The antiquated version of women at work present in popular culture such as “Mad Men” seems impossible to many of today’s professionals. While most women are no longer subject to daily ogling, condescension, and demands for coffee, gender discrimination in the workplace is still alive and well.
Ranging from sexual harassment to lower wages to unfair treatment during pregnancy, many women still work in environments that make it difficult for them to have a career as successful as a man in a similar position. Some women may not even be aware their rights are being violated, or may fear retaliation or loss of their job if they do report the situation.
1. Pay disparity
Women who work full time still only make 85 percent of what men working similar hours earn, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the more hours a woman works the worse the pay disparity becomes; women who average 60 hours or more at work every week earn only 78 percent of what men working the same hours make.
The pay gap also worsens based on ethnicity. African American women average 62 cents for every dollar a man earns, and Latina women make 53 cents on the dollar compared to white men. Despite the Fair Pay Act, signed into law by President Obama in January 2009, there is a long way to go before equal pay is a reality. In November 2010 the Senate failed to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have provide additional protections for women making less than men for the same work.
2. Sex Discrimination
The statistics released by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for 2010 show the highest numbers of discrimination complaints in the commission’s history. Unsurprisingly, women file more EEOC discrimination charges than men do in every category. While claims of sex discrimination filed by white women have fallen about 10 percent since the early 1990s, claims by women of color rose dramatically, resulting in an average increase of sex discrimination claims. Women also filed more claims of discrimination based on age, as well as charges of retaliation — harassment that occurs as a result of an employee filing a discrimination claim.
3. Pregnancy Discrimination
It’s against the law to treat a woman different in the workplace due to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, but claims of discrimination due to pregnancy have also risen upwards of 65 percent since 1992, to a record 6,000 plus in 2010. Pregnancy discrimination can range from an unpleasant or hostile work environment due to persistent harassment by a supervisor or co-worker to denial of medical benefits, demotion, or even being fired as a direct result of the pregnancy. The belief seems to persist, despite all evidence to the contrary, that women who are pregnant are not effective employees.
4. Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment can be anything of a sexual nature that creates a hostile work environment, from verbal harassment — comments about a person’s appearance and telling dirty jokes — to physical. Any unwanted touching, from the stereotypical shoulder touch to unprompted neck rubs, up to and including full-on assault, can be considered sexual harassment.
Despite mandatory sexual harassment training in many workplaces, it remains a pervasive problem that may not be taken seriously. While sexual harassment claims filed by men have increased in the past decade, women still file 85 percent of all sexual harassment charges received by the EEOC, and these claims have increased by nearly 30 percent over the past decade.
5. Negative stereotypes
Finally, despite the incredible progress made by women in the workplace in the past century, negative stereotypes about women’s abilities persist. Some of these stereotypes revolve around a woman’s traditional role as wife and mother; when Janet Napolitano was nominated Secretary of Homeland Security the governor of Pennsylvania was overheard commenting that not being married or having children would allow her to “spend more time on the job.”
Other stereotypes reflect a negative perception of women as overly emotional. Women are more likely to cry at work, and the cultural bias that view tears as weakness reflects poorly even on powerful women. The media was certainly quick to pounce on Hillary Clinton when she seemed to tear up during a campaign appearance in 2008.
And it’s not limited to powerful women. In a 2007 survey conducted by MSNBC , of 60,000 respondents 41 percent of men and 33 percent of women said men were more likely to be good leaders. The optional comment section was filled with negative perceptions of women in the workplace, including “moody,” “bitchy,” “gossipy” and “emotional.” The term most often used to describe women, “catty,” turned up 347 times in the survey.
When it comes to women at work, stereotypical belief patterns aren’t limited to men, either. Three in four women in the MSNBC survey said they would rather have a male boss.
