Farukh Hussain

English 1102
12 September 2014
Gender Equality: Are Women Being Treated Equally in Their Careers?
The first thing that comes to my mind when I thing of gender equality is are women
being given an equal opportunity to compete for jobs? The straight forward answer is, no.
Women have always had a tough rode to get to where they want in their respective careers.
They are always battling with their male counterparts and usually losing out on promotions and
raises. Why is this so? The simple answer is inequality. Women are not being treated fairly in
the workforce. They are looked down upon for the most part and the upper bosses deem then
unfit for higher end jobs. They tend to take former colleagues or just any male in general
because they dont see women as leaders. This is wrong and it has to be changed.
My second inquiry question that comes to mind is does the Glass Ceiling really exist?
And, if so, how badly do women suffer in the tangible aspects of work such as hourly wages,
vacation time, etc. Its true that you dont see many women work their way up the corporate
ladder, but that can be either because their male peers are out working them or they are not
being given an equal opportunity to display their skill sets for higher end (white collar) jobs. Job
segregation is a serious issue. Just as the overall labor market remains sharply segregated by
sex, women executives are concentrated into certain types of jobs which are mostly staff and
support jobs that offer little opportunity for getting to the top. A 1986 Wall Street Journal
survey found that the highest ranking women in most industries are in non-operating areas

such as personnel, public relations, or, occasionally, finance specialties that seldom lead to the
most powerful top-management posts. Women are locked out of jobs in the business
mainstream the route taken by CEOs and presidents.
My third inquiry question is why the vast majority of the highest paying jobs are and
executive positions composed mostly of men? According to one executive recruiter, the biggest
barrier to women in top management levels is the "bunch of guys sitting together around a
table" making all the decisions. In short, when deciding who to promote into management,
male corporate leaders tend to select people as much like themselves as possible, so it is no
surprise that women are frequently not even considered at promotion time. Instead, the men
at the top look to former colleagues and old school ties; in both areas, women have been
virtually absent. They are not invited to most of the social activities and formal meeting
because they are not seen as policy makers.
My last inquiry question that I want to elaborate on is what can women do to create
equal opportunities and move up in their professional careers? Equal opportunity is a tool to
provide qualified individuals with equal access to opportunities. Equal opportunity programs,
including recruitment, outreach, and training initiatives, have played a critical role in providing
women with access to educational and professional opportunities they would otherwise have
been denied despite their strong qualifications. Although progress has been made over the last
30 years, ensuring equal opportunity for women remains an elusive goal. Women to this day
are not being given an equal opportunity to move up in the ranks in their professional fields but
that does seem to be changing. What I hope for in the next 20-30 years is that we see at least

the same amount of women bosses and CEOs as there are men. Equal opportunity is a right,
and women deserve it most in the workforce.

Works Cited

"Empowering Women in Business - The Glass Ceiling - Feminist Majority Foundation."

Empowering Women in Business - The Glass Ceiling - Feminist Majority Foundation.
Feminist Majority Foundation, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.

"Equal Opportunity and Women - Fact Sheet." The Leadership Conference on Civil and
Human Rights. The Leadership Conference, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.