Discrimination in the workplace

Throughout everyone’s lives, there are going to be situations everyone will come into contact with people that are a different than they area. This difference could be race, religion, gender, and several more. As people come into contact with other, discrimination and conflict between people. This discrimination not only happens often, but it is also very common to be against women.

As discrimination in the world increases, so does discrimination in the workplace. Nearly 30% of women report being discriminated again in a workplace (Covert, 2013). With this being said, women are being given the chance to get paid the same as male employees or advance in their jobs. As women continue to succeed in their careers, something is still holding them back. This is the sexism in a workplace. This can occur when a man is given a higher position because they are seen to be inferior to women. These negative attitudes will cause women to be stuck in a position or pay amount that is not allowing them to succeed to their full potential.

In order to lower the amount of discrimination in a workplace, there are training programs. The Equal Employee Opportunity Commission (EEOC) offers training programs for employees on prevention and discrimination laws. With their programs, the discrimination can decrease and all employees can have a greater chance to succeed.

As I think about jobs, discrimination on women could be due to the fact that there is not enough contact hypotheses. Contact hypothesis for this discrimination would be having males and females work in a group. When people group together to do a job, they work toward the same goal. If an employer gives men and women the chance to work together, the women will be able to have an opinion and show their knowledge. As men and women work together, the hopes would be that the men will have a more positive opinion on women and open to the possibility of a women advancing higher.

In conclusion, women are more likely to be discriminated against at work than men are (Covert, 2013). Not only do women have less opportunity than male coworkers, they also make less money. The EEOC gives opportunities and laws for employees and employers to prevent discrimination. Diversity and discrimination can be positively affected if applied psychology is used correctly.

References

Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.

Bryce Covert. August 19, 2013. About a third of women have experienced discrimination in the workplace. Retrieved February 20, 2014. From http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/19/2486721/about-a-third-of-women-have-experienced-discrimination-in-the-workplace/#

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved February 20, 2014. From http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/outreach/

4 comments

  1. After reading your blog post I feel compelled to comment on the balance between equality and maintaining a status quo. I remembered hearing a great interview on NPR and was able to locate it online.

    http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/08/16/whistleblowing-fairness-loyalty

    While the topic was inspired by the Edward Snowden leaks, Adam Waytz discusses the psychology and experiments conducted to explore loyalty and fairness. If you listen to the interview, Waytz begins by talking about the moral foundations theory, which outlines universal moral foundations. You spoke of the inequality that is still present within the work environment. Unfortunately, there is a gap between total equality and loyalty. These are two elements that can conflict, especially considering total gender equality. Loyalty can be found in organizations that are predominantly led by males. Social dominance theory, as found in our lesson commentary, also explains how group hierarchies are formed and are difficult to break. High status groups don’t tend to deviate from loyalty so as to ensure equality.

    Sheryl Sandberg, author of Lean In, gave a great TED talk that introduces this problem, and speaks to things we can do to break down these inequalities. As a former Google executive, Sandberg is definitely someone capable of commenting on women in the workplace. Her concepts include attributing successes to the things that you have done yourself, not luck or on the shoulders of another. Another concept that changes the success of a woman is not leaving before actually leaving. Checking out mentally before making a physical change can drastically change our path and how we are perceived.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders.html

    If you liked Sandberg’s TED talk, you can also listen to another NPR interview that speaks to this topic and her book.

    http://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/173740524/lean-in-facebooks-sheryl-sandberg-explains-whats-holding-women-back

    In this final link that I have included, I want to highlight how Sheryl Sandberg assures her audience that, as we move forward, there is enough room for males and females, in whatever professional capacity we choose.

  2. Jennifer Theresa Cass

    We’ve come so far as a society it is sad to think that discrimination is still a growing issue, but unfortunately it is. This idea of equal opportunities is portrayed and put in our heads time and time again, but sadly the research shows otherwise. We would like to think that we live in this perfect world where everyone is treated equally, but the workforce is just one example of how this is not the case.

    In the article you shared, the author suggests, “perhaps women are more quick to point to discrimination because they know how hard they are already working to get ahead” (Covert, 2013). I think that women might point out discrimination more because they are aware of how common it is and it may be something they deal with frequently. If they don’t stand up for themselves who will?

    I think that implementing contact hypothesis would be a great way to reduce discrimination in the work place. Increasing positive interactions between men and women would help women be seen as equal. It would be a great way for everyone to see that women are just as knowledgeable as their male coworkers.

    Reference

    Bryce Covert. August 19, 2013. About a third of women have experienced discrimination in the workplace. Retrieved February 20, 2014. Fromhttp://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/19/2486721/about-a-third-of-women-have-experienced-discrimination-in-the-workplace/#

  3. Jennifer Theresa Cass

    Reference

    Bryce Covert. August 19, 2013. About a third of women have experienced discrimination in the workplace. Retrieved February 20, 2014. From http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/19/2486721/about-a-third-of-women-have-experienced-discrimination-in-the-workplace/#

  4. Jennifer Theresa Cass

    We’ve come so far as a society it is sad to think that discrimination is still a growing issue, but unfortunately it is. This idea of equal opportunities is portrayed and put in our heads time and time again, but sadly the research shows otherwise. We would like to think that we live in this perfect world where everyone is treated equally, but the workforce is just one example of how this is not the case.

    In the article you shared, the author suggests, “perhaps women are more quick to point to discrimination because they know how hard they are already working to get ahead” (Covert, 2013). I think that women might point out discrimination more because they are aware of how common it is and it may be something they deal with frequently. If they don’t stand up for themselves who will?

    I think that implementing contact hypothesis would be a great way to reduce discrimination in the work place. Increasing positive interactions between men and women would help women be seen as equal. It would be a great way for everyone to see that women are just as knowledgeable as their male coworkers.

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