Although we have reached the 21st century, gender discrimination continues to be an
important issue facing today’s organizations. Traditionally, men and women pursued certain occupations that were characterized as suitable to their respective gender. Hence the work place cultures that developed were also suitable to that particular gender. However with the spread of education and a better understanding of their own capabilities, women have entered what were traditional male bastions and some of them have performed spectacularly. Women have come out of their shells and have entered almost every sphere and have excelled in them. Today we find that many multinationals and other organizations are headed by women. We find women outperforming men even in professions such as the air force, police force and so on. A time has come that we find even buses and auto rickshaws being driven by women. Another trend which is very common today is that an increasing number of women are starting their own ventures and are able to maintain a balance between their professional lives and personal lives.
Inspite of all this, the situation is still not better. Even today women are perceived to be the weaker sex and face discrimination relating to the work they perform, their pay structure, performance appraisals, promotions and so on. Due to these reasons, many women are deprived of the opportunities to share their knowledge, improve their skill sets and so on. This results in women getting into depression and other emotional and mental problems.
This gender bias is just a reflection of the culture and attitude of the people working in the organization and the society as a whole. It is often assumed that a woman can’t work as hard as a man (or rather can’t devote as much time as a man, since she is also expected to fulfill her duties as a homemaker).Another crucial aspect of this issue is that men find it extremely difficult to accept a woman as their superior. The general...