Discrimination in organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discrimination in organizations - Essay Example Gender discrimination is described by Gelfand, Nishii, Raver and Schneider (2007) as a serious form of workplace employment that should not under any given circumstances be dismissed. This paper explores the issue of sex/gender discrimination in organisational set-ups, providing a detailed theoretical background while citing an article in relevance to the subject’s manifestation in an organisational framework. Discrimination in Organisations Today, sex or gender discrimination at the workplace is still evident despite the prevailing talk of gender equality Cortina, Kabat-Farr, Leskinen, Marisela and Magley (2011). Discrimination based on sex can be defined as acting undesirably or treating a person differently; a case that would not have been the same had the person been of a different sex. In most parts of the globe, gender discrimination is considered unjust towards the recipient and thus is illegal (Cortina et al., 2011). The objective of this study is to examine the gender discrimination that occurs at the workplace and increase the organisational awareness of the grave issue. Hypothesis Sex or gender discrimination at the workplace is still widespread. Background A host of research exists regarding the gender discrimination of employees at the workplace. Three court cases have been reviewed by Buchanan (2005) on the issue of sexual harassment. In the findings, women were often subject to dire treatment from their male counterparts who device different excuses and or ways to come into physical contact with them as well as asking them for bodily favours. Furthermore, she reveals that women from these court case studies were subject to unethical sexual images and jokes which not only psychologically affects their minds but also makes them feel uncomfortable at their workplace hence some may decide on resignation as their escape route from insecurity. Another study by Davidson and Eden (2000) examined the issue of gender pay gap based on the 1999 Nation al Faculty Survey Data. This study was aimed at determining the wage gap between male and female employees with similar responsibilities at different public and private institutions. The study revealed that women earn 20.7% less than what men of similar responsibilities earn (Davidson & Eden 2000). In addition, the duo found out that women receive less compensation and benefits as compared to their male employees. A study conducted by Khoreva (2011) to estimate the gender wage gap in the Pakistani labour market has similar findings to those of Davidson and Eden. The study took into account a sample of ninety one thousand three hundred and nineteen men and women of average ages 36 and 32 respectively. The women were fewer than the men; accounting for 48.4% of the total sample. According to Khoreva (2011), the wage gap is continually increasing mainly because of educational differences between men and women as well as the experience of female employees. In addition, the research revea led that women were subject to reduced incentives and benefits as compared to their male counterparts. In his research Lissenburgh (2001) employs the National Survey Data and Human Capital Theory in determining the level of discrimination based on gender in the UK labour markets during the 1990s (Gelfand et al. 2007). The data revealed that women were subject to a 10% pay rise in the event that they pay close attention to human capital factors. Furthermore, some job specifications are more biased towards men with respect to