Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 17 LITERATURE REVIEW Student’s Name: Instructor’s name: Affiliation: Course: Date: CRITIQUE: WHO GETS THE CARROT AND WHO GETS THE STICK? In this qualitative article, the researchers studied the gap in gender pay in leadership positions in the globe today. The purpose of the research was to find out whether there existed any parity in the payment and company performances of male and female employees in managerial positions. The researchers conducted a thorough literature review in which the following subject categories were studied: the existence of a pay gap between males and females in top executive positions, how managerial compensation packages are structured and their effect on company performance. This category encompassed prior research studies on women and paid, from previous research articles such as from The Wall Street Journal and The Equal opportunities commission of 1999. They also studied the effect of work performance on pay, founded on the agency theory by Eisenhardt. The romance of leadership was also studied from several sources including over thirty thousand research articles belonging to thirty-four different companies. From the literature review, the researchers developed a designed a study to establish the relationship between pay and company performance, in a real setting of an organization and using companies’ archived economic data. The hypothesis formulated included: there is a variation in the allocation of bonuses, where male executive directors get higher bonuses than the female ones and that there is a variation in the sensitivity of directors ‘bonuses to company performance, where female bonuses are less sensitive than male ones (Kulich, 306). The population studied encompassed directors in just a sample of the United Kingdom listed firms. The researchers were particularly concerned with the industrial affiliations, the stock market data and the accounting data when either a male or a female director was on board. This made a total of ninety-six paired managing directors. The researchers examined various compensation measures, performance measures and set up various controls to standardize the data. Data analysis was done by use of univariate nonparametric Wilcoxon method because many of the employees used in the study had not received any bonuses in that year of the study. The hypotheses were then tested on Tobit’s regression framework. The results of the study supported both hypotheses strongly. They show that there indeed exists a gender pay gap between males and females since female directors earn averagely nineteen percent less than their male counterparts. There is also evidence of little sensitivity in company performance of women directors’ pay compared to male one.

1. Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
1
Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
17
LITERATURE REVIEW
Student’s Name:
Instructor’s name:
Affiliation:
Course:
Date:
CRITIQUE: WHO GETS THE CARROT AND WHO GETS THE
STICK?
In this qualitative article, the researchers studied the gap in
gender pay in leadership positions in the globe today. The
purpose of the research was to find out whether there existed
any parity in the payment and company performances of male
and female employees in managerial positions. The researchers
conducted a thorough literature review in which the following
subject categories were studied: the existence of a pay gap
between males and females in top executive positions, how
managerial compensation packages are structured and their

2. effect on company performance.
This category encompassed prior research studies on women
and paid, from previous research articles such as from The Wall
Street Journal and The Equal opportunities commission of 1999.
They also studied the effect of work performance on pay,
founded on the agency theory by Eisenhardt. The romance of
leadership was also studied from several sources including over
thirty thousand research articles belonging to thirty-four
different companies. From the literature review, the researchers
developed a designed a study to establish the relationship
between pay and company performance, in a real setting of an
organization and using companies’ archived economic data. The
hypothesis formulated included: there is a variation in the
allocation of bonuses, where male executive directors get higher
bonuses than the female ones and that there is a variation in the
sensitivity of directors ‘bonuses to company performance,
where female bonuses are less sensitive than male ones (Kulich,
306).
The population studied encompassed directors in just a sample
of the United Kingdom listed firms. The researchers were
particularly concerned with the industrial affiliations, the stock
market data and the accounting data when either a male or a
female director was on board. This made a total of ninety-six
paired managing directors. The researchers examined various
compensation measures, performance measures and set up
various controls to standardize the data. Data analysis was done
by use of univariate nonparametric Wilcoxon method because
many of the employees used in the study had not received any
bonuses in that year of the study. The hypotheses were then
tested on Tobit’s regression framework. The results of the
study supported both hypotheses strongly. They show that there
indeed exists a gender pay gap between males and females since
female directors earn averagely nineteen percent less than their
male counterparts. There is also evidence of little sensitivity in
company performance of women directors’ pay compared to
male ones. This is indicated by how women though paid poorly

3. regarding bonuses; they are also little held responsible for a
company’s poor performance, compared to their male
counterparts.
There were some limitations in the research. The first
limitation was the fact that the study was only based in the
United Kingdom, and this may not be an adequate
representation of the global picture. The researchers should
have employed the use of companies from all over the world so
that an accurate picture of what is happening globally could be
portrayed.
CRITIQUE: THE ROLE OF GATEKEEPERS IN
PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT
In this qualitative article, the researchers studied different
gender and networking practices in organizations. The purpose
of the research was to establish a theoretical framework that
explains the role of gender and networking processes in
countering inequalities in various organisations. The
researchers conducted a thorough literature review in which the
following subject categories were studied: networking,
gatekeeping and gender practices.
This category encompassed prior research studies on network
structures, measurements of these structures and their outcomes;
the role of gatekeeping in professionalism and employee
recruitment; and the role of gender as a social practice, and its
influence on organisational performance. From the literature
review, the researchers or designed a study to establish an
answer to these three questions: The first one was to find out
the networking practices that gatekeepers use in professional
recruitment, the next is to find out how gatekeepers practise
gender in networking, and the last one is to establish whether
these gender and networking processes produce or counteract
inequalities in the organisations. The population studied
encompassed mainly female academia in the Dutch universities
sector. The researchers were particularly interested in female
full professors in Dutch universities.

4. The method used was practice based. It involved participant
observation and in-depth interviews. This happened in many
variable instances including, in committee meetings, at
conferences, in consultations or even in informal gatherings.
Data analysis was majorly done by abductive reasoning. This
included analysis of both the theoretical and the empirical
material. A computer software program, the Atlas-ti was also
used to systemize and code for data. The study results though
did not fully achieve the objectives, contributed greatly to the
study of the role of gender and networking in professional
recruitment. The researchers challenged pre-existing network
theories by use of a practice-based approach a feminist
construction theory. The two major contributions are the
elaboration of networking as a practice and the attention to
gender in networking.
There are however few limitations in this research. In the first
one being there is a lack of provision of an accurate global
picture, being that the researchers studied only the Dutch
academia, whose situation and circumstances may not
necessarily reflect those of others around the world. Secondly,
the research was limited to professional recruitment is a highly
classified procedure whose information is only accessible to
authorized persons, in a bid to protect individual
confidentiality. Thirdly, the research results were limited by a
lack of pre-existing theoretical insights on gender in
networking.
COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THE TWO ARTICLES
There are numerous in the research papers critiqued above. In
both cases, the researchers were interested in gender parity and
its effect on work performance. Although the first article
focuses mainly on payment bonuses and responsibility for poor
performance, and the latter focuses mainly on recruitment and
networking, both types of research elaborately explain their
findings on how gender inequalities still exist today and their
effect on the organisational structure. Both researches also seem

5. to lack an accurate reflection of the global picture on this
matter since both have focussed on a relatively small field of
study, the first one only on the United Kingdom- based firms
and the latter only on Dutch academia.
The two researches have numerous differences too. First, while
the former’s research methodology was a primary study of
theoretical research papers and analysis of pre-existing data, the
latter research was predominantly more interactive, employing
observation and interviews chiefly. The first research was also
quantitative, with defined hypotheses seeking to establish the
magnitude of the pay gap between males and females in the top
managerial positions. On the other hand, the second research
was more qualitative, lacking clearly defined hypotheses and
sought only to illustrate that there exists a relationship between
gender and networking practices, and recruitment to top
academic notches in society. The first research also appeared
more favoured since all the data needed was availed at the
researchers’ disposal while, in the latter research, some of the
data needed being highly confidential could not be accessed by
the researches.
Although differing in many aspects, both researches seem to
bring clearly out one thing: that in organisational structure
currently, there still exists gender parity even in the developed
countries.
ABSTRACT
This research is based on a review of three literary works that
illustrate the importance of gender equality on economic
growth, factors that cause gender parity in the economic sector
and how various organisations can improve on this factors. The
goal of this review is to create awareness on gender parity and
strategic support in data analytics. This is achieved by
examining plans by various organisations and different data sets
that have been presented in these articles. The review makes it
clear that gender equality confers great benefits for any
organisation or any form of economic setup.

6. THESIS STATEMENT
The purpose of this paper is to establish the role of strategic
support in annihilating gender parity from various
organisational structures. It illustrates various strategic
frameworks that have been developed over the years in a bid to
create equality in the work environment.
OUTLINE
CRITIQUE: WHO GETS THE CARROT AND WHO GETS THE
STICK?
A) Introduction
Within the introduction of the article, the literature review gives
an explanation of the variation and the gap that exist between
men and female workers.IT further gives the explanation based
on different researches done by the different groups of
researchers. Inclusively, are data analysis and determination of
the data using different statistical methods?
B) Critique: The Role Of Gatekeepers In Professional
Recruitment
This part of the study gives an explanation of the existent role
of gender in reducing the gap inequalities. In the study,
therefore, network structures are being studied to determine
their impact of this. Practised based discussion is then given an
in-depth explanation.
C) Comparing And Contrasting The Two Articles
This part of the study gives an in-depth study of the differences
in the forms of study that the articles covers. The different
studies on the articles are explained deeply by the article.
D) Abstract
This part of the paper is a study of a summary of thethree
literary works that illustrate the importance of gender equality
on economic growth, factors that cause gender parity in the
economic sector.
E) Thesis Statement
This part of the study is briefly about the establishment of the

7. strategic support of gender parity.
F) Literature Review
This part of the article gives a conclusive role of the whole
paper detailing on the reason for the study on the three major
articles.
i) The United Nations Development Program Gender Equality
Strategy 2014-2017.
The article gives a discussion of the results which the articles
gives on a study which puts gender development to be the
central focus. The major focus is on the study made by United
Nations. It does this by focusing on three strategic plans.
Lastly, the report focuses on the importance of the report on the
relationship with government and not government bodies (Clark,
2014).
ii) New Republic: the gender pay gap is bad, the gender pay gap
is even worse for women of colour.
This article gives study done on what are the earnings that men
make more than the women. It makes it more clearly by
focusing on the evidence that exists on the payment differences
between these groups (Leber, 2015).
iii) Gender Strategy Toolkit: A Direction for Achieving Gender
Equality in Your Environment.
This part of the article gives more focus on the direction that
societies need to take to achieve the needed direction of gender
equality. It puts the focus on the standard measures which can
be done to offset the inequalities in that field. In the toolkit, the
author has given the different strategic approaches and their
advantages (WEGA, 2014).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Gender equality is a subject that has caught the word’s attention
for a very long time. Several attempts have been made by both

8. women and men to ensure gender equality in all the spheres of
life, including economic, political and social realms, but the
delicate balance has not yet been fully achieved. The purpose of
this paper is to review three scholarly articles that explain
various strategic frameworks that have been set to ensure
gender equality prevails.
THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
GENDER EQUALITY STRATEGY 2014-2017.
The United Nations Development Program developed a gender
equality development strategy. In the official report, it is held
that empowerment of women is central to the development
mandate given to this arm of the United Nations. Here special
attention is given to the involvement of men and boys in the
advocacy of women empowerment. This is particularly
important in curbing sexual and gender-based domestic violence
all over the world. Information and communication technologies
will also be employed in empowering the women (Clark, 2014).
There are three main areas of focus in this strategic plan. That
is resilience building among women, democratic governance
that is effective and inclusive and having sustainable
development pathways. It is argued that women empowerment is
important in the development of both individual, societal and
national resilience. The function of this resilience they say is
critical for sustainable development and durable peace.
Democratic governance too has an effect in ensuring gender
equality in both the corporate and social realms. This is enabled
by increasing women’s access to fairness and justice, ensuring
their participation in decision-making and strengthening their
legal rights. Sustainable pathways can also be developed they
say, which will tap women’s potential in all their diverse
talents. This can help make them catalytic agents of change in
various sectors including economic sectors. This is also
designed to enable women to become equal partners with men,
in the desire to achieve growth that is sustainable, just,
equitable and inclusive of all.
There are several ways how the program hopes to achieve full

9. empowerment of women and eradicate gender parity. First, it
hopes to cooperate with local partners in various nations to help
transform the traditional barrier norms that restrict gender
equality and eliminate any other barriers to women
empowerment. The local partners will be supported by
increasing awareness, offering social protection, ensuring
gender responsive governance of human resources, increasing
omen’s access and ownership of various goods and services and
encouraging women participation in economic growth without
limitations even to the highest offices in various organisations.
The program also offers to support the process of instituting
legal and policy reforms in various countries to enable women’s
full participation in governance and management. This will
encompass total support for national institutions in meeting
international human rights obligations. Advocacy, technical
support and policy will also be provided to ensure women
participation in local community leadership too.
The report also says that both national and subnational actors
will be duly supported by ensuring equitable access to national
services such as health, social security and other resources to
both genders. In post-conflict situations, core government
functions will be fully supported to ensure restoration of both
men and women needs. It will be also ensured that women have
access to and can attain control over productive assets such as
land and credit. This will increase achievement of equal social
protection measures, and enable both men and women to
participate in economic growth and take charge of their
households. Gender-based violence and sexual victimisation
have also been a major barrier in ensuring women’s full
participation in economic growth. Measures will, therefore, put
in place to ensure justice for abused women, and enhancement
of women’s legal rights.
The report also indicates that the program will work with both
governmental and non-governmental organisations and both
community and private sector to ensure women participation in
the various development levels. Gender considerations will also

10. be made paramount even in employee selection.
This article illustrates excellent plans that if well executed
might help the world achieve the long-desired goal of gender
equality in all spheres of life. Some limitations, however, will
be the deeply set traditions in various cultures that bar gender
equality and in rare cases, the unwillingness of local institutions
to support the program by the United Nations (Clark, 2014).
NEW REPUBLIC: THE GENDER PAY GAP IS BAD, THE
GENDER PAY GAP IS EVEN WORSE FOR WOMEN OF
COLOUR.
In this article that appeared in The New Republic (Leber, 2015),
the author seeks to present evidence that more than just having
a gender gap in payment, women of black descent earn far less
than their white counterparts. Citing statistical evidence, she
explains that on average men earn about twenty-two percent
more than women do, since for every one dollar a man makes,
statistics show, a woman makes only seventy-eight cents. It is
also calculated that it will take a woman three and a half more
months to earn what a man earns in only a year.
The author cites various arguments that have been presented to
explain this disparity. Various factors, they say, lead to this.
These include women having less experience than their male
counterparts, them working for fewer hours or even sometimes
having to leave work to raise children. This can, however, be
attributed to lack of appropriate policies that guarantee payment
during parental leave. Technically women will then be expected
not to have children if they would earn as much in the
workforce, but then the big question will arise in the continuity
of the human race.
Statistical reports indicate that black women fare much worse
than their Asian or white counterparts. While Asian- Americans
earn about ninety percent of what men earn, the black Africans
earn about sixty- four percent and the Latino only fifty-four
percent. This is attributable to the fact that blacks would tend to
hold the low paid hourly jobs and worked in fields that pay
lowly. This is not necessarily by choice as it is said that

11. Hispanics and African American women are unable to find full-
time jobs more often than not. This makes it possible for them
to settle for the service industry which only takes part-time
workers and, of course, pays poorly. At times make these
choices too because of lack of policies on sick-leave days and
maternity leave days (Leber, 2015).
The author cites that discrimination still does exist in
workplaces. For instance, she says, male surgeons make
averagely thirty-four percent higher than their female
counterparts. This notwithstanding, his assistants who are
female still earn about only eighty-five percent of what their
male counterparts will earn in a week. A study by the American
Association of women took into account all the factors that
could lead to this, including the job experience, the number of
hours worked and gender education, and still could not account
for about seven percent of the payment gap.
This article highlights a very important yet often ignored area
of research. Though many studies have been done to establish
the gap in payment between men and women, few researchers
have explored the possibility of racial prejudice widening this
gap to set up ways of countering this and achieve equality
wholesomely in the economic sector.
GENDER STRATEGY TOOLKIT: A DIRECTION FOR
ACHIEVING GENDER EQUALITY IN YOUR
ENVIRONMENT.
This article by the Australian government seeks to explain that
to achieve gender equality in any organisation; a systematic
strategic approach has to be used, and it cannot happen by
chance. The writer explains that equality in the workplace is
achieved when all the employees, men or women, can equally
enjoy the same rewards, opportunities and resources. The article
also illustrates the importance of employers or organisations
reporting to a common agency. This will enable the employers
to gauge themselves with their peers continually, to know
whether they are giving their employees their best. For instance
in Australia, all non-public sectors that have a hundred or more

12. employees are required to make an annual reporting to the
Workplace Gender Equality Agency. This report includes the
format that is standardized, on gender outcomes, such as
employee composition, job flexibility and payment. The article
majorly seeks to aid the organisations that want to achieve
gender equality in their workplace. It provides information to
both the starters and also to those companies already on the
journey to help them make a faster, more effective process. It
also provides a basic framework by which these organisations
can navigate and then make it their unique, successful journey.
It also provides information on leading practices from various
researches and teaches how to apply concepts that have been
used by other organisations before (WEGA, 2014).
The author presents many advantages of using a strategic
approach. These include: a concerted action that ensures all
stakeholders in the organization are moving similarly in the
same direction. Another advantage is getting a well-targeted
investment and ensuring economies of scale by sharing of
information and resources across organisations and use of
collective commercial power thus ensuring the project is cost
effective. It also causes mobilisation and motivation of the
employees and provides a basis for measuring success.
The change process for any organisation, the writer proposes,
involves four steps. It first begins with the organisation
identifying its current standing by use of the proposed
guidelines. The organisation then produces its unique strategy
by use of given guidelines, it then achieves each objective by a
certain action plan or implementation and then by reporting to
the national agency, it can re-evaluate the process over and over
again.
The writer also illustrates that gender equality can greatly
improve business performance. Primarily it will help ensure a
diverse and representative workforce and also an all-inclusive
and equitable culture. To achieve this, the employers ought to
create a flexible and empowering workplace that enables them
to engage, mobilise and utilise the best talents from their

13. employees and help them continuously learn. To measure the
success and benefits of this plan, there are several parameters
which can be used. These include customers, its market share,
performance, innovation, agility and risk. For instance, a
company that is as diverse as its clients, can also more
effectively meet their needs, which boosts the company’s
popularity and hence their market share (WEGA,2014).
REFERENCES:
Leber, R. (2015). New Republic: The Gender Pay Gap is bad.
Clark, H. (2014). United Nations Development Program: Gender
Equality Strategy.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (2014). The Gender
Equality Toolkit.
Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
1
Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
17
LITERATURE REVIEW
Student’s Name:
Instructor’s name:
Affiliation:
Course:
Date:

14. CRITIQUE: WHO GETS THE CARROT AND WHO GETS THE
STICK?
In this qualitative article, the researchers studied the gap in
gender pay in leadership positions in the globe today. The
purpose of the research was to find out whether there existed
any parity in the payment and company performances of male
and female employees in managerial positions. The researchers
conducted a thorough literature review in which the following
subject categories were studied: the existence of a pay gap
between males and females in top executive positions, how
managerial compensation packages are structured and their
effect on company performance.
This category encompassed prior research studies on women
and paid, from previous research articles such as from The Wall
Street Journal and The Equal opportunities commission of 1999.
They also studied the effect of work performance on pay,
founded on the agency theory by Eisenhardt. The romance of
leadership was also studied from several sources including over
thirty thousand research articles belonging to thirty-four
different companies. From the literature review, the researchers
developed a designed a study to establish the relationship
between pay and company performance, in a real setting of an
organization and using companies’ archived economic data. The
hypothesis formulated included: there is a variation in the
allocation of bonuses, where male executive directors get higher
bonuses than the female ones and that there is a variation in the
sensitivity of directors ‘bonuses to company performance,
where female bonuses are less sensitive than male ones (Kulich,

15. 306).
The population studied encompassed directors in just a sample
of the United Kingdom listed firms. The researchers were
particularly concerned with the industrial affiliations, the stock
market data and the accounting data when either a male or a
female director was on board. This made a total of ninety-six
paired managing directors. The researchers examined various
compensation measures, performance measures and set up
various controls to standardize the data. Data analysis was done
by use of univariate nonparametric Wilcoxon method because
many of the employees used in the study had not received any
bonuses in that year of the study. The hypotheses were then
tested on Tobit’s regression framework. The results of the
study supported both hypotheses strongly. They show that there
indeed exists a gender pay gap between males and females since
female directors earn averagely nineteen percent less than their
male counterparts. There is also evidence of little sensitivity in
company performance of women directors’ pay compared to
male ones. This is indicated by how women though paid poorly
regarding bonuses; they are also little held responsible for a
company’s poor performance, compared to their male
counterparts.
There were some limitations in the research. The first
limitation was the fact that the study was only based in the
United Kingdom, and this may not be an adequate
representation of the global picture. The researchers should
have employed the use of companies from all over the world so
that an accurate picture of what is happening globally could be
portrayed.
CRITIQUE: THE ROLE OF GATEKEEPERS IN
PROFESSIONAL RECRUITMENT
In this qualitative article, the researchers studied different
gender and networking practices in organizations. The purpose
of the research was to establish a theoretical framework that
explains the role of gender and networking processes in

16. countering inequalities in various organisations. The
researchers conducted a thorough literature review in which the
following subject categories were studied: networking,
gatekeeping and gender practices.
This category encompassed prior research studies on network
structures, measurements of these structures and their outcomes;
the role of gatekeeping in professionalism and employee
recruitment; and the role of gender as a social practice, and its
influence on organisational performance. From the literature
review, the researchers or designed a study to establish an
answer to these three questions: The first one was to find out
the networking practices that gatekeepers use in professional
recruitment, the next is to find out how gatekeepers practise
gender in networking, and the last one is to establish whether
these gender and networking processes produce or counteract
inequalities in the organisations. The population studied
encompassed mainly female academia in the Dutch universities
sector. The researchers were particularly interested in female
full professors in Dutch universities.
The method used was practice based. It involved participant
observation and in-depth interviews. This happened in many
variable instances including, in committee meetings, at
conferences, in consultations or even in informal gatherings.
Data analysis was majorly done by abductive reasoning. This
included analysis of both the theoretical and the empirical
material. A computer software program, the Atlas-ti was also
used to systemize and code for data. The study results though
did not fully achieve the objectives, contributed greatly to the
study of the role of gender and networking in professional
recruitment. The researchers challenged pre-existing network
theories by use of a practice-based approach a feminist
construction theory. The two major contributions are the
elaboration of networking as a practice and the attention to
gender in networking.
There are however few limitations in this research. In the first
one being there is a lack of provision of an accurate global

17. picture, being that the researchers studied only the Dutch
academia, whose situation and circumstances may not
necessarily reflect those of others around the world. Secondly,
the research was limited to professional recruitment is a highly
classified procedure whose information is only accessible to
authorized persons, in a bid to protect individual
confidentiality. Thirdly, the research results were limited by a
lack of pre-existing theoretical insights on gender in
networking.
COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THE TWO ARTICLES
There are numerous in the research papers critiqued above. In
both cases, the researchers were interested in gender parity and
its effect on work performance. Although the first article
focuses mainly on payment bonuses and responsibility for poor
performance, and the latter focuses mainly on recruitment and
networking, both types of research elaborately explain their
findings on how gender inequalities still exist today and their
effect on the organisational structure. Both researches also seem
to lack an accurate reflection of the global picture on this
matter since both have focussed on a relatively small field of
study, the first one only on the United Kingdom- based firms
and the latter only on Dutch academia.
The two researches have numerous differences too. First, while
the former’s research methodology was a primary study of
theoretical research papers and analysis of pre-existing data, the
latter research was predominantly more interactive, employing
observation and interviews chiefly. The first research was also
quantitative, with defined hypotheses seeking to establish the
magnitude of the pay gap between males and females in the top
managerial positions. On the other hand, the second research
was more qualitative, lacking clearly defined hypotheses and
sought only to illustrate that there exists a relationship between
gender and networking practices, and recruitment to top
academic notches in society. The first research also appeared
more favoured since all the data needed was availed at the

18. researchers’ disposal while, in the latter research, some of the
data needed being highly confidential could not be accessed by
the researches.
Although differing in many aspects, both researches seem to
bring clearly out one thing: that in organisational structure
currently, there still exists gender parity even in the developed
countries.
ABSTRACT
This research is based on a review of three literary works that
illustrate the importance of gender equality on economic
growth, factors that cause gender parity in the economic sector
and how various organisations can improve on this factors. The
goal of this review is to create awareness on gender parity and
strategic support in data analytics. This is achieved by
examining plans by various organisations and different data sets
that have been presented in these articles. The review makes it
clear that gender equality confers great benefits for any
organisation or any form of economic setup.
THESIS STATEMENT
The purpose of this paper is to establish the role of strategic
support in annihilating gender parity from various
organisational structures. It illustrates various strategic
frameworks that have been developed over the years in a bid to
create equality in the work environment.
OUTLINE
CRITIQUE: WHO GETS THE CARROT AND WHO GETS THE
STICK?
A) Introduction
Within the introduction of the article, the literature review gives
an explanation of the variation and the gap that exist between
men and female workers.IT further gives the explanation based
on different researches done by the different groups of
researchers. Inclusively, are data analysis and determination of

19. the data using different statistical methods?
B) Critique: The Role Of Gatekeepers In Professional
Recruitment
This part of the study gives an explanation of the existent role
of gender in reducing the gap inequalities. In the study,
therefore, network structures are being studied to determine
their impact of this. Practised based discussion is then given an
in-depth explanation.
C) Comparing And Contrasting The Two Articles
This part of the study gives an in-depth study of the differences
in the forms of study that the articles covers. The different
studies on the articles are explained deeply by the article.
D) Abstract
This part of the paper is a study of a summary of thethree
literary works that illustrate the importance of gender equality
on economic growth, factors that cause gender parity in the
economic sector.
E) Thesis Statement
This part of the study is briefly about the establishment of the
strategic support of gender parity.
F) Literature Review
This part of the article gives a conclusive role of the whole
paper detailing on the reason for the study on the three major
articles.
i) The United Nations Development Program Gender Equality
Strategy 2014-2017.
The article gives a discussion of the results which the articles
gives on a study which puts gender development to be the
central focus. The major focus is on the study made by United
Nations. It does this by focusing on three strategic plans.
Lastly, the report focuses on the importance of the report on the
relationship with government and not government bodies (Clark,
2014).
ii) New Republic: the gender pay gap is bad, the gender pay gap
is even worse for women of colour.
This article gives study done on what are the earnings that men

20. make more than the women. It makes it more clearly by
focusing on the evidence that exists on the payment differences
between these groups (Leber, 2015).
iii) Gender Strategy Toolkit: A Direction for Achieving Gender
Equality in Your Environment.
This part of the article gives more focus on the direction that
societies need to take to achieve the needed direction of gender
equality. It puts the focus on the standard measures which can
be done to offset the inequalities in that field. In the toolkit, the
author has given the different strategic approaches and their
advantages (WEGA, 2014).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Gender equality is a subject that has caught the word’s attention
for a very long time. Several attempts have been made by both
women and men to ensure gender equality in all the spheres of
life, including economic, political and social realms, but the
delicate balance has not yet been fully achieved. The purpose of
this paper is to review three scholarly articles that explain
various strategic frameworks that have been set to ensure
gender equality prevails.
THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
GENDER EQUALITY STRATEGY 2014-2017.
The United Nations Development Program developed a gender
equality development strategy. In the official report, it is held
that empowerment of women is central to the development
mandate given to this arm of the United Nations. Here special
attention is given to the involvement of men and boys in the
advocacy of women empowerment. This is particularly
important in curbing sexual and gender-based domestic violence
all over the world. Information and communication technologies
will also be employed in empowering the women (Clark, 2014).

21. There are three main areas of focus in this strategic plan. That
is resilience building among women, democratic governance
that is effective and inclusive and having sustainable
development pathways. It is argued that women empowerment is
important in the development of both individual, societal and
national resilience. The function of this resilience they say is
critical for sustainable development and durable peace.
Democratic governance too has an effect in ensuring gender
equality in both the corporate and social realms. This is enabled
by increasing women’s access to fairness and justice, ensuring
their participation in decision-making and strengthening their
legal rights. Sustainable pathways can also be developed they
say, which will tap women’s potential in all their diverse
talents. This can help make them catalytic agents of change in
various sectors including economic sectors. This is also
designed to enable women to become equal partners with men,
in the desire to achieve growth that is sustainable, just,
equitable and inclusive of all.
There are several ways how the program hopes to achieve full
empowerment of women and eradicate gender parity. First, it
hopes to cooperate with local partners in various nations to help
transform the traditional barrier norms that restrict gender
equality and eliminate any other barriers to women
empowerment. The local partners will be supported by
increasing awareness, offering social protection, ensuring
gender responsive governance of human resources, increasing
omen’s access and ownership of various goods and services and
encouraging women participation in economic growth without
limitations even to the highest offices in various organisations.
The program also offers to support the process of instituting
legal and policy reforms in various countries to enable women’s
full participation in governance and management. This will
encompass total support for national institutions in meeting
international human rights obligations. Advocacy, technical
support and policy will also be provided to ensure women
participation in local community leadership too.

22. The report also says that both national and subnational actors
will be duly supported by ensuring equitable access to national
services such as health, social security and other resources to
both genders. In post-conflict situations, core government
functions will be fully supported to ensure restoration of both
men and women needs. It will be also ensured that women have
access to and can attain control over productive assets such as
land and credit. This will increase achievement of equal social
protection measures, and enable both men and women to
participate in economic growth and take charge of their
households. Gender-based violence and sexual victimisation
have also been a major barrier in ensuring women’s full
participation in economic growth. Measures will, therefore, put
in place to ensure justice for abused women, and enhancement
of women’s legal rights.
The report also indicates that the program will work with both
governmental and non-governmental organisations and both
community and private sector to ensure women participation in
the various development levels. Gender considerations will also
be made paramount even in employee selection.
This article illustrates excellent plans that if well executed
might help the world achieve the long-desired goal of gender
equality in all spheres of life. Some limitations, however, will
be the deeply set traditions in various cultures that bar gender
equality and in rare cases, the unwillingness of local institutions
to support the program by the United Nations (Clark, 2014).
NEW REPUBLIC: THE GENDER PAY GAP IS BAD, THE
GENDER PAY GAP IS EVEN WORSE FOR WOMEN OF
COLOUR.
In this article that appeared in The New Republic (Leber, 2015),
the author seeks to present evidence that more than just having
a gender gap in payment, women of black descent earn far less
than their white counterparts. Citing statistical evidence, she
explains that on average men earn about twenty-two percent
more than women do, since for every one dollar a man makes,
statistics show, a woman makes only seventy-eight cents. It is

23. also calculated that it will take a woman three and a half more
months to earn what a man earns in only a year.
The author cites various arguments that have been presented to
explain this disparity. Various factors, they say, lead to this.
These include women having less experience than their male
counterparts, them working for fewer hours or even sometimes
having to leave work to raise children. This can, however, be
attributed to lack of appropriate policies that guarantee payment
during parental leave. Technically women will then be expected
not to have children if they would earn as much in the
workforce, but then the big question will arise in the continuity
of the human race.
Statistical reports indicate that black women fare much worse
than their Asian or white counterparts. While Asian- Americans
earn about ninety percent of what men earn, the black Africans
earn about sixty- four percent and the Latino only fifty-four
percent. This is attributable to the fact that blacks would tend to
hold the low paid hourly jobs and worked in fields that pay
lowly. This is not necessarily by choice as it is said that
Hispanics and African American women are unable to find full-
time jobs more often than not. This makes it possible for them
to settle for the service industry which only takes part-time
workers and, of course, pays poorly. At times make these
choices too because of lack of policies on sick-leave days and
maternity leave days (Leber, 2015).
The author cites that discrimination still does exist in
workplaces. For instance, she says, male surgeons make
averagely thirty-four percent higher than their female
counterparts. This notwithstanding, his assistants who are
female still earn about only eighty-five percent of what their
male counterparts will earn in a week. A study by the American
Association of women took into account all the factors that
could lead to this, including the job experience, the number of
hours worked and gender education, and still could not account
for about seven percent of the payment gap.
This article highlights a very important yet often ignored area

24. of research. Though many studies have been done to establish
the gap in payment between men and women, few researchers
have explored the possibility of racial prejudice widening this
gap to set up ways of countering this and achieve equality
wholesomely in the economic sector.
GENDER STRATEGY TOOLKIT: A DIRECTION FOR
ACHIEVING GENDER EQUALITY IN YOUR
ENVIRONMENT.
This article by the Australian government seeks to explain that
to achieve gender equality in any organisation; a systematic
strategic approach has to be used, and it cannot happen by
chance. The writer explains that equality in the workplace is
achieved when all the employees, men or women, can equally
enjoy the same rewards, opportunities and resources. The article
also illustrates the importance of employers or organisations
reporting to a common agency. This will enable the employers
to gauge themselves with their peers continually, to know
whether they are giving their employees their best. For instance
in Australia, all non-public sectors that have a hundred or more
employees are required to make an annual reporting to the
Workplace Gender Equality Agency. This report includes the
format that is standardized, on gender outcomes, such as
employee composition, job flexibility and payment. The article
majorly seeks to aid the organisations that want to achieve
gender equality in their workplace. It provides information to
both the starters and also to those companies already on the
journey to help them make a faster, more effective process. It
also provides a basic framework by which these organisations
can navigate and then make it their unique, successful journey.
It also provides information on leading practices from various
researches and teaches how to apply concepts that have been
used by other organisations before (WEGA, 2014).
The author presents many advantages of using a strategic
approach. These include: a concerted action that ensures all
stakeholders in the organization are moving similarly in the
same direction. Another advantage is getting a well-targeted

25. investment and ensuring economies of scale by sharing of
information and resources across organisations and use of
collective commercial power thus ensuring the project is cost
effective. It also causes mobilisation and motivation of the
employees and provides a basis for measuring success.
The change process for any organisation, the writer proposes,
involves four steps. It first begins with the organisation
identifying its current standing by use of the proposed
guidelines. The organisation then produces its unique strategy
by use of given guidelines, it then achieves each objective by a
certain action plan or implementation and then by reporting to
the national agency, it can re-evaluate the process over and over
again.
The writer also illustrates that gender equality can greatly
improve business performance. Primarily it will help ensure a
diverse and representative workforce and also an all-inclusive
and equitable culture. To achieve this, the employers ought to
create a flexible and empowering workplace that enables them
to engage, mobilise and utilise the best talents from their
employees and help them continuously learn. To measure the
success and benefits of this plan, there are several parameters
which can be used. These include customers, its market share,
performance, innovation, agility and risk. For instance, a
company that is as diverse as its clients, can also more
effectively meet their needs, which boosts the company’s
popularity and hence their market share (WEGA,2014).
REFERENCES:
Leber, R. (2015). New Republic: The Gender Pay Gap is bad.
Clark, H. (2014). United Nations Development Program: Gender
Equality Strategy.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (2014). The Gender
Equality Toolkit.