a regular basis. In fact, over 40% of women report encountering work-place discrimination at some time in their lives. If that is something to which you can relate, the services of an experienced employment attorney may be helpful.
What Workplace Gender Discrimination Looks Like
This is a many-headed monster, impacting women with a bachelor’s degree at much higher levels than women with less education. Those with post-graduate education report discrimination at still greater levels. Overall, women submit that they come head to head with discrimination in a variety of forms:
- Lower earnings for the same work (25%);
- Treated as if incompetent (23%);
- Being slighted repeatedly in the workplace (16%);
- Not being supported by senior management (15%;
- Being overlooked for key assignments (10%);
- Feeling isolated at work (9%);
- Failing to be promoted (7%);
- Not getting hired (7%).
Why Workplace Gender Discrimination is so Prevalent
One theory states that stereotypes begin at birth and are nurtured throughout a female’s lifetime, eventually reaching fruition as gender discrimination in workplace situations. This makes sense when you think of pink and blue baby blankets, dolls and Hot Wheels, ballet class and karate class. Gender grooming through advertising, opportunity, and social beliefs feed female employment choice expectations. Research abounds demonstrating the imbalance in focus toward boys in math and sciences and many programs such as debate, sports, and science focus on male participation in secondary schools, while females are encouraged to do volunteer work. Ultimately, college courses in business and technical fields are dominated by males, whereas females fill courses related to caregiving areas such as education and nursing.
Once women make it into a profession, they often lack female role models and have to fight to make it to the top. Are trends changing? To some degree, yes. Women have taken the lead over their male counterparts when it comes to business startups. Even so, they tend to go into fields customarily viewed as “female” work. Those who do break into a male-dominated field often find themselves battling sex and gender discrimination at surprisingly high rates.
Doing Away With Workplace Gender Discrimination
Without a doubt, women are underrepresented in high-level positions in this country. When it comes to Fortune 500 companies, only 5% of CEOs are female. Females do slightly better attaining executive positions, with 15% of women scoring those jobs. This is troubling when considering the influx of women into the workforce in recent decades. While plenty of organizations have instituted training programs to battle discrimination, the evidence suggests that women still have bias to confront, whether conscious or not.
What is a well-intended CEO to do? Diversity training is a good starting point, but it should not stop there. Other approaches include:
- Mentoring programs;
- Diversity committees;
- A staff position dedicated to diversity;
- Having joint committees to look at hiring and promotion decisions;
- Acknowledging bias issues and addressing them publicly.
Representing You
At Beck Law P.C., our experienced legal team will fight for justice on your behalf. If you have suffered workplace discrimination and work in Sonoma County, Mendocino County or Lake County California contact our Santa Rosa office to arrange for a confidential consultation.
(image courtesy of Matt Hoffman)