3/15/11

The issue of women in the workplace is very double sided to me. On one hand I do believe that women are held back by societal forces, but on the other hand I believe that we in some circumstances hold ourselves back as well. In the past men have dominated to workforce and held the highest positions at companies. These positions take years to get to and women have not seen themselves as a force in the workplace for that long of time. If men and women had started off in the workforce at the same point in history I think that the numbers would be completely different. But then again its always hard to tell. Our society is a rapidly changing place, and everyday people are breaking barriers. Women in the workforce isn't a new debate by any means. This is where my belief in women are held back comes into play. It is not seen as normal to many people in our society for a woman to hold a leadership position, especially in a fortune 500 company. Part of this I think is because men feel intimadated by a new presence in the workplace. They do not know how to communicate and interact with females on a completely equal level. I have heard instances of where women are paid less for the same job that a man does and ofcourse I feel that this is completely unfair. But you do have to look back at the point where these two peoples jobs started. Say that in an interview to become a teacher both a man and a woman are given a position at a university. In the interview the employer may ask what salary each desires. The man may shoot for a higher number while when the woman is asked she feels the need to reserve herself and states a lower salary. Both are granted the salary that they feel they should have. Now this is not the employers fault, each interviewee gave the specific salary that they desired. This is a circumstance from an article in the New York Times. It talks about women feeling undeserving of higher salaries so they shoot lower when asked. So when an employer agrees to the salary they want it is in a way their own fault. Addressing this one major problem is that women need to learn to speak up, and partake in risks so that they can equal the playing field. Ofcourse its not just about women speaking up, society also needs to recognize that both sexes have the ability to become leaders. I think that it is definitly something that we are currently working towards, its just not completely perfected. But like everything else, it can't be 100% perfect.

DQ:
1. Do you think that as women are in the workforce longer that these numbers will dramatically change?
2. What do you think employers should do when two people of different sexes desire different salaries, especially if the womans is lower?