Gender equality in the workplace and the different difficulties that men and women have in maintaining work and life balance

The fight for gender equality remains a work in progress, as traditional gender roles continue to limit the career opportunities of many working women. To empower women and promote greater work-life balance, governments should implement policies of universal childcare and paid parental leave.

Dorment, Richard. “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All.” esquire. N.p., 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Richard Dorment is a senior editor and a former chief art critic of the Daily Telegraph, and a renowned author. He has written books such as “A life of the British Sculptor Alfred Gilbert” and “A Catalog of the British Paintings in the Philadelphia Museum.” In 2000, in the British Press Awards, the author was named as Critic of the Year. In the article, “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All,” Dorment provides an argument from a male perspective about why women are taking over the employment scene and work-life experiences and thus the article is intended for every reader and feminist proponents who vie for the rights of women.

The past few decades has seen an increased level of male participation in household chores resulting in an equitable division of labor such as doing house chores and taking care of children. The article disagrees with the traditional notion that posits men have an advantage of his gender in comparison to their female counterparts. According to a study conducted by Esquire Magazine, approximately sixty percent of the bachelor’s degree in the United States goes to women, while Hanna Rosin’s book titled the “The End of Men” estimated that in the 15 fastest growing professions, women tend to dominate about twelve of them. Hence, the article demonstrates that the accomplishments underlying current estimates for work-lifestyle balance, women and men experience the same equality and difficulties in the history of the world. According to Dermont, women have an advantage coming into adulthood in contrast to their male counterparts who are facing a greater predisposition to alcoholism, drug abuse, and ADHD.

The article is useful in my research as it offers both perspectives of the experiences of male and female workers and provides a male perspective of the manner in which the work spectrum is changing, and equality is evident in the workplace as well as at home. The article differs from many of the sources as it disagrees with the notion that women have difficulties in prioritizing work and life.

Fahey, Tony, Helen Russell, and Christopher T. Whelan. Quality of Life in Ireland: Social Impact of Economic Boom. Dordrecht: Springer, 2008. Print.

Tony Fahey is a Social Policy professor in UCD (University College Dublin) and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology. Christopher T. Whelan is the head of sociology and a professor at UCD, while Helen Russell is an author and a journalist. The authors focus on a range of issues, including the social policy in the European Union and Ireland such as family dynamics, poverty, housing family patterns and policy. Their interest in the quality of life falls under their domain because they focus on many issues associated with Ireland such as family and employment patterns.

Since the early 1990s, Ireland has had significant economic improvement, and by the turn of the millennium, growth rates continue to peak by historical and international Irish measures. Fahey, Russell, and Whelan reflect on the manner in which Ireland has prospered significantly from a social perspective over the past decade. The book’s primary emphasis is on the social changes, which have been induced by the economic growth. The social researchers incorporate empirical and research evidence to answer questions such as if the economic growth has enhanced living standards or had affected family life, social values and created problems such as accessing adequate healthcare, housing among other services. The authors focus chapters such as economic growth, income equality, employment and work quality, and opportunities for all among others. The book also incorporates a chapter “Gender, Work-Life Balance and Quality of Life,” which is dedicated to discussing work issues associated with women.

The book is very beneficial to my research as it provides essential knowledge about the impact of economic development in Ireland. However, I believe the 12th Chapter relates significantly to the thesis as it focuses on the issue of gender inequality and work-life balance similar to study by Tomer and colleagues. Both sources concentrate on the impact of employment equality for women and work-life balance, for example, Fahey, Russell, and Whelan argue that even though economic development has led to enhanced living standards and greater economic opportunities for women, women’s quality of life is under threat due to gender inequity at the workplace.

Ruth Eikhof, Doris. “A double-edged sword: twenty-first-century workplace trends and gender equality.” Gender in Management: An International Journal 27.1 (2012): 7-22.

Doris Ruth Eikhof is currently a Research Coordinator for the Stirling Institute for Socio-Management where she is a lecturer. Eikhof’s work as a researcher focuses on enterprise and creative work, women’s work, social theories associated with organizations, as well as work-life boundaries. The author’s interest in organizational social theories, work-life boundaries and relationship, and women’s work makes her a credible proponent to focus on the research.

Doris Eikhof argues that the although the employment fortunes of women have increased significantly in the last few years, equality in the workplace still falls short, especially in respective to women. A primary economic development has been an increase in women employment and participation in the labor force in the past five decades. The article uncovers the gender consequences associated with three current workplace trends, including knowledge work increase, ICT, and work-life balance regulations. According to Eikhof ICT, work-life balance policies, and knowledge work tend to enhance geographical and temporal work flexibility, which in turn promotes women’s advancement and participation in the labor market as resulting in gender equality. The author argues that choice and flexibility over working periods as well as location are viewed as effective policies that reconcile family and work demand, which facilitate the careers of women and a significant catalyst in workplace equity.

The article is very relevant to my research as it demonstrates the factors underlying workplace equity as well as work-life balance for women. The article shows hidden gender aspects associated with the spread of ICT, knowledge work, and work-life balance regulations that disadvantage women such as access to ICT and lack of transparency in employment recruitment among others. These factors emphasize my thesis that highlights how women are disadvantaged. In comparison to Ruohan and Chang’s study on the relationship between gender equity and productivity, Eikhof’s article focuses on factors that can result in work-life balance and gender equity. However, the study has a limitation in that it does not cover all important issues, such as the notion that work flexibility affects women differently depending on matters such as their ability to seek for childcare and domestic assistance.

Slaughter, Anne-Marie. “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”. The Atlantic. N.p., 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Anne-Marie Slaughter is the New America Foundation President and a Princeton University Professor of Politics and International Affairs. Slaughter is the former director of policy planning for the United State Department as well as the previous dean of School of Public and International Affairs at Woodrow Wilson. The author has also written several books, which makes her an influential proponent in discussing social issues such as gender inequity.

According to Slaughter, Anne-Marie women continue to face difficulty juggling employment and family and personal needs. The author argues that women who have managed to balance work, including top professionals and lifestyle such were mostly self-employed and rich, but regular mothers have trouble in performing a pleasant task at both. She vies for equal opportunities for women. Slaughter offers an example of herself, as she had to leave her government job because of the employment regulations. The author demonstrates that juggling the needs of children, and high-government work was next to impossible. The article highlights the difficulty of women in securing their job at the same time having a functional household, prompting them to retire to stay with their families. The article is very relevant as it portrays that women face a hard life being a wife and an employee at the same time. In comparison to the article by Richard Dorment, Slaughter shows that men and women do not have equal opportunities.

Tomer, Gitit, et al. “Perceptions of Gender Equality in Work–Life Balance, Salary, Promotion, and Harassment: Results of the NASPGHAN Task Force Survey.” Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition 60.4 (2015): 481-485.

Gitit Tomer is a practicing doctor in Bronx, New York and specializes in Pediatric Gastroenterology is also an associate professor, while Stavrfa A. Xanthakos and also a practicing physician and a co-director of Steatohepatitis Center. The two authors and other four colleagues lack significant experience in organizational and economic issues as their field of interest is Medicine. However, the proponents offer invaluable knowledge associated with gender equality among pediatric gastroenterologists.

Tomer and colleagues developed a 23-question survey based on issues affecting the workplace targeted at pediatric gastroenterologists. The study focused on three topics including work-life balance, career parity perceptions, as well as sexual harassment. According to the study, pediatric gastroenterology women were prone to reporting dissatisfaction with work-life balance as opposed to men. Female practitioners believed that salary inequities, lack of mentoring and promotion opportunities existed in the workplace. Therefore, financial compensation and career advancement fail to favor women, as many female pediatric gastroenterologists perceived that their gender negatively influenced their career.

The article offers the perspectives of female pediatric gastroenterologists in relation to work-life balance and career satisfaction, and thus, it is invaluable in supporting my position that women are negatively affected by gender inequality. The study relates to the discussions of other authors such as the studies by Doris Ruth Eikhof and Slaughter, Anne-Marie, who believe that women are disadvantaged by their gender in career development in comparison to the male counterparts.

Wu, Ruohan, and Xueyu Cheng. “Gender equality in the workplace: The effect of gender equality on productivity growth among the Chilean manufacturers.” The Journal of Developing Areas50.1 (2016): 257-274.

Ruohan Wu is an Assistant Professor at Alabama State University and has a Ph.D. of Economic with an interest in fields such as applied macroeconomics, International and Development Economics. Dr. Xueyu Cheng is an assistant professor of Economics at Clayton State University. The two authors have invaluable experience in research in the respective fields, which provides them with the capability to conduct this study associated with economics.

Ruohan and Chang’s study empirically estimates the manner in which gender equality correlates with the productivity of Chilean manufacturer’s and how the impact differs among different-sized companies. The article demonstrates that the gender equity is a significant factor in the development and productivity of Chilean firms, and the authors conclude that equality encourages productivity growth. However, the productivity depends on the size of the company as well as the employment type. The authors focus on four employment types including high skill workers such as specialized production employees and executives; and low skill workers such as auxiliary production employees and administrative staff. For companies with less than 50 workers, a higher level of gender equity among high-skill workers resulted in an enhanced productivity. Consequently, in firms with an upwards of 50 workers, only a higher gender equality in low-skill employment type improves manufacturing productivity.

Ruohan and Chang’s study on the correlation of sex equity and productivity levels in Chilean manufacturers. The article differs from the other articles as it does not focus on gender equality and work-life balance, as it portrays the benefits of gender equity in productivity. The study is thus essential in representing the benefits of gender equality on the growth of the firm and is critical in emphasizing the need for equity.