Safety For Women In The Workforce

 

Photo from MPR News

Despite the recent rise in women joining the workforce, they still face immense challenges and setbacks while trying to contribute to their respective fields. Women in predominantly male dominated spaces face the difficult task of handling harassment, pay gaps, and an overall disadvantage in their workplace. In terms of leadership roles, Zippia found that, “Women represent 54.3% of the US workforce as of December 2021 but only held 35% of senior leadership positions.” In order to continue to encourage women to actively contribute to our workforce in America, we need to address the problem at hand to make it a safe environment for our daughters and grandchildren.

Some may claim that there is no need for women to enter the workforce at all if their husbands are able to support the family, but that train of thought leaves out an important detail. With the typical nuclear family dynamic on the decline, it is unfair to assume that the men would have the most responsibility for making money. The women might be the breadwinner of any particular household, or there might not be a typical male presence in a house that takes on the traditional role of making money. If we have a group of people that want to work and contribute to the overall economy in the United States, we need to make sure that they have a safe and fair environment to contribute to. Not only should they be able to work in a good environment, but they should also be paid equally for the amount of work they do.

Despite beliefs that the gender pay gap does not exist, recent studies prove otherwise. The Equal Pay Act was established in 1963 in order to prevent a gap in pay, but companies are still able to undercut their female employees. Beginning in 1973, a full decade after the Equal Pay Act was established, women were only making “57 cents per dollar earned by men”, according to the US Department of Labor. We have made progress in recent years however with recent data telling us that, “women’s annual earnings were 82.3% of men’s.” Despite the gradual decrease in the gap in wages, countless studies have shown that there is still a bias against women when it comes to how much they are paid in comparison to their male co-workers. The gender pay gap is not the only way that laws fail to protect women in America.

Title VII works to protect employees from discrimination at work, and punishment in the case that they decide to file a complaint against the company for different forms of discrimination that they may face. Although these laws do exist to help, implicit discrimination and aggression directed towards women make it less likely for them to come forward and demand a change from the people in power. The culture in any given workplace may not make it possible for women to speak out for fear of isolation or unpleasantness that she may face at the hands of her co-workers. But before women enter the workforce, they may face similar difficulties throughout their degree. 

Studies have shown that problems can arise when specifically looking at majors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These “STEM” majors, as they are commonly referenced as, are fueled by an overall aggressive and negative culture directed at female students. According to Brooke E. Dresden, “One factor that may influence the perceived negative “engineering culture” is sexual harassment on campus, which is experienced by an estimated 60% of female college students in the United States.” This harassment and negative culture can be especially harmful when it causes bright female students to drop out of the major and leave the field altogether. 

Once they reach the workforce, women will continue to face unfair discrimination and harassment when they are surrounded by male co-workers. In fact Brooke E. Dresden states that, “... women employed in male-dominated occupations experienced significantly more sexual harassment, and experienced the harassment more frequently, than women who were not sexual minorities in their workplace.” Safety comes in numbers, and without a proper and established group of supporters in a male dominated workplace, women fall victim to unwelcome comments and advancements. Unfortunately, this can result in women leaving their hostile job in search for a more positive and female dominated workplace.

However, once women do engage in a job that has a female based workforce, they still face difficulties. Research from Susan Bisom-Rapp and Malcom Sargent found that, “... occupations where women predominate - are linked not only to poorer pay but to poorer outcomes in terms of power and prestige for those working in them.” Less pay and power is normal for women, especially when surrounded by men in the workplace, but now we are seeing those ideas being kept regardless of where women work. The stereotype  that women cannot handle power or responsibility because of their gender is one cause for this unfairness. 

Educating both women and men about the dangers and hidden setbacks that women face is vital to solving the problem America is facing. Becoming aware of your surroundings and making an effort to combat discrimination, whether you are in the position of power or not, is an important step we need to take in order to create change for our close loved ones. The safety of our daughters and granddaughters are at stake if we do not make a change to the environment in the workplace. If we do not think there is a problem because we cannot see it ourselves, nothing will change for the next generation of women in the workforce.

For more information about what to do if you or a loved one are facing workplace discrimination, visit equal rights.org for steps you can take.