Sex and Gender Discrimination Essay Example

opportunities in which women are the victims, it is clear that women have capability to perform just like their male counterparts who have same skills and experience (Brake and Deborah, 893).

Sex or gender discrimination causes females be denied job chances, unlawfully fired or even harmed by their employers through low wages and sexual harassments. Some of the unlawful discriminatory acts in the work place are outlined as follows (Leitner and Sigrid, 99); Firstly, discrimination during hiring, firing or promotions. Most company are more comfortable when dealing with men than women. This causes them not to hire women even if they possess excellent qualification and required experience (Brake and Deborah, 895). Sometimes such companies restructure their management team and fire female employees without concrete reasons. In some other instances, qualified and experienced women are denied job promotions and they are given to male counterparts even if they are less qualified. Secondly, Companies discriminate when advancing benefits to its employees (Leitner and Sigrid, 101). In this case some worker’s insurance policy covers their spouse and family while other coworkers’ spouses and families are not covered and thus some workers end up paying more health benefits than others.

Thirdly, discrimination in payment practices. Men are perceived to be more hardworking than women and thus they end up receiving more wages and salaries than men. Lastly is discrimination in job classification (Leitner and Sigrid, 103). Most women are restricted from getting high positions in the organizations. They are also neglected from added responsibilities and overtimes as compared to their male counterparts. Sometimes they are even placed in lower level positions with less pay since they believed to be subject maternity

leaves and get tired when they work for long hours unlike the male employees (Schraiber et al., 659).

The issue of discrimination against sex or gender in the workplace can be resolved through adherence of the federal laws under Civil Rights Act of 1964 which protects employees from discrimination against sex or gender (Krieger, 1273). These federal laws prohibit employers from discriminating in their recruitment, retrenchments and other employment conditions such as promotions and salary increments. In today’s work, groups and people who are victims of discrimination are investing much in resolving the problems. In this case, many women workers have formed Women empowerment groups which protects their rights in as per the employment contract. Other women are going back to school to acquire more knowledge and skills which increases their competitiveness for high job positions. Discrimination of women in the workplace makes them feel isolated and thus they are demoralized from working hard and sacrificing of their time for the company (Krieger, 1277).

Sex or Gender discrimination in the workplace can be related to social conflict theory in sociology which describes the society as arena of inequality which constantly creates conflict and social change. In this case, society is viewed to be structured so as to benefit few at an expense of majority (Leitner and Sigrid, 106). This can directly be linked sex or gender discrimination where men benefit at an expense of women especially in the workplace. The author of the article is balanced in his views since her discredits discrimination against sex or gender in the workplace. According to the author, discrimination of any kind in the workplace is illegal act which violates federal

laws under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Conclusion

Discrimination against sex or gender in the workplace is the factor which undermines company’s growth and profitability. The victims of the behavior feel demoralized hence they end up not working hard. Others feel isolated thus not part of the company. Therefore organizations are encouraged to employ equal employment opportunities in their hiring and firing practices. To avoid this kind discrimination, employers should adhere to frameworks set by federal laws which protects employees from discrimination.

Works Cited

1. Badgett, M. V., et al. "Bias in the workplace: Consistent evidence of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination." The Williams Institute (2007).27- 35.
2. Brake, Deborah L. "Reviving Paycheck Fairness: Why and How the Factor-Other-Than-Sex Defense Matters." Idaho L. Rev. 52 (2016): 889-919.
3. Leitner, Sigrid. "Sex and gender discrimination within EU pension systems." Journal of European Social Policy 11.2 (2001): 99-115.
4. Schraiber, Lilia Blima, et al. "Validity of the WHO VAW study instrument for estimating gender- based violence against women." Revista de saude publica44.4 (2010): 658-666.
5. Krieger, Nancy. "Racial and gender discrimination: risk factors for high blood pressure." Social science & medicine 30.12 (1990): 1273-1281.
6. http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/131765.pdf
7. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_457317.pdf
8. http://employment.findlaw.com/employment-discrimination/sex-gender-discrimination-overview.html