Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Balancing work and personal responsibilities can be a challenge. Particularly for parents of young children, this can be a real challenge.

Historically, much of the responsibility for home and child care has fallen on women, making it more difficult for women to move up in the workplace.

For this Final Paper, you will analyze the obstacles facing women in the workplace, investigate workplace policies that either help or hinder women in the workplace, and compare the workplace policies in the U.S. to another country.

There are three main points for this paper that you will need to address.

Part 1: Gender Inequality in the Workplace

Analyze the obstacles facing women in the workplace.

Describe how sexism, discrimination, and family responsibilities can lead to gender inequalities in the workplace.

How do the home and childcare responsibilities of women harm them in the workplace? Is this the same for men/fathers? Why or why not?

Explain at least two ways that we can measure gender inequality in the workplace. Be sure to support your claims with scholarly sources.

Part 2: Workplace Policies

Investigate workplace policies that either help or hinder women in the workplace.

Describe how workplace policies or benefits could potentially support employees to balance their work and family responsibilities/needs (e.g., flextime, telecommuting, job sharing, part-time work, childcare, parental leave, etc.).

What is the particular impact of these policies on women? In other words, how could these policies help support women (particularly mothers) enter the workplace and compete equally with men?

Part 3: International Comparison

Compare the workplace policies in the U.S. to another country.

Examine and describe workplace policies in Sweden, Germany, France, the U.K., Cuba, Chile, or Argentina. If you search for "family friendly workplace policies" in your country of choice you will find a substantial amount of information. Be sure that you use only reputable scholarly and government sources.

Compare and contrast these policies with policies and practices in the United States. What do the policies in each country say about gender stratification and gender inequality in that society? Do any of the findings surprise you?

The paper

Must be eight (8) to ten (10) double-spaced pages in length (excluding title and reference pages), and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center .

Must include a title page  with the following:

Title of paper

Student's name

Course name and number

Instructor's name

Date submitted

Must begin with an introductory paragraph  that has a succinct thesis statement.

Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.

Must end with a conclusion  that reaffirms your thesis.

Must use at least five scholarly sources, including a minimum of three from the Ashford University Library.

The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesPreview the documentView in a new window table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment

Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. For more information please review the In-Text Citation Guide and the APA References List.

Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Please review the APA Essay Checklist for Students  to ensure you have all of the required components for your Final Paper.