Article Review: Gender and Sexuality In the Workplace – Term Paper

Article Review About Sexuality And Gender In the Workplace

Introduction

For the longest time now, the issue of gender equality and racial profiling has been in the discussion. Such talks emphasize the need for equality in the work context to foster unity and social cohesion in the workplace. However, in many cases, it is all talk and no walk scenario. Meetings, conferences, seminars, and mass media has been used to create awareness of this sensitive issue, but for some reasons, it remains persistent among the fabric of the society. It is almost as if the community is hell bent on promoting gender inequality and racism especially in the context of work. The most likely guess is that although these talks are held over and over again, the society does not quite believe in gender equality and anti-racism. Below is an analysis of a peer-reviewed article, addressing the issue of sex and sexuality in the work context.

Problems Addressed

The primary issue dealt with in this paper is the impact of gender, race, and worker qualifications to job satisfaction. The authors use a very commendable approach in dealing with the issue at hand in that instead of preaching why people should promote gender equality and anti-racism in the workplace, and they seek to make them understand the impacts that the two have on the quality of work produced as well as job satisfaction. Their method is based on descriptive analysis and prior research as opposed to mere speculations and baseless accounts. The article explicitly expounds on women’s labor force and its trend over the years. It goes ahead to shed more light on the reasons for these trends and the impact that they have had in the economy. The issue of job satisfaction is critically analyzed to determine whether it is more of a subjective topic or an objective one. In brief, the article is evaluating the phenomenon of job satisfaction under different variables such as race, gender, and qualifications.

Type of Research And Methodology

Although there are slight elements of qualitative research, it is largely a quantitative one. The research is concerned more with discovering facts associated with women employment. It is very conceptual and gives attention to the statistics about women labor force. For instance, right from the start, the authors start us off by talking about the number of adult females that have been gainfully employed since the beginning of this century. The number stands at six out of ten which is not that bad as compared to the not so distant past. The article goes on to compare these figures with those of male workers to stress on the issue of gender inequality in the workplace.

Prior Research

The article can be deemed as credible, valid, and reliable because of the literature that has been used to back it up. A lot of relevant and dependable sources have been used to enhance the research. For instance, the article sites Fullerton’s work to assert the decline in the participation of men’s labor force. In the year 2003, the percentage of working males was 73.5% which was a significant drop from the 87% in 1951. The credibility of the sources cannot be questioned as some are legal documents such as The U.S. Department of Labor news articles. According to prior research by the Department of Labor in 2004, most jobs that women work on are gender-segregated. Moreover, they are lower paid as compared to their male counterparts working the same job. These and other prior researches cited in the article is evident that this problem has been existent for a long time.

Significance

The current statistics indicate that gender discrimination and racial profiling is still practiced in most workplaces. In the United States, the female to male earnings ratio 78%: 82%. The difference is way larger in developing third world countries. There are still countries in Africa that believe that the woman’s place is in the kitchen and her sole responsibility is to give birth and raise children. This article can eliminate such backward thinking. In fact, this article is more empowering to women and black people. Its significance is to enlighten women to fight for their position and status in the society. 

The twenty-first century presented American women with a chance to explore that which they were not experiencing before. For instance, it is in this century that women started taking education seriously and pursued professional courses that were initially reserved for men. The author says that although the gender ratios were not in their favor, they still have it and do not trail far behind the man as far as income generation was concerned. This article is enough motivation to the minority groups in the labor sector.

Contributions

The authors came to a conclusion that gender and race interchangeably affect the job satisfaction of employees. However, although gender and race affect the job satisfaction, their impact is not that significant as compare to race only which in their research vouched for the whites. The white women exhibit the most job satisfaction. The rates of racial profiling and gender discrimination at workplaces have significantly dropped over the years. 

Further Research

Further research can be conducted to ascertain why it is that the white women are more comfortable and satisfied with their jobs. Is it because they are favored, hard working or preferentially chosen because of their status in the society?

Works Cited 

Banerjee, Dina and Carolyn Perrucci. “Job Satisfaction: Impact of Gender, Race, Worker Qualifications, and Work Context”. Gender and Sexuality in The Workplace, 2017, pp. 3-23.