Women at the Workplace
By Sharon White
It is a common knowledge that women are receiving lower wages than men do. The reason for that is cultural barrier; it also has to do with the general attitude toward women in the workplace. The sexual discrimination resulted in the feminism movement all over the world. Women's aspiration to the boardroom is a symbol and a measure of organizational change, it reflects the current mood of today and how women are not just trying to achieve their goals for the feminist movement but rather for their own self-satisfaction and to satisfy their ambitions.
The boardroom is a male dominated world and not always inclined to
change, as a result they face cultural and attitudinal barriers to
entering the boardroom as they can be seen to disrupt the status quo
of the boardroom and the "old boys club".
Because the corporate boardroom is seen as an area of power and
authority, it makes it difficult for women to enter as a result that
women are not seen to have the same legitimate power as men have.
As a result, this makes it difficult for women to rise through senior
management as male managers and directors are seen as the standard
against which women are measured.
Women are striving in the workplace to achieve equality with their
male counterparts, many women these days focus on their careers so
that they can achieve and realize their goals and dreams to be
successful.
They strive to attain management positions, they work long hours, they
delay or dispel the notion of having a child and all for their dreams
of being successful, reaching the top and in some aspect, proving
themselves.
The question has to be asked whom are they proving themselves too? Are
they working towards these goals for themselves or are they working
towards these goals to prove to their male colleagues, husbands and
family members that they too can be successful?
Many women would say it is a combination of both or one or the other.
There is absolutely no problem to this apart from the fact that women
continue to focus on equality between themselves and their male
counterparts in wages, boardroom representation and influence, but set
against what benchmark?
The cultural barriers to women in the boardroom and overall from
senior management positions is that women are not seen as being
aggressive and lack a perceived masculinity to control a position. The
argument used by employers for not hiring women for responsible and
powerful positions is that "women are inherently incapable of managing
such positions and hence, these positions should be reserved for men."
With an ingrained belief that women do not posses the same
capabilities, it is no wonder that women continue to find it difficult
in attaining senior management positions in male dominated
corporations.
The social categorization of women results in females being
underrepresented in the boardroom. According to statistics provided by
The Age newspaper it shows that, women make up only 10 percent of all
the board members of companies listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange. Yet "36 per cent of women in Australia own shares directly
according to the ASX, not far behind the 45 per cent among men.
The article was produced by the member of masterpapers.com.
Sharon White is a senior writer and writers consultant at term papers. Get some useful tips for thesis and buy term papers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sharon_White
http://EzineArticles.com/?Women-at-the-Workplace&id=311533
|
