Makena Schafer
Professor Scott Olsen
Inquiry Written Communications 100
5 November 2021
Gendered Expectations of Men and Women in the Workplace
Gender roles are taught to children at a young age, reinforced throughout development, and highly influence career choices. When women work in masculine jobs, they face discrimination, intimidation, decreased happiness, and often less pay than their male counterparts. Jobs are created as masculine and feminine based on the societal construct of gender, traditional beliefs of gender, and the resulting gendered expectations of men and women. The construct of gendered differences and limitations negatively impacts the workplace and the psychological well-being of women.
The terms “sex” and “gender” are often confused and used interchangeably, where in fact the two words have very different meanings. Sex is the term used to define the biological state of being a male or female assigned at birth. Gender is a societal construct, a measure of how masculine or feminine a person is, taught to children at young ages. Society genders things such as how different colors are viewed as belonging to different genders: pink is for girls and blue is for boys. The idea of normal gender roles starts to form in children in early childhood, specifically around 4 years old. The notion of growing up to have a job one day forms in a child’s mind at around 5 years of age. A study, titled “Gender and Perception of Profession,” conducted by Fatma Ünal of the Faculty of Education at Bartin University, connected the idea that career choice and gender development are intertwined, writing, “Thus, cognitive and physical capacity, interests, values and dreams, which are important factors in choosing a profession develop in line with gender stereotypes supported by families and educational systems” (Ünal et al. 35). The way that children are taught gender norms influences their choice in their careers. Male characteristics create male jobs, and female characteristics create female jobs (Ünal et al. 35). Jeffery Arnett, primary author of Human Development: A Cultural Approach, illustrates that because young girls are given baby dolls and kitchen sets at two years old, they learn that their role in life is to cook and be caretakers. Boys are given cars and balls, teaching them to be active, competitive, aggressive (Arnett 210). Children grow up to pursue jobs that correspond with their masculine or feminine behavior. Abdullah Atli, of Inonu University, conducted a study of “High School Students’ Gender Role Perceptions Regarding Various Professions” and found that girls are likely grow up to be caretakers, psychologists, nurses, and dieticians, whereas boys grow up to be business managers, carpenters, and politicians (Atli 6). Research continues to reinforce how gender stereotypes relate to appropriate career choices.
Including Adbullah Atli’s research study, several additional studies have been done to show the perception of which particular jobs are masculine and which jobs are feminine. Research continues to reinforce how gender stereotypes relate to appropriate career choices and how gender is taught and influenced by societal thinking. Atli concluded that the reason that women pursue careers of nutritionist and dieticians relate to a woman’s importance of aesthetics: a concern that men do not typically withhold. High school students also perceived nursing to be a women’s occupation because it coincides with a woman’s natural caretaking tendency and is “…an extension of daily chores at home” (Atli 12). Men, on the other hand, are more susceptible to hold office and management positions, to reflect their typical gender role of authority and leadership.
Ünal’s research study included statements from the participants as to why they rated professions to be either masculine or feminine. The majority of the male participants in the study report, “Men do everything, they do anything to bring money into their own home” (Ünal et al. 40). The traditional idea that men are responsible for providing for their families is still prevalent and demonstrated by this quote. The women in this study rated policemen to be the most masculine job, saying, “We see that most of the police in the society are male,” and “Men can easily do such jobs because they are strong” (Ünal et al. 40). It is noted in this quote that male policemen are more prevalent in society than woman, pointing to how society genders this profession. The women also used strength to explain why men do the jobs they do. As for the gender appropriate jobs for women, men said, “A woman’s main job is to be a housewife,” and also, “Women’s most important job is being a mother” (Ünal et al. 39). It is seen that the men in this study also have a traditional way of thinking about women in terms of career. The women in the study pointed to psychologists as a feminine career, claiming, “Women prefer professions where they can use their emotional role due to their nature” (Ünal et al. 39). Many of the other comments made by women also related to childcare, spending time at home doing chores and housework, because it is the majority of what many women do.
Even jobs that are seen as gender neutral are skewed towards being male or female dominated. Teaching is equally perceived as a woman’s or a man’s profession, but masculinity and femininity play a role in which age ranges men and women are more apt to teach. “Being a teacher is considered appropriate for women especially in pre-school and primary school but for high school, it is men who are considered appropriate as high school teachers. The dominating view here is that the authoritarian attitudes of men should be used to control the students who are in puberty during this period. While being a teacher is associated with the concepts of care, love, education for women it is associated with authority, control, and power for men” (Ünal et al. 43). Even though teaching is “equally masculine and feminine” there is still a notable divide between what is appropriate for men and women in an educational vocation. The gender stereotypes still shine through, rather more subtly in teaching careers than in other exclusively male or female careers.
One of the major gender gaps to exist in the world of professions is the gap in STEM careers. STEM careers are identified as science, technology, engineering, and mathematic careers – which have all been societally recognized and perceived as male careers. Michael Swafford and Ryan Anderson, from the Journal of Research in Technical Careers, collaborated on a research study to determine what barriers women are facing in STEM careers. They found that the gap can be attributed to patriarchy, unawareness of opportunity, gender roles and male domination, and work-life balance for women (Swafford and Anderson 69). Men are perceived to be better at sciences and mathematics than women, in which there is no concrete evidence to back up this idea, only evidence supporting the opposite claim. Women are in fact just as smart as men regarding STEM careers – yet are not fairly represented in the field because of such notions that they cannot succeed and do not belong. There is also a perception of lack of interest in girls and women surrounding the STEM field. Many people make assumptions based on gendered expectations of boys and girls and conclude that girls would not be interested in working in a science, math, engineering, or mathematical fields. As a result of these assumptions, girls are not introduced to or educated about the opportunities they should have in STEM (Swafford and Anderson 63). Opportunity is a huge factor of the existing gender gap, in terms of acceptable career choices, equal pay, and career advancement and success.
In order to begin to address the gender pay gap, a New York Times article titled “Why Women are Paid Less” by Lester Thurow, archived from forty years ago, will help paint a picture of the history of why women are paid less than men on average. Although today it is perceived that the gender pay gap no longer exists, that has proven to be false. In traditional culture, women were paid less than men because men were expected to provide for their family. If the woman of the household were to make equal or greater pay, that would emasculate the father and head of the household, making him feel inferior. Therefore, men were paid more out of the respect that they were expected to be the breadwinners for their family. “When men discriminate against women they run into a problem. To discriminate against women is to discriminate against your own wife and to lower your own family income. To prevent women from working is to force men to work more” (Thurow 2). The idea of restricting women from working as much as men is clearly hypocritical. However, there is further research into this topic that highlights a different reason as to why women are paid less than men: motherhood.
Family and motherhood prevent women from making equal pay, because they are more likely to uphold part-time jobs in addition to caring for their children. It is perceived in the professional industry that women are not as motivated or willing to push as hard as men do in order to advance in a field. Many masculine jobs, specifically STEM careers, are considered ill-suited for women based on whether or not she is a mother, due to the perception that being a mother stands in the way of her being able to compete for greater hours and higher pay (Swafford and Anderson 64). Simard, Henderson, Gilmartin, Schiebinger, & Whitney in “Addressing the Gender Gap” quote, “Women are affected more negatively than men by the ‘family penalty’ as childcare responsibilities fall disproportionally on women, and thus women are perceived as less productive” (qtd. in Swafford and Anderson 64). These perceptions contribute to women receiving less pay than male workers, the family penalty also leads to lack of opportunities for working mothers.
Lynsey Addario, a conflict photojournalist for the New York Times, wrote a novel about her journey as a woman in a risky, male-dominated career, and highlighted how working full time on month-long assignments in different countries, impacted her choice to become a mother. In her book, It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War, Addario says, “I was in a man’s profession. I couldn’t think of a single female photojournalist who was married or had a child” (Addario 374). At the heart of her wrestling with becoming a mother was the impact it would have on her work. Her work was her life, she was a passionate woman pursuing what she loved, and was terrified that because of gender expectations and inequality, having a family would ruin her opportunities. Addario goes on to say, “I tried to imagine my life as a mother—struggled to envision a female role model in conflict photography—and I couldn’t think of a single female war photographer who even had a stable relationship” (Addario 438). The family penalty weighed heavy on Lynsey Addario, and she sympathizes with all the women in the world who feel the same way: unequal and incapable of upholding a societally respected job in which the same society values men’s work more than the work of women.
And so, it continues, when females enter masculine professions they face scrutiny, doubt, and as a result are given less opportunity to succeed based on gender perceptions. Catherine Clerkin wrote a report titled, “What Women Want-And Why You Want Women-In the Workplace” and claims, “People want to protect women from hardships (such as a more challenging workload, needing to relocate, etc.) and because of this, do not offer women the same opportunities” (Clerkin 19). From the same research report written by Clerkin, it is recognized that many women still face gender discrimination in the workplace, unequal pay, and discrimination as a woman in a “system created for and by men.” Leadership paints an accurate demonstration of how systems are created for men. It has been found that for a male employee, male and female bosses are seemed to be equally supportive of the individual and his career. But when it comes to women, having a male boss is detrimental and withholds success in a woman’s career progress and development (Clerkin 7).
Continuing with discussion on Clerkin’s report, on page 18-19, information is highlighted about why women refuse leadership opportunities when presented with them. Many women reported that they felt as though they were being set up for failure when offered a promotion opportunity – and their intuition is true. From Clerkin’s report on page 19, “Research shows while both men and women high potentials are usually given leadership opportunities, men are given more resources—both in terms of funding and team size” (Silva and Carter and Beninger 2012). Not only are women not given opportunities for leadership and management as frequently as men, but they are also set up to not do as well, again because the system is created to support men.
The oppression and judgement in the world of gendered professions takes a toll on the wellbeing of working women. Women in male-dominated workplaces experience lower self-esteem, lower satisfaction, and have a higher rate of job-related depression (Wharton and Baron 372). Working women also tend to seek a profession that they feel called to, one that gives themselves a sense of purpose. Again, Lynsey Addario is a prime example of a woman passionate about her STEM career but is negatively impacted by societal gender roles and gender norms in her field. There were times she felt like she couldn’t compete any longer with her male colleagues, and it influenced her mental state of wellbeing daily. “I felt like a failure and sensed the limitations of my gender” (Addario 302). Lynsey struggled with feeling a constant need to prove herself to the men in the field, as if everyone had low standards of her due to her womanhood, and motherhood. She expresses many personal feelings of self-doubt and self-consciousness in the book, due to uncomfortable situations stemming from her gender, and how she interacted in society, culturally defying the set gender norms. Lynsey is not alone in this feeling. Most women in a male-dominated workforce struggle with emotional states of well-being, pay issues, opportunity issues, and success.
The gathered information and research results leave many questions. Will gender roles always impact career choices? How could this societal construct change? Will true gender equality ever exist? To combat this issue, we would have to start at the root of the problem, where it all begins, which would be during childhood. Because gender role ideas and job ideas develop at the same time in a child’s life, redirecting the way the ideas are developed would be one way to change gendered careers. As stated above, the ideas of gender and jobs are influenced by society, primarily caregivers and educators in early childhood (Ünal et al. 35). So, a tactic for eliminating gender connection to careers, caregivers and educators should teach children that it is normal and acceptable for boys to be nurses, counselors, or stay at home dads, and girls to be rocket scientists, presidents, and photojournalists. Children will grow up to believe that this is true, and society will have less of an impact on their decision making, because early on they have established the idea that it is okay for them to be whatever they want to be (Swafford and Anderson 70). It is also recommended that school counselors help to make girls more aware of the opportunities they have to pursue STEM careers. School counselors and teachers have an important role in helping a student choose a career path, and so they are also very important when trying to influence gender equality in the workforce (Ünal et al. 43). The societal construct will not change until the majority of society begins to teach children differently in this way.
Another proposed method of putting an end to gender inequality in the workforce includes both parents, and employers. As discussed, a contribution to discrimination against women originates from family. Women are less reliable, less willing to compete, and tend to aim for less hours than men in the workforce. The reasons for this are all due to motherhood and childcare. If there could be an equal divide between childcare duties, the discrimination would disintegrate, because now the reliability, competition, and desired hours would be the same for both mothers and fathers. There is a heavy cultural tradition still in play in employment, and it is the expectation that women are the ones to raise and care for the children. This expectation is gendered and could be changed if enough parents committed to equally divided parenting.
To conclude, there is a plethora of research and literature and personal stories contributing to how gender affects professions. Because ideas of typical gender roles are developed in early childhood at the same time children develop career ideas based on their answers to the question of “what do you want to be when you grow up,” careers become divided as masculine and feminine from the very beginning. Adolescents and adults continue this societal norm, and tend to pursue the appropriate profession, so that they are not scrutinized by society. However, the divisions between masculine and feminine jobs are not equally fair, because masculine jobs are always perceived to be more respectable in society, more important, and better paid. Feminine jobs are the opposite: based on emotions, aesthetics, and a woman’s traditional caretaking roles, and consequently do not carry the same advancement or pay opportunities. Defying gender roles as it relates to proper career choice results in mental health issues, insecurity, and low satisfaction in workplaces. There is no one-way street to resolve societal gendered expectations of men and women. As described, there are many little changes to be made to help influence more equality in the workforce, such as STEM advocation for girls, school counselors promoting non-typical gender professions, or more cooperative parenting roles between mothers and fathers. Complete change is not easy to obtain, as the societal construct of gender has been playing a main character role in the lives of all people for centuries. Granted, society has come a long way, but not quite far enough.
Works Cited
Addario, Lynsey. It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War. E-book, Penguin Press, 2015.
Arnett, Jeffery. “Human Development: A Cultural Approach.” Pearson, 2016, pp 210-222.
Atli, Abdullah. “High School Students’ Gender Role Perceptions Regarding Various Professions.” International Journal of Progressive Education, vol. 13, no. 3, 2017, pp. 6–15. EBSCOhost.
Clerkin, Cathleen. “What Women Want-And Why You Want Women-In the Workplace. Research Report.” Center for Creative Leadership, 2017. EBSCOhost.
Razack, Sherene. “Story-Telling for Social Change.” Gender & Education, vol. 5, no. 1, 1993, p. 55. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/0954025930050104.
Swafford, Marshall and Anderson, Ryan. “Addressing the Gender Gap: Women’s Perceived Barriers to Pursuing STEM Careers.” Journal of Research in Technical Careers, vol. 4, no. 1, 2020, pp. 61–74. EBSCOhost.
Thurow, Lester. “Why Women are Paid Less than Men.” New York Times, 1981, https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/08/business/why-women-are-paid-less-than-men.html?.?mc=aud_dev&adkeywords=auddevgate&gclid=CjwKCAjw_L6LBhBbEiwA4c46ursM35Je7qBa_jc35u4tybedxera8pOHhMPD_UMnOO1dEYHQQxjvRoCCSQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Ünal, Fatma, Sinem Tarhan, Eda Çürükvelioğlu Köksal. “Gender and Perception of Profession.” Journal of Education and Training Studies, vol. 6, 2018, pp. 35–44. EBSCOhost.
Wharton, Amy S., and James N. Baron. “Satisfaction? The Psychological Impact of Gender Segregation on Women at Work.” Sociological Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 3, 1991, pp. 365–387. JSTOR.