Gender Psychology test review

Gender Psychology test review

Introduction

Discriminatory Practices in Organizations Today

The contemporary society is abuzz with workers from different genders. Gone are the days when the working population was mainly men. The traditional housewife has taken the challenge and joined the employment world. It is still a man’s world altogether, and he is not willing to relinquish his position. Men, however, feeling threatened by the woman who is now going for the top leadership in organizations. This section discusses two of the most damaging practices regarding discriminating the minority.

Unwelcoming environments for women

In search of growth, women have taken to jobs and fields which have been traditionally managed by men. In essence, women are now making their entry in what was a male-dominated field. They are now found in managerial positions. They are also found working in more technical jobs, in some industries such as the public transport industry, in groundwork among other manual jobs like in the construction industry and mining (Wood, 2012).The percentage of those operating in these positions is not such that we can write about. This is because women are featured as minorities and face intense marginalization. Having taken the minority tag, the women are highly resisted as they seek to take up the positions although allowed by their qualification. Though women merit taking up the ranks, they are faced with behaviors and languages that are meant to derail their aspirations as well as belittle them. The women find themselves in an environment in which they are unwanted (Wood, 2012).

Glass Ceilings and Walls

This metaphor points on the idea of the barriers that are placed before women and minorities. In the business world, the woman part of the opposition is only allowed to ascend to a particular height. The glass ceiling is supposed to define the limit to which the woman can climb the corporate and social ladder. Further, sex segregation is also practiced in the workplace. Women are defined through their gender and thus are only given positions that fit the “weaker sex.” Here the women are placed in positions that are traditionally theirs and which do not often include the advancement of their career (Wood, 2012).

The two practices are the most damaging since they deny the women the chance to enjoy in their place of work as well as bar them from ascending the career ladder. These two practices demean the human ability in the woman and sidelines meritocracy (Novikova & Kamburov, 2013).

Means of redress, strengths and weaknesses

In seeking redress for these discriminatory practices, there is need to settle for not just a working but perfect solution.

Affirmative action

These are policies agreed upon to increase representation of women in the workplace, in the education sector and the political arena. These sectors allow women to enjoy preferential treatment by setting aside positions that are mainly meant for women. This idea mostly works well in politics where the law on the fraction of women legislators in parliament is enshrined in the constitution. The positions set aside are not competed for by male contenders but are only filled by women candidate’s perspectives (Wood, 2012).

The key  strength of this is that affirmative action is a great solution since it addresses the bias on women and gives them a place in leadership. It also attempts to somehow reduce the gender representation gap. However, its weakness stems from the fact that the positions especially in politics and business may lack both willing and qualified candidates from the minority to fill them leading to antagonism and even legal pitfalls if the position needed to be filled urgently (Novikova & Kamburov, 2013).

References

Novikova, I., & Kamburov, D. (Eds.). (2013). Men in the global world: integrating postsocialist perspectives (Vol. 29). Aleksanteri Institute

Wood, J. (2012). Gendered lives. Nelson Education.