Good Literature Review On Gender And Diversity

Literature Review

Changing Context of Work
April 21st, 2015
Introduction
After demonstrating her capacity in different workplaces during the past few decades, women still endure the limited access to management and leadership roles. Gender equity in any workplace implies to grant equal opportunities for men and women and remove any barriers to the progress of both genders into the leadership ranks which can, eventually, improve gender diversity outcomes in the workplace. However, gender diversity has to be an indicator of leadership commitment and lead to the creation of a better workplace. International reports, hence, encourage the creation of managerial accountability for diversity and dedicating rewards for good practices. With the increasing rates of females participating in the workforce, emerged a need for granting nominal equal opportunities for women, including educational and promotional opportunities, and removing any restrictions and barriers on access to education or jobs.

The Impact of Gender Diversity on the Changing Workplace

Today, women represent a permanent part of contemporary workforce; they no longer fill temporary or part time jobs with reduced responsibilities. In different working sectors, managers have been slowly adjusting to these changes in an attempt to treat women and men as equal. However, women still receive lower wages regarding sexist attitudes and practices of some employers who prefer to have males in their workforce than females. The inequality is not limited on wages and salaries, however, it also include the access to leadership positions, because organizations are facing certain dilemma when they exhibit attitudes against sexual discrimination while treating women as inferior employees, compared to men, who are not capable of performing leadership tasks.

Blocks in the leadership pipeline facing Women in the Workplace

Certain barriers and restrictions are thrown against women that inhibit them from filling leadership positions, the followings are examples of these barriers and restrictions:

Affordability of childcare

Reduced flexible-work options for working mothers
Reduced promotion flexibility options
Insufficient leadership from the top with no real support to women’s advancement
These barriers, among others, discourage employers to grant females the opportunity to be leaders, and therefore, raise the possibility of having an unstable workplace resulted from inequality between males and females.

References

Analytictech.com, (2015). Gender Diversity in the Workplace. [online] Available at: http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/gender.htm [Accessed 21 Apr. 2015].
Karsten, M. (2006). Gender, race, and ethnicity in the workplace. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers.
Mullany, L. (2011). Gender, language and leadership in the workplace. Gender and Language, 5(2).
Powell, G. (1994). Gender and diversity in the workplace. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.