Article by Guest Blogger, Taury Phelps, Intern at LifeWorkSource
Gender is a part of daily life. We can’t ignore it, we can’t hide from it, and we can’t be ignorant about its implications on workplace behaviors. The positive news is that the growing knowledge about different gender types creates safer spaces for individuals who identify outside of the binary. Unfortunately, byproducts of institutions created by binary-abiding officials still exist and pose a problem in the workforce.
Gender Roles
According to UNESCO’s Gender Mainstreaming Implementation Framework, “gender inequality is the inequal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of men and women, and the roles they play.” Examining gender roles in the U.S. helps us understand how gender inequality functions in the workplace.
For example, a look into the 1950s will tell you everything you need to know about how women were “supposed to be.” Back then, the model woman was docile, compliant, and tidy. Luckily laws, policies and practices have been put in place to give women the chance they deserve at independence and a successfully autonomous lifestyle. But the men who created the systems of oppression to keep women from advancing continue to perpetuate these schools of thought through generational knowledge and wealth. As women, it is our right—our duty, even—to educate ourselves on the nature of these systems and use what we know to navigate, self-advocate, and make them obsolete.
But What Does This Have to do With me?
Gender inequality is all around us. It’s in the heart of the little girl who wants to run for president, it’s in the strength of the single mother working to support her family, and it’s in the paycheck of your gumptious female coworker. According to the PayScale Executive Summary from 2019, “the median salary for men is roughly 21 percent higher than the median salary for women.” Although this figure represents a 5 percent improvement from 2015, there is still much work to be done and conversation to be had around how to close the gender pay gap, a phenomenon that has kept women one step behind since the creation of the working world as we know it.
For some, the wage gap is the most pressing issue of gender inequality in the workplace, but for most it is only the first on a long list of micro and macro aggressions that occur in the workplace. Having less time to present or speak than your male counterparts, having your name forgotten by your male supervisor, getting the bare minimum acknowledgement for a big project completion, being stigmatized for having an emotional response, sexual harassment… the list goes on. The fact of the matter is that women-identifying persons work just as hard (oftentimes harder) as their male-identifying counterparts, and should receive ample compensation, recognition, and most importantly: respect for a job well done.
A Call to Action
So, LWS readers, we must take stock of what has been and is being done to eradicate systems that perpetuate gender inequality. Then, we must follow up with action. Ask yourself, “what sort of change would I like to see in my workplace, and how can I make it happen?” Observe institutionalized oppression from the outside in and get involved. Continue to educate yourself on the history of gender inequality and use this information to gain perspective and make informed career decisions in the face of oppression. Step outside of your comfort zone and check out the Salary Negotiation Tips for Women blog post and video, we’re sure you’ll find our tips both relatable and actionable!
Additionally, professional mentors continue to be an important resource in creating agents for change. If you don’t have one already, now is a great time to start looking. But it doesn’t stop there. Continue to share your knowledge with others and advocate for equality for all genders in the workplace. Together, we can create a new school of thought founded on the principle that women are entitled to the same respect as men. This applies not only to the workplace, but to all areas of life.
Taury is a Culture & Communication Studies Major with a Minor in Education at Ithaca College, where she is also a scholar in the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network. She is also a Social Media & Marketing Intern for LifeWorkSource and a Peer Career Advisor for Ithaca College’s Career Services office.
