I definitely agree that there are some inequalities in the workplace. Women are still not getting paid the same as men are and there are plenty of barriers for them. It is unfair but times are constantly changing and I think the gap is getting smaller, especially with the number of women entering college is at an all time high. However there are gender differences that need to be addressed to, for instance many women don't want to be in the work place, instead they are happy being home with the kids and letting their husbands bring in the income. Also there are many jobs that are gender oriented and those often times are paid less. So I think the large reason for the gender gap really depends on gender, however not the only reason.
Where we see the biggest gap is probably with positions of power, for instance a President or CEO of a company. For me when I think of this kind of position I typically associate a male holding it. It's a stressful position and even the book talks about this stereotype. So why hasn't that changed, do we need more women working in those positions, or is it such a deeply engrained in people that changing that stereotype would be too difficult?
The book goes onto say that many women have strong leadership skills which make them successful at certain jobs. However I think men are typically better at that because a lot of it has to do with task orientation and delegating work, which is generally not as high on a woman's list as men. They have great communication skills and are more likely to give support and encouragement to their subordinates but is that what it takes to be a good leader? Every job requires a different set of skills and many of those skills are going to be better in either males or females. So it makes me wonder if that is why there's the gender gap, is it because people would rather hire men or is it because of the skills the man has.
These questions make it difficult to really pinpoint the reason for this gender gap but they do help in explaining certain aspects. So I don't know if this gender gap and inequality will ever go away completely but I think it will continue to get better over time.
Q1) In your opinion would you rather have a male or female boss?
Q2) Will women one day be seen as more successful and powerful than men?
I don't know if I believe that women will be seen as more powerful than men. What I do believe though is that in the future women and men will be able to hold the same positions and be respected for that. We keep moving forward, its just at a slower pace than some people would like.
ReplyDelete