Ashford University Gender Inequality in the Workplace Question

Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Balancing work and personal responsibilities can be a challenge. Particularly for parents of young children, this can be a real challenge. Historically, much of the responsibility for home and child care has fallen on women, making it more difficult for women to move up in the workplace. For this Final Paper, you will analyze the obstacles facing women in the workplace, investigate workplace policies that either help or hinder women in the workplace, and compare the workplace policies in the U.S. to another country.

There are three main points for this paper that you will need to address. 

Part 1: Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Analyze the obstacles facing women in the workplace.

Describe how sexism, discrimination, and family responsibilities can lead to gender inequalities in the workplace.

How do the home and childcare responsibilities of women harm them in the workplace?  Is this the same for men/fathers?  Why or why not?

Explain at least two ways that we can measure gender inequality in the workplace.  Be sure to support your claims with scholarly sources.

Part 2: Workplace Policies
Investigate workplace policies that either help or hinder women in the workplace.

• Describe how workplace policies or benefits could potentially support employees to balance their work and family responsibilities/needs (e.g., flextime, telecommuting, job sharing, part-time work, childcare, parental leave, etc.).
• What is the particular impact of these policies on women?  In other words, how could these policies help support women (particularly mothers) enter the workplace and compete equally with men? 
• Part 3: International Comparison
  Compare the workplace policies in the U.S. to another country.

Examine and describe workplace policies in Sweden, Germany, France, the U.K., Cuba, Chile, or Argentina.   If you search for “family friendly workplace policies” in your country of choice you will find a substantial amount of information.  Be sure that you use only reputable scholarly and government sources.

Compare and contrast these policies with policies and practices in the United States. What do the policies in each country say about gender stratification and gender inequality in that society?   Do any of the findings surprise you?