Advancement Of Women In The Workplace Essay

Improved Essays
When considering the advancement of women or the lack thereof in the workplace, there are many factors to consider. There are several factors in play that foster the advancement of women in the workplace. Women’s participation in the workforce has increased by nearly twenty percent since the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 (Eagly & Carli, 2007). Women have not only consistently had higher average high school GPAs than their male counterparts, they have been earning over half of the bachelors’ degrees in the US since the mid-1980s (Russell Sage Foundation, 2013). Women have been increasingly filling management roles for the past fifty years but are still nowhere near on parity with men, especially when it comes to senior management. …show more content…
While we have watched a steady decline in the incomes of men with only a high school diploma over the past forty years, we have also reached a point where young women just entering the workforce are out-earning their male counterparts in several major American cities (Luscombe, 2010). Unfortunately, this currently only applies to unmarried, childless women under thirty in certain metropolitan areas, but it’s a start. The primary condition feeding this wage growth is the growth of the knowledge-based economy and the decline in the manufacturing base in America. The higher educational attainment by women makes them qualified to hold positions in these sectors at a greater rate than men in the same age group. Women continue to earn bachelors’ degrees at a greater rate than men, where for every 100 men enrolled in post-secondary education there are 139 women. Women are also increasingly earning masters’ degrees and PhDs, and this phenomenon is not limited to the US, Japan stands alone as the only highly industrialized nation where men outnumber women in colleges (Eagly, 2007). This trend should continue and expand not only in the US, but worldwide as knowledge-based industries continue to grow while manufacturing sectors

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Equality Of Women Essay

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages

    During World War II between 1939-45, women were progressively obtaining jobs that they likely would not have been able to attain previously due to the absence of males in those fields. And around the 1960s, several federal governments mandated laws for the economic improvement for women like The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Despite almost fifty years of increasing equal opportunities gained by women, and the fact that today women account for approximately 57% in the labor force, their opportunities for leadership roles seem far from equal to their male counterparts. Not only that, the wage gap of women compared to men is almost 22% more (“A Guide to Women 's Equal Pay Rights”). Although the statistic of women in the…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The author’s statistics state that girls are 57 percent undergraduates, and 60 percent masters, causing some to worry about the “end of men.” She talks about her childhood, and how well women were evolving within the workforce. She presents us with a quote from Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and the first woman to serve as president of an Ivy League University. Speaking to an audience of women, she expresses, “My generation fought so hard to give all of you choices. We believe in choices, but choosing to leave the workforce was not the choice we thought so many of you would make.”…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the past half a century, America has been ignoring African Americans as if they haven't been telling them what society is doing to them, acting like they haven't told them anything to them and putting them to the side. The civil right movement was a struggle for African Americans in the 1950’s to the 1960’s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in housing, jobs, education, even the right to vote. They were treated badly in the job industry, only given the low jobs and couldn't be at the top jobs operating machinery or can't promote. But in 1954 a leader was born and decided to do something about their rights because he thought that everyone should have equal rights. That leaders name was Martin Luther…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Since the 1980s, more women than men have been graduating from college in America. According to data from 2012, the percentage of women who enrolled in college after high school rose to 71%, while the percentage of men remained stagnant at 61%” (Andersen par 5). However, today sexism still exists in some areas. Although it is not legal, some employers when looking to hire someone may choose a male applicant over a female applicant based solely on gender. Some jobs today may even offer a higher salary to a man than what would be offered to a woman.…

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Women are still paid, “77 cents for every dollar a man makes” (Chu). In a nation where we are all equal, we are still not paid the same as a man no matter how hard we work at the same job. Studies have proven that men are more likely to get a job when compared to women that are either more or equally qualified. Along with that women are still viewed as incompetent to do their jobs because of biases that have plagued them throughout their career. According to the Harvard Business Review, women have to prove themselves again, having to try and find a perfect balance between being feminine and masculine in STEM related jobs, having people think that their careers are over because they had children, women either supporting them or distancing themselves to try and make them go what they’ve been through, and isolation.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In addition to societal views and “The Glass Ceiling,” the wage gap difference tremendously affect women based on the amount of education each gender has acquired. The gender gap exists because society believes that a man’s work is more valuable than a woman’s (Kulow 385+). The wage will continue to exist because employers believe women to appear as the weaker sex (Finn n.pag.). Individuals argue that the wage gap is stark evidence of women not achieving equality (“Women’s Rights” n.pag.).…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Evidence from statistical research has shown that women in the United States of America and other parts of the world are not being compensated for their work as men are even though they share many of the same educational and work experiences in their lifetimes. Therefore, it can be concluded from statistical facts that there is a workforce discrimination problem that is not being addressed as much as it should be. Men and women are created equal just as people from other cultures are, and men and women should be paid the same and allowed the same job opportunities that their fellow male counterparts are. The problem of gender inequality in the workforce has proven to be a serious one, and hopefully organizational leaders will begin to truly prevent gender inequality in the workforce from occurring more in the…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    What has changed over the years is women’s increased participation, leadership, and impact in a wider arrange of businesses. Women-owned firms have grown by one and a half times the rate of other small enterprises over the last 15 years and now account for almost 30% of all businesses (Johnson). “Statistics on women currently holding higher positions in business continue to rise but the percentages are still at a low with women CEO’s only making up 4.6%. Women within board seats being right around 19.2%, and women in executive managers and first line management roles leaving out at 25.1%, and 36.8 %”( CATALYST). At this current rate, it will take women decades to pull equal with men in leadership roles.…

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leadership Development in Women A review of the literature revealed a noticeable absence of research that focuses on the experiences of African American women who have advanced into leadership positions (Parker, 2005; Stanley, 2009; Bell, 1990). It is imperative for organizations to identify and develop female leaders who can work effectively across organizational and geographic boundaries. It is important that today’s organizations have the ability to identify a diverse workforce which will include African American women, to provide leadership skills that will address the challenges of a global workforce. Leadership Development in African American Women…

    • 1111 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I was inspired by the story of Lorena Weeks. Lorena’s father died when she was nine years old, which caused her to work to help provide for her family. Her mother died nine years later, so Lorena raised and supported her two siblings. She did this by working as waitress and then a telephone operator at night. Weeks later raised a family of her own and worked as a phone-company clerk.…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, in result of families’ lack of wealth to fund all the children of the household, most parents choose to send only the boys to school. Another economic factor restricting their education is the lack of teaching female figures. Due to severe punishments and the abuse these girls may face, schools require female staff members; however, it is difficult to finance such additions with insufficient budgets. Hence, many young girls are not allowed to be in school to prevent such violent situations from occurring.…

    • 1737 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Annotated Bibliography It is a fact that in the past a gap has existed in the financial earning abilities of both men and women. This disparity has been perpetuated through time as a symptom of the cultures that occupied their times. This discrimination of genders has and will be for some time to come, a hurdle to overcome. This hurdle can be tied to other issues such as race, religion, an individual’s appearance. The list can prove to be infinite.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many men tend to have the mentality that a women should not be in the leadership position. Having such mentality is wrong because many women demonstrate the best skills, experience and knowledge which are necessary for leadership job roles. The ratio of women graduating from the college to that of men is increasing and they are also been offered with comparable salaries to enter into the workforce. Gender equality at the workplace can be achieved when people are offered with same rewards, resources and opportunities.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace From a young age, society teaches children how to see things differently than they really are. Prejudice and discrimination are carried through lineage, and over time are passed through generations of people who hold the same ideals because of their false influences. Since the beginning of the 19th century, society has taught women that they are of lesser value in comparison to men. In the workplace, women are discriminated against because of their gender, and are lead to believe that they do not deserve what is rightfully a man’s career. The hours and wages women receive do not match what their male co-workers gain, despite them having the same job.…

    • 1282 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Open your eyes and focus on all of the women working in today’s society. Now imagine the identity that most women have placed on their heads…the role of a mother. Most mothers set off to work to bring in more income for their household. Most mother’s in today’s world deal with the daily tasks of waking up before the household in order to wake the children up on time and prepare breakfast and lunch for the day, all to have her child ready on time. Meanwhile, the mother may have little time to tend to herself before she sets off on the road to send her child to daycare and herself to work.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays