Gender Roles and Sexuality in Research Paper

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The industry experts believe that there is vague idea about the responsibilities which can be assigned to women. Because of their physical structure, they should not be given physical tasks and because of perceived inabilities at mental part, they are not given decision making jobs.

There are arguments in favor of giving the female workers the same tasks which are given to male workers. The concept is rooted from the slogan of equity which is displayed for the same remuneration. Coming back to the previously discussed argument, when females ask for the same level of remuneration to be given to them for the jobs which are done by both females and males, people consider the vice versa demand in place. It means they start assuming that females should be given the same responsibilities as given to males. As females ask for equality in pay package, organizations and decision makers plan for the same tasks for women as planned for men. These include many tasks which females find difficult to perform but they need to do so to earn their livelihood. The chain continues and the issue of diversity is ignored on a large scale.

There are situations in which female employees have proved them to be as capable as men in various aspects. Particularly speaking in the context of team work, when female workers are in the same team as of male workers, their abilities are unleashed and people like to cherish them on their respective levels. Still, it is difficult to get recognition as there are many other factors which block their way.

Glass Ceiling

Even if female employees tend to perform the same level of job as performed by the males, there are certain factors which do not let them promote. These factors are mainly social and psychological in a sense that there is no calculated logic behind not promoting women (Chen, Meindl and Hui 115). It is important to mention that the concept of inferiority attached to females is centuries old and it is really difficult to eradicate from the minds of people. It is also interesting to mention that females may try their best to prove them as capable as men and at many occasions, they have performed even better than men, so they come out of inferiority complex yet males are not willing to accept them as equal to them. Men usually do not come out of their superiority complex hence situations become worse.

Glass ceiling refers to the ceiling which exists but is not visible. In organizational settings, it often happens that career growth of individuals is blocked but there is no defined policy or statement that justifies that blockage. Even people do not know that they have reached a career plateau and will not be promoted further. It is just like the case that they are not promoted for many years. Either there are no positions above the position held by them presently or their present qualifications do not allow them to compete for the next positions. The third and the most important reason is about the prejudices which do not let management to promote certain employees.

In case of female employees, the last factor plays the major role. Organization may have invited women to join the organization and serve it for so many years. The organization may have promoted them in their functional lines but a stage comes where females wish to be promoted (Roberson 421) but organizations do not let them grow. The female employees are competent; they meet eligibility criteria but are not promoted just because organizations do not want a female to serve at a leading position. There can be many reasons behind it. One of them is; people are not comfortable while working under the supervision of female bosses. Regardless of the levels of professionalism prevailing in the organization and open mindedness of employees, males are reluctant to become subordinates of females. The reason is the centuries old concept that females are inferior to them and they are not supposed to rule over men.

It is unethical in leadership practices that a female boss is suppressed just because of her gender. Organizations should inculcate the habits of professionalism and positive attitude among the employees so that they can learn how to play their role in the best possible manner (Caldwell, Hayes & Long 497).

Keeping in view the glass ceiling and innate prejudices, females are avoided to be promoted. Organizations hire them for low cadre jobs; most of them are clerical or require high physical energy.

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It is not possible for organizations to block female entry from job because the increase of diversity has imposed the restriction to have certain number of females in workforce as well. The slogan of equal opportunity employment is enjoyed by many organizations but hardly any organization follows it in spirit.

As the pressure on workforce diversity and its effective management is increasing, organizations are looking for the ways to accord with the corporate requirements. In order to remove female from physical tasks, organizations have adopted the strategy of hiring them as front desk staff members who are mainly responsible to communicate with the customers. It is again the psychological concept that males enjoy the company of females and are attracted towards the places where females are found. Hence, waitresses at restaurants are females, counter staff mainly consists of females, aircraft cabin crew has more females than males and telemarketing staff members are also females. Even the medical healthcare industry requires females as nurses so that patients are consoled and are psychologically satisfied that there is care taker for them who is inferior to them and they can boast of being superior to her.

It is ironic to say that even females tend to look down upon the females who are performing these activities which are considered as low cadre. A female customer at restaurant tends to speak rudely to the waitress assuming her an inferior being as she is hired for the service of customers. The female managers of the organization look down upon the receptionist of their own organization. It is no exaggeration to state that even females determine the level of respect to be attributed to person based on the position enjoyed by the individual. Gender alone is not the reason of regard for females. In order to end the prejudices of gender, rank related stereotyping should also be combated so that society and workplace may grow in its true sense.

Keeping in view the need of increasing workplace productivity, the management needs to think beyond the centuries old prejudices and establish a fair system which provides development opportunity to every individual regardless of his gender. The focus should be on talent and not the gender. If there is a male with persuasive personality and excellent communication skills, he can be appointed at customer services desk. Likewise, if a female has strong analytical skills and cognitive abilities, she should be given decision making position. There should be no prejudice on the basis of gender and fair chance of growth should be given to everybody. It can help organizations win competitive advantage (Zadek 334) and become an employer of choice for workforce.

The number of females is increasing in the labor market and there are many females who have unprecedented achievements in their educational background. Inclusion of these exceptional females can help organization grow at rapid speed. Particularly speaking in the context of modern business environment where proactive approach is desired to the maximum (Covey), this initiative can pave way for strong competitive advantage. It can also lead to fulfillment of corporate social responsibility in a manner that organization is offering job opportunities to a deprived sector of society.

Organizations through their leadership styles and strategies can increase the level of acceptance of females as valuable employees who have equal capabilities like men and are able to play their role effectively (Schein 365). These effectiveness can be found not only in the organizational development but also in their personal lives in which they are regarded as the best managers to handle various activities simultaneously. Men employees should be trained to obey the boss without the prejudice of his gender and follow the commandments as per organizational policies.

Conclusion

The sum and substance of this discussion is; there are gender biases in the organizations and no workplace is free of them. These biases and prejudices reduce satisfaction level (Igalens and Roussel 1003) of female employees and they tend to conceal their talent which can be used by organization to develop and grow. In order to get maximum benefits from the available workforce, it is necessary for organizations to break these glass walls for females and promote them to use their talent at workplace. Many initiatives are taken in this regard, few of them are fruitful but there is still much to do. It is expected that diversity considerations will be incorporated in real and true….....

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