Sex and race are essential and pervasive sources of diversity at work, but there are inequalities.47 Sexism refers to discrimination based on sex. Racism is discrimination based on race. Sexism and racism limit the opportunities of both women and men to choose the lifestyles and careers that best suit their abilities and interests.48
The Negative Effect of TV, Movies, and Music Culture promotes differences in males and females, and they will always be different, but their roles can and should be equal and promote positive self-concepts. Children learn these values and the media has an influ- ence. Unfortunately, TV and movies promote sexism and depict for children a dated
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 6.
Communication Skills
CS
WORK APPLICATION 13-11
What are your views on dating coworkers? Have you dated coworkers, or will you date coworkers in the future?
Learning Outcome 13-5 Explain sexism in organizations and ways to overcome it.
version of society in which females are stereotyped and very much hypersexualized.49 Some songs and music videos also portray females as hypersexualized: “The more hours of TV a girl watches, the fewer options she believes she has in life. And the more hours a boy watches, the more sexist his views become.”50 The people that spend less time watching TV, and spend more time with family and friends, are happier.51 How much time do you spend watching TV?
This section examines women in the workforce, managers, overcoming sexism and racism, changing sex roles, and work and family balance. Before reading on, deter- mine your attitude toward women and minorities at work by completing Self-Assess- ment Exercise 13-2.
Attitudes about Women and Minorities Advancing
Be honest in this self-assessment, as your assessment will not be accurate if you aren’t. Also, you should not be asked to share your score with others, and you may refuse to share your answers and score.
Answer the 10 questions below twice: once related to women and the other related to minorities. Place the number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 on the line before each statement for women and at the end of the statement for minorities.
Agree Disagree
5 4 3 2 1
Women Minorities
1. Women/Minorities lack motivation to get ahead. 1.
2. Women/Minorities lack the education necessary to get ahead. 2.
3. Women/Minorities working has caused rising unemployment among white men. 3.
4. Women/Minorities are not strong enough or emotionally stable enough to succeed in high-
pressure jobs. 4.
5. Women/Minorities have a lower commitment to work than white men. 5.
6. Women/Minorities are too emotional to be effective managers. 6.
7. Women/Minorities who are managers have difficulty in situations calling for quick and precise
decisions. 7.
8. Women/Minorities have a higher turnover rate than white men. 8.
9. Women/Minorities are out of work more often than white men. 9.
10. Women/Minorities have less interest in advancing than white men. 10.
Total Total
Women—To determine your attitude score toward women, add up the total of your 10 answers on the lines before each statement and place it on the total line and on the following continuum.
Positive attitude 10 - - - 20 - - - 30 - - - 40 - - - 50 Negative attitude Minorities—To determine your attitude score toward minorities, add up the total of your 10 answers on the lines after each statement and place it on the total line and on the following continuum.
Positive attitude 10 - - - 20 - - - 30 - - - 40 - - - 50 Negative attitude Each statement is a negative attitude about women and minorities at work. However, research has shown all of these statements to be false; they are considered myths. Such statements stereotype women and minorities unfairly and prevent them from getting jobs and advancing in organizations through gaining salary increases and promotions.
Thus, part of managing diversity and diversity training is to help overcome these negative attitudes to provide equal opportunities for all.
/ / / Self-Assessment Exercise 13-2 / / /
Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
Women in the Workforce
We now discuss women in the workforce as opposed to working women. Women who elect to work as homemakers make a great contribution to society. Unfortunately, these women are not commonly referred to as working women because they are not rewarded monetarily for their work. However, every female homemaker is a working woman.
How Many Women Are in the Workforce, and Why Are They Employed? Women make up about half of the total U.S. workforce.52
Women work for many different reasons, but they can generally be classified by economic necessity and self-concept needs. Women’s income is critical to the support of the family. In general, women today want both a job and a family, as they are motivated to meet their needs for achievement and affiliation (Chapter 8). Actually, economic and self-concept needs are highly intertwined.
Do Men and Women Get the Same Pay? Gender differences in salary still exist, as women are paid only 77 cents for every dollar men earn.53 However, the pay difference is not caused simply by discrimination; women tend to work in jobs with lower pay, such as child care, education, and clerical work.54 But discrimination is partly to blame for salary disparities, especially in management positions.55
Women and Minority Managers
Myths about Women Managers Two old myths about women managers are that they will leave the job to have children and that they are too emotional to be managers. Statistics show that women stay on the job. Men and women are truly equal in management ability.
Another popular myth is that women are not as committed to the organization as men;
research supports that they are equally committed.56 Although research supports the equality of sexes, research also reports that it is more difficult for women to advance.57 How Women Are Progressing in Management and the Glass Ceiling Women have been mak- ing progress, but they are still underrepresented in high-level management positions.58 Women are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting promoted to high-level man- agement positions, especially women with children.59 The barriers to upward mobility in organizations are commonly called the glass ceiling, referring to the invisibility of these barriers. Women in America hold around 40 percent of managerial jobs,60 but only around 14 percent of top management positions in Fortune 500 corporations, and this ratio is much lower in most other countries, at less than 5 percent.61 In September 2014, there were only 24 women CEOs in the Standard & Poor’s 500 companies (5 percent), and they hold around 18 percent of the board of director positions.62 The United States has a federal Glass Ceiling Commission to help eliminate the problem, but as you just read, it hasn’t made much progress.
How Minorities Are Progressing in Management and Professional Jobs Research confirms the advantages of having a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds across the globe63 and that having women and minorities can have positive effects on overall firm reputation and corporate social performance.64 But people tend to judge the nature of work by gender and race,65 and like women, minorities have historically tended to be substantially underrepresented in a range of corporate leadership.66 Research supports that blacks are at a disadvantage when they are evaluated in terms of their leadership ability, as they are negatively stereotyped, which leads to poorer prospects for career advancement.67 Unfortunately, there are even fewer minorities than women advancing to the executive level.
Advancement Some industries have been more receptive than others to advancing women and minorities. For example, consumer products, financial services, retail, publishing, and media, and certain nonprofit and government sectors, such as health care and education, have more women and minorities in management.
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 7.
Communication Skills
CS
Research has revealed two advancement-related traits: having a strong desire to advance and focusing on getting the job done or solving the problem. A good predictor of a woman’s and a minority’s advancement to higher levels of management is career encouragement from role models68 and mentors.69 As we discussed in Chapter 10, networking is critical to advancement.70 Having a good mentor who can get you into the right networks is also helpful. Do you have the aspiration to climb the corporate ladder, and are you willing to network and get a mentor to help your advancement?
WORK APPLICATION 13-12
How do you feel about having a female boss? Why?
A P P L I C A T I O N S I T U A T I O N S / / / Women AS 13-4
Identify each of the following statements about women as:
A. Fact B. Myth
16. “Men make better managers than women.”
17. “Women generally work because they need the money and want to have a career.”
18. “Male managers are generally more committed to their jobs than female managers.”
19. “Female managers are generally viewed as more caring for the individual subordinate than male managers.”
20. “About one out of every three managers is female.”
Overcoming Sexism and Racism
Hiring and promotion decisions should not be based on sex, though affirmative action plans may be implemented.
Sexist and Racist Language and Behavior Men and women should avoid using sexist and racist language. Sexist words such as mailman and salesman should be replaced with nonsexist terms such as letter carrier and salesperson. In written communication, the use of he or she is appropriate, but don’t overuse it. Use neutral language and plurals—
supervisors rather than the supervisor, which tends to end up needing a he or she as writing progresses. Avoid racist terms and jokes. Unfortunately, TV and films some- times use sexist and racial stereotypes that affect attitudes toward sex and race.71
Call people by name, rather than by sexist and racist terms. Working women are not girls and should not be called girls because this word is used to describe children, not grown women. Working men are not boys, so avoid such sexist terms.
Be wary of swearing in the workplace; it is preferable not to use such language.
What is really gained through swearing? You can offend someone. Are you impressed by people who swear? Are people who do not swear pressured to do so at work?
If anyone uses language that offends you or others, assertively state your feelings about the words used. Many times, people do not use sexist and racist language intentionally and will not use it if they are requested not to. If it continues, however, report the harassment.
Many working men are becoming more sensitive to sexism because they have wives and daughters entering the workforce for whom they want equal opportunities.
Exhibit 13.3 illustrates negative sexist stereotyping that needs to be eliminated. Such stereotypes and myths about women managers are a barrier to women’s breaking the glass ceiling.72
Ways to Overcome Sexism and Racism at Work As discussed, women and minorities have biases and barriers to advancing that need to be overcome.73 One thing women and minorities can do is to be assertive (Chapter 6) and ask for raises and promotions.74
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 8.
Communication Skills
CS
Skill-Building Exercise 13-1 develops this skill.
SB
Skill-Building Exercise 13-2 develops this skill.
SB
Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
Having mentors75 and role models76 helps people advance, so women and minorities can be more assertive about asking for mentors. Effective networking also helps with advancement,77 so women and minorities can develop their networking skills (Chapter 10), and mentors can help get them into networks that can help them advance. Some companies, including Texas Instruments, are developing programs to help women and minorities advance.78
/// In the opening case, there is negative sexist talk. Can these men and women change their attitudes and learn to value diversity? ///
How Families and Sex Roles Are Changing
American family households continue to change. The traditional family in which the husband works and the wife does not work outside the home is down to only 2 in 10 homes (20 percent).79 In fact, just over half of adults are married.80 Although single- parent families are much more likely to live in poverty and to rely on government as- sistance,81 more than 50 percent of babies are now born to unwed mothers82 and one in three children (33 percent) live in a fatherless home (and the rate is much higher for African-American families).83 White, college-educated women, a good proxy for the middle class, are having fewer children.84 Families are also changing as the number of domestic partnerships and states that allow same-sex marriages continues to grow, and the number of these couples that are raising children is increasing.
Recall the total person approach, which holds that our personal family life affects our work life. If we can have a happier family life, we can also have a happier work life. We will discuss some important family issues that may help improve your family life. For example, people yearn to better understand what makes a successful marriage.
So, start with Self-Assessment Exercise 13-3 to check your knowledge of the facts about marriage.
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 9.
Communication Skills
CS
EXHIBIT 13.3 | A Sexist (Stereotypical) Way to Tell a Businessman from a Businesswoman
Man Woman
A businessman is aggressive. A businesswoman is pushy.
He is careful about details. She’s picky.
He loses his temper because he’s so involved in his job. She’s bitchy.
He’s depressed (or hung over), so everyone tiptoes past his office.
She’s moody, so it must be her time of the month.
He follows through. She doesn’t know when to quit.
He’s firm. She’s stubborn.
He makes wise judgments. She reveals her prejudices.
He is a man of the world. She’s been around.
He isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. She’s opinionated.
He exercises authority. She’s tyrannical.
He’s discreet. She’s secretive.
He’s a stern taskmaster. She’s difficult to work for.
Your Marriage Knowledge
Answer each question true or false by circling its letter.
T F 1. People prefer a mate who matches them in education, class, religious background, ethnicity, and age.
T F 2. About half of marriages end in divorce.
/ / / Self-Assessment Exercise 13-3 / / /
(continued )
/ / / Self-Assessment Exercise 12–1 / / / (continued )
T F 3. Living together before marriage decreases the chances of getting divorced.
T F 4. Having a baby before marriage increases the chances of getting divorced.
T F 5. Getting married young (under 18 years old vs. 25) increases the chances of getting divorced.
T F 6. Compared to people with some college, high school dropouts have a higher divorce rate.
T F 7. Most divorces happen in the seventh year—the seven-year itch.
T F 8. Couples who are very unhappy should get divorced so they will be happier in future years.
T F 9. People who go through the stress of divorce and its aftermath have health effects that may not show up until years later.
T F 10. Compared to those who are happily married, people who get divorced have more health problems and symptoms of depression.
T F 11. Compared to those who are happily married, people who get divorced smoke and drink more.
T F 12. Workaholics have a higher divorce rate than nonworkaholics.
T F 13. Arguing is helpful to a marriage.
T F 14. Couples don’t need to agree and solve all their problems.
T F 15. Couples that go to church/pray together have a lower divorce rate than those that don’t—the family that prays together stays together.
To determine your marriage knowledge, count the number of correct answers, using the answer key below, and place your score here:
Knowledgeable 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Not Knowledgeable Answers83
1. True. The statement that “like attracts like” is factual.
2. True. Since the mid-1960s, around half of marriages in any given year end in divorce.
3. False. Couples who live together are 50 percent more likely to get divorced. They tend to have a renter’s agreement attitude that makes them less committed to sticking around through the hard times that just about all marriages go through.
4. True. People who have babies before marriage (compared to seven months or more afterward) have a 24-percent higher divorce rate.
5. True. The divorce rate is 24-percent higher for people under 18 than for those 25 or more years old.
6. True. High school dropouts have a 13 percent higher divorce rate than those with some college.
7. False. Most divorces occur in the fourth year.
8. False. Of couples that divorced, 50 percent were “happy” five years later. Of couples that were “very unhappy” but stayed together, 80 percent were “happy” five years later.
9. True. Research supports the fact that stress from divorce can show up years later.
10. True. Compared to those who get divorced, research supports the fact that people who are happily married say they are in better health, have fewer chronic health problems, and retain greater mobility in middle age.
11. True. Research supports the fact that divorced people smoke and drink more than happily married people.
12. True. According to Workaholics Anonymous, divorce is common.
13. True. Open-minded fair fighting often leads to resolving conflicts in any relationship. So use your conflict skills (Chapter 6) in your personal relationships.
14. True. Most successful couples never agree and solve all their problems—they outlast them through the marital endurance ethics. Have you heard the expression, “You don’t want to go there” in discussions? Avoiding some less important issues helps couples stay together.
15. True. The divorce rate for church/praying couples is significantly lower, and they have better health than those who don’t pray.
Copyright © 2017 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.
Marriage and Family Agreements There are benefits to being married, and marrying young,85 including being healthier, being more likely to live longer, being satisified with your job, having more social support, having more wealth and income, and being involved in fewer unhealthy or risky behaviors.86 Before entering marriage, it is very help- ful to discuss and agree on career and family plans and the distribution of household and child-care responsibilities. In fact, some couples are creating family plan prenuptual agreements. These agreements are not legal documents; they are simply written lists of items relating to future family and work issues. For help preparing for marriage, most religious organizations offer courses. Two other sources include Engaged Encounter (www.engagedencounter.org) and Prep/Enrich (www.prep-enrich.com). For help making a good marriage even better, there is Worldwide Marriage Encounter, (www.wwme.org.)
Although dual-career couples generally agree to split the household and child- care responsibilities evenly, most husbands often spend less time than their wives do in these areas.87 In fact, fathers spend half as many hours per week in child care (7 vs. 14) and about two-thirds the amount of hours doing housework (10 vs. 18) as mothers;
but fathers do spend more hours doing paid work.88
Fathers’ Roles Are Changing In the old days, most fathers worked long hours and spent little time with their children. Today, research has clearly found that fathers are impor- tant in child care.89 Although there are many reasons people are criminals, one con- tributing factor is the father’s influence—or lack thereof. Most males in jail don’t know who their father is or have no relationship with him.
Many of today’s fathers are slowly decreasing identifying themselves solely by their work,90 as they want to have it all and spend more time with their children; some are curbing their own career goals. More fathers routinely spend time with their chil- dren, including staying home to care for them when they are sick and taking them to visit the doctor. More fathers are also supporting their wives’ careers, as some move and take lower-level jobs, even to the point of quitting their jobs and staying home with the children,91 which is called the “gender flip.” However, the father needs a posi- tive self-concept to overcome the stereotype of the man being the bread winner and put up with the potential peer pressure to be at work in a paid job.92
Mothers’ Roles Are Changing In the old days, most mothers stayed home and took care of the children. Today, in 8 out of 10 families, moms work outside the home.93 Mothers who do leave the labor force tend to go back as the children get older.
Work at Home or in the Labor Force? People taking time off from the job to focus on home and family often sacrifice career opportunities. Thus, the decision to take a leave from work is often heart-wrenching, and although more fathers are staying home, it is more often the mother. Women tend to have two potential tracks. Those who stay on the job are on the career track, and those who leave and plan to return are on the “mommy track.” Unfortunately, many mothers, and fathers, who decide, for whatever reason, to stay home with the kids or to work outside the home get pressured and are made to feel guilty for the role they have chosen.94
Why can’t we all just let moms, and dads, make their own decisions about where they work? Let’s all make an effort to stop judgmental questions and to stop making moms, and dads, feel guilty. Let’s congratulate them and make them feel good about their choices and about themselves! Remember, valuing diversity is about letting peo- ple live their own lives. So let’s also not pressure people to get married, to have chil- dren, or to have more or fewer children than they want.
For the stay-at-home mom, two good resources are www.athomemothers.com for motherhood lifestyle and www.familyandhome.org for tips on transitioning from work to home. For the mom in the workforce, two good resources are www.momsrefuge .com for information on juggling work and family and www.workingmom.com for strategies to simplify parenting.
Communication Skills Refer to CS Question 10.
Communication Skills
CS