Sexism_in_the_Workplace

In the introduction we briefly touched upon the sex discrimination 1975. The sex discrimination act came into force in 1975. It was introduced to protect all workers from being discriminated against by their employer. The act states you can’t be discriminated because * of your sex * you are married or a civil partner * you have gone through, are going through or intend to go through gender reassignment The sex discrimination act 1975 came into force 35 years ago. Unfortunately, there is still discrimination in the work force today. 38% of women have suffered sex discrimination in the workplace and 10% of men. I’ve looked into the effect of discrimination on the behaviour, experiences and life chances of women in the work place and in particular working mothers. In British culture it’s been seen as the man’s role to go out and work, to be the breadwinner and bring home the money. The women’s role has been to stay at home looking after the kids. Since 1975 the British culture has changed. 55% of women with children under 5 now go out to work compared with 35% in 1975. Of the 13 million women who have jobs about 44% wok part time compared to only 10% of working men. So as you can see from these statistics although things have changed since 1975 it is still very much so that men are the main breadwinners It’s correct to say that on average men earn more than women the good news is that the pay gap between men and women has fallen from 12.6% to 12.2% from 2008 to 2009 for full time employees. In April 209 the average hourly rate for men working full time was £12.97 whilst for women it was £11.39 an hour. However the majority of women with children work part time and women working part time earn just 60% of the average hourly rate of a man working full time. Since 1975 it has become more acceptable for women to work if they have children. It has become “the norm”. However, I feel it must be a hard job being a working mother. Generally, it is seen as the mothers responsibility to bring up the children, to play with them, to teach them right from wrong ( what we know as social interaction ). I want to look at how mothers who work feel discriminated against. Women with children are clearly worried about the impact having children has on their careers. A study found two thirds of women interviewed feel their career would not be the same if they take time out to raise a baby. 8 out of 10 surveyed were waiting till they were older to have a child because they were trying to achieve it all before giving up their careers. The majority of women clearly feel having a career and a family is not possible. Not suprising when only 4 out of 10 companies employ a female in a senior management role. Women who do work feel pressured to cope with it all and although flexible hours are available to most workers 66% of working women said that asking for flexible hours would have an impact on their careers. The issue of how having a family can effect a women’s career has been highlighted in the press by Lord Alan Sugar. He has famously said if he were to interview a women with children for a job at his company then he would be unlikely to employ her . His reasoning being that there is a real chance that the women might want a baby and would need time off. This type of attitude and pressure for a work/life balance may be the reason the majority or mothers work part time. I believe working mothers are discriminated against in the work place this is known as institutional discrimination. They know that on average they are not going to earn the same as their male counterparts and will find it difficult to get a more senior role. This could have a big impact on their behaviours. They may become demotivated as their career aspirations are low, their interest and satisfaction with the job may decrease as well. This could effect their self confidence and their believe in themselves.