WEL303A: Bachelor of Applied Social Science – Case Study Answer

Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Gender inequality has become a global phenomenon in the workplace and it contributes to many different and interrelated issues. It is defined as the inequality faced by women in access to earning opportunities, wages and other basic facilities needed for living. This is evidenced by the dearth of women in leadership roles and the longer time required for women to progress in their careers (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). In this report, a case study on gender inequality will be reviewed to further explore the topic and understand the human rights that are violated during such issues. The report will look into the context of such issues and the key human rights that are violated. In addition, advocacy work surrounding gender inequality in the workplace will be evaluated by reviewing the relevant research literature on the topic.

Background or Context of the Social Issue

The case study is about Alissa (Pseudonym used due to privacy concerns), a 30-year-old woman who is working in an enterprise in Australia as an HR consultant for the past five years. She started her first job in the company and two more male colleagues joined her. She was equally committed to her job and she completed many certifications courses to progress in her career. Yet, her two male colleagues got better favours and appreciation from their boss. They got promotions within two years. But since five years, Alissa has not got any promotion and she is now having no motivation to continue with her job. The case study gives an example of how women are subjected to discrimination in terms of promotion and equal wages in the workplace.

The case study highlights the prevalence of gender inequality in a developed country like Australia. Instead, it is an issue that is highly prevalent in major countries or cities. The report by () shows that women comprise around 47.9% of all employed persons in Australia and around 38.4% of all full-time employees consist of women. However, the number of women in a leadership positions is low. Only 17.6% of women are in chair positions and 31.25 are in directorship. In 22.3% of the governing bodies, there were no female directors (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2022). Although the Australian government have prioritized gender equality in the workplace recently, both men and women are not participating equally in the labour force. Start differences exist between women’s pay rates, hours of work and contribution to paid labour in the workplace (Hill et al., 2018). To address this gap, the Australian governments need to work in many areas. The female gender needs to be supported employing different employment and training opportunities, revising leave policies and promoting flexibility in the workplace.

Abuse of Human Rights Linked to the Issue

The incidence of gender inequality is an issue that violates the human rights of women gender in many ways. Firstly, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of their sex, gender, identity, sexual orientation, marital status and family responsibilities. This is in accordance with the Sex Discrimination Act 1984. The incidence of gender inequality violates this law and leads to unwanted harm and poor psychological consequences for individuals. In the case study, sex discrimination affected Alissa’s ability to get a promotion or equal pay compared to her male counterparts (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2021). Another example of sex discrimination is not hiring a woman based on the perception that they cannot fit into human roles. Other forms of discrimination are discrimination during the selection and recruitment process, during the training process and during termination of employment.

All human rights treaty prohibits gender-based discrimination in the workplace. Despite securing women’s rights globally, there are still millions of women who continue to be discriminated. Such discrimination and violence against women are deeply rooted in society. There are many root cause that leads to continued violation of human rights and promotion of gender inequality in the workplace (Shastri, 2014). According to Zhu (2021), sexism is one of the cause behind unequal treatment in the workplace. They are subjected to stringent requirement for work such as age, height and appearance. There is also stereotype against women that they are less capable than men. Many companies avoid choosing married women based on the notion that they would not be able to balance family and household work. The second cause behind widespread discrimination of women in the workplace is the patriarchal society or culture. It is an ideology that has been passed down from generation after generation. It reflects in the types of job allotted for males and female groups. Due to presence of a strong patriarchal society, many women fail to challenge gender oppression (Khuzwayo, 2016). Thus, patriarchy takes away women’s rights and ownership in society.

Advocacy Surrounding the Success

There are many agencies and statutory organizations which are working against gender-based discrimination in Australia. One organization that aims to improve gender equality in the workplace is the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. It works collaboratively with employers to offer advice and assistance on addressing gender inequality and promoting gender equality in the workplace (AHRC, 2021). Similarly, the Australian Government is at the forefront to advocate for the rights of women and promote gender equality in the workplace. Their core focus is ending violence against women, advancing the economic empowerment of women and integrating women’s voice in decision-making. They are advancing gender equality through their developmental programs, foreign policy efforts and economic diplomacy. To achieve the goal of gender inequality, the Australian Government has planned to support women’s organizations and work in partnership with private sectors as gender equality champions. The gender equality concept needs to be applied in full funding mechanisms (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, 2015).

Research literature has given evidence regarding the different ways in which advocacy interventions have been implemented for gender equality in the workplace. The study by Madsen, Townsend and Scribner (2020) explored different ways in which male allies supported women's advancements in the workplace. The findings of the study were classified into five themes namely developmental relationship, human resource process, leadership development, recognition and treating women as equal. The first theme indicated mentoring as an important means to support women and help them identify career advancement opportunities. Changes in the human resource process were discussed as it was found that HRs were making sure to have as many female candidates compared to male candidates for a position. Women were provided access to special projects to support the development of leadership capabilities. Males also reported praising their women colleagues if they believed that some task would not be possible without their support. Lastly, the male allies revealed a conscious effort to treat women as equals. They also gave the argument that the organizational culture greatly influenced the treatment of women employees. For instance, gendered language and gendered management practices reinforced gendered language among women (Castaño, Fontanil & García-Izquierdo, 2019). The study gives the implication that both management and the leaders need to take charge to promote the empowerment of women.

A systematic review by Guthridge et al. (2022) explored different interventions to promote gender equality. The study gave evidence for various areas where interventions were implemented such as education, employment, legal, economic, sustainable development and land rights and women’s rights. These interventions were evenly distributed throughout the countries such as Africa, Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Education and training intervention targeted increasing girls’ enrolment in education. Achieving gender equality in the education-based intervention was difficult due to a lack of awareness, knowledge and understanding of women’s rights. The study also explored employment-related interventions and three of them addressed women’s promotion in the workplace. In addition, legal reforms or interventions were found to be useful in promoting gender equality in the workplace. For instance, anti-discrimination interventions were effective in promoting transformative effects on gender equality in employment. The decline in the level of discrimination was fast after the enactment of these legislations. Legal litigations were found to prevent or control discriminatory pay for work. Thus, one main lesson coming from the above studies was that social change is important to address gender inequality issues.

Abuse of Human Rights Linked to the Issue

From the above evaluation, it has been identified that various types of advocacy interventions have been implemented in different parts of the world to address gender inequality issues. Most of the interventions were organizational based such as changes in recruitment and HR process, support from male colleagues, support in terms of mentoring and positive leadership support. In addition, the systematic review by Guthridge et al.(2022) gave an idea about different types of advocacy strategies that do not exist in the workplace but also in society to promote gender equality and act against sex discrimination. Some of the strategies have been very successful. For instance, gender inequality in the area of HR policy is the most common form of institutional discrimination and they are most often under-represented in the higher levels of management. Many managers give less challenging roles to women and these affect their ability for promotion (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). Thus, the decision by organizational decision-makers or leaders contributes to the under-promotion of women in the workplace. In such scenarios, changes or adjustments in human resources policies have been successful in addressing the issue. In such scenarios, supportive and inclusive work environments have been successful in addressing gender inequity and promoting job satisfaction and retention. Efforts related to education and professional development training ensured that the women employees were empowered to build their skills and achieve high job positions (El Arnaout et al., 2019). Thus, reform in the workplace is an important advocacy intervention.

The evaluation identified legal and regulatory strategies as very successful advocacy strategies for female employees. Such intervention ensures a change in work culture and work policies that offer employment flexibility to the female workforce (El Arnaout et al., 2019). Similarly, legal interventions were found to be successful in decreasing the level of discrimination in the workplace. It controlled discriminatory pay at work as well as increased access to legal services for women. Hence, apart from proper legal procedures to protect gender equity, the strategy also worked to enhance access to encourage women to take legal action in case of any inequality in wages or promotion (Al Fardan & Maroch, 2021). However, companies have faced challenges in implementing gender-balancing policies too because of a lack of transparency, reporting and accurate data on gender guidance. The support of the leadership or managerial position is paramount to addressing these challenges in advocating for the group.

Recommendations to Protect the Human Rights of Individuals

Based on the review of successes and failures in advocating for women employees in the workplace, several recommendations have been identified to protect the human rights of female employees. Firstly, it is recommended that organizations or workplace in Australia focus on revising human resource policies so that it serves the need of women workers. They should promote equality and equal participation of women. In addition, organizational culture or practices often lead to poor promotion or engagement in challenging roles for women. To address this issue, it is recommended that leaders be trained to develop an inclusive workplace. By bringing in changes in organizational structure, policy and practices, it would lead to a more equal organization for males and females. In the area of structural change, the implementation of legal policies to protect the rights of women can be successful. The Australian government has prioritized gender equality but they need to collaborate with different stakeholders in society to ensure that women are supported in education as well as employment.

Conclusion

From the case analysis, the issue of gender inequality and the method by which women are subjected to discrimination in the workplace was explored. It was found that the root cause of such issues is discriminatory human resources practice, organizational culture and the presence of inherent biases against women. The review of advocacy interventions identified reform in human resources, leadership support, education and training and legal actions as some successful advocacy strategies. However, challenges were seen in many settings due to the lack of transparency and the presence of a patriarchal system. It was recommended that legal reforms, revision in organizational structure and development of inclusive workplace are crucial to promote organizational culture.

References

AHRC (2014). The face of gender-based discrimination in Australian workplaces. https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/face-gender-based-discrimination-australian-workplaces

Al Fardan, M., & Maroch, B. (2021). Implementation of Gender Policies by the Private Sector in the UAE: Challenges and Opportunities. The Journal for Interdisciplinary Middle Eastern Studies, 7(2), 127-154.

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs (2015). Partnerships for Recovery and gender equality. Retrieved from: https://www.dfat.gov.au/development/topics/development-issues/gender-equality

Australian Human Rights Commission. (2021). Sex discrimination. Retrieved from: https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/employers/sex-discrimination#:~:text=The%20Sex%20Discrimination%20Act%201984,or%20because%20they%20are%20breastfeeding.

Castaño, A. M., Fontanil, Y., & García-Izquierdo, A. L. (2019). “Why can’t I become a manager?”—A systematic review of gender stereotypes and organizational discrimination. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(10), 1813.

El Arnaout, N., Chehab, R. F., Rafii, B., & Alameddine, M. (2019). Gender equity in planning, development and management of human resources for health: a scoping review. Human resources for health, 17, 1-9.

Guthridge, M., Kirkman, M., Penovic, T., & Giummarra, M. J. (2022). Promoting Gender Equality: A Systematic Review of Interventions. Social Justice Research, 35(3), 318-343.

Hill, E., Cooper, R., Baird, M., Vromen, A., & Probyn, E. (2018). Australian Women's Working Futures: Are We Ready?.

Khuzwayo, Z. (2016). Separate space: An approach to addressing gender inequality in the workplace. Journal of International Women's Studies, 17(4), 91-101.

Madsen, S. R., Townsend, A., & Scribner, R. T. (2020). Strategies that male allies use to advance women in the workplace. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 28(3), 239-259.

Stamarski, C. S., & Son Hing, L. S. (2015). Gender inequalities in the workplace: the effects of organizational structures, processes, practices, and decision makers’ sexism. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1400.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (2022). Gender equality workplace statistics at a glance 2022. https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/gender-equality-workplace-statistics-at-a-glance-2022

Zhu, Z. (2021, December). The Causes and Solutions of Gender Inequality in the Workplace. In 2021 4th International Conference on Humanities Education and Social Sciences (ICHESS 2021) (pp. 693-697). Atlantis Press.

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