Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Story by Elizabeth Allison Design & Illustration by Sara Roach

Imagine yourself climbing up a mountain. As you reach the half-way mark you notice you can’t hike up any further. You can see the path ahead of you but there’s a translucent barrier blocking your foot from stepping forward and reaching your goal.

Now apply this scenario in the professional field. Many women and minorities encounter this translucent barrier, also known as a glass-ceiling, preventing them from access to opportunities that lead to equal opportunity in the job market.

Sex discrimination is the unequal treatment of an individual or group of individuals based on their sex according to The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

This form of discrimination can occur in many forms but commonly manifests by unequal treatment based of sex, gender or sexual orientation. The EEOC states, “Discrimination against an individual because of gender identity, including transgender status or because of sexual orientation is discrimination because of sex in violation of Title VII.”

Examples of sex discrimination include hiring only male managers on the basis of gender or firing a person because of the pronouns they use, according to the EEOC website.

Gender discrimination in jobs can be found in many fields, including medical. Jessicaa Lee, a class two registered nurse at the University of Washington Medical Center, explains how there have been many situations in the hospital where she’s been patronized or spoken down to because she is the young female nurse.

Lee adds, “Even in a female-dominated field, like nursing, it can be discouraging to see men advancing more quickly in their careers and seemingly getting more respect than their female coworkers.”

Education is another industry where more subtle forms of gender inequalities can occur. Kara Gabriel, Psychology professor, explains that female and male faculty are regarded differently by students.

“I do believe that students have different expectations for women faculty than they might

have for male faculty,” she says. “For example, I think what’s more [telling] is that female faculty are referred to as ‘teacher’, whereas male faculty are referred to as ‘professor’.”

Gabriel adds that a positive she experiences is students’ comfortability levels with her but, “there are times when I feel I have to work much harder to earn the respect of the students.”

Another widely-known facet of gender discrimination is the pay gap. According to the International Labour Organization, pay discrimination happens when employers don’t give similar pay to employees of different genders who are qualified to do the same job.

Gender inequality not only exists as a result of not paying employees enough but also a lack of career advancement for women.

One change Edgar Ndjatou, executive director of Workplace Fairness, an organization based

in Washington D.C. that is a major resource for workplace and employee rights, mentions he would like to see regarding gender inequality is the revamping of America’s leave laws, making them more gender neutral so that men and single fathers also could take leave.

By changing this law, it may make conversations about who stays home with the kids easier. Women may have the availability to work longer hours or move to a higher position, without fear of losing their job.

Addressing workplace gender inequality can be difficult but there are a few steps that you can take to help those facing this form of discrimination. “We [can] acknowledge that we might have biases based on gender, race or [a] cultural difference and just realize that … a bias is a mental shortcut,” says Gabriel.

“If we are thoughtful about things and we don’t take those mental shortcuts, then hopefully we can overcome those biases or at least not have them influence our behavior,” she adds.

Gender discrimination does not have to be a reality that women face forever. By acknowledging the problem and speaking up about the inequalities in your workplace, change can be made.