Gender Prejudice and Discrimination in Workplace

Prejudice is a negative attitude towards other people. Simply Psychology defines the term best: an unjustified or incorrect attitude towards an individual based solely on social group. While, as for discrimination, it is defined as the negative behavior or actions towards an individual or group of people commonly based on sex, race or social class. Modernization which so powerful to lift and transform the whole world, unfortunately, failed to eliminate ‘parasites’ that hosting mainly the workplace since many centuries ago. Discrimination and prejudice still living and widespread among employers and employees. When it comes to gender bias, have women already achieved workplace equality? Why should they be discriminated by employers and male colleagues? Is it fair for women being judged just by gender? According to a book by Raymond F. Gregory entitled ‘Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality’, gender discrimination continues as a major disruptive force in the lives of working women. In this critical response, I will state my agreement with the book by focusing on two points: unequal opportunities and compellent dress codes at the workplace.

Underestimating women’s ability is not a newly discovered culture as it is a continuously ‘inherited’ believes from a generation to the next generation and unfortunately, it happens globally until now. Negative perceptions against women, however, putting them in a seriously hard situation at the workplace which sometimes beyond what we thought the least words can do. They were discriminated and as for that, they are treated biasedly. Therefore, their qualifications, hard works and achievements which comparable to men being denied for opportunities that they deserve for yet prioritize only for men. According to Kay Deaux and Tim Emswiller, research scientists with the Department of Psychology in New York in their article entitled ‘What Is Skill for the Male Is Luck for the Female’, even when equally successful in a male sex-typed task, a woman is viewed as less skilled than a man. Moreover, prejudice against women triggers trust issues in terms of their skills, reliability, and ability in every task which explained why women’s success neither recognized nor appreciated in many cases. A recent set of studies indicates that women but not men are judged to be less competent in any group works (Heilman, Heynes, & Goodman, 2001). Also, women always remain in lower-level positions in a company due to credits denial issues, and thereupon denied for any promotion and higher position. Historically, employers also tended to categorize women as capable only ‘women’s work’ positions that exist in relatively few job scopes that rank among those with the lowest status. After all, unequal opportunities is one form of discrimination in workplace against women which uncontradictable and traditionally obvious in many job professions especially the one that common to men such as aviation (pilots), sports trainers, referees, linesman and at certain time, engineers.

Women also often discriminated at the workplace in the form of dress codes which they are prohibited in wearing hijab to work and forced to practice inadmissible dress codes. Differ from Muslim men, Muslim women are strictly required to put on the hijab regardless of any reason to deny it. Moreover, one of the most visible forms of religious expression by Muslim women is the wearing of the hijab. Wherefore, men have no problem to comply with any dress code requirements in applying for a job. Thus, men are highly employed in many positions as they can fix in with any rules of dressing with lesser restrictions compared to women. However, some positions in a company somehow discriminating against women with hijab because of the employer’s perceptions upon them. According to an article by Saba Rasheed Ali, Torricia Yamada and Amina Mahmood entitled ‘Relationships of the Practice of Hijab, Workplace Discrimination, Social Class, Job Stress, and Job Satisfaction among Muslim American Women’, hijab is commonly believed to be worn by less educated, poor women who are not empowered. That is why nowadays, many important positions in a company and some other job professions requires women with hijab to take off the hijab for them to be accepted for the job applied. Many Muslim women reported experiencing prejudice and discrimination and consequently chose to remove the hijab after 9/11 (Cole & Ahmadi, 2003), especially in places of work (New York City Commission on Human Rights, 2003). Smith (2004) stated that ‘in recent years, the hijab has become a form of resistance to Western imperialism. The imposition of Western dress codes and lifestyles in a globalized world prompts many Muslim women to reaffirm their Muslim identity by wearing the hijab’ (p. 5). Therefore, not only the hijab needed to be excluded, but they also needed to comply to inappropriate dress codes to conform with the company’s dress codes in applying for a secretary position or work as a personal aide (PA) for example which includes tight or revealing clothes, mini skirts, and plunging necklines. These requirements are against Muslim women’s will and against Islam which even some non-Muslim women also affected. This kind of employer discriminatory policies and practices somehow blocking their ways to build a successful career and surely can lead to stress and lowering satisfaction in their jobs. In brief, prohibition of hijab among Muslim women employees is also a form of discrimination against women at the workplace which cannot be gainsaid.

Ultimately, barriers in achieving gender equality in the workplace not yet overcome and discriminations towards female employees are somewhat true. The difference in gender is not a big deal to have a healthy environment and build good relationships in the workplace. Also, dress codes, especially for women employees, should be developed purposely as guidance about what is appropriate to wear to work and for maintaining the good name and image of a company whereas strictly not for fulfillment of an employer’s desire for personal purposes. Still, due to prejudice against women, there exists a permanent barrier at the workplace between men and women employees and also intolerable dressing rules against women’s will. Hopefully, more approaches and cooperation can be done to eliminate women’s discrimination and prejudice perhaps in all forms to increase satisfaction in work, achievements, and performance, productivity, tolerance, strengthen relationships and teamwork at the workplace.

Works Cited

1. Ali, S. R., Yamada, T., & Mahmood, A. (2016). Relationships of the Practice of Hijab, Workplace Discrimination, Social Class, Job Stress, and Job Satisfaction among Muslim American Women. Journal of Employment Counseling, 53(3), 108-122.
2. Cole, E. R., & Ahmadi, K. H. (2003). Why do they leave? Employee perspectives on voluntarily leaving child welfare jobs. Children and Youth Services Review, 25(1-2), 111-137.
3. Deaux, K., & Emswiller, T. (1974). What is skill for the male is luck for the female: Explaining occupational segregation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(2), 197-205.
4. Gregory, R. F. (2002). Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality. Rutgers University Press.
5. Heilman, M. E., Haynes, M. C., & Goodman, M. J. (2001). The Impact of Personal Appearance and Role Congruence on Perceptions of Female Attorneys. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 7(1), 79-101.
6. New York City Commission on Human Rights. (2003). The State of Human Rights: A Report Card on New York City. Retrieved from https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/cchr/downloads/pdf/publications/State%20of%20Human%20Rights%202003.pdf
7. Simply Psychology. (n.d.). Prejudice. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/prejudice.html
8. Smith, J. K. (2004). A Hijab of One's Own: Exploring the Impact of Gendered Islamophobia on Muslim Women in the United States. Women's Studies in Communication, 27(1), 33-54.
9. Stangor, C. (2015). Prejudice and discrimination. In Introduction to Psychology. Retrieved from https://openstax.org/books/introduction-psychology-2e/pages/11-1-prejudice-and-discrimination
10. Wright, S. C., & Taylor, D. M. (1999). The social psychology of cultural diversity: Social prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. In D. M. Taylor & F. Moghaddam (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Psychology of Intergroup Conflict (pp. 155-171). Oxford University Press.