The Effectiveness of Theories and Research in Explaining the Challenge of Discrimination of Women in the Public Sector

Literature Review

The public sector has been under the radar in the recent past following several reports of discrimination against women. This derogatory trend has sparked debate and led to considerable research being directed to the subject of discrimination. The previous paper centered on the acknowledgement of the structural foundation of the discrimination of women in the public sector. It delved into the matter of anti-discrimination policing and equal employment opportunities as well as the management of this diversity. The discrimination of women is, in most cases compartmentalized and localized to the point that the larger frameworks of dominance are left out. Public sector organizations have been known to privilege the men in the work places. This literature review examines through scholarly support the impacts of diversity, ethics, and cultural competency on the decision-making process related to your selected problem. The paper also evaluates the aspects of effective communication styles as applied to individual and group collaboration.

The Effectiveness of Theories and Research in Explaining the Challenge of Discrimination of Women in the Public Sector

Research has been pivotal in elucidating the challenge of discrimination against women in the public sector. The problem of discrimination is a complex challenge that is perceived in the organizational structures, company procedures, as well as practices.  Research has revealed that most these derogatory acts are perpetuated in terms of human resource provisions due to the fact that human resource practices are directly related to policing, decision-making, and enrolment (Stamarski & Hing, 2015). As such, the human resource department is, in fact, responsible for employing, training, dispensing wages, promoting, and demoting the employees. The research article proposes a model that attempts to explain the discrimination of women in the human resource department. The model stresses on the reciprocity of disparities in connection to gender in the companies. The article emphasizes that these acts of discrimination that are connected to the department of human resource are derivatives of the inequality trickling down from the larger organizational framework, procedures, policies, and company practices.

Emily Hoffnar and Michael Greene (1996), in their study, discovered that the level of the decision-makers in the organizational hierarchy is highly influenced by sexist attitudes. In a similar pattern, the processes leading to major decisions factor in gender biases even when enacting human resource practices. Vitally, institutional segregation in hierarchical structures, procedures, and practices assume a pre-prominent part in light of the fact that not exclusively do they influence human resource rehearses, they likewise give a mingling setting to authoritative chiefs’ levels of threatening and kindhearted sexism (Wlliams, 1997). In spite of the fact that we depict gender inequalities as a self-fortifying framework that can sustain segregation, key levers for decreasing the disparities are recognized.

A survey conducted in 2012 by the Human Rights Commission revealed that women form only twenty-four percent of the executive positions in public organizations in spite of the fact that they account for fifty-nine percent of the staff in the public sector. The numbers of women in the senior management positions and public-sector boards reflected more positively with their percentage levels reading forty-two percent and forty-one percent respectively.  (Glazebrook, 2012)

Aspects of Effective Styles of Communication

The “Effective communication: The key to successful leadership” (2003) breaks down the five main communication styles that are evident in the public workplace (2003). They include:

The Assertive Style

The assertive style of communication is characteristic of the people that have a high level of confidence. It is hailed as an efficient way of maintaining correspondence in the workplace owing to the fact that it is neither too aggressive nor too passive. When we are emphatic, we have the certainty to convey information without falling back on diversions or control. We know our cutoff points and don’t enable ourselves to be pushed past the boundaries.

The Aggressive Style

This style is tied in with benefitting or achieving something, often at the expense of another person. A compelling sense of individualism carries on as though their requirements are the most important or claim the rights, and have more to contribute than other individuals. It is an ineffective correspondence style as the substance of the message may get lost.

The Passive-Aggressive Style

This is a style in which individuals seem passive at from the face value, but make their points known in other subtle ways that are not that apparent. A passive-aggressive employee may opt for other ways such as go-slows on assigned duties to make up for the lack of power. Individuals who carry on in this way more often than not feel feeble and angry, and express their sentiments by inconspicuously undermining the object (genuine or envisioned) of their feelings of hatred – regardless of the possibility that this winds up disrupting themselves.

The Submissive Style

This style is tied in with satisfying other individuals and avoiding strifes at all costs. A  worker who is submissive acts as though other people groups’ needs are more imperative, and other individuals have more rights and more to contribute.

The Manipulative Style

This style of communication shelters people with scheming habits, shrewd characters, and adroit personalities. Manipulative communicators are talented at affecting or controlling others to their own benefit. They conceal a hidden message when communicating with underlying intentions.

The Impacts of Diversity, Ethics, and Cultural Competency on the Decision-Making Process Related to Discrimination of Women

The enhanced level of diversification emerging from the discrimination against women by public organizations presents challenges for professional advancement in the careers. Jeffery Cohen, D. J. Sharp, and L.W. Pant (1998) explain that the challenges arise from the ethical misjudgment of women by the human resource department managers. It leads to the creation of separate criteria in the employment policy inclined to favor the men thus contributing to male domination in the public sector.

In a different research article, men were found to have reliably unique moral assessments, expectations and training than women. This leads to a situation where the workers are not treated or considered from the same point of view. Instead, there are certain inclinations accorded to the male subjects that make them seem more important at the workplaces. (Paasche-Orlow, 2004)

According to Brenda Louw (2015), cultural competence and ethical decision-making are two independent, yet naturally related ideas which are vital to administrative duties rendered by all human resource managers. Cultural competence depends on moral standards and complements ethics within the workplace. Disregarding this inter-relation creates challenges in the work place. This issue is tended to by evaluating the preparation and appraisal of social fitness and moral standards during employment. The coordinated relationship of these two concepts is outlined and demonstrated in the Person-Situation Interactionist Model. The workers must be thoroughly trained and evaluated in matters of cultural competence and ethical decision-making as this goes a long way in guaranteeing that the work environment conforms to the multi-cultural standards with no forms of discrimination against sections of the staff.

The modern-day standards demand that public organizations must develop an environment that is sensitive to multi-cultural needs and embraces the richness of diversity. With the globalization of the economy, a multi-cultural organization is deemed to gain a competitive edge with multiple advantages compared to less diverse ones. Be that as it may, numerous associations have come short in achieving the desired multicultural workforces as heighted in the research by Maak and Pess (2004). These challenge exist due to the fact that much consideration is paid to the development of diversity in the organizations while ignoring the regulation of the environment within which the diverse staff will operate. Control needs to be upheld in terms of standards of practice, ethics, processes, and structural framework of the company to ensure that there is no discrimination against any section of the staff members.

Given the way that diversity is fundamentally dependent on the establishment of the right set of social standards, regulatory measures must be taken to ensure that the public dominion is transformed into a suitable environment that accommodates a diverse group of workers of various genders, from different backgrounds, and having many ethnic affiliations. A lot of consideration must be paid to ethical standards of the organization to guarantee that all the workers feel regarded in spite of all these factors of difference. Based on this argument, John Morgan and Felix Vardy (2009) published an article that focused on the establishment of a decent work environment that considers all the employees. They explain that it is important to create a culture of incorporation in line with the ethical theory of acknowledgement by fostering a good level of understanding among the employees as well as a sense of mutual respect.

In the wake of uncovering obstructions that block a culture of consideration from being created in the work place, another article by Linda Trevino (1986) sheds light on the four basic transformational stages when developing this culture: The main stage concentrates on bringing challenging issues to light, building understanding and encouraging self-reflection. The second stage focuses on the advancement of the sense of cooperation among the workers to instill the habit of working together to achieve a common objective. Thirdly, the organizational framework and ideals must be re-evaluated to check for any grey areas.  This prompts the fourth stage that highlights the need to have an integrated human resource structure that implements change and encourages employee development.

In conclusion, the richness of diversity is a strength to any organization, especially in the modern-day atmosphere graced by the phenomenon of globalization. The discrimination against sections of the staff within the public sphere is a disgrace trend that hinders the success of the organization. It minimizes the productivity of the employees at the work place. Several research articles emphasize on the need to establish a stronger ethical base and a solid set of standards in the organization to prevent any forms of discrimination.

References

Effective communication: The key to successful leadership. (2003). Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 7-9.

Glazebrook, S. (2012). Women in the Public Sector – a question of equality.

Hoffnar, E., & Greene, M. (1996). Gender discrimination in the public and private sectors: A sample selectivity approach. The Journal of Socio-Economics.

Louw, B. (2015). Cultural Competence and Ethical Decision Making. Humanities and Social Sciences.

Maak, T., & Pless, N. (2004). Building an Inclusive Diversity Culture: Principles, Processes and Practice. Journal of Business Ethics.

Morgan, J., & Vardy, F. (2009). Diversity in the Workplace. The American Economic Review.

Paasche-Orlow, M. (2004). The Ethics of Cultural Competence. Academic Medicine.

Stamarski, C., & Hing, L. (2015). Gender inequalities in the workplace: the effects of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers’ sexism. Frontiers in Psychology.

Trevino, L. (1986). Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model. Academy of Management.

Wlliams, P. (1997). Reinforcing Ethical Decision Making Through Corporate Culture. Journal of Business Ethics.