The Differences Between Men And Women And The Perceptions And Effects Of Bias In The Workplace
The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964, 1991) has brought this country a long way from when it was initiated. It was put into place to eliminate discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, or national origin. Organizations that effectively integrate and support workplace diversity experience many positive benefits, including improved employee retention and productivity, and increased ability to recruit the best employees). Effectively managing diversity and minimizing workplace discrimination is an important organizational concern. Despite advances in research and organizational are no policies regarding discrimination and harassment, that don’t have gaps.
Research on racial harassment and discrimination is about the experiences of black versus white employees. To have a diverse workforce it requires attention to the ways in which discrimination is directed towards ethnic minority groups. It is necessary to conceptualize discrimination based on religion as potential racial discrimination. As an example you could use the discrimination against Muslims in the United States often reflects racism against those perceived to be Arab American. In fact, in the 14 months following the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there were 705 charges of employment discrimination brought to the EEOC by Arab American men and women, regardless of their religion. Further research should be completed on the most effective way to educate employers and their teams how to deal with diversity and inclusion. Unfortunately it has yet to happen.
The research has given another meaning to bias and discrimination that pertains to women of all races and ethnicities. Throughout the years there have been so many changes that have had a positive effect on women’s rights, such as the “Me Too Movement”. Although this movement brings to light the injustice of women across the globe, it is only an addition to the bias that potentially exists in the workplace. This research will give the perceptions of females and males as it pertains to bias in the workplace and answer the question, “What are the perceptions of men and women as it pertains to bias in the workplace?”
Explanation of Bias
The most inclusive workforce can be defined as an organization committed to building a diverse culture and a work environment free of discrimination and systemic barriers. There are many types of bias that exist; implicit bias and unconscious bias are described in the studies that were reviewed. The literature suggests that bias can take many forms in the workplace and cause psychological damage to those that are subjected to this form of ignorance.
Implicit Bias
Although, bias can be towards a specific gender, it can also be towards a specific race. This study utilized two experiments to explore the effects of how news stories about African Americans and Native Americans created implicit attitudes toward these groups. The participants took the IAT Test before and after reading the news stories on the African Americans who had overcome poverty, discrimination and had achieved professional career goals. The results suggested that these stories did abate implicit bias against African Americans; the effect was weak but statistically significant. The study saw a significant difference in men versus the women as it pertained to how they viewed the bias. In the second study, participants took the IAT Test with the same style before and after reading the news stories except this was about successful Native Americans or about tragic events involving Native Americans. Both news stories detailed obstacles faced by Native Americans and the participants that were assigned to either category showed a decrease in the negative way that they were thinking versus how they viewed the African Americans. The bias was more pronounced on the women instead of the men. Empathy and intergroup contact are discussed as possible factors in decreasing implicit bias against members of minority groups.
Unconscious Bias
Everyone has unconscious attitudes that stem from their ethnic origin, gender, age, experiences, and culture. There are a lot of employees in the workplace that don’t realize that they are being biased. Research shows that even within in the recruitment process bias can become prevalent. Resumes that have regular “white” names are 50% more likely to get an interview than a candidate with a “black” name even when both candidates possess the same skillset. Lately, the concept of unconscious bias or “hidden bias” has come into the forefront of our work as diversity advocates, because the dynamics of diversity are changing as we enter the 21st Century. Bias takes place in the workplace on a lot of occasions; some people are conscious and try to respect the opinions and cultures of others and some who don’t cause bias. As a result, we have developed a “good person/bad person” paradigm of diversity: a belief that good people are not biased, but inclusive and that bad people are the biased ones. It is very easy for some people to fall into these categories when interacting with others who share their opinions.
Effects of Bias
According to COR theory, people are likely to experience psychological distress when they face actual and/or threat of resource loss. As an employee experiences rude and ignorant behavior in the workplace, it is likely they will start to change as it comes to moods and quality of work. Further, targets might allocate other resources to cope with these experiences. All these actual and/or threats of resource loss might interfere with employees’ goals of completing work and sustaining social connections, and thus lead to negative emotions. Over a working day, it is plausible that an individual who experiences more workplace incivility will have higher level of end-of-work negative affect. Workplace gossip can have a negative effect it generates social undermining and tends to hurt employees performance in the long run. The damage of the gossip is mainly aimed at the employee who is perceived as being the weakest link. This study should develop a conceptual model in which negative workplace gossip will have an influence on employees who are participating in this behavior to take part in wanting to change their views of others.
Perceptions of Bias
Studies have pointed out that women themselves are reluctant to name their experiences as gender bias or "sexism. Studies show that woman would not want to be involved in bringing to light bias. As shown in this study that was conducted by The Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University, women feared backlash if they felt that they were too visible in the workplace. Women avoided conflict for fear that they would be viewed in a different manner. The literature stated that women employed this “intentional invisibility” when they avoided conflict with colleagues, softened their assertiveness with niceness, and “got stuff done” by quietly moving things forward without drawing attention to themselves. Women wanted to avoid the backlash and attention that would come along with the revelation of bias. In a study that was conducted by The Fairygodboss that surveyed 300 U. S. fulltime working men. The purpose of the study was to find out the perspectives on how men felt about women’s workplace inclusion. The results of this study showed that while a full one-third of men think women are treated unfairly in the workplace in general, just 10 percent of respondents agree that women are treated unfairly in their workplace.
The literature showed that men felt that diversity is a cultural issue and when asked what challenges women most faced at work, men felt that work-life balance, childcare, and mentorship were why women had an overall feelings of inclusion in the workplace. Less than 25 percent of men named compensation, promotion, harassment and flexible work options were a less frequent concern by women. The research shows that some men are aware of the bias and some look bias as a cultural issue. The perceptions of both are very different.
Changing the Perceptions of Bias
Bias can have a negative effect on organizations and companies. Throughout the research it seems that participating in Diversity and Inclusion Training would be good start to help heal and repair the stigma that may exist. Research has shown that bias reduction over time is possible, by empowering participants to make changes, 30 minute training is not going to solve decades of issues and perceptions. The culture of an organization or company says a lot about that individual workplace and to invest in training that would bring about a healthy workplace for both men and women would bring the organization or company to a good place. Setting expectations and gathering feedback is a good starting point to start the changing process. Encourage your team to participate, involvement is important in a process of change this is especially important for executive leadership and management. Build awareness of the bias let employees know that this does exist and how can they take part in the change process to create a healthier work environment. Reduce the opportunities for bias to take place, by rethinking self-evaluations, formalizing mentorships, create opportunities for intergroup contacts, and widen the net when recruiting. The literature states that when Intel started requiring its managers to interview a diverse slate of candidates, they saw the percentage of new hires from underrepresented groups increase from 31. 9% to 45. 1%.
Make personnel decisions accountable and build a task force to implement the change. Dobbin found that companies who appointed “diversity managers” that asked decision-makers to explain their reasoning saw 7-18% increases in most underrepresented groups in management. Lastly, measure and experiment with any training or implementation of change, set measurable goals for your organization or company. Documenting and providing visuals for the team to watch their progress in the process by doing this you will know whether the process is working or if you need to change or add new things that may be working and not working.
The Employers Perception
The findings are consistent with the theory of statistical discrimination, which shows that employers reserve some jobs for men and others for women (Bielby, 1986). Little evidence is found that employers' practices reflect efficient and rational responses to sex differences in skills and turnover costs.
Method
The method selected to conduct this research will be Qualitative. This is so the readers can assess the research study. Qualitative Research is considered to be problem centered. This type of research usually uses a narrative style. This research will be conducted with structured interviews. Implementation of Change Change is not easy, there will be some resistance and some will not understand why change is good. A typical managerial response to this diversity has been to implement diversity training. Diversity training was seen to have a positive effect on the perceptions of bias and how the management practices should be developed. The study found that those who attended the workshop did rate management practices related to diversity as more important and did perceive themselves as engaging in such practices more than did a control group.
Summary
A significant body of research shows that for women, the subtle gender bias that persists in organizations and in society disrupts the learning cycle at the heart of becoming a leader. Unfortunately, leaders of workplaces have not progressed in this matter. The information explored within this literature review, the issue of gender inequality and bias still exists and the barriers remain the same for women who are trying to consistently break the “glass ceiling that remains sealed. There seems to be no end to this unfortunate bias, due to the inability of companies, organizations and government offices not wanting to change their mindset.
