This document discusses discrimination against women in the workplace. It notes that discrimination arises from societal norms that promote male superiority. Women often face subtle discrimination, such as being passed over for promotions if pregnant. The document also discusses how discrimination prevents women from achieving high-ranking positions and affects their performance and motivation. It argues organizations should adopt reforms to remove barriers against women and promote diversity.

1. Running head: DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
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Discrimination against women
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Identification of Discrimination
Discrimination is a situation where certain categories of people are exposed to unjust and
prejudicial treatment on the grounds of sex, age or race (Krieger, 2014). In most cases, people are
discriminated based on the category in which one belongs rather than basing it on an individual
attribute. Sometimes discrimination may entail differential treatment of a given group of people or
an individual based on their perceived membership, especially in a particular social category.
Discrimination is based on societal norms, rules, and roles, which instructs and encourage
men to feel superior to women. This is the reason why men devalue women even in developed
economies such as the US where there are laws, which discourage such behaviors (Krieger, 2014).
For instance, use of language that is entirely meant to demean feminine gender. It is common
knowledge that calling a man or relating them to women is termed as abusive due to stereotypes
that society attaches to females. According to Lazear & Rosen (1990), violence against women is
another form men devalue women. They reduce them to objects, plot devices or even an extension
of someone else. In this sense, when men attack women it does not appear to many people that
they are human beings with dignity to protect both rather objects at disposal of men. This universal
misunderstanding should be condemned by all means necessary. Thus, discrimination against
women prevents them from having certain rights and opportunities like the ones enjoyed by other
members of the group. This in turn ends up causing the exclusion of a given entity based on
potentially illogical as well as irrational decisions.
Discrimination against women is also evident in corporate and work places in our modern
society. For example, in the contemporary world, many companies are fond of using
discriminatory policies, ideas, traditions as well as laws which in turn affects a specific portion of
the members of staff (Dipboye, 2013). As a result, many companies have recognized the need to

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take some affirmative actions when addressing the issue of discrimination. Some of these policies
have been instituted to offer more opportunities to underrepresented groups such as women and
people with disabilities. This is because women have experienced discrimination in the workforce
for many years in terms of hiring, pay, and promotions.
Discrimination against Women
In the US it is a common practice for women to be subjected to subtle discrimination by
men in the workplace. This kind of discrimination arises due to societal norms, rules, and laws
which make men feel superior to women. Sometimes, women may be subjected to both pregnancy
discriminations as well as gender discrimination. Under pregnancy discrimination, qualified
women may be passed over for promotions just because they are pregnant (Krieger, 2014).
Sometimes organizations especially banks deny women job opportunities and even
promotions based on pregnancy issues. In such cases, there are high chances that the said jobs
will be offered to their male counterparts who are less qualified. This is despite the fact that the
selected people lack the required competencies and skills to accomplish that particular task. This
kind of behavior has been witnessed in the US for many years although this country has anti-
discriminatory laws which are designed to reduce discrimination against women. There are also
instances where women are judged based on their dress code (Hoffman et al., 2017).
Therefore, it is unethical for a person to discriminate others based on their gender. The idea
behind the introduction of many reforms in organizations is to ensure that those who are hired to
perform some tasks are ethically and competitively selected. This strategy will readily remove
some barriers which tend to favor men against women in taking new roles within organizations.
Once all the barriers are removed women will be able to take on new function to achieve the

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highest ranks in different organizations (Dipboye, 2013). As a result, they will be able to take new
roles, which were fundamentally taken by men. Initially, “glass ceiling” policies were viewed as
discriminatory in many ways. Firstly, they prevented women from achieving the highest ranks in
“organizations”, especially those concerning top-level management. Most of these ranks are only
meant for men. The glass ceiling concept includes many invisible and powerful factors that create
barriers for women to ascend to high ranks in corporate management (Saloner, 1985). Walmart is
among the US companies where glass ceiling is common. Majority of executive officials in the
company, the largest retails in us is predominantly comprised of men. In addition, pregnancy
discrimination among us banks has to a great extend limited women from ascending to high ranks
in management due to the assumption that they fall pregnant anytime thus plunging company into
management crisis (Lazear & Rosen 1990). These policies are also known to award men better
pay as well as extra off days as compared to women. Some of these policies are usually based on
unmerited gender partiality and tend to make women suffer more than men (Ragins & Scandura,
1994). Discrimination against women has also been proliferated by some of the management
practices which tend to favor advancement for men as opposed to women.
Organizations must learn that violence against women affects all members of the
organization (Dipboye, 2013). This is because once women are discriminated they cannot deliver
their mandates fully. Also, organizations which discriminate women should know that they are
violating human rights. Therefore, women should be given a chance to live a life free of violence
and discrimination. Organizations must also know that discrimination against women is one of the
most expensive things they will encounter. Some of the costs associated with this type of behavior
include the loss of productivity as well as medical costs in case one needs the attention of a
healthcare practitioner (Dipboye, 2013).

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There is the need for both the general public and employers to recognize the importance of
diversity in all their activities. For instance, during the employee selection “process”, the
management of the hiring organization should ensure that there is logic and rationality when
making such decisions. During recruitment, human resource department should select employees
from both sexes in a bid to increase diversity. Diverse workforce brings with it a wide pool of
experts with different skills that are crucial in soaring the organization into to high heights (Ragins
& Scandura, 1994). In addition, women have been recognized as good managers when compared
to men thus upload diversity in management enhances the organization’s competitive advantage
and profitability (Lazear & Rosen, 1990). Besides, it has become practically impossible to end
sex-based discrimination due to invalidation. This process usually affects women since it makes
them feel invalidated as compared to male counterparts. As such, it makes them perform less
actively hence most of them stand a risk of being fired. For an elongated period of time, many
organizations have failed to communicate or address some of the challenges women go through in
the hands of men in the workplace environment. Some of these failures arise due to lack of an
effective system of communication (Dipboye, 2013).
Organizations should come up with valid ways of reducing discrimination against women
as well as improving both gender collaboration and boosting teamwork. Once necessary measures
are put in “place”, many companies will readily overcome some of the prominent obstacles which
prevent teamwork in a given workplace environment. In the contemporary world, many companies
have started recognizing the importance of creating diversity in teamwork. This is because most
of them have realized the pertinent role played by women. As a result, giving women a chance to
actively engage themselves in teamwork will translate to increased productivity. Companies
should, therefore, acknowledge the presence of women rather than discriminate them based on

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their gender. They should engage them in open discussions to make them more productive rather
than diminishing them in favor of their male counterparts.
Part 2
Analysis of the Problem
The gender of a person is identified immediately after birth (Bielby & Baron, 2016). There
are those who go to an extent of identifying gender when a child is being conceived. In this case,
a person can either be identified as male or female. In many societies’ boys are highly regarded as
compared to girls. This is because boys are perceived to hold important positions in society. This
is despite the fact that boys and girls possess similar strengths and height during infancy. As time
goes by girls are seen as inferior creatures. This is because boys seem to be engaged in every
undertaking within the society. The scenario where boys are favored to girls is also eminent in
schools. At this juncture you find teachers giving boys more attention as compared to girls. As
boys proceed into adulthood they usually have this notion that girls are always inferior to them
(Bielby & Baron, 2016).
It is quite amazing that even developed countries such as America has witnessed many
cases of discrimination amongst women (Bielby & Baron, 2016). In this country, it is difficult to
find women in senior management levels. Those who have managed to get promotions have fewer
authorities than their male counterparts holding similar positions. The issue of discrimination
against women also extends to married couples who are working. In this case, you will find that
the woman are assigned extra roles such as doing house chores as well as predominantly taking
care of the children.

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Research shows that gender revolt was stalling or slowing down in 1990s. This trend was made
possible after several attempts by American women to seek recognition since 1970. Therefore,
there seems to be some social processes, which are responsible for the perseverance of gender
inequality in modern legal systems as well as the era of economic processes (Melki & Farah, 2014).
Using the cultural frame women can now easily interact with their male counterparts. This move
will in turn lead to the coordination of the interaction process within many companies.
When women are discriminated in organizations, they tend to lower their performance. For
instance, most of them tend to lose their morale and motivation, especially when performing
various tasks, which require some degree of specialization (Bielby & Baron, 2016). On the other
hand, stereotypical views leveled against women in the organization tend to hinder promotions as
well as forcing the management of the organization to engage themselves in illegal discriminatory
hiring practices. Some of these practices are the ones, which cause women to be passed over for
promotions. In addition, women may fail to get promotions due to the preconceived notion about
gender.
In conclusion, for an elongated period men have considered themselves superior to women.
This trend is also witnessed in develop economies such as America which condemns this kind of
behavior. As such, women are victims of untold discrimination by their male counterparts in many
organizations. Organizations should, therefore, come up with new reforms, which ensure there is
a level playing ground between men and women in all aspects of the organization. This will further
lead to improved productivity as well as collaboration between members of different sexes within
the company.

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