Gender equality issues have dominated businesses, politics, societies, and even families for many years across the globe. Gender-based policies such as affirmative action have been developed to address gender inequalities. At the same time, businesses, countries, and other stakeholders have continually progressively placed measures geared towards attaining gender parity. Over the years, scholars have researched gender disparity, releasing numerous complementary and contrasting studies. Additionally, scholars have developed wide-ranging analysis models and frameworks on the same, such as the gender perspective theory, which emphasizes the role of gender-centered variances in status and power (Few-Demo & Allen, 2020), and the Gender inequality model, among others.
To address the vagaries of gender disparities, numerous firms have been prompted to adopt policies and measures at workplaces that are consistent with existing and contemporary affirmative actions regarding gender issues (Gerzelec, 2022). Additionally, the evolving interactions between family and the workplace force organizations to adopt measures to adopt the need for integration of work and work-life balance (Warner, 2020). However, scholars have agreed that despite the efforts, gender inequality and challenges at the workplace still abound for both genders. The literature review seeks to address issues that affect gender at the workplace, the inequity between the genders, the mediating factors contributing to gender disparity at the workplace, the challenges that men and women face while at work, and the efforts or measures that stakeholders have employed to address these challenges. The literature reviews seven scholarly articles addressing the issue at hand.
While women have been the disadvantaged gender in terms of equality for the past years, current research indicates that both genders now experience their own set of challenges. In their work Gender Dynamics in the Planning Workplace, Warner et al. (2020) note that while planners and management workplaces are immensely diversifying about gender, the same cannot be said in the office culture and policies at the workplace. While women have attained the highest academic and professional qualifications necessary for getting into management jobs, the office culture, attitude, and policies are still not conducive for the female gender (Warner et al., 2020). The office environment and culture are still male-inclined, with numerous chauvinistic innuendos underpinning it, thus disadvantaging women (Grzelec, 2022). Furthermore, according to Kelly et al. (2023), Gender stereotyping continues to pull down women as some of their subordinates may not respect them despite their seniority.
Gender inequality is still ripe on the male front, with many experiencing difficulties when seeking jobs due to certain ethnic-gender stereotypes that are bundled into men (Johnston et al., 2022). Black Males, for example, may find it challenging to secure or keep employment in businesses dominated by white staff members due to criminal tendencies that are associated with black males (Oddo et al., 2021). Their work Unpacking correctional workers’ experiences with transgender prisoners in Nova Scotia, Canada (Johnston et al., 2022) underlines the gender inequality issues that occur in correctional facilities, explaining that correctional officers are forced to provide different assistance to those who profess different gender’s despite being legally acknowledged as male. Craigie (2020) notes that despite the overwhelming efforts and measures to address gender inequality against women, the vice is also rampant among women but remains unaddressed due to several factors, such as men’s psychological ineptness in voicing their concerns.
Backstabbing, delayed career progressions, low pay, denied access to opportunities, and racial or ethnic stereotyping are other challenges that cut across both genders in the workplace. While the challenges may cut across the gender divide, Warner et al. (2020) note that the magnitude or effects of ovaries vary considerably between genders. While superiors may delay female subordinates’ career progression due to issues such as the need for sexual favors or gender bias, their reasons for doing so to their male subordinates would be different (Belingheri et al., 2021). Similarly, whereas women may lack a comfortable place to breastfeed their loved ones while at work, introverted men may find an open office layout inhibiting and challenging (Hiemstra et al., 2022); therefore, According to Grzelec (2022), the issues of gender inequality cannot be fully imposed on one gender only.
Furthermore, it is vital to note that gender inequality is extended to transgender women in the workplace. Research indicates that the prevalent gender systems adapt to transgender individuals by degrading the status of transgender women and elevating that of transgender men (Johnston et al., 2022). Transgender individuals have reported difficulties in securing employment because of their gender identities, with unemployment rates reported as two times higher than cisgender individuals (Johnston et al., 2022). The case of South African athlete Caster Semenya being denied participation in his 800-meter specialty due to her transgender nature is a perfect example.
Transgender women often encounter similar challenges to other women in the workplace. According to research, support for measures to eliminate gender inequality varies depending on race, sex, and political orientation (Oddo et al., 2021). For instance, a majority of whites, conservatives, and men are opposed to affirmative action policies, while minorities, liberals, and women support such measures (Paterson & Scala, 2020). Of importance, employers have implemented a range of policies to reduce discrimination and increase inclusion.
Researchers note that there is limited information explaining how cisgenderism affects workplace relations. Cisgenderism is a mechanism that secures and maintains the gender system by demoting women, feminists, and individuals whose identities challenge conventional definitions of sex and gender (Paterson & Scala, 2020). Besides, there is a lack of data on gender-nonconforming individuals, and the policies organizations design to protect their rights and opportunities in the workplace (Warner et al., 2022). The male perspective regarding gender inequality in the workplace is a vital issue to evaluate. Researchers note that literature on male issues is scanty and lacks an integrative conceptual framework. Most of the information surrounding male issues in the workplace is based on observations, and there is no evidence of empirical data (Craigie, 2020). There is a need to evaluate the question of men and gender equality beyond the amalgamation of private and professional life.
Future studies should focus on employees’ feelings about workplace diversity and gender programs, given that they are most effective when supported by organizational leaders and their staff. More information is needed to evaluate employee attitudes towards these initiatives despite the presence of research highlighting how support for diversity policies is inextricably linked to organizational success. Future research should also focus on the impact of work-life policies on male and female employees.
Gender bias in the workplace is a persistent problem in today’s society. Despite the notable decline in overt gender discrimination, covert bias is prevalent. Many women are denied employment, have limited access to career development opportunities, and earn less than their male counterparts. The same bias has been extended to transgender individuals who have to deal with a patriarchal society’s challenges. Attempts by organizations to craft policies aimed at addressing gender bias are ineffective. Future research should focus on employee attitudes to these policies and their impact on organizational performance. Addressing gender bias in workplaces is critical for creating opportunities for career progression and equal wages for women.
Few‐Demo, A. L., & Allen, K. R. (2020). Gender, feminist, and intersectional perspectives on families: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 326–345. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jomf.12638
Grzelec, A. (2022). Doing gender equality and undoing gender inequality—A practice theory perspective. Gender, Work & Organization. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gwao.12935
Hiemstra, L. A., Kerslake, S., Clark, M., Temple-Oberle, C., & Boynton, E. (2022). Experiences of Canadian female orthopedic surgeons in the workplace: defining the barriers to gender equity. JBJS, 104(16), 1455-1461. https://journals.lww.com/jbjsjournal/fulltext/2022/08170/experiences_of_canadian_female_orthopaedic.5.aspx
Belingheri, P., Chiarello, F., Fronzetti Colladon, A., & Rovelli, P. (2021). Twenty years of gender equality research: A scoping review based on a new semantic indicator. Plos one, 16(9), e0256474. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0256474
Oddo, V. M., Zhuang, C. C., Andrea, S. B., Eisenberg-Guyot, J., Peckham, T., Jacoby, D., & Hajat, A. (2021). Changes in precarious employment in the United States: A longitudinal analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 47(3), 171. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8126438/
Warner, M. T. M. E. (2020). Gender Dynamics in the Planning Workplace. Journal of the American Planning Association, 86(2), 157. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marisa-Turesky/publication/339835705_Gender_Dynamics_in_the_Planning_Workplace_The_Importance_of_Women_in_Management/links/63f50a
760cf1030a563eba2e/Gender-Dynamics-in-the-Planning-Workplace-The-Importance-of-Women-in-Management.pdf
Kelley, M., Craig, C. J., & Curtis, G. A. (2023, June). Examining gender issues in education: exploring confounding experiences on three female educators’ professional knowledge landscapes. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 8, p. 1162523). Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1162523/full
Paterson, S., & Scala, F. (2020). Feminist government or governance feminism? Exploring feminist policy analysis in the Trudeau era. Turbulent times, transformational possibilities, pp. 49–66. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=P8bhDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA49&dq=Gender+equality+at+work*unpacking+workplace+challenges+for+men+and+women*
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Johnston, M. S., Coulling, R., & Ricciardelli, R. (2022). Unpacking correctional workers’ experiences with transgender prisoners in Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Criminology, 55(4), 550–567. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/26338076221126242
Craigie, T. A. (2020). Ban the box, convictions, and public employment. Economic Inquiry, 58(1), 425-445. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecin.12837