Women in the Corporate World: Promotion and Gender Pay Gap

Women in the Corporate World: Promotion and Gender Pay Gap
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Women in the Corporate World: Promotion and Gender Pay Gap
The essence of equality and diversity is to allow everybody to achieve his or her full potential, devoid of any form of discrimination. Different types of legislation have been put in place to further this course and provide all with an equal opportunity regardless of their age, gender, race, and other defining factors. Such include the Disability Discrimination Act, the Human Rights Act, Race Relations Act, and Sex Discrimination Act. In line with these, organizations are required by law to provide equal employment opportunities to their employees regardless of the aforementioned identifying factors. In their study, Bosquet and colleagues (2019) note that equal opportunity in this regard implies treating all employees the same without discrimination based on these factors. This leaflet offers a closer look at the concepts of equality and diversity in the corporate world with a special focus on women and insight into the meaning of the two concepts.
Organizations that understand and appreciate the different characteristics and skills in their workforce can tap them for better performance, thus becoming the first choice for job seekers. Appreciating the power of diversity is essential in building a strong competitive edge. In practice, most organizations have an equal opportunity policy to protect their employees while ensuring that they are operating within existing legal requirements. It is important to note here that equality applies not only to the employer but also to the employees, and both can find themselves on the wrong side of the law if they discriminate.
Whereas existing laws and regulations provides a framework that should allow all employees access to employment and equal rewards, some employees encounter various barriers which work to their disadvantage. One such group is the women who have historically fought to get equal opportunities in the corporate world, particularly when it comes to leadership positions. In a research study on the gender pay gap, Lips (2013) identifies different reasons why women have historically remained underrepresented in the corporate world. In line with this, vertical segregation with fewer women in management positions as their peers continues to be a common trend in the corporate world. Whichever the reason, it is evident that the ratio of women getting promotion opportunities is relatively low as compared to that of men.
Today, the success of women is often discounted with society attributing factors that are outside their control. Such factors would include, among others, random chance and affirmative action. This tendency reinforces the stereotypes that portray women of color as less talented as compared with their peers. When such stereotypes go unchallenged, they often hinder women from getting due credit for their achievement and hard work. In addition, such stereotypes can equally deny organizations and opportunity to secure diverse skills from the labor market.
The principle of equality and diversity plays a crucial role in addressing barriers that may otherwise lock out women from employment opportunities despite their skills. According to Bennedsen et al. (2019), in understanding the issue of sex discrimination, it is important to look at its significance and historical trends. It is assumed that inequalities based on gender are themselves valid representations of sex discrimination. This is so, given the absence of global data on the issue of inequalities based on sex.
It is worth noting here that sex-based inequalities have historically coexisted and interacted with other types of inequalities, including but not limited to age-based inequalities and racial discrimination. Arulampalam et al. (2007) note that whereas data indicate that the rate of women participation in the labor force has continued to grow over the years, the same cannot be said of their wages. Sadly, the failure by many organizations to deal with the issue of vertical segregation has continued to widen the wage gap between male and female workers. There exist some disparities between men and women in employment, including equal pay and promotion opportunities. Equally, cases of gender-based violence have persistently made headlines in the corporate world, which calls for prompt action among employers and legislators. There are two broad types of instruments that organizations can apply to ensure gender equality.
First, normative instruments borrow their authority from the same process from which they were created. Such instruments include those established under international laws including but not limited to the international labor standards. These instruments outline the comprehensive intents of gender equality and point out barriers that organizations must address to effectively tackle gender-based inequality (Bishu and Alkadry, 2017). In the corporate world, normative instruments are mainly provided through International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions. Even though these conventions and recommendations are largely directed towards governments, they can nevertheless serve as guidelines for developing equality policies in the corporate world. In addition, some normative instruments such as the UN Guiding Principles and the ILO MNE Declaration are directly designed to be used by companies as guidelines. These instruments also reference recommendations made in other conventions regarding gender equality and diversity.
The second type of instrument that companies can use in developing equality and diversity principles is international initiatives. Almost all international initiatives recognize the role of gender equality in promoting productivity in the business world. Two good examples of international initiatives at the disposal of organizations are the equal pay international coalition (EPIC) and the women’s empowerment principles (WEPs) (ILO, 2020). EPIC is an initiative that was developed to reduce the pay gap between male and female workers. The initiative, sponsored by ILO and UN Women among other players, engages with governments, corporate stakeholders, and the private sector to establish strong steps to help close the gender pay gap and promote gender equality in the workplace. The initiative provides a framework for corporate players to express their experiences and give feedback on how gender equality in the workplace can be achieved. WEPs, on the other hand, offer a platform for mobilizing action on the part of business organizations to implement sustainable development goals, particularly those related to women empowerment and gender equality. Moreover, WEPs recognize the role and responsibility of business organizations in fostering gender equality (Bosquet et al., 2019). By attesting to these principles, an organization signals its commitment to enhancing gender equality and collaborates with multi-level stakeholders to nurture practices that encourage gender equality.
When applied in conjunction with national laws, normative instruments and international initiatives can greatly impact ensuring that women are accorded the same opportunities as their male counterparts. Despite this, the instruments and initiatives cannot fully address issues about inequality on their own. Saari (2013), in a study on gender equality, notes that legislative solutions are not in themselves sufficient for solving the issue of gender inequality in the workplace. On the other hand, there is a need for proactive action by actors in the corporate world, including private investors.
Remedying the problem of workplace gender-based inequality is essential for promoting equality and diversity. It is also important in achieving wider economic and social objectives. For example, estimates provided by ILO show that should the G20 initiative of reducing the employment gap between men and women by 25 percent come the year 2025. As a result, the average global GDP would grow by 3.9 percent. It is worth noting here that gender inequality impedes the talent pool from which organizations draw and inhibits the development of skills and new ideas, a critical determinant of economic diversification and entrepreneurship. This would result f...