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Revising Work Culture: Gender In The Workplace

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Revising Work Culture: Gender In The Workplace
Amanda McGinley
Gender in the Workplace
Nancy Goodman
February 15, 2013
Revising Workplace Culture
Changes in the workplace have come a long way; however, there is still a long way to go. There are several ways to make the changes that are so desperately needed. In the first article, Making Change: A Framework for promoting Gender Equity in Organizations, the authors introduces four frames to achieve workplace equity. The first is to fix the woman; this means that women assimilate to the work culture. The second frame is celebrating the differences that each gender brings to the table. The third frame is to create equal opportunity. The fourth frame is changing the work culture; the existing culture comes from socially constructed gender …show more content…
The first frame is that women need to be fixed; they need to change in order to succeed in the workplace. It is flawed because women were not educated to the all-boys club rules. They minimize differences so women are considered equal, however the rules do not change. Frame two wants to celebrate difference; it focuses on what each gender brings to the table. This method helps people become more sensitive to differences and the workplace to be more flexible. The flaw is that qualities women embody are not valued in the business world. “…women are disadvantage because work styles, skills, and attributes associated with “the feminine” are not recognized or valued in the workplace.” (11) Frame three focuses on creating equal opportunities for women. It is the structural barriers women face that impede them, the glass ceiling is one example of the problems women face. Companies can change their career tracks or offer sensitivity classes, however there could be an unwritten backlash for women who use these. The final frame calls for workplace revision, it looks at how society has constructed gender roles to hold both men and women back in the workplace. In Breaking the Silence: On Men, Masculinities and Managements Collinson and Hearn state that women in senior management report that they are more stressed than their male counterparts with their work and personal lives (75). Women not only work full time in the office, they also have to go home for a second shift of taking care of her family. If workplaces offer more flexible hours for both men and women everyone would be able to balance their professional and personal
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