Combating Sexism, Both Psychologically And In The Work Place

We all know sexism in the work place still prevails. Granted, women have made great strides in the past century, yet women are still making on average only $.80 for every $1.00 earned by a male of an equivalent position. This continued discrimination led researchers and women’s rights advocates to question what is contributing to the continued gap. More importantly experts are starting to question, is there anyway to change it? You may be surprised to find that the answer lies in your head.

In the United States the number of women in upper-management positions pales in the comparison to the number of men. Some have suggested that there needs to be more coaching available to women in mid-level management positions in order to remedy this injustice. Experts argue that women need to be encouraged to seek out higher positions because often women simply don’t aspire to be considered for the same career opportunities that men do. In order to do encourage women to advance in their careers, there needs to be a shift in the psychology of professional women and a shift in the way women are viewed. Traditionally society has thought of women as the sex responsible for the management of the family, and thus viewed them as less of an influence in the workplace. This psychology may explain why women, especially those with children make less on average and typically have fewer opportunities open to them. The limits many women believe society has placed around them in their professional life need to be torn down, and women must realize that they too deserve management positions. There needs to be a change in the way women view their own potential.
While this may seem like a relatively easy task, the differences in male and female psychology permeate deeper than one may traditionally assume. This difference is reflected in the vast differences in academic discipline women and men choose to focus on in there undergraduate and postgraduate careers. Seeing as your academic focus heavily effects your career after college, the psychological coaching now being called for in the workplace, may need to occur in the counseling offices of every college campus. There is also of course the possibility that many women prefer to be in different careers than men and that perhaps value systems differ so greatly, that women simply place less value on climbing the corporate ladder. But what about the gap in pay between women and men performing the same career functions? Such structural practices cannot be fixed by a mere change in psychology.
In the February issue of Health Affairs, there is a published study which found that women now entering the medical profession face a $16,819 pay deficit from men entering the same positions. This discrepancy very clearly needs to be rectified in order to reach any sort of gender equality, and career coaching won’t help towards such a solution. By receiving less pay than their male counterparts, women are forced to retire later, or accept a lower standard of living in their old age. So what can women do to avoid this discrimination?
Some studies have found that male bosses with daughters are more likely to pay men and women on a more equal basis. In general I think it is important as a woman to work for a manager whom you feel comfortable going to if you feel as if you’re being discriminated against in your work place. Moreover, women must be encouraged to utilize their human resources and legal teams, as company standards and legal protections stand on their side. While gender discrimination is by no means fair, it is a reality. By ignoring the issue women are allowing the injustice to occur. It’s important that women strive to achieve their goals in spite of adversity.