Managing Individuals and a Diverse Workforce

Prepared By
Denny Paul

BADM 110 Z
June 12, 2021

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The first-generation gender bias was once legal. With legislative changes that make gender
discrimination illegal in the workplace second-generation bias began. It refers to the subtle
forms of inherent and unconscious bias in the organizational practices and patriarchal
structures involves the glass ceiling, or the failure of achieving significant change in gender
parity in corporate boardrooms, senior management positions, and in the general workforce.

Due to the subtle and unintentional nature of second-generation gender bias, women may
deny or be unaware of the barriers to the same social rewards and opportunities men seem to
have in obtaining management and leadership positions in all aspects of social and political life
from education to business to politics in any patriarchal society. A significant cost of second-
generation gender bias is that previously successful junior level women may experience identity
threat as they move up the ladder of success and face the need to re-situate their identity roles
in positive and negative ways.
Gender Bias is happening in many workplaces. Women are not getting equal opportunity like
the male counterparts in many professions. Employers provide many reasons for the same.
Long hours, maternity leave etc. Few professions which has this issue are legal firm, IT field,
Engineering field. Unequal pay for women is another issue. Gender discrimination the sole
reason for the gender wage gap and slow rate at which women have been promoted to middle
and upper management

And even during hiring women may have to face following questions which is not at related to
the that position requirement. Some unwanted questions in interview for women are "Do you
have children?" or "Do you plan on having children?" Both of those inquiries have zero business
in an interview.
Women won’t be allowed to do heavy lift during some of the job symbolizing they are weaker
for those job. But we might be surprised to discover that some of the women can deadlift more
than the men. This is the kind of gender bias to employees is not accepted. The same holds true
with standard positional responsibilities. If there are two qualified administrators, one male and
one female, give them equal responsibilities.
Some organizations the style of conversation is really suited only for male company. While in
the workplace, adopt a gender-neutral style of conversation. The termination of employees
needs to be handled without bias. Rules and policies should apply for both genders--across the
board.
Glass ceiling is an issue what women faces in many organizations. Each employee, regardless of
gender, should have the same opportunity. All things being equal, men and women should be
able to reach as high as possible, given their skills and performance.
Masculine traits, such as strength, confidence, and definitive, are typically preferred in the
workplace because they make the company appear to be more driven and confident in its
success. However, when a woman shows these "masculine traits", she is often thought of as

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bossy, rude, and full of herself. Experts say that men are more of the natural-born leaders
because of their biological preferences. Women are strong leaders as well because they can be
compassionate towards those under them, which in turn could result in better relationships
and stronger teams.
How could gender bias affect your career?
Being a man, I feel gender bias won’t affect much in my career, but I believe that strong
interpersonal and communication skill will be the key to climb up in the organization. Men
chose career and job choices are often driven by search for higher pay and advancement,
women more likely to choose jobs or careers that given them greater sense of accomplishment,
more control on work schedules and easier movement in and out of the workplaces. Women
are more likely than men to prioritize family over work at some point in careers. I have seen in
my previous company men were given higher position in the organization since they were able
to attend client calls after office hours or even midnight which many senior women employees
couldn’t.
How could such bias have an impact on the success of an organization?
Gender bias is not good for the success of any company. There should not be any discrimination
in the organization based on the gender, disability, caste, color, or creed. Employees should be
given recognition and position based on their interpersonal or technical skills and experience in
the organization.

References

• Williams, C.& Champion, T.& Hall, I. (2019). Mgmt Principles of Management, 3rd edition

• Wikipedia. (2021). Second-generation gender bias

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-
generation_gender_bias#:~:text=An%20example%20of%20second%2Dgeneration,stereotyping
%2C%20can%20be%20entirely%20unconscious.
• Wallen J. (2015). 10 examples of gender bias you may encounter in the workplace
https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-examples-of-gender-bias-you-may-
encounter-in-the-workplace/