Organizational Behavior for Workplace Gender Equality Agency

Question: Discuss about theOrganizational Behavior for Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Answer: Introduction That women are exerting their full potential at modern workplaces is no longer in doubt. Statistics across the world suggest that women participation in the workforce has grown steadily from the turn of the twenty-first century. Projections also show that female participation in employment will continue way into the year 2024 and beyond (Toossi Morisi, 2017) In Australia for instance, Morgan (2017) observes that the rate at which women are employed has outpaced that of men by 7.4 percent since the year 2000. Currently, women represent 46.9 percent of all employment in Australia (Workplace Gender Equality Agency [WGEA], 2018). Elsewhere across the world, the number of women in employment represented 54 percent of the population employed in the USA in the year 2016. In Germany, the proportion of women employed stood at 52.4 percent in the year 2015 and had grown significantly in the last two decades in countries like France, Chile, Mexico, and Algeria (Ospina Tzvetkova, 2017). It is important to note that women are not just seeking formal and informal employment but are actively venturing into their own businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit among women has been on the rise in both high-income and low-income countries. In the USA, for instance, the number of businesses owned by women grew by over 50 percent in the year 2007 and employed over 12 million Americans (Quast, 2011). The Driving Force So, as opined above the number of women participating in the workforce has grown significantly. However, the question begs, what is the driving force behind this growth? More women are getting educated today than ever before. According to WGEA (2018), 92 percent of women between the ages of 20-24 years in Australia have achieved education comparable to year 12 or above which is 4 percent higher than men in the same category. The same applies to higher education where women acquiring bachelor degrees exceed the men. This enables them to acquire jobs easily (Johns, 2013). Government legislation and labour laws are also making it easier today for women to work be competitive in the job market. In many countries, there are laws regulating the gender involvement in workplaces, for example, Rwanda and Kenya where the laws require that neither gender can exceed two-thirds majority in public offices (Ospina Tzvetkova, 2017). In Australia, the Fair Work Act makes all workers attain similar pay for work. In the USA the Equal Pay Act allows women be paid competitively to the men which is a big motivation for women to find work (Morgan, 2017). In the last two decades, the developed countries particularly the USA and many countries in Europe are moving from the manufacturing sector which was male domineered to service sector which favors women (Quast, 2011). The assertiveness of women and agitation for their rights has grown in the last two decades. More than ever before women are demanding equality in the workforce and as well as other sectors (Johns, 2013). A case in point is the recent "me too" movement that exposed unfairness and malpractices in many workplaces in the USA. There are many other factors that have led to more women participating in the workforce such as affirmative action initiatives fronted by many NGOs to support women acquire education and jobs. Many feminist movements have also been fighting for women involvement in jobs, for instance, Maya Angelou, Hillary Clinton, and Betty Friedan have been encouraging more women to challenge the status quo that is men dominance in workplaces (Fisher, 2017). Organizations with more women have also recorded higher performance in terms of Return on investment, increased profits and higher sales margin hence many organizations are employing more women (Quast, 2011). Glass ceiling hindering the advancement of females in many organizations Despite the many achievements women have made over the last two decades, there still exist many barriers. Even though the workforce globally has reached an average of 40 percent, some countries are still lagging behind in empowering women (Johns, 2013). In India, at a glance, the number of women in the workforce is only 20% compared to men whereas in Algeria the proportion of women in the workforce is just 12 percent. Furthermore, the going gets twisty the higher up you go in managerial positions in many workplaces. Globally, women occupy about 7 percent of middle and higher management positions (Zhao Smith, 2015). In Australia for instance, women hold about 13 percent of chairperson roles, 16 percent of chief executive officer positions and about 24 percent directorate positions (WGEA, 2018). Similarly, less than 5 percent of women head the Fortune500 organizations (Zhao Smith, 2015). In the midst of all that women have achieved, why the glass ceiling? One might ask. The reasons are as quite diverse depending on where you inquire. However, there is a common agreement on a number of reasons. Firstly, the organization culture in many organizations favours men when it comes to leadership roles. Secondly, the traditional practices in many countries still suppress women from seeking leadership roles and thirdly women lack the extensive network of mentors that men enjoy (Stuckey, 2015). According to Sherwin (2014), women are less likely to step up the corporate leadership ladder for the fact that they have to balance many responsibilities such as family, aging parents, and their personal lives more extensively than men who therefore find it easier to handle the roles even when overseas travel is required. Zhao and Smith (2015) opine that the perceptions in many workplaces associate top management roles with men to the detriment of the women. They also observe that women lack the assertiveness to gloom themselves for leadership roles. Finally, many organizations discriminate women based on colour, race or religion. This may be done openly or covertly. The end result is that women, however qualified, cannot progress on leadership roles due to the looming perceptions (Johns, 2013). Strategies that may assist the advancement of females in the organizations Mentoring of women can go a long way into honing their skills for future management roles. In organizations like IBM and Deloitte, top managers identify and mentor women to take up leadership positions (Stuckey, 2015). Training women in diverse aspects of management within the organization is also a strategy that can be used to improve the confidence in women to take up leadership positions (Ospina Tzvetkova, 2017). Organizations can also come up with flexible work patterns for women. This can take the form of allowing women to work from home and offering women remote work to enable them to have a work-life balance (Zhao Smith, 2015). Companies can also employ a systems approach to promoting women at the workplace by coming up with gender-friendly hiring practices where some leadership roles in the company are set aside for women (Sherwin, 2014). Organizations can also encourage networking opportunities for women. As already discussed, women fail to take leadership positions because they lack networking possibilities open to men. Increasing the networks for women would encourage them to take management positions referred by their networks. They should also be strict on discrimination of women based on colour, race, or creed (Johns, 2013). Other strategies can include educational support for women especially management studies, organizational culture change to appreciate women management, direct support for the families where organizations like Google have nanny and catering programs and career succession plans targeting women would improve their chances of advancing to managerial roles (Lathabhavan Arasu, 2017). Conclusion This paper examines the progress of women in contributing to the workforce. It reveals the trends relating to women in the workforce in the last two decades. It reveals that women have been able to command an average global workforce of 40 percent compared to the men. The paper explores the barriers limiting the advancement of women particularly in leadership roles in many organizations. Finally, the paper, recommends appropriate strategies to be taken in order to encourage more women to advance in their careers in the organizations. References Fisher, L. (2017).Empowering Feminist Quotes from Inspiring Women: Words of wisdom from the trailblazers who make us proud to be women.Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 22 April 2018, from https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a4056/empowering-female-quotes/ Johns, M. (2013).Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Structural, Cultural, and Organizational Barriers Preventing Women from Achieving Senior and Executive Positions.Perspectives Health Information Management. Retrieved 21 April 2018, from https://perspectives.ahima.org/breaking-the-glass-ceiling-structural-cultural-and-organizational-barriers-preventing-women-from-achieving-senior-and-executive-positions/ Lathabhavan, R., Arasu, S. (2017). Glass Ceiling and women employees in Asian organizations: a tri-decadal review.Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration,9(3), 232-246. 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