Project proposal :

Workplace ethics and its connection with gender

Written by : Ashima Chakraborty (P09311727)

Abstract : In employment, it is, prima facie, unlawful to discriminate

against an employee or potential employee on the grounds of sex, sexual

orientation, race, disability, religion or belief and age. Employers found to be

in breach of these statutes may face severe criminal and civil penalties. But

studies show that although laws have been passed in most countries to

provide equal opportunities at the workplace for both men and women, the

fact is that discrimination at work based on gender still exists.

Section 1: Introduction

Workplace ethics are moral guidelines specific to a business environment.

They involve everything from honesty with customers to fair hiring practices

to the treatment of fellow employees. Knowledge of and adherence to

workplace ethics contributes to one's value as an employee or business

owner, and leads to greater cohesiveness and the longevity of a business.

Women have been forming a considerable part of the workforce for decades

now. It is acknowledged all over the world that women have very high

efficiency to succeed professionally. Nevertheless gender discrimination in

the workplace exists and still continues in one form or the other. More and

more women are opting for financial independence and with better

educational opportunities; they are working towards a stable career. Women

have pervaded almost every field that was conventionally branded as being

men-only. In theory, if a woman qualifies on the basis of all the requirements

of a profession and can show the potential to succeed in their career, they

should be given similar opportunity as the men applicants. The successful

candidate should be chosen based on merit and should not be discriminated

as “Weaker Sex”.

A. Research objectives and Action Plans

 1. Thoroughly analyse the work culture and work ethics protocols and

determine how they are implemented at the work places.

2. Conduct surveys and getting feedback: from the working men and

women in order to analyse them and look into the areas where future

improvements are possible.

3. Holding regular discussions and analyse any finding that might have

come up.

4. Designing and collection of data from different online surveys and

from colleagues. One can gather trends, impact and general view of

Workplace ethics and discrimination by performing this exercise.

Section 2: Background

The definition of gender inequality in the workplace refers to unfair

treatment toward members of a specific gender at the place they are

employed. This type of discrimination is also called gender discrimination

and is unconstitutional all over the world. Sexism and gender discrimination

or commonly known as gender inequality can happen to both men and

women. For example, a company may refuse to give a woman a raise

because she is or may become pregnant. Other examples include

harassment due to the person's gender or the denial of vacation days and

other perks. Gender inequality in the workplace can also happen to men.

For instance, a company refusing a man employment or a promotion in

traditionally "feminine" jobs such as a nurse or a dancer can also be

considered gender discrimination. But this is more prevailing in case women

work force.
Wage Inequality

According to Public Services International, in spite of having equal or better

education and experience compared to their male counter parts, women

across the world still earn less than the male workforce. Even in the same

position at the same company, a female employee might make less. A study

shows that women working 41 to 44 hours a week earn 84.6% of what their

male counterparts do. The statistics become even worse with increase in

hours of work. Women who work more than 60 hours a week were found to

earn only about 78.3% of what men in the same category earned.

The federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, prohibits employers from

discriminating against job seekers. It also protects discrimination against

employees on the basis of race, religion, sex, pregnancy and nationality.

Direct and Indirect Discriminations in the work place

There are two types of discriminations that prevail at workplace – viz. Direct

Discrimination and Indirect Discrimination. Sometimes the employer would

refuse a women candidate outright for work on basis of gender which is

often known as Direct Discrimination. This is not only exploitation of the

right of an individual to work but also unethical and against any human

rights. However women facing Indirect Discrimination is more widely spread

all over the world and this is more subtle form of discrimination based

gender. Women workers often face refusal of benefits - monetary such as

bonus, perks etc. or rewards at work, and other privileges that their male

colleagues receive as part of the employment policies. The most common

form of discriminations based on gender is overlooking their performance

while considering employees for promotion. There is a widespread and

mostly incorrect argument from the management that women tend to be

very emotional in nature and as a result will not be able to cope with the

amount of stress often associated with important and high level job profiles

in the corporate sector. As the management board itself constitutes

predominantly with male members, there is very less opportunity for the

women to defend themselves when faced with these decisions.

Effects of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

Gender discrimination in the workplace has a grave impact on the

performance of the company. An organization in which gender

discrimination is rampant, the quality of work of its employees often

becomes compromised. The affected women individuals are constantly

under mental stress and become more and more demoralised. The victims

start being absent from work and also show lack of concentration and

enthusiasm while conducting any job at workplace. For those whose rights

haven't been violated also becomes sceptical witnessing the company's

apathy to gender discrimination. As the negative image of a company's

discriminatory policies spreads, its relationship with present and potential

clients may also be hampered. Gender discrimination may result in poor

retention and the company may lose potential employees due to its negative

image. If any women employee decides to take legal actions in the judicious

court, the company will not only face financial obligations but also will have
negative publicity which will affect the future business opportunities.

Preventing Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

The main responsibility of ensuring equality in workplace lies greatly on the

shoulders of the management. Right from recruitment to benefits for the

employees should not violate their right to equality and the management

needs to keep all the policies updated in order to maintain this. Strict action

should be taken by the management against those who try to take the

advantage of their higher position at work and blatantly violate gender

equality policies within the organization. In order to ensure that policies will

be successfully implemented to prevent gender discrimination in the

workplace, employees also need to understand that it is not just the

management but also themselves who can prevent such violation of one’s

right. They can do this by being aware of their rights as far being treated

fairly at their workplace is concerned. Both the federal and state laws

require companies to ensure that there is:

Equal pay for equal work

Uniform policies for male and female employees (this includes all policies

including the spouse of the employees)

Equal treatment at workplace with respect to promotions, pay raises, other

medical or financial benefits

There are various acts like the Equal Pays Act (1963) and the Pregnancy

Discrimination Act that came into effect through an amendment made in

1978 to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which aim at curbing

discrimination against women at workplace.

Gender discrimination in the workplace is harmful to the professional

development of an individual but also curbs the growth of a business firm.

There are laws to prevent violation of employees, be it on the basis of gender,

age or race. Timely action on part of the victim is very crucial to stop the

injustice and harassment faced at workplace but sometimes the victims do

not report these incidents out of shame or for the fear of being targeted by

other colleagues at work.

Steps taken by employers to end gender discrimination

To prevent gender discrimination or sexual harassment from occurring in the

workplace, more and more employers are adopting a zero tolerance policy towards all

acts of discrimination. This usually includes the creation of an official written policy

against discrimination that is circulated to all employees, as well as education and

training courses for all managers and for all employees. Employers should conduct a

thorough investigation every time a claim of discrimination or harassment is lodged.

The management should always immediately notify the human resources

department when an incidence of discrimination or harassment has been reported

and needs to be investigated.

Section 3: Methodology: Viability and testing

Making judicious use of the theoretical framework, it is obvious that

although discrimination at Work is unlawful and unethical, It is very much

in practice and does have a substantial effect on the work force as well as

the mind frame of a person in general. Critical research is concerned with

identifying conflicts and contradictions, and critical researchers would try to

explain why a certain way of seeing the world dominates. The aim of critical

research is to focus on the power relations and is very much effective when

looking at how the wider social history of perceptions between men and

women and their relative importance in the society has shaped the way of

running an organisation. Critical research would see to identify and

challenge the idea of domination in the society and on the other hand the

taken for granted status. Critical theoretical approaches tend to rely on

dialogic methods; methods combining observation and interviewing with

approaches that foster conversation and reflection.  This reflective

dialogic allows the researcher and the participants to question the 'natural'

state and challenge the mechanisms for order maintenance.  This is a way

to to reclaim conflict and tension. Criteria for research should be based on

community agreement, and researchers have the responsibility to justify

their work and address and answer to any tension that manifests itself in

the research endeavour.

Data Collection methodology

A formal data collection process is necessary as it ensures that data

gathered is both defined and accurate. The process provides both a baseline

from which to measure from and in certain cases a target on what to

improve. Type of data collection methodology suitable for this topic will be -

By personal interview as well as group survey. It is essential for the author

to get in touch with local companies and start with small or medium scale

companies where the number of employees is fairly small. Questionnaire

must be set keeping the sensitivity of the issue in mind. The questions

would be tested on a small sample of people in order to gain the initial

feedback. Work will be done to improve the questionnaire and this will also

include any suggestion that has some merit in them. Any questions from

previous surveys will be used as a base of the present survey.

The designer needs to be prepared to face a wide range of challenges and

obstacles. The issue is sensitive and company management may not be

willing to take part in the personal interviews. Also many employees may not

feel comfortable to voice any issue against the employer. Trust will remain a

major role between the interviewer and the participants and confidentiality

issues need to be followed very strictly.

Section 4: Conclusion

Sexual harassment in the workplace presents an on-going and growing risk

to business operating all over the world. Thus, this is a high time for the

businesses to begin to manage the risk in this area more wisely. Preventing

gender discrimination at work involves a considerable investment of time.

The human resources team who will face the challenge of dealing with

situations where sexual harassment has been reported would require to be

properly trained, show compassion and deal with the matter professionally

and with empathy. Though these types of trainings will means cost

involvement, this will be offset by significant savings in legal fees and

health-care costs. As workers will be relatively stress free and have a

friendlier working environment, the companies will benefit from increased

productivity. This will also mean a better relationship with existing and

potential clients and wider market for business. So it can be concluded that

from a purely business point of view, a company stands to gain more if it

takes no-nonsense, strict and efficient position to prevent gender

discrimination at work. From a human rights point of view this is not only

the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.

List of Bibliography:

1. Bose, D, “Gender Discrimination In The Work Place, 1/6/2010,

(http://www.buzzle.com/articles/gender-discrimination-in-the-
workplace.html)

2. Westen, Peter. “The Empty Idea of Equality”, Harvard Law Review, Vol.
95, No.3, 1982, p.537. 14
(http://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/The%20Ideas
%20of%20Equality%20and%20Non-discrimination,%20Formal
%20and%20Substantive%20Equality)

3. Leitner, S. “Sex and Gender Discrimination Within EU Pension

System”, 2001

4. Shaffer, Margaret A.; Joplin, Janice R. W.; Bell, Myrtle P.; Lau,
Theresa; Oguz, Ceyda;

5. “Gender discrimination and job-related outcomes: A cross-cultural

comparison of working women in the United States and China”,
Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol 57(3), Dec 2000, 395-427.

6. “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Opportunity Employment
Commission." National Archives and Records Administration

7. Discrimination in the workplace against Women of Color (Gender

Studies Journal, #4). 11111. Chapter 4
8. Primer, A; Roberts B; Mann R “SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE
WORKPLACE” .
Appendix – A

Project Name: Worplace Ethics And Its Connection

With Gender Project Description : Academic

Working Days: Monday -

Project Length : 3 months Friday

Start Date: 01/03/2011 End Date:

20/05/2011

Durati
Task Name Start Date End Date on Comments
Project Proposal 01/03/201 20/05/201 58
1 1
Reseach for suggested references 01/03/2011 15/03/2011 11
write the proposal 16/03/2011 01/04/2011 13
review and edit the proposal 04/04/2011 29/04/2011 20
receive feedback 03/05/2011 20/05/2011 14
Literature Review 23/05/201 30/06/201 25
1 1
research existing literatures and 23/05/2011 10/06/2011 15
create outline
write literature review 17/06/2011 30/06/2011 10
Data Collection and Case Study 01/07/201 28/10/201 86
Review 1 1
collect case studies and review 01/07/2011 22/07/2011 16
them
approach organisation for survey 01/07/2011 29/07/2011 21
approach organisation for setting 01/07/2011 29/07/2011 21
up interview
write and deploy survey 01/08/2011 12/08/2011 10
writing up the transcript of the 15/08/2011 16/09/2011 25
interviews
sysnthesis of the data 19/09/2011 30/09/2011 10
Project Write Up 03/10/201 14/10/201 10
1 1
Literature review 03/10/2011 14/10/2011 10
Data Section 17/10/2011 28/10/2011 10
Introductory chapter and abstract 31/10/2011 04/11/2011 5
Recommendations, Reflections and 07/11/2011 11/11/2011 5
Conclusions
Review and Edit Project 14/11/201 30/12/201 36
1 1
Allow a fresh pair of eyes to review 14/11/2011 16/12/2011 25
and edit
Apply changes and print for final 19/12/2011 30/12/2011 11