Discrimination is a topic that I, before my most recent google search, had only associated with the workplace in the United States.  Ironically, the first news article that popped up after a google search on discrimination to find this week’s topic, was about Britain.   When considering discrimination abroad, I feel that it is safe to say that Britain is the last place that I would think of as having a problem.  I of course would have focused more on countries in Africa and in India for examples of discrimination due to their being viewed more as developing countries rather than being already developed.  However, as it turns out, like the United States, Britain and many other countries around the world still suffer from constant discrimination.

The statistics emerging from Britain are staggering.  Over a quarter of British women report being discriminated against in the workplace.  This has resulted in an incredible fashion change in the British workforce.  In order to avoid sexual discrimination, women are now wearing longer skirts and less revealing shirts.  Many women also reported that they believe having children is viewed as a setback in the business world.  David Saul, a corporate owner of the newspaper Business Environment was even quoted as saying, “What these results show is that employers are still discriminating against women who choose to have children as well as work. The ‘you can have it all’ generation are being failed by their employers.”  Although obviously a serious problem, not much is being done to change the discrimination and sexism in British society.  Unlike the United States, it is not as frequently reported about online or in newspapers.  There are also fewer support groups for working women in Britain.

With first world super powers like the United States and Britain still experiencing gender discrimination in the workforce, it is obvious that other struggling first and second world countries such as India, China and South Africa are also suffering discrimination.  China especially has one of the highest gender discrimination percentages in the world.  However, Chinese discrimination is especially acute because of its early beginning (the abortion of female fetuses).  This discrimination continues into the Chinese workforce.  Only 21 percent of females upon graduation last year were able to find jobs within two months.  This was almost half of the 40 percent of males that were able to find jobs.  Gender discrimination in China is also highly sexualized with many women complaining of no getting hired simply because of their physically appearance.

In India, women suffer discrimination due to gender, religion and social class.  It is not uncommon for employers to pay more attention to religion than resumes when regarding future employees.  Similarly, untouchables in Indian society are considered not hirable by many employers.  Due to the amount of discrimination, it is up to the United States, the most developed country in the world, to set the bar involving discrimination in the work force.  Although there are currently laws against discrimination, more attention needs to be brought to the issue.  With more negative attention being brought on businesses and employers that discriminate, discrimination will hopefully become less common in the United States.  This trend will hopefully also continue to influence other governments and countries around the world.

Obviously, discrimination is not simply localized to the United States.  Females around the world are battling for positions in government and in businesses that are typically primarily male.  The United States has made great gains in recent years to promote the gender fairness and equality.  Now it is time for the rest of the world to catch up and continue to make the workforce free of discrimination.   Although it will take time and effort for many developing and developed countries, equality is something that has to be fought for.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/10674940/Gender-discrimination-still-rife-in-British-workplaces.html

Discrimination in the workforce has long been a talked about issue in the United States. Once a hot button topic that many assumed had been taken care of, a clear and definite solution was never given and the problem of gender discrimination has persisted in the workforce today. I was not particularly aware of any discrimination of women of late until I was scrolling through my Facebook page (typical college student, I know), and discovered that three of my very close friends had shared the same article.  Bill O’Reilly’s: “There has got to be some disadvantage to having a female president. Right?” became an overnight Facebook sensation with over 1 million shares.  The quote that quickly became famous deserves to be included in this blog post.

“There haven’t been that many strong women leaders throughout history. But when you’re president of the United States you have to deal with people like Putin, you have got to deal with the real ornery Mullahs in Iran. Look, the Mullahs in Iran, they think women are like subspecies.”

I would also recommend watching the actual video footage of the incident here:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/dorsey/bill-oreilly-there-has-got-to-be-some-downside-to-having-a-w

In case you do not have the time to watch the clip, here is a quick summary. In the interview with two other female correspondents, Bill O’Reilly repeatedly asked the women to come up with negative aspects of having a female president. Both looking extremely awkward and uncomfortable (and later frustrated and angry), and replied that there would be no more negativity involved with having a female president versus a male president.  Both tried to make it clear to Mr. O’Reilly that he was being extremely sexist, but he missed their signals.

Curious as to what other articles/new stories about discrimination I had missed, I did a quick google news search for female discrimination in the work force.  I was shocked with the number of recent articles that I discovered. Intrigued, I dug deeper in the source of the discrimination.

Discrimination of women can include any of the following: “Sexual harassment, withholding promotions based on gender, giving a different job title to a woman and preventing women from participating in training opportunities.”  Discrimination against females can occur in several different categories: Pregnancy, appearance, physical availability, wages and consequence to employers.

Many employers will not hire pregnant women due to the fact that they are allotted 12 weeks of leave to take care of the child and the assumption that they will not be able to work as many hours with a family to take care of. Due to this form of discrimination, many who are either pregnant or think they will become pregnant within the year, conceal that fact from their interviewer. A women’s appearance is also a common form of discrimination when hiring. An attractive woman may be more likely to get hired and/or they might be less likely to be hired based on the “distraction” that they could cause in the office. For jobs that require physical strength, a woman might not get hired based on the thought process that she might not be able to complete the physical tasks as fast and/or efficiently as her male co-workers. Women also experience discrimination when it comes to wages. On average women earn 80% less than the average male worker. Although that statistic has been gradually lowering over several years, there is still a lot of work that has to be done to make the wages of men and women equal.

Not only is discrimination on display in many social aspects of daily life (see last blog post) but as mentioned above, it is also on clear display in the workforce. Although Bill O’Reilly was not the first to reinforce the fact that discrimination still exists, his comments brought forth a huge negative out lash from Fox viewers. As American citizens, we all must realize that our modern society is constantly changing. We have to change with it and catch up with the times. It is time for discrimination in the workforce to end (Equal rights (and pay) for all women worldwide.) It is time for the US to set the precedent!