Anusha Panda

Challenges Faced by Women and Women of Color: A Critical Review

Started July 24, 2023

Abstract or project description

Challenges Faced by Women and Women of Color: A Critical Review

Gender discrimination and workplace tensions are still very prevalent in today's "equal society." Globally, women and women of color employees are facing more challenges in their day-to-day lives (e.g., harassment) that negatively affect their experiences and outcomes. Women are half of the workforce, and they hold more college degrees than men, but they remain underrepresented and underpaid at every level - with women of color(Hispanic, Latinas, Black, and Asian) struggling the most(Halaevalu & Wilma, 2009). Women of Colour have struggled through a lot of different hardships when it comes to overcoming unique challenges for equal employment benefits as their male counterparts. Despite their efforts, they still face job inequalities that their white and male counterparts often aren't even aware of(Wingfield, 2020). Even though there are more legal remedies and statutory labor welfare measures to protect women in the workplace, they still experience a multitude of sexism and gender racism daily. Issues such as career progression, pay parity, harassment, child-rearing, and work-life balance continue to have a large effect on women's success and ability to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Given that women make up a significant portion of the workforce, it is necessary to understand their experiences. By examining these topics in detail, this paper aims to shed light on these important topics and offer recommendations for improving women's workplace experience and outcomes. Gender discrimination is unfortunately still very prevalent when it comes to equal society in this day and age. Many people believe gender discrimination is mostly a thing of the past, but it still exists as an invisible barrier in one of the most prominent areas of life: The workplace. Gender inequalities stem from organizational structures, processes, and practices(Stamarski & Hing, 2015) In addition, organizational decision-makers' levels of sexism can affect gender-biased decisions in recruitment and behavior. Gender-based discrimination contributes to women's lower socio-economic status and is manifested as pay gap, limited opportunities, harassment, bias, and stereotyping.