Gender inequalities in the workplace are a real problem for all working women and men in today’s world. As a 23-year-old female, studying Cybersecurity and working full time in the tech industry, I have experienced it first hand. And although the issue also affects men, I will be giving my perspective from a woman’s standpoint, as it’s what I have personally lived.
Now, what exactly causes gender inequality? The answer is society originated this phenomenon, ever since the social order and the powers and hierarchies were structured in the medieval times. The concept of women has been so misconstrued that many people believe women’s purpose in this world is to take care of others and serve as a plain object. Some individuals still appear to be shocked when they see strong independent women working their way up and advancing in their professional careers. But the number of working women has increased drastically, especially those who are married or have children. Also, the number of degrees granted has considerably augmented as well.
However, females are still underrepresented in many fields, especially in the science and technology ones. Sexual harassment, unequal pay, lack of promotion and leadership are just some of the problems millions of women face every day in their professional lives. Such issues do not only become barriers for their advancement, but also for the future of each culture and country. The more educated and working women, the stronger the labor force and the economy of a nation. In the United States, for example, women experience barriers in science and technology fields.
“This deprives the country of an important source of talent as the country faces increasingly stiff global competition in higher education”¹
It should be understood that knowledge and skills are not tied to a specific gender, but they develop based on the individual’s capabilities, practices and desire to learn and advance instead. Contrary to what some may believe, women and men can perform the same activities and professions, it is all about learning and practicing over and over.
Gender pay gap
The other problem that comes at hand is the gender pay gap. This is seen among all working women in all occupations, being accentuated in working mothers and individuals with disabilities. Other matters like race and age, also play a decisive role in the pay discrimination as women of color and immigrant have fewer opportunities due to racism and discrimination². According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics “In 2017, women working full-time had median usual weekly earnings that were 82% of those of male full-time employees”³. These results reveal women are being paid less while performing the same job as men. Chart I shows the growth in the earnings of women along the years, yet they continue to be underpaid. It is unbelievable that something as unjustifiable is still happening. The gender pay gap does not only have immediate but long-term consequences as well. If women are paid less, retirement benefits like Social Security, will be considerably less than men’s.
It’s no surprise the majority of men tend to overlook and ignore these problems. They usually debate that women are more employed and get paid more in positions like medical assistant, service, and sales as shown in the graph below. This may be true but is only seen in jobs that tend to use the woman and their physical appearance as a marketing method. Other men argue women earn less and have not so many opportunities to succeed because “the family commitments of female employees conflict with the demands of the job, which inevitably hold back their advancement”⁴. Such perceptions prove how some believe it is a woman’s responsibility only to take care of the family and their children. Although it can be challenging, a woman’s success should not be weighed upon “her family commitments”.
Sexual harassment
In addition, sexual harassment affects the vast majority, if not all, working women. “Sexual harassment refers to unwelcome sexual advances or any verbal harassment of a sexual nature and the possibility of charges of this type is a serious consideration for employers.”⁵ Incidents may include inappropriate comments or gestures, bullying, emotional and physical aggressions, even if they are minimal, and cases of incivility. The workplace is supposed to be a safe place free of hostility, but some women feel threatened, scared and uncomfortable instead, because men decide to be disrespectful. Some female employees often feel insecure about the clothes they are wearing to work, because the wrong shirt or pants may give men the wrong idea. It is repulsive when male workers approach you with indecent comments, because, first, they do not see you as a professional but as an object instead; second, they ignore your skills and capabilities; third, they make you feel insecure and question your professionalism. The worst part is that some employers often ignore sexual harassers and try as much as they can to hide a scandal or lawsuit in case of a demand.
I have also been a victim of this in the past. While working at a previous job, a male employee who had been working for the company for more than 15 years, started approaching me months after I started working there. After telling him to stop and making clear his comments and behavior were inappropriate and making me uncomfortable, the employee continued with his usual habits. I then decided to inform my supervisor, male individual and also CFO of the company.
He accepted he was aware of the problem, claimed I was not the first one to report this, and stated this was only happening because I had allowed it. He even dared to say the employee had been with the company for many years and there was nothing he could do except advise me to be stronger and learn how to stop allowing the behavior of this employee.
This was obviously shocking and after a few months I decided to go my way and found another job.
Lack Of Women in Leadership
Let’s now analyze the gender inequalities women encounter in the tech industry specifically. For starters, the percentage of women studying STEM careers continues to be low every year, but why is that? It is probably due to the beliefs and misconceptions that men are better than women in sciences and engineering fields. And this disparity can be seen early in college studies. I am completing a Masters in Cybersecurity, and as expected most of my classes are core essential and technology related. Now, what I did not expect when I first started, is that I was going to be the only female student in my classes. Sometimes there were two of us, but never more than three. And that’s when I realized, I was setting my path into a male dominated field and that I would have to work twice as hard to advance and prove to them I was capable enough.
Now, at my current job as web and app developer, I can experience these inequalities firsthand. My superiors do not always see my full potential, as they often distribute tasks among the developers based on gender and the individual’s appearance. For example, the manager would instruct me to work in the front-end (looks and behavior) of a determined application because according to him I am a woman and I understand more of those things. He will say: “You worry about the pretty, your coworker will focus on the real deal”. Comments like that make me rethink why am I still working there, when I am indeed capable of doing so much more than just fixing how “pretty” something looks. Other situations like mansplaining and micromanaging often take place. For some reason men feel threatened when women develop a new idea, propose a change or just try to give an opinion.
I honestly believe everyone should forget old habits and beliefs in order for roles based on gender to be eliminated. Gender equality in the workplace must be achieved because inequality brings no benefits at all, at least not for hard working women. It is essential for women to help each other, share their experiences and help those who are living the same injustices in order for them to stand up and make a change.
[1] “Depriving Women Means Depriving U.S.” Industrial Engineer: IE, vol. 38, no. 11, Nov. 2006, pp. 14–15. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aci&AN=501342941&site=ehost-live.
[2] Milkman, Ruth. On Gender, Labor, and Inequality. University of Illinois Press, 2016. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1100883&site=eds-live.
[3]“Earnings.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 29 Apr. 2019, https://www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.html.
[4] HARRIS, MARILYN. “The Roots of Workplace Gender Inequality.” Stanford Social Innovation Review, vol. 17, no. 3, Summer 2019, p. 63. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=136631944&site=eds-live.
[5] Karsten, Margaret Foegen. Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the Workplace: Emerging Issues and Enduring Challenges : Emerging Issues and Enduring Challenges. Praeger, 2016. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1193419&site=eds-live.
