How does the Workplace Influence Gender?

What is Work?

Work is a secondary socialising agent. It comes later on in life when a person has grown up. People learn the disciplines of work and how to behave within their roles. There are 2 types of labour markets primary and secondary. Primary labour markets consists of work in a large corporations, industries or governments agencies. Workers receive relatively high wages and enjoy good job security. Secondary labour markets include forms of employment, which are unstable, where job security and wages are low and there are fewer opportunities for promotion.

Women in the Workplace

Womens jobs are more concentrated in secondary labour markets. Waitressing, retail sales work and secretarial jobs carried out by women fall into this category. Women in their 20s and 30s, today, have lives that are profoundly different from those of their mothers. Todays women are better qualified than ever before. In 1963 only a quarter of undergraduates were female. This had increased to a third by the mid 1970s, and is now slightly over half. Women are entering the workforce in larger numbers than ever before, but the job market is still heavily segregated by gender. And the sad fact is that, the larger the proportion of women in an industry, the lower the status and pay.

Sociologists find it convenient to use occupational scales which sort people into social classes on the basis of their particular occupations. However this approach presents certain difficulties as far as women are concerned.

1. Full-time housework or child-care does not count as an occupation. Even part-time female workers pose a problem because their domestic duties may have forced them to take a job at a lower level than they otherwise would have achieved. 2. Sexual segregation in the workforce means that men and women do different types of jobs. Even if they are in the same social class they may not even share the same work and market situations. Within any given class, womens jobs tend to be rated as lower in status than mens. 3) Occupational classifications make finer distinctions amongst mens jobs tend to be under estimated. 4) Male clerks often see their present position as a stepping stone to management, whereas female clerks are much less likely to entertain ambitions of promotion. Also, the manual/ non manual divide is less significant for women, since they are mostly in service work.

Men in the Workplace differences in behaviour at work

Men are more linear and factual thinkers, while women on the other hand, tend to think more conceptually and with associations. Men tend to be more direct, while women give orders using softened demands and tag lines. Men can work with people they dont like. Women generally cant. Some of these factors could be linked with the Gray and Buffery study of Brain lateralization. Men supposedly use the right side of their brain more and women use the left side more this could affect some differences in behaviour at work.

Statistics!!

Most men have a higher status in the workplace. E.g. Most primary school teachers are female while most head teachers are men. 50% of working women (and only 12% of men) are still mainly employed in administration, secretarial, personal care and customer services. Less than 1 in 3 managers are women. 43 companies in the FTSE 100 index have no female directors. Occupational gender segregation refers to the fact that men and women are concentrated in different jobs based on what is appropriate male and female work. Women workers have traditionally been concentrated in poorly paid and routine operations. Such as nursing, social work and child care. These jobs are referred to as feminine occupations.

What has feminism done to influence the workplace?

The Liberal Feminists believe that people should have equal rights and that people should be treated according to their individual merits. This is how the Equal Opportunities Commission came into place in the UK. This means Britain has removed several gender discrimination barriers including in the workplace so that women can achieve the rights that men already possess.

What rights have been put in place for both men and women?

The Equal Opportunities Commission works to end Gender discrimination in the workplace. The Equal Pay Act 1970 entitles men and women to equal pay.

Thank you for listening !!!

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