Are Women Relevant in the Modern Work place

We live in a world which has experienced numerous advancements, both physical and technological over the years. There have been magnificent changes to the shaping of the worlds landscape. Significant improvements in air and sea transportation have made it possible to travel to many different countries across the globe within hours, which previously would have taken days to accomplish. This has resulted in an immense improvement in the level of education as people learn new and innovative ways of doing things. There has also been significant growth in technology, the driving force behind many advances in the economies of the world. Information technologies, combined with global trade and worldwide investments, have shifted the economic ground on which we stand. As technology develops so too must there be a development in the way that societies view the world and the relevance of working women in todays modern world. Women and men, as groups, have different working styles and also the way in which they communicate. Fig 1.1 shows the two extremes of a spectrum of workplace styles and expectations shared by women and men, but considered more typically feminine or masculine. Many women probably will see themselves, or be seen by colleagues, as possessing certain attributes described as "masculine," and some men probably will see themselves, or be seen by colleagues, as possessing certain attributes described in the table as "feminine."

Technology in many ways has played a fundamental role in shifting the paradigm where the involvement of men and women in todays workforce is concerned. With the advent of technology,

previously labour intensive functions in the workplace are transformed in lighter more manageable tasks. This has helped to create more space for the woman in todays work force, as she is now able to carry our some of the functions which were previously labeled as a mans job. Cane cutting and wheat harvesting are a couple of examples of functions which have been transformed with the help of technology. These fields are becoming more gender neutral across the world, and the evolution will continue as mankind excels in creative inventions globally.

Fig 1.1 Gender Based Perceptions in the Workplace Feminine Organizational structure participative (see colleagues as complementary) Masculine hierarchical (see colleagues as potential competition) Focus of interpersonal attention Operating style process (care about how people treat each other in carrying out work) interactional (interact to connect, arrive at understandings) Problem-solving style intuitive (trust instincts; will provide proof/explanation as necessary) outcome (care about "where they stand" in relation to others) transactional (interact to pass information and give directions) linear (based on methodical thinking; will not trust intuition until proof is presented)

Individual work style

collaborative (see work as part of a whole; discuss and review with colleagues)

independent (see work as a separate piece; complete work without the "help" of others)

Management style

supportive (seek to aid, support, facilitate, and provide comfort, meaning, and rewards)

directive (seek to test, direct, organize, and provide challenges, goals, and incentives) normal (accept a level of conflict as inevitable; view negative comments as normal part of work)

View of workrelated conflict

disruptive (seek to create harmony; view negative comments as unproductive)

As seen in the table above, women are generally more participative and will more likely and more readily observe processes and protocols. Women are more interactive and hence will foster better working relationships. Men, on the other hand tend to be more transactional and only communicate on a need to basis. Intuition and collaboration are another two of the attributes with which the feminine gender has been credited above the masculine gender. Men on the other hand were found to take a more independent approach to tasks, and so do not facilitate the workings of group dynamics. Finally, where management style is concerned, men tend to be more directive, issuing instructions, while women tend to be more supportive and better facilitators.

Buttner (2001) described female managers as using rational dimensions such as mutual empowering, collaboration, sharing of information, empathy and nurturing. It should be noted that these dimensions, which have also been associated with women in different professional occupations, were deemed to be associated with firm performance, particularly with regard to employees retention. Such attributes may even exist because of the maternal nature of women who are natural nurturers. This makes women a very resourceful choice as managers and trainers in the workplace.

All of the views and styles described as constituting the more typically feminine or masculine ends of the spectrum are equally valid and useful in a productive workplace. Increased worldwide competition and changing workforce demographics highlight this fact. Many organizations have begun to recognize the need to move away from primarily masculine structures and norms toward a more flexible definition of appropriate workplace behavior. An emphasis on teamwork and positive employee development requires that both typically feminine and typically masculine styles and expectations be valued and reinforced. This creates new opportunities for women and men to utilize and value the different strengths each brings to the workplace. The modern workplace makes heavy demands on working class people. Because of increased competition in the global marketplace companies have become much more demanding of their employees and their commitment to their assigned tasks. This kind of focus on commitment and sacrificial performance has opened up new doors for women in the working world. When compared psychographically, of the two genders, women have proven to be better able to handle long term commitment, and have historically proven to be better at multi-functioning; that is, for example, successfully balancing work, social life, and very often, family life.

In a study conducted in 2009 by Dr. Ghazala Yasmeen, Associate Professor, College of Home Economics, compared the psychographic profiles of male and female entrepreneurs. A sample size of one hundred persons (fifty males and fifty females) was taken. They were randomly selected from urban informal sector. In this study it was found that female entrepreneurs appeared to be more self-assured, and better business managers. Hence if given the conducive business environment females will play vital roles in the upliftment of national economy. See data below:

DISCUSSION The main findings of the research are as under TABLE#1: MALE AND FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS ON 16PF SCALE. Male M SD 19.7 9.88 26.58 21.00 12.72 17.48 21.16 Female M SD 6.14 2.12 10.38 13 3.68 5.28 7.75 19.6 9.10 23.64 21.18 11.78 18.72 17.08 7.12 2.55 9.08 9.05 3.51 5.35 4.02 t 0.90 1.65 1.50 -.099 1.30 -1.16 3.30 p m.s m.s m.s m.s m.s m.s .05

Reserved vs outgoing Less intelligent vs More intelligent Emotionally less stable vs Emotionally stable Humble vs Assertive Sober vs Enthusiastic Expedient vs Conscientious Shy vs Socially bold

Realistic vs Sensitive Trusting vs Hard to fool Practical vs Imaginative Socially clumsy vs Socially aware Self-assured vs Apprehensive Conservative vs Liberal Group dependent vs Self-sufficient Undisciplined vs Controlled Relaxed vs Tense

14.36 11.32 10.06 16.54 9.16 12.68 15.68 19.16 18.90

4.46 5.30 3.44 6.86 3.34 5.91 6.01 7.27 8.39

17.64 11.56 11.50 15.88 11.80 13.70 16.62 19.36 20.52

8.29 4.85 3.37 7.04 3.23 5.98 6.47 7.50 8.14

-2.46 -.236 -2.11 .475 -4.01 -.857 -.752 -.135 -.980

.05 m.s m.s m.s m.s m.s m.s m.s m.s

The table compares the scores of male entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurs on the basis of Sixteen Personality Factors. As demonstrated in the table above, Male entrepreneurs in urban informal sector are more socially bold as compared to females with threat sensitivity. This implies that women, with the less active social life, would be more focused professionals, with more energy to pursue the companys objectives. Females showed more realistic approach towards entrepreneurial life as compared to men, which by extension would make them better and more practical decision makers, which is critical to successful entrepreneurship.

The data reflects that the male entrepreneurs showed high emotional stability with one of the plausible reasons for emotional stability is the fact that male entrepreneurs experience more stress, know the art to deal with the stressful situations rather than get discouraged by setback or failure which can put them to the failure in their business. Female entrepreneurs on the other appeared to be less emotionally stable. Statistically significant differences were found among male and female entrepreneurs on factor of emotional stability. The study further revealed that gender and the

practical thinking approach towards the life were positively correlated. Females appeared to be more self-assured and tensed than male.

Overall, the findings have revealed strengths and weaknesses of both genders as business people, but has also effectively uncovered some of the reasons why women are becoming increasingly relevant in the workplace of the twenty-first century.

It is said that 60 percent of all women in the United States of America work, making up all of 47 percent of the labor force. This number varies around the globe with economic development and cultural tradition. The United States records the highest female labor force participation among high-income nations. The lowest female participation is found in Arab nations.

When we look at the performance of the genders in various industries globally, we recognize that there are certain fields in which a female worker may be a best fit over male employees. In the manufacturing industry, female workers are used for carrying out the more repetitive tasks, such as knitting, packaging, labeling to name a few, as women are less likely to get bored by the monotony and consequently distracted. The men on the other hand, as Factory workers are given the more labour intensive tasks. Also, in a case where small parts need to be assembled, it has been found that the smaller size of the female hand compared to the male hand makes a big difference in the ease of handling. This is applicable in jewelry assembly for example.

In another industry, such as the field of medicine, women are perceived to be more effective than men because of their natural instinct to act as caregivers. A male nurse therefore was some time ago inconceivable, and would have probably been viewed as effeminate. The irony is that male doctors have always been highly respected, and female doctors may have been marginalized in certain societies. Librarians were traditionally women. Teachers, especially at the early childhood level, were traditionally female, again because of the perception that they are natural caregivers. Pastors were also traditionally male, but today many female pastors, marriage officers and counselors exist; almost a paradigm shift.

Gender and Work-Background Women are faced with a number of issues in the workplace and may require different skills to be successful in the work place than their male counterparts. The causes and impact of these differences vary depending upon the size of the organization, level of management, and requisite job duties. These issues range from sexual harassment to the exclusion of women from major decision making activities. Although there has been a massive entry of women in the mid-level managerial positions, it is found that top level positions remain as elusive to women today as they were more than a decade ago. Many obstacles are encountered by women working in a male dominated world, which prevent their rise to the top of their careers. Discrimination is encountered in their lack of access to the labour market, in the disparity of wage paid to them as opposed to their male counterparts, as well as in their inability to penetrate the glass ceiling. In some cases, women are not seen as capable of doing a particular task or handling a particular project.

Women are routinely passed over when it comes to promotions. The higher the post, the less likely it is that a women (even one as qualified as or more qualified that her male colleague) will get it. Women who manage to break through this so-called glass ceiling into decision-making positions remain the exception to the rule as even in female dominated sectors where there are more women managers, a disproportionate number of men rise to the more senior positions. This is substantiated by the United Nations men admittance that after 50 years of political posturing, women are still lagging behind me in policy making posts in that world body (Thalif Deen, 1995) and that women work two-thirds of the worlds working hours and produce half of the worlds food, yet they earn only 10% of the worlds income (United Nations Human Rights Day 2009 article). The female prime minister of Trinidad, Kamla Persad- Bissessar, and Jamaicas
prime minister, The Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller, defy this statement, as the have aspired to the highest positions nationally.

Surveys have documented a significant reduction in the negative stereotyping of women, subsequent to the successes of the womens movement after the 1960s. In spite of this however, there remains a gap in which women are far more likely to experience sexual bias where promotion opportunities exist. Although stereotyping of women is in fact receding, it will be many years before the male-female perception gap narrows to a point of insignificance.

Given the leaps and bounds that have been made by women around the work, it is pointless for workplace discrimination against women to continue. There is no doubt that there has been

tremendous progress made by women across the globe as they battle for supremacy in the male decision making dominated world. A large majority of the students now enrolled in tertiary level where upper level and masters degree programmes are being pursued, will reveal that there are at leaset ten (10) women to one man. It can be argued that the benefits and rights that women have enjoyed in some parts of the world are encouraging. There are indeed several women who managed to break through the glass ceiling and have achieved excellence in their fields. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of several female Prime Ministers, Minister of Government, Presidents and Chief Executive Officers. There are also instances where the potential of women to excel have been identified and opportunities created to facilitate these accomplishments. More and more men have also accepted the face that women want to achieve and have facilitated their women in their achievements.

Despite this, however, evidence has revealed that over one half of all masters degree are now awarded to women, yet 95% of senior level managers of the top Fortune 1000 industrial and 500 service companies are men. This proves that even in todays progressive society, workplace discrimination against women remains prevalent. This is indeed a retrograde step as with the majority of higher level degrees now in the hands of women, sooner or later there will be little or no choice but to arrive at a acceptance of the fact women are as qualified and able to perform in any position that men can.

Reasons for the Growing Role of Women in the Workplace

In the earlier society, education was viewed in many countries as a masculine privilege. Countries such as Afghanistan and Iran previously disallowed the educating of women. While there are still cases like these across the globe, the world has evolved, and women in developed and developing countries compete aggressively with men in the academic arena. More and more women are becoming highly educated and highly skilled, and hence are able to make amore valuable contribution in the workplace. No longer are positions being awarded to the person with the greater physical strength, to the more intellectually capable. Improved child-care facilities provide invaluable help to working mothers. Some corporate entities go the extra mile to make provisions for the keep and care of the children of employees who have to wait on their parents while they work. The National Housing Trust is one such company who practices this locally. This allows parents to work with greater peace of knowing that the children arte in a safe environment. This is one way in which entities help to eliminate the stress of constantly trying to balance family and work. There are organizations that make available part-time jobs or flexi-working hours. This suits mothers who have small children, and employment legislation provides job security whereby women can return to their jobs after having children. Research has showed that women traditionally received less pay than men functioning at the same level. Currently the salary gap between both genders is very obvious in the United States of America. This automatically makes a female employee a good choice as an executive in a situation where the particular entity is looking for an opportunity to save on labour costs. The company may therefore seek to benefit from the same level of competence while paying less money to get the same job done equally well.

Having critically analyzed the forgone information, and having explored the emotional and psychological differences between both genders, and the relevance of the various traits to the effective functioning of organizations worldwide, while citing real life examples of the active involvement of women in the work force of the twenty first century, it becomes obvious that women are in fact relevant to the function of the modern workplace.