Gender Bias in the Workplace

Gender Bias in the Workplace

Even after great advancements made by mankind in possibly all the fields of life, gender distinction between a man and woman still exists. The portraiture of power and the roles of gender in a prevalent culture reverberate meaningful patrimonial control, with the maneuvering of a female gender an appurtenant element of its objective. Women working in a professional environment have to prove their importance within the acrimonious periphery created by men. Despite the changes, which have been brought in by many laws and movements, women today still do not enjoy a working environment where they would be given a status equal to that of a man.

In order to promote equal opportunities for both men and women in a working environment, the United States passed an act called Equal Employment Opportunity Act during the year 1972. This Act aims at eliminating illegal discrimination in a workplace through various approaches. Some are dictated by statutory limitations and some by philosophical and managerial considerations (EEOC, 35 Years Of Ensuring The Promise Of Opportunity). The Act states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity " (U.S. Department Of Labor, Title IX, Education Amendments Of 1972).

Despite the passing of this Act, signs of gender distinction can easily be found in work places. Even though such biases still exist, women now are rising to fight for their rights on the basis of this Act.

During the year 2001, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC, responsible for preventing bias based on race, gender or age in the workplace, sued

Morgan Stanley on behalf of Allison Schieffelin and other Morgan Stanley female employees. In June 2001, the EEOC found Morgan Stanley discriminated against Schieffelin, a bond saleswoman who made upward of $1 million a year, and other female employees. Schieffelin had filed a formal complaint in November 1998, claiming the investment bank denied promotions to women and paid them less because of their gender. Morgan Stanley disputed the EEOC's findings, and said it fired Schieffelin for insubordination (U.S. Agency Sues Morgan Stanley For Sex

Bias).

Suzanne Uttaro Samuels in her famous book wrote, "sex is based on biological characteristics and gender is socially constructed" (Fetal Rights, Women's Rights: Gender Equality In The Workplace, Pg. 4).

In her book, Understanding The Gender Gap, An Economic History Of American women, Claudia Golden emphasized that women entered the labor market in huge numbers. Despite their hard work and effort they are paid less than men and only a few are given opportunities for leadership. The author wrote that women's employment advance was a result of social revolution rather than long run economic progress. Employing innovative quantitative history methods and new data series on employment, earnings, work experience, discrimination and hours of work, establishes that the present economic status of women evolved gradually over the last two centuries and that past conceptions of women workers persist (Oxford, Understanding The Gender Gap, An Economic History Of American Women).

The organizational structure is usually found to consist of men who think that they are not gender biased but in reality they are. They cannot see a woman get ahead and try to undermine them in any way possible. Women are denied from equal opportunities, salaries and the treatment that their male counterparts get.

In March 1995 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a document called A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT. This document showed evidence of gender bias against female faculty in the department of science. In the report some of the teachers had reported that their male peers had acquired an unequal proportion of laboratory space and research equipment.

That evidence led to the creation of the Committee on Women Faculty in the School of Science, which in turn documented that through subtle and largely unconscious discrimination, most of the senior female professors in the school had received lower salaries and fewer resources for research than their male counterparts and had been excluded from significant roles within their departments. Once the committee presented its preliminary findings to Robert J. Birgeneau, the dean of the school, in 1995, he took prompt action to redress inequities (Nancy Hopkins, MIT And Gender

Bias: Following Up On Victory).

The Dean made sure to equally redistribute the benefits given to faculty members in general. Many senior teachers were given an increase in salary, funds for researches were allotted to faculty members and more female faculty was hired. These changes automatically established better working environment.