The world of working women

Samantha Neff

November 3, 2022

Despite the progress achieved by women in promoting gender parity in the workplace, disparities still exist. Women continue to be underrepresented in the highest leadership roles in business, earn less and get promoted less frequently.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women in business continue to endure the negative effects of gender bias, such as lower pay. In 2020, women's yearly earnings were less than 83% of men's, with a more significant pay gap for women of color.

Studies done by Medical News Today found that discrimination is connected to signs of mental illness. People who experience sexism are also more likely to experience trauma, chronic stress and other risk factors for mental illness.

Associate banker at Chase Bank Rehani Ruwanpura expressed how she has noticed over time that her male co-workers have had an easier time with their managers.

"My managers put my male co-workers higher up than women, like when we make a mistake, it's kind of like the end of the world to them," Ruwanpura said. "It requires a meeting, it requires a scolding, it requires them telling us why it's wrong, but then when a man does it, it's just like, 'Oh don't do that,’ it doesn't require much."

As an employee who interacts with customers frequently, Ruwanpura experienced people who would get frustrated or upset easily with her compared to her male co-workers, who she felt were constantly let off the hook. 

Ruwanpura reflected on how her experience of work discrimination has made her feel bad about herself and affects her overall productivity. 

"If I just am getting scolded when I make a small tiny mistake, I feel like that kind of goes into my performance and the job," Ruwanpura said. "I feel like I'm not doing that good enough even though I am doing pretty good."

Although her male co-workers are always respectful towards her, they receive far better treatment based on how much money they make. 

"I do notice that the men that make more money, like bankers, the more money they make, the more lenient they are, the more friendlier my manager is to them," said Ruwanpura. 

Women earn less than men in nearly every occupation, according to Economic Policy Institute. Asian and white women at the median experience the most significant gaps relative to Asian and white men. This is mainly because Asian and white men make much more than Black or Hispanic men. 

Relative to white non-Hispanic men, Black and Hispanic women workers are paid only 65 cents and 58 cents on the dollar, compared with 81 cents for white non-Hispanic women workers and 90 cents for Asian women.

Front desk associate at Crunch Fitness Kennedy Kamrad shared her frustration with men being prioritized in the workspace. 

"I think it's ridiculous that a man gets paid more just because of genitalia, they're both doing the same exact job and they have the same exact title and position, there should be no difference in pay," Kamrad said.   

Kamrad has worked multiple jobs while receiving her education from CSUN, but she noticed the most work discrimination at her front desk job. She shares that, for the most part, they would only let her answer phones and do paperwork. 

"I was treated differently when clients would come in to sign-up for memberships or get personal training," Kamrad said. "They would instantly just give it to any of the guys that I was working with."

Not only do women typically earn less than men, but they also need to spend far more than males for comparable goods and services. The pink tax is what makes razors, hair products and undergarments for women frequently more expensive than they are for men. 

According to Congress’s Joint Economic Committee, there is ample evidence of significant pricing discrepancies for nearly identical products, despite claims by manufacturers and retailers that the price difference results from increased costs for making women's products or offering services to women. 

Kamrad shared that, along with her other responsibilities, she struggles to see why she would have to pay more for the goods and services she needs. 

"I think [the] pink tax is a horrible thing, we have to pay more just to buy feminine products," Kamrad said. "Most women in America are the ones that end up having to support and pay for their children while a lot of men are absent in their children's lives and they don't have to pay as much, so women have to support not only themselves but their entire family for the most part."

Western Bagel associate Jordan Miller said that she has experienced her fair share of work discrimination regarding better advantages for her male co-workers. 

She reflects on how many times she beat up on herself because she thought she was doing her job wrong due to her male co-workers getting more praise from higher-ups in the company.

"Especially right when I was first starting out at Western Bagel, I felt like when I would make a mistake, it was seen as a bigger deal than when my male co-workers would," Miller said. 

She remembers feeling some form of gaslighting concerning how well she performed, even after working there for months. It was clear to Miller that her managers did not trust her with most tasks, although she had undergone the same training as her co-workers. 

"I noticed that I would be doing things right but managers would come to take over and finish what I had started when I wasn't doing anything wrong, they just felt like they could do it better," Miller said.

Hive from the World Economic Forum claims that women work 10% harder in today's offices than men. Both men and women finish roughly 66% of the work. Today, however, women are given 10% more work than males, and the fact that they do it at the same rate suggests that they are working harder.

Miller shares her feelings about working harder as a woman to get the same benefits as her male co-workers. 

"I definitely get very angry when I think about the wage gap, women have to work so much harder than men do to get the same amount of respect as they do, and we usually don't even get the same amount of respect for working 10 times harder," Miller said. 

Dental office receptionist Jenna Weissman spends most of her time dealing with frustrated clients and condescending co-workers. She has been working with the same individuals for almost four years but still recognizes that she is treated differently by her boss.

According to Weissman, things have always been easier for male co-workers in her setting, including dealing with frustrated or rude clients.

"They would get angrier and angrier with me, but when my male co-workers would deal with an upset customer, they could be rude, loud, and stern with them, and it would work," Weissman said. "The customers would not escalate as much as they would with me." 

Weissman has noticed over time that getting some praise at work usually involves one of her bosses placing their hand on her shoulder or back. 

Although she does not consider these physical acts harassment at work, Weissman acknowledges that other men would not be patting her on the back if she were a man. 

According to a 2018 survey by Stop Street Harassment, alarmingly 81% of women and 43% of men had experienced harassment in their lifetime. 38% of the 996 women respondents reported experiencing job harassment. 

Certain behaviors in her work environment have led Weissman to believe that speaking up about feeling uncomfortable around her co-workers will only cause her more trouble in life. 

"I feel very uncomfortable when I get that feeling in my gut that people are treating me differently, and I know that if I said something, it wouldn't change anything," Weissman said. "I've been through this kind of feeling before, I've been through this situation before, and I've seen women speak up and say things, and nothing changes."

The fear of her reputation if she called out her supervisors for condescending acts and words keeps Weissman from sticking up for herself.

A study by Penn State also found that male supervisors' actions may perpetuate a discriminating cycle. Male managers' patronizing actions cause gender inequalities in performance. Performance disparities between the sexes may, in turn, confirm stereotypes about women's inferior talents and justify future discrimination.

Weissman shared that she notices how men constantly stick together and always take each other's side, which ultimately scares her.

"When you think about speaking up, your brain immediately tries to protect you and say, 'No, that's not what happened' or 'Maybe it's not like that because they did it for this reason or this reason,’" Weissman said. "It feels like there's no winning."