Organizational diversity is of the utmost importance in today’s workforce, and significantly impactful on our nation’s future. Not only is workforce diversity a reference to employees of varying race and ethnicity, but also applies to protected groups such as religion, age, disability, veteran status, and sex. If not already familiar with the term ‘glass ceiling’, despite the significant recent media attention on the subject, it is the term for the barrier(s) presented to women in pursuit of promotion, and more specifically into “elite” leadership positions (Northouse, 2016).
I’m proud to work for an organization that makes every effort to continuously improve working conditions and circumstances for their employees. Included in this effort is the announcement of Caesars Entertainment CEO, Mark Frissora, to reach 100% gender pay equality with a goal of 50% women holding positions of management and above by the year 2025. While this is one huge leap for Caesars, it is far from the end of the controversial topic for women nationwide. Studies show that women with children are increasingly more willing to work, but it is also this specifically factored group that often times are unable to steadily hold a job as a result of the circumstance (Ali, 2015).
It is unfortunate that there are biases of any sort that surround hiring processes, but in order to truly prevail in this sense, the human race must unite in order to clarify and better understand the severely unequal distribution of such leadership roles. Too many times I have seen or read of women in possession of doctorate degrees in situations where they are able to hold down employment until childcare becomes an issue that prevents continued employment (Northouse, 2016). There are numerous companies actively implementing benefits to assist with these setbacks in an effort to provide more linear and equal opportunities. With that being said, it is of vital importance to take note of these inspirational offerings and accommodations and accept that priorities fall within a case by case basis and not to confuse antiquated workplace norms with the voluntary decision to pursue differing life goals (Northouse, 2016).
Furthermore, I feel as though a goal to meet gender pay equality through equal gender ratios will prove to be much more difficult than expected and leave room for further controversy on the topic. I believe that men and women mold differently and therefore offer unique skillsets in comparison to one another (e.g. intuition, empathy, detail-orientation, delegation) and that pay distribution should reflect and match tenure, effort, proven abilities, and usefulness regardless of sex (Northouse, 2016). It is undebatable that the representation of Fortune 500 companies with women in CEO positions at 4% is a far cry from gender equality and in need of serious evaluation (Northouse, 2016).
References
Ali, F. (2015). Gender equality in the workplace. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Faiza_Ali4/publication/280559937_Gender_equality_in_the_workplace/links/562f4c8d08aef25a24456d12/Gender-equality-in-the-workplace.pdf
Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.