Workplace Inequality Based on Gender: An Examination

In today's professional landscape, the glass ceiling—an intangible barrier hindering minorities and women from achieving high-level success—remains a pressing issue. This metaphorical hurdle is a manifestation of gender bias, a form of unconscious prejudice that often favours one gender over another.

Gender bias, also known as gender discrimination, is pervasive and can significantly impact the workplace. It is not uncommon for women to be hired for roles below their qualification level, or for them to face microaggressions, harassment, or both. In fact, in 2024, four in 10 women reported experiencing such incidents at work.

However, there are steps being taken to combat this issue. Regular gender bias training can help educate team members about different types of unconscious bias and provide them with the tools to alter their perceptions for the better. Anonymous evaluations and standardized hiring processes can help reduce bias by removing individual names from the evaluation process and defining clear thresholds for performance management.

Moreover, companies are increasingly adopting recruitment tools utilizing automation or artificial intelligence. These tools can help filter candidates based on merit rather than gender or other characteristics that may place them at a biased and unfair disadvantage.

The use of a gender decoder tool can also help identify biased language in job descriptions, reducing gender bias in the recruiting process. Companies are also encouraged to diversify their boardrooms, as studies have shown that companies with more women on their board of directors are more likely to have programs, guidelines, and clear policies to avoid corrupt business dealings, have strong partnerships, and have high levels of disclosure and transparency.

Leadership training should be offered to everyone growing in their careers to ensure they know how to manage and lead teams effectively. Performance support bias, where resources and opportunities are disproportionately given to one gender, can be mitigated through standardized mentoring processes that provide equal opportunities for all employees.

Parental leave, which can boost retention rates, productivity, and employee morale, is another area where progress is being made. It's important to include working fathers and encourage them to actually take the leave.

However, there is still a significant gender pay gap. Women only make up 40 percent of managerial roles and 28 percent of C-suite roles in the United States and Canada, and they earn 83 cents for every dollar men make by performing the same jobs. Apple faces a class action suit over systemic gender pay bias, alleging that the longer a woman works at the company, the larger her pay disadvantage compared to similarly qualified men.

The United Kingdom's official gender pay gap has been downplayed for more than two decades due to flawed sampling that underrepresented small businesses, where pay inequality is most severe.

In light of these issues, it's crucial for companies to review their nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies, and provide employees with information and resources on who to reach out to in different situations. Employee engagement surveys can be used to gather data about a team and identify trends, but it's advisable to keep them anonymous, especially for small, gender-diverse teams to prevent identification of individuals.

Perception surveys, focusing on the safety of employees, can provide an opportunity for employees to share experiences of sexual harassment or gender bias that may not have been addressed in standard employee engagement surveys.

Lastly, it's important to note that artificial intelligence can learn and perpetuate biases if human biases are introduced during its training. Precautions should be taken when using such technology to reduce bias.

In conclusion, while progress is being made, there is still much work to be done in addressing gender bias in the workplace. Companies must continue to strive for diversity and equality in their workforce, and provide equal opportunities for all employees to advance in their careers.