Gender Divide, also known as gender gaps, is described as the discrepancies between the genders, especially between a man and a woman in society. Unfair discrimination and differences between the genders, especially that of a man and a woman, leads to the situation of gender divide. It is the most faced type of discrimination, largely witnessed at the workplace.
In this blog we are going to understand in detail about gender divide-
Gender divide can be defined as the disparities faced by different genders, especially men and women in the society. Discrimination can be in many ways such as assigning work based on gender and categorizing masculine and feminine roles. Women are mostly targeted with such situations. However, men face discrimination in various ways too.
Gender Gap at Workplace
According to a gartner report, there are less than 10% females in the leadership teams.
Not only women but men too face these kinds of differences at the workplace. At workplaces, we have seen people talking like “Obviously! You are a woman; you will be good at this!” or “We have a man in the team. The calculations will be fine, of course!”.
Everyone has made up their mind that a particular job suits a particular gender. Employers prefer having a male on finance team because they have a mindset that a male employee is great with numbers and calculations. Whereas they prefer having a female in the lead for sales department because they think that a feminine face can be convincing for the clients! How is that even justifiable?
Gender Divide Statistics
Women are either underpaid or they are not on board at a higher position. It is not just about the corporate world but also other male dominated workforce.
As per a report generated by International Labour Organization , a UN agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labor standards, the current global labor force participation rate for women is just under 47% whereas the same for men, it is 72%. There is this huge gap of 25% that shows what the situation of our workplace is.
Firstly, women because of all the responsibilities do not opt to work after they have a family. As per, NFHS , there are only 32% of married women that are married and employed in India. Around 15% of the women are not paid at all.
Gender Divide Issues
Gender Inequality is everywhere in the world. There are hundreds of reasons leading to gender divide.
- Most of the women and girls do not have proper access to education and healthcare services.
- Even if they are somehow able to have higher education, they are not given opportunities to prove themselves in the workplace.
- Women are under-represented in decision making at all the levels.
- If a woman reaches at a higher level, she faces other type of ill treatment such as harassment, bullying, physical attacks and intimidations.
Woman faces this type of behavior at every place. This somehow discourages them from working anymore.
Gender Divide Solutions
We know the problem, but do we know about the solutions? What can we do to put a full stop on this discrimination between the genders? We made the problems; we have the solutions.
- Promote education: The most important and strongest solution to diminish the gender divide is educating women. Most of the women are not even aware about their rights. They are taught to limit themselves in their homes and they do so. People say that if you educate a man, you benefit one family but if you educate a woman, you benefit the whole society.
- Stringent protection rules: There should be strict rules and regulations applicable to an organization for the protection of a women and that leads to a legal action, in case.
- Promote gender equality: It is important for everyone, especially men to know that a job is done by a person and not by a gender. If a man is good at something that doesn’t mean a woman can’t be good at the same. No job is gender specified.
- Value job done by a woman: Appreciate whenever a job is done by a woman to increase their confidence and encouraging them to bring more to the table. Words of affirmations plays a vital role to the emotional health of women.
- Encourage male parental leave: Not only women but men too need parental leaves to take care of their children at home when their wives are working. Encouraging paternal leaves just like maternity leaves can help to broaden our mindset.
- Decision making: A female opinion should be taken while taking a decision because everyone has their own perspective. Maybe, taking point of view of a woman can help you to think in a different way.
Your work experience, qualifications, skills and dedication are the only way a person can do justice to the job role given to them. There is no way that a particular job can be done by a particular gender.
We are living in the 21st century. We have access to the best things in the world and yet we are facing such situations. Any kind of discrimination is not acceptable in any circumstances. We know the problem; we know the solution. We are the generation to bring changes to the world.
Hope this helped you with some relevant information about mindfulness of work. We’ll bring more in for you! Till then keep reading, keep thinking and keep HRing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How does gender disparity manifest in the workplace?
In the workplace, there are various ways through which gender disparity is manifested.
- Unequal pay.
- Disparity in promotions.
- Gender based imbalance of individuals in power.
- Stereotyping and bias.
- Pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
- Limited access to proper training.
- Lack of male paternal leaves
2. What are the effects of gender disparity on mental health?
Gender disparity at times takes a huge toll on the mental health of an employee. When a person feels like they are treated differently from others, they start having self-doubt. They start thinking that they don’t belong there. It stuffs them with under-confidence. In some cases, it leads to increased stress level, anxiety and depression.
3. What steps can an organization take to promote gender diversity in leadership positions?
An organization can promote gender diversity by,
- Committing equal gender pay to all the genders.
- Encouraging the third gender to participate in the organization.
- Implementing flexible work policy.
- Supporting a safe and sound workplace.
- Being respectful to everyone.
4. How does the media contribute to gender stereotypes and inequality?
Media influence our lives on a daily basis. The impact generated due to media; especially social media, is very deep. We see on social media that how only women suffers but there are thousands of men who face discrimination as well. The reality is extremely different from how things are shown in the media.