For over the past centuries, there has been gender discriminations and inequalities

between men and women. Women were not allowed to have education in their lives but were
forced to become nothing but housewives. Women has always been depicted as stay-at-home
wives who do chores, take care of kids and husbands, and cook for their families. Men were
always seen as a provider, protector for a family and they were perceived superior to women in
all aspects. However, gender inequalities have been changed and evolved in the past decades.
Although the gap has been narrowed down in 21st centuries, women are still fighting for gender
equality, especially in the workplace. Gender differences in the workplace typically stem from
social, physical and emotional factors, which influence the behaviors of men and women.
Differences may also stem from gender stereotypes related to men and women. Stereotypical
traits such as empathy for women and aggressiveness to men play a huge factor in gender
inequalities in the workplace. The existence and perspective of gender characteristics and
inequalities play an influential role in the work place.
When we think about gender inequalities, we also have to consider the societys
perspective on the role of men and women in the workplace, household, marriage or even in
religions. There are many diversities of cultural differences, religions, ethnics, races, countries
where the value of gender can vary. I came from a country named Myanmar where majority of
people are Buddhists. According to our beliefs in Buddhism, there are certain places as known as
holy places in pagodas where only men are allowed to pray and worship. Women are not only
allowed to put a step on those restricted areas but also always placed behind men in praying or
worshipping area. Other major religions such as Islam and Christianity are believed to have a
similar belief. Although this belief does not mean to degrade women in any ways, it definitely

has an effect in the workplace. Womens roles in work area are viewed as not important and
significant as mens roles according to the religious beliefs that we live by. Therefore, the salary
or promotion for women can be affected as a result because society does not value womens
duties equally as mens at work.
According to Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former United States government official, women
must learn to act as man to be successful in their respective careers. Men tend to show
aggressiveness in negotiating business terms and agreements whereas women tend to show
flexibility and contentment in negotiating the terms and agreements. Women must force
themselves to be assertive as necessary to be able to compete with men at work. Anne-Marie
Slaughter also argued that successful women find it difficult to balance work and raising their
children. The requirement in many high paying jobs is to put in long hours and neglect mundane
aspects of daily life such as cooking, grocery shopping, picking up the kids, etc. Women
generally put more hours in those household activities than men in marriages. Therefore, the
demand of many prestigious jobs put women into disadvantages in the workplace. The higher
women attempt to climb up the ranks, the more women fail to maintain the balance between
work and their daily lives. In fact, it is quite unrealistic to expect gender equality if workplaces
demand that women would perform as equally as men would do.
However, gender roles in our society have changed over the past decades. Many women
have entered the workforce and have risen in the ranks, and there are also an increasing number
of men who choose to stay home with the kids, raise the kids and do household activities. Men
and women can be just as different in the professional world as they can be in their personal
lives. Having gender differences and more women in the workplace can be beneficial to
business. In 2005, a study conducted by New York Research Group Catalyst found that women

leaders are typically judged as supportive and rewarding. In another study conducted by Caliper,
a professional services consulting company, women demonstrated higher levels of compassion
and team-building skills. Women were raised to be supportive, kind and caring, compassionate
where as men were raised to be tough, aggressive, alpha, etc. These mentioned behaviors of men
and women play a huge factor in workplace. Therefore, having more women in the leadership
can advantage the business in some ways because of the traits that women have.
The more we talk about gender issues and inequalities, the more we have gender issues at
workplace. Rather than telling women to be more confident and ambitious and telling men to
become stay-at-home husbands, it is more important for the workplaces to treat an individual
equally and to adapt to a whole person rather than man and woman. Everyone can have a better
balance between working and spending time with their family, friends, and their communities if
workplaces stop labelling

Work Cited
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. They Say/ I Say The Moves That Matter
in Academic Writing With Readings: Whats Gender Got To Do With It?. New York: W.
W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014. Print.
Gannon, Drew. How Men and Women Differ in the Workplace thefiscaltimes.com, 25 May
2012. Web. 28 April 2016.
Gender Equality in Workplace Could Add Trillions to US Economy bbc.com, 7 April 2016.
Web. 28 April 2016.
Turner, Caroline. Women in the Workplace 2015: Is Gender Bias Part of Story?.
Huffingtonpost.com, 10 July 2015. Web. 28 April 2016.

jobs as mens jobs and womens jobs.