Women and the Workplace

In a Hindi film, there was a dialogue that said that “we are extremely progressive” “I let Aisha work.” Here the implication ‘I let her work’ makes me as a viewer uncomfortable. It demonstrates that women are asking for permission to work. The notion that even now they are paid less and are rarely put in positions of power in a workplace is very well visible in society. A very popular American sitcom, The Office, although a comedy show puts forth Jan Levinson’s character as a woman in the corporate at a hierarchical position. She’s constantly a victim of the workplace; her character turns from a professional to an unlikeable person. The show criticizes the real office environments and her story is a cautionary tale telling us what long term sexism in the workplace can lead to.

From the start, women’s education has been given less to no priority. Even when women are educated it is a struggle for them to enter the workplace. Wage gaps due to gender disparity and regular workplace sexism are things that women go through daily and that too only if they get to work. Women can raise children and work as well, doing what men can and cannot. Women employment is an important issue that has constantly been ignored. All around the world, employment for women is harder and is mostly diverted towards low paying jobs. The conditions at work are hard and vulnerable for women. “When someone is employed or actively looking for employment, they are said to be participating in the labor force. The current global labor force participation rate for women is close to 49%. For men, it’s 75%. That’s a difference of 26 percentage points, with some regions facing a gap of more than 50 percentage points.” (ILO,2018.)

“Organizations that don’t realize the importance of women in the workplace are missing out. Besides doubling your talent pool, more women may also improve your company’s performance. Previous research has shown that women in the workplace and gender diversity is key for organizations’ bottom lines:

• Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women on boards financially outperform companies with the lowest representation of women on boards.

• Gender-diverse teams have higher sales and profits compared to male-dominated teams.

• A recent Gallup study found that gender-diverse business units have higher average revenue than less diverse business units.

But the benefits of having more women in the workplace are not limited to just financial gains.” (2019, December Center for Creative Leadership). Women are multifaceted and put in their best everywhere they go. They can be equally good as men. Hence, they should be treated and paid just as well. Women are major forces of creativity and are equally hard workers. They need just as many opportunities as men to excel. Creating a healthy work environment for them is important.

REFERENCES:

International Labor organization, December 2018. The Gender Gap in employment. What’s holding women back?

https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Employment/barriers-women#smarter-solutions

Center for Creative Leadership. Women in the Workplace: Why Women Make Great Leaders and how to retain them. December 2, 2019. S