Sexism In The Workplace Essay

450 Words2 Pages

Sexism has improved during the past century in Western communities, but there is still so much work to do in the workplace for men and women to have equal opportunity. The issues that exist today will continue to rise unless changes are made. It may seem impossible to change something as big as discrimination, but with these following acts differences could be made. The first act would be to make people aware. This does not sound like something that could make a large impact because society normally becomes aware of these things and then ignores them, but this time it is different. People need to become aware of what they are personally experiencing. “Women might be partially unaware of the pay gaps between themselves and their male colleagues” …show more content…

The second act would be to get more maternity leave programs “50 percent of women in the private sector are not covered by the FMLA” (Linden, pg 7, 2015) The FMLA is the Family and Medical Leave act. This law covers Americans to take leaves due to family or medical reasons. Canada has the option for EI maternity or paternity leave which covers you for one year, the problem is that not everyone gets this either. With better maternity programs women could be encouraged to have more children which is not only an improvement for a family it is also an improvement for the economy. A third act would be to simply offer help within workplaces. “Providing confidential access to professional counselors or advisors who are available to staff to discuss sexist encounters, make sense of uncomfortable incidents, and talk through coping strategies.” (Thomas, pg 75, 2017) Men and women who experience discrimination in their workplace can then feel out of place and suffer from stress. One of the best things that workplaces could do would be to simply help workers to reassure their presence