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Bias against Men in the Workplace

InvisibleJim

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Discuss; how will we eradicate the scourge of gender bias from our society in a fair and equitable way to both sexes? :solidarity:

Dr Judith Rich said:
Men are the new victims of sex discrimination at work, according to a ground-breaking new study suggesting that professions once regarded as male bastions are now biased towards women.

Male applicants were up to four times as likely as women to suffer differential treatment when seeking jobs in accountancy and computer programming, according to researchers who submitted hundreds of pairs of fake CVs to employers - offering identical qualifications and experience, but alternating male and female names.

The CVs sent by the fictional 'Emma' were less likely than those from her alter ego, 'Phillip', to trigger an invitation for interview when both applied for the same job in engineering, suggesting this career was still seen predominantly as 'man's work'.

But it was 'Phillip' who lost out not only in applications for secretarial jobs - traditionally stereotyped as 'female' - but also for jobs in accountancy and computer programming.

The results present a startling picture of the modern workplace, suggesting employers may now be employing a form of stealth 'affirmative action' and actively trying to recruit more women.

They come just weeks before the government publishes the findings of its Women at Work Commission, which is expected to argue that the pay gap between men and women is partly down to the career choices that women make and their concentration in low-paid jobs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/jan/22/discriminationatwork.workandcareers
 

nolla

Senor Membrane
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Well, I have been wondering when it will happen. I mean, I wouldn't hire men myself if I was in the position to select. Women do the job just as good, and are often pretty too. Plus they smell better.
 

InvisibleJim

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Well, I have been wondering when it will happen. I mean, I wouldn't hire men myself if I was in the position to select. Women do the job just as good, and are often pretty too. Plus they smell better.

Observation: Your profile says you are an unemployed creative person.

Question: Are you an unemployed creative person because female creative persons are preferred?
 

nolla

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I don't know if they are, but it seems like most of my female friends on the same industry are employed. But, really, that doesn't tell anything, since I have some... ummm... moral... issues about the attitude of the business, so I tend to be picky as well. It is true, though, that I rarely even get an invitation to an interview... Maybe it is because I am male...?
 

Little_Sticks

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Cool, I'll add it to the mental list then.

Let's see...um.

Computer Science Field
1. Most jobs are in IT and Web Development and they all want you to know completely different skills and know it really well.
2. Languages and software constantly change and knowing an outdated language holds no value for a company utilizing a new one. So previous knowledge only allows a person to learn something a little faster, but doesn't allow them any gain in gaining employment over someone that just knows the new stuff.
3. Older people (30+) have a harder time get hired because companies can just hire the new people since previous knowledge doesn't matter as long as they can do the job and they can pay them much less.
4. Very few entry-level jobs and internships around. And the one's that are want you to be a complete pro at everything so they don't have to teach you anything.
5. Companies try to outsource everything and anything to India. You're better off getting a job in India, but you'll get paid shit.
6. Ah, and now I can add "Women are now preferred and hired more than men".

Sweet. Sounds like a fun life path.
 

Lark

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"Men are the new victims..."

The fcuk with that, sounds like men are the new whingers.
 
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We've had it coming to us. Bummer, right?

Though now you have me anxious because I've never heard or read of any women, then, present, or inbetween, climb into positions of influence that lead to their being directly responsible for mass murder.

Sweating in my pants about now, womens answering all of our phones.
 

skylights

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frustrating - women are preferred for lower-status positions than men.

it's like affirmative action... looks like it fixes things, or even like the stats are beginning to swing in the opposite direction - but it doesn't actually make/reflect true equality
:doh:

unfortunately, i think education is really the best way, if slow, to affect people. the more kids grow up thinking men and women are equally capable, the less discrimination. cause even if you wipe the bias out of organizational policy, it's damn hard to erase it from people's minds.
 

Torai

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That's an interesting point. Here's a counterargument to the James Chartrand thing. The best selling authors of all time were William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie, however, did not use a male pseudonym. The third best selling author, Barbara Cartland, did not use a male pseudonym, either. Perhaps James Chartrand's pen name sold more because it looked professional, or because the internet is male-dominated (Men are more likely to make professional blogs and possibly read them.). People tend to trust the same sex more in nature, it's pretty easy to see. Daniel Handler used the pen name "Lemony Snicket" and he sold a lot of books under that name. Stephenie Meyer(although I have a burning hatred for Twilight because of its stupidity, its idealization of abusive relationships, its belief that all women should be in the kitchen, and its use of big words just to look good) never used a pseudonym.

Gender discrimination happens both ways. Since humans are completely irrational, I don't believe this will go away easily.

I agree with the education thing, but people have to understand that boys in school need it just as much as girls do, too. Boy's grades have been sinking in recent years. The reason for this, I do not know. This will lead some people to the conclusion that boys are, in fact, inferior, which is not true. Ideally, education would be like this, but it is underfunded and incredibly flawed.

One of the ways to help discrimination is to make it so that employers aren't allowed to see your name, sex, or race on your resume. Just your qualifications. Unless you're filling out a job that is gender specific, like being a stripper. We could even make interviews digital and have an online chat setup for employers.
 

Lark

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We've had it coming to us. Bummer, right?

Though now you have me anxious because I've never heard or read of any women, then, present, or inbetween, climb into positions of influence that lead to their being directly responsible for mass murder.

Sweating in my pants about now, womens answering all of our phones.

Wait until Hillary is elected and what about Thatcher?
 
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