JOHN MICHAEL ARCA
Divine
Word College of Laoag
ABSTRACT
Even though you might be familiar
with the term "discrimination," do you fully understand what it
entails? And are you aware of how it relates to your line of work?
Making unwarranted disparities
between individuals based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which
they formally or implicitly belong is known as discrimination. People may be
treated unfairly on account of their color, gender, age, religion, sexual
orientation, or any other category.
Moreover.
To treat someone differently or less favorably for some reason is to
"discriminate" against them. Discrimination might happen at work, at
school, or in a public setting like a mall or subway station. You may face
discrimination from coworkers, supervisors, instructors, coaches, business
owners, even pals from school.
The
major goal of this paper is to explain why our society is weaker due to a lack
of variety that is perpetuated by discrimination. To do this, we must diversify
higher education to produce better citizens and create a livelier, affluent
society that benefits everyone.
Keywords: discrimination, gender, race, age
INTRODUCTION
In
today's world, discrimination is a fact of life. It can occur at any level,
anytime, and anywhere. The office is no different. Employers must understand
how to stop discrimination in their workplaces, though, as it seems to happen
increasingly frequently.
Workplace
discrimination entails showing partiality for certain applicant and employee
groups and treating them unfairly. It may result from erroneous perceptions
that one is superior to the other due to differences in appearance, beliefs, or
state of mind and body.
Examining
applicants' credentials as part of the hiring process will help you locate the
best candidate for the position. However, are your selection criteria based on
what they can actually offer and how they can perform the job?
The
need to fight prejudice is important for social, economic, and humanitarian
grounds because labor is a clear necessity for survival. People's lives are
significant because they depend on their jobs as their main source of money;
otherwise, they would lose their feeling of self-worth (Collins, 2003).
Stigma
and discrimination are significant obstacles to employment reintegration in
various nations and cultures (Brouwers, et al., 2016). Therefore,
discriminating against someone entails depriving them of their full
participation in the workforce, including by refusing to hire them, assigning
them to particular occupational categories, lowering their salary, refusing to
promote them, and so forth. All of these things are done because of traits or
grounds that someone may have, such as gender, race, color, or age, which are
typically unrelated to skills and job performance.
In
addition, discrimination is defined by the International Labor Organization
[ILO] (2007) as "a differential and less favorable treatment of certain
individuals" due to attributes including sex, color, and religion,
"independent of their capacity to satisfy the criteria of the job."
When describing discrimination, Willey (2012) questioned if a candidate was
chosen based on legal or illegal criteria (such as experience, abilities, and qualifications)
(like gender, pregnant women or disabled person). Whether or not an act of
selection (treatment) is discriminatory relies on the criteria used to make the
choice. When an employer chooses a candidate or makes a judgment based on a
factor unrelated to the job, that behavior constitutes employment
discrimination and is unfair treatment.
When
people are denied their equal rights—a privilege based on human
rights—discrimination has the opposite effect. The majority of state constitutions
now include the principle of equality, reflecting the decades-long unanimity of
the international community to advance it.
Literature Review on Discrimination
Differentiating
and treating certain persons more favorably than others is discrimination. It
is connected to injustice and bias when making judgments or treating
individuals based on their demographic characteristics. Disparate impact and
disparate treatment are the two types of discrimination for which a business
may be held liable (Riesch & Kleiner, 2005). Disparate impact occurs when a
company's policies and procedures are discriminatory (Kapur & Kleiner,
2000). Disparate treatment occurs when an individual is subjected to
discrimination because the employer dislikes his or her age, gender, color,
etc.For instance, flight attendants are required to fall within a specified
range of weight, height, and age. Researchers Ratsamy Phomphakdy and Brian H.
Kleiner (199) looked into how to get rid of discrimination in the workplace. This
study described workplace prejudice by employing criteria for hiring, firing,
giving increases and bonuses, promoting, and delegating employees, such as
race, age, gender, and cultural background. Similar findings have been made by
other academics about the discriminatory nature of preferential treatment of
employees based on their age, ethnicity, religion, and gender (Supateera &
Kleiner, 1999).
A study was done on the issue
of religious discrimination in the workplace, especially for Muslim women who
choose to wear headscarves in the USA. The study revealed that although though
Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, unfriendly discrimination
against women who wear headscarves has occurred in the job. In addition, Muslim
Americans allegedly experienced the greatest levels of discrimination as a
result of the connection between their religion and the extreme terrorism that
the nation had to endure. Bullying also encompasses forms of prejudice, such as
name-calling, avoiding eye contact, declining to serve, engaging in acts of
intimidation, and staring. (Reeves, McKinney, & Azam, 2012). These
attitudes have a psychological impact on the victims, which can lead to job
dissatisfaction and eventually have an impact on the victims' self-esteem. Following
the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there was a significant increase in bigotry towards
Muslims. According to the research, the majority of businesses refused to hire
any Muslims, and those who were hired experienced bullying and mental torture
(Schulze & Kleiner, 1999).
Another
study on gender discrimination in Greece revealed that while men are more
likely to be promoted, women are employed in greater numbers but are often kept
in contingent roles like lower managerial levels. Men with higher promotions
than women are equally qualified. The research found that employees'
perceptions regarding their own gender were a major factor in gender
discrimination. This demonstrates how supervisors discriminate against women
when assigning work (Mihail, 2006). Due to their gender, male employees have a
larger likelihood of promotion than female employees. (Quak & Kleiner,
2001)
According
to Booysen & Nkomo (2010), the political and historical context of South
Africa is largely to blame for the prevalence of racial and gender inequality
in the nation. While a majority of black men and white men concur that men
should hold managerial positions, black women strongly disagree. This
demonstrates that managers' tendency to discriminate when assigning work is a
result of two major societal constructs: race and gender.
A
study on age discrimination revealed that it is typical to link older workers
or aged employees with technical illiteracy, a lack of aptitude for learning
and understanding new skills, the difficulty of breaking old habits, and a lack
of the energy and adaptability needed for the workplace. Age discrimination
takes many different forms (Osborn & Kleiner, 2005). For instance, a clear
illustration would be when a young, inexperienced employee is given low-profile
chores like photocopying documents and running other errands while the senior
employee receives a higher position. (Ozcan, Ozkara, & Kizildag, 2011)
Discrimination against younger employees can also be seen when older workers
receive promotions over the younger ones due to their seniority (Xia &
Kleiner, 2001). This discrimination can also be seen in a more subtle way when
a senior employee who is close to retirement is moved into a smaller office
space. Younger workers argue that they are underpaid despite having comparable
qualifications. There have been instances where workers have accused businesses
of age discrimination after not receiving company benefits owing to their age
(Shah & Kleiner, 2005).
According
to data from earlier studies, there are many negative effects of discrimination
at work, but it is unclear what causes these effects or how much of it is the
fault of the managers in charge. This study examines the managers' demographic
traits, which define them and may have an impact on how they behave while
assigning duties to staff members.
Different Forms of
Discrimination
Race
Previous
studies have found that race is one human difference that has consistently been
found to be the root of the majority of cases of discrimination. (Tisserant,
Wagner, & Barth, 2012). In the study of South Africa, it was
found that black and white men and women have been treated unequally over the
years due to the history of the country. Managers who have employees that share
the same race as them tend to get better treatment than the rest. This shows
partiality (Dhesi, 1998). A study conducted in USA shows that Hispanic
ethnicity is discriminated against on the average of one out of every five
times they apply for a job. The same research shows that Hispanics face barrier
to promotions as well. In the same way, Asian companies were sued by workers for
favoring white men over Asian during downsizing (Dong & Kleiner, 1999), the
case showed that promotion for middle and upper level management positions was
given to whites who had less experience and qualifications than the Hispanics.
Mexican-Americans are another race which has been in America for some time yet
they still experience discrimination. They received some assistance in this
area from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, but employment
discrimination is still a problem today. (Nguyen & Kleiner, 2000)
Gender
In
most nations, gender discrimination is widespread. It is one of the reasons
that equality is still a problem in places like Saudi Arabia and Yemen
(Marshall, 2007). Stereotypes and gender prejudice often go hand in hand. According
to previous research studies, this type of prejudice was present in the
majority of workplaces from South Africa to Greece and the United States (Huang
& Kleiner, 2000). The battle for equality and the ego-centric conflict
between men and women have not yet been resolved.(Chan & Kleiner,
2000) Given that women are the ones who become pregnant, pregnancy
discrimination falls under the category of gender discrimination (Chester &
Kleiner, 2001). It can be claimed that in most nations this constitutes
discrimination based on a person's marital status because it is anticipated
that a married woman will be able to conceive. This is viewed as gender
discrimination in western and European nations where it is common for unmarried
women to become pregnant. (Middlemiss & Downie, 2009) Several research on
workplace discrimination have found that gender discrimination is one of the
most prevalent types of inequality (Kuta & Kleiner, 2001)
Age
When an employee's talents and
qualifications are disregarded because of their age or seniority, this is known
as age discrimination. (Peng & Kleiner, 1999) This is typical in
Malaysian businesses where an employee's remuneration is determined solely by
seniority. (Topper, 2009) Young workers with good qualifications must
nevertheless complete their terms of service before they can be promoted or
paid more. According to a study of American workers, older workers are more
frequently the targets of intentional age discrimination. As a result, older
workers feel more excluded and unwelcome at work than younger workers. The
group has the power to eradicate age discrimination. (James, McKechnie,
Swanberg, & Besen, 2013). Age is simply a number, so it shouldn't be used
against an employee, and supervisors should be educated and taught in this (G,
Shen, & Kleiner, 2001). Age discrimination is also impacted by governmental
policies and laws (Kleiner & Shah, 2005)
How You Can Stop
Discrimination in the Workplace
The initiation of the effective
elimination of bias and discrimination at work can be achieved through ongoing
education and training opportunities. Create a safe environment with planned
learning routes for all employees and make sure everyone is aware of proper
behavior in the workplace.
Here are some strategies for preventing
discrimination at work
Create a written policy that outlines
the steps and regulations
The anti-discrimination rules of companies
might differ greatly depending on their culture and nature, but it's necessary
to emphasize that employees have a right to work in a setting where their
knowledge, skills, and abilities are the most crucial components of their
success.
Inform all of your employees
about prejudice
It's crucial to make sure that
every employee is aware of potential workplace discrimination issues, is
familiar with your policies and processes, and knows how to report an
allegation. Supervisors and managers should receive specialized training
because they are your first line of defense against workplace discrimination.
Additionally, you ought to make an effort to let staff members know that
discrimination may result in legal action.
Think about many possibilities
for communication channels
Providing efficient and open
channels of contact is a crucial component of the complaint process. Having
more than one way for staff members to report prejudice is ideal since it will
prevent supervisors from hiding problems from HR and top management. For an
employee to be able to file a complaint, formal channels of communication such
an intranet, emails, letters, or face-to-face meetings are essential. Some
organizations even let anonymous reports to be submitted in order to launch an
investigation.
Implement a program to prevent
retaliation
Retaliation is the most prevalent
claim of employment discrimination, and it's also the one that's hardest for a
corporation to refute. One of the trends in human resources is this. It is
typical for an initial allegation of discrimination (other than retaliation) to
fall short of proving a legal violation, while an additional retaliation charge
will usually lead to a discrimination finding.
Engage in team-building
exercises
To promote improved communication
and understanding among your staff, perform team-building activities in
addition to training sessions that take place in a meeting setting. This is a
fantastic chance to promote inclusion and diversity because there are lots of
activities that can do so, such a potluck where everyone is asked to bring a
food from their culture.
Focus groups
Employee focus groups, which are
frequently used to raise employee engagement, involve participants in a
facilitated conversation on a certain issue. They provide you an additional
chance to express how much you respect employee input and are dedicated to making
things better. These conversations can also assist managers in proactively
identifying workplace pressures, conflict frequency, and employee morale
issues.
Provide managers and
supervisors with a soft skills training
We need to remember that employees
might experience discrimination from their coworkers. When discussing
discrimination, one may quickly think of situations when a person was denied a
job or a promotion for unfair grounds or treated unequally by their direct
supervisor or manager. This frequently includes harassment and bullying. Your
managerial staff should be adequately qualified to handle these concerns in a
timely and efficient manner rather than instantly involving HR. Continuous soft
skills training can greatly enhance their interactions with subordinates and
prevent issues like this from developing into a complaint of discrimination.
CONCLUSION
Discrimination in the workplace is
wrong and hurts both the person and the business. Both the employee and the
employer may experience mental and emotional stress as a result of the
situation. Employer and employee might both enjoy a great working environment
and experience without workplace discrimination.
All accusations of discrimination
should be addressed swiftly and effectively, as this serves the interests of
both the employer and the employee. When prejudice is tolerated, it lowers
employee morale, increases stress, harms professional reputations, increases
absenteeism, and leaves customers and employees unhappy.
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