Women play a vital role in social, economic and political development. Women have achieved great success in terms of economic development and achieving women’s status in all aspects of life. Women have successfully taken up leadership roles, management roles and significant roles in other fields where they performed exceptionally. Despite this success, the United States exhibits intense economic and employment discrimination. In January 2019, women marched in the streets of New York where they issued an article titled “The Long-Standing Issue of Gender Discrimination in the United States Hinders Women’s Rights”. Sexual discrimination is a big issue in the United States; women account for only 46% of the total US labour force. Women are segregated in various jobs; for instance, more high-prestige and high-tech jobs are occupied by 90% men in the United States. Women are mainly employed in a limited number of sectors, for example, secretarial jobs and retail positions.
This employment inequality directly relates to gender in the sense that women are discriminated in jobs than men. Companies in the United States absorb more male workers than women, men hold top positions, and there is evident discrimination based on gender in employment. This is a social justice issue that has affected many women, not only in the United States but across the globe. It is essential to give women and men equal employment opportunities; women have skills and qualities to take any position; thus, they should not be discriminated. Besides, discriminating one gender affects the economy in a way that the economy will have less productive people; women are almost equal to men in terms of population, sidelining one gender completely is like cutting off 50% of the skilled workforce from the job market, and this will have severe economic implication.
On the other hand, employment discrimination creates social classes that lead to discrimination. With sexual discrimination in employment, women are likely to be in the lower social classes; growth will not be distributed equally; thus, social classes will emerge. Social classes are a social justice issue that can lead to discrimination and poverty.
It is good to empower women. Dealing with sexual discrimination in employment will not only help the female gender but the economy at large. Equal employment opportunity will help in reducing the potential barriers that prevent women from entering or progressing in the economic world; this is a fundamental element for diversity thrives. Women have talents; they are professionals and experts in various fields. Therefore giving women a chance or equal opportunities like men improves the chances of finding the right talents in every sector. This will improve productivity, efficiency and spark economic growth.
To address the issue of employment discrimination, the government and relevant stakeholders must provide an enabling environment that nature and mutual support growth for men and women. This goes back to educating and training. Men and women should be given equal academic opportunities to pursue education and get qualifications like men. Secondly, the government should outline laws and policies that carter for equal employment for men and women. In this sense, each sectors or rather, each employer must follow a strict code of employment that strictly follows equality policies. Finally, unions should be formed to protect employee rights, monitor employment and ensure men and woman have equal employment chances in the organization.