Gender and

Society
Group 2
Gender and Work
A. Women and Men in the Workforce

The relationship between organizational

culture and employee experiences in ord
er to uncover strategies and example
s of how to create more diverse and
inclusive work environments.
Gender Differences in the workplace typically ste
m from social factors, which influence the beha
viors of men and women. Some organiz
ations welcome gender diversity and encourage
the inclusion of both sexes when making compa
ny decisions and offering promotional oppo
rtunities. Other organizations discourage gender i
nclusion and promote bias in the workplace.
Gender Differences involve both physical and em
otional factors. They are essentially the chara
cteristics that influence male and female behavior
in the workplace. These influences may stem fro
m psychological factors, such as upbringing, or p
hysical factors, such as an employee's capabil
ity to perform job duties.
Differences may also stem from gender st
ereotypes related to men and women. For inst
ance, a stereotypical assessment is that women
belong in the home while men work and provid
e support.
Differences in Gender Perception
Men and women experience differences in per
ception in the workplace. According to the boo
k, "Managing in the Age of Change: Essential Skills t
o Manage Today's Workforce," by Sophie Hahn an
d Anne Litwin, an employee's gender can illustrat
e differences in perception related to organizational
structure, problem-solving style and view of work
-related conflict. Also, differences in indivi
dual working style is notable.
According to the book, women perceive that ind
ividual work styles should be collaborative, where
everyone works as part of a whole. Men, on the ot
her hand, perceive that work should be completed i
ndependently without the assistance of others. Wo
men also tend to be more supportive man
agers, whereas men are more direct.
Legal Issues Involving Gender

Many legal issues stem from men and women bei

ng treated differently or unfairly in the work
place. Several employment and labor laws govern s
ex discrimination and prohibit workplace practices t
hat treat a particular sex unfavorably because of ge
nder.
The Civil Rights Act

Prohibits employment discrimination, such as hir

ing, firing or refusing to promote an employee beca
use of sex or gender.
The Equal Pay Act

Ensures men and women receive the equal pay for

performing the same job in the same comp
any.
Transgenderism
The realization that not everyone fits neatly into a box la
beled "biological male" or "biological female". Awar
eness of transgender individuals may call for workplac
es to adopt specific policies regarding such topics as rest
room usage or respect for individuals in transition. Solu
tions to Gender Issues Misunderstandings between gender
s often cause conflict within the workplace. Men an
d women perceive information differently, which coul
d lead to feelings of exclusion or allegations of harassmen
t or sex discrimination.
Managers can combat this problem through tra
ining and development initiatives that focus on incre
ased awareness of gender-related issues. Manager
s can also encourage change in employee beh
avior to strengthen the working relationship bet
ween men and women, and lead by example.
B. The Gender Pay Gap

• Gender pay gap – is the average diff

erence between hourly wages for m
en and women.

Equal Pay – means that men and women performing equal work must
be paid the same.
How is the gender pay gap calculated?
Dr. Jana Javornik of Leeds University Business School explained that
companies must report their gender pay gap in terms of six figures:

o Mean gender pay gap

o Median gender pay gap
o Mean bonus gender pay gap
o Median bonus gender pay gap
o Proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment
o Proportion of males and females in each quartile band
• Mean gender pay gap
is the difference between the average
(mean) hourly pay of full-pay relevant female
employees (taken as a single group) and the
average (mean) hourly pay of full-pay relevant
male employees (again taken as a single group),
expressed as a percentage.
To calculate the mean gender pay gap:
 

(hourly pay of all full-pay relevant male employees)

(by the total number of those male employees)

This will provide a mean male hourly pay rate.

• Median gender pay gap
is the difference between the median hourly
pay of full-pay relevant female employees (taken
as a single group) and the median hourly pay of
full-pay relevant male employees (again taken as a
single group), expressed as a percentage.
To calculate the median gender pay gap:

Identify the hourly rate of pay at the

midpoint of all full-pay relevant male employees to
give median male hourly pay rate.

Identify the hourly rate of pay at the

midpoint of all full-pay relevant female employees
to give median female hourly pay rate.
What social elements contribute t
owards the gender pay gap?

• Our education system continues to influence ge

nder norms (spokesperson for the Women’s Equ
ality Party)

• Women don’t negotiate their salary in their first r

ole due to societal pressures (Dr Julie Davies of Th
e University of Huddersfield)
C. Perspective on Gender Pay Gap

According to Ellevest, only 61% of

American men believe that men ear
n more than women for doing the s
ame job.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research says
that if change continues at the same slow
pace as it has done for the past fifty years, it
will take 41 years — or until 2059 — for
women to finally reach pay parity, but this is
just for white women.

The rate of change for Hispanic women indicates th

at they will have to wait until 2224 and Black wom
en will wait until 2119 for equal pay.
Why does it happen?

Discrimination is one of the reasons for t

he existence of the gender pay gap, but
perhaps the most significant expla
nation could be parenthood
A study from Denmark shows that there is a
drop by, on average, 30% in the earnings of
women who have kids since the birth of the
baby. On the contrary, men’s careers g
row steadily even if they also have childre
n
How can we close the gap?

The biggest goal in this matter is to reduce t

his by 30% and to make maternity and pa
ternity something that involves both gen
ders equally.

Another way to fight the gender pay gap w

hich is focused on supervision of co
mpanies.
Two (2) distinct numbers regarding the pay gap:

• The unadjusted pay gap – is simply the raw dif

ference between men and women's earnings.

• The adjusted pay gap – usually takes into account so

me factors that impact the gap’s existence, such as diff
erences in education, job experience, job sector, jo
b position, number of hours worked, marital status, pa
renthood status, etc.
Gender and
School
A. Meaning/Nature/Perspective

Gender is a socially constructed de

finition of women and men . It is not the
same as sex ( biological charac
teristic of women and men ) .
 Gender is determined by the conception of tas
k , function , and roles attributed to women and
men in society and in public and private life.

School is a place for education of a lower gra

de , usually below a college or university.
Gender differences in the Classroom

Gender roles are the patterns of behaviors, atti

tudes, and expectations associated with a particul
ar sex—with being either male or female.
Social differences in gender roles
BOYS GIRLS
• More often gravitate to • More likely to seek and
large groups, tend to maintain one or two close
literally filling up a lot of friends, to share more
space (whether on intimate information and
the playground, in a school feelings with them.
hallway, or on the
street). • Less visible or noticeable
than boys, at least in
• Often include significant leisure play situations
amounts of roughhousing where children or
as well as in competitive youth choose their
games or sports. companions freely.
As with physical differences, however, keep in mi
nd that differences in social interactions do not o
ccur uniformly for all boys and girls.

There are boys with close friends, contradicting th

e general trend, and girls who play primarily in
large groups.
Social interaction styles differences in
the classroom
BOYS
• More likely to speak up
during a class discussion
— sometimes even if not
called on, or even if they
do not know as much
about the topic as
others in the class.
• Based on studies, they are
slightly better at math.
GIRLS
• More motivated than boys
to perform well in school,
in terms in academic and
cognitive differences in
gender.
• Based on studies, they are
slightly better at reading
and literature.
How teachers influence gender roles?

Teachers often intend to interact with both sexes

equally, and frequently succeed at doing so.
Three kinds of differences that have
been noticed
1) The overall amount of attention paid to each
sex.

2) The visibility or “publicity” of conversations.

3) The type of behavior that prompts teachers to

support or criticize students.
Attention paid in general, teachers in
teract with boys more often than with
girls.
B. School as gender socialization

Gender socialization is the process by wh

ich we learn our culture's gender-related
rules, norms, and expectations.

Influencer – are parents, teachers, schoo

ls, and the media
Sex vs. Gender

terms sex and gender are often used inter

changeably
• The family and the school are the two main pillars th
at influence the child during the process of growth

• The development of gender roles begins at birth

• In everyday life we tend to believe that boys are mor

e favored in school since they are seen as "strong"
• Boys compared with girls have a higher tendency to be c
lass repeaters

• Boys need to work to bring revenues in the family

• The gender education should play an important role in t

he educational system.
• Teachers continue to see girls as successful only trying ha
rd while the boys as naturally smart.

• Boys dominated certain classroom interactions while girl

s participated more in teacher-student interactions.

• The school is the second institution, after the family that i

nfluences the process of socialization.

• Socialization in schools teachers and peers have an infl

uence.
C. Gender differences
(biases, inequality i.e. admission, retention, giving of distinction)

• refer to those average group differences

between men and women that are likel
y due to sexually monomorphic psych
ological adaptations combined with cultu
rally dimorphic socialization.

• also related to social roles

D. Implications to parents, policies

• Parents may wish to foster more

flexible gender roles in children.

• Parents can try to encourage their ch

ildren to play with a bit combination of f
eminine and masculine stere
otyped toys.
• Parents can be mindful of the kinds of
peers with whom their children affiliate.

• Parents can make a concerted effort to

discuss and challenge gender stereotypes
with their children.
 
• Policies can promote equal advancement
of women and men in all sectors.