Gender Influences at Work : Solution Essay

• Review Chapter 12 in the course text, Gender: Psychological Perspectives. Focus on the gender-related differences and similarities in issues related to career selection, career success, and the work environment.
• Review the articles, “The Compassionate Sexist? How Benevolent Sexism Promotes and Undermines Gender Equality in the Workplace,” and “Gender Inequalities in the Workplace: The Effects of Organizational Structures, Processes, Practices, and Decision Makers’ Sexism.”
• Think about one specific career path, such as architecture, engineering, science, nursing, business management, etc. Conduct research on the current gender-related statistics for the career path you have selected.
• Consider the following questions, using the Week 6 Optional Resources or other resources of your choosing:
  • What is the workplace like, and how might workplace conditions, requirements, and/or environmental factors influence or be influenced by each gender?
  • Is the field typically a male- or female-dominated one? Why?
  • Is there a salary difference between the genders?
• Think about the following questions:
  • How and why might boys and girls be directed differently to the career path you selected and researched?
  • What challenges might each gender face in getting a job in this area?
  • Once individuals enter this career, how might men and women be treated differently and how might they behave differently? What are the unique challenges each gender must address in order to succeed in this area?

The assignment (3–5 pages):

• Select a career path (e.g., architecture, engineering, nursing, business management, etc.).
• Analyze the impact that gender has in:
  • The career choice itself, including gender stereotyping within that career
  • Other factors that might influence career choice, obstacles to entering the career, and factors that impact career success
  • The work setting within that career, including factors that might lead to discrimination, communication differences that impact workplace success, issues related to power, and rates of sexual harassment