Women and their Impact on the Work Place

Initially, the first women entering the workplace did so out of desire. In a post feminist, post-civil right era and spurred on by higher levels of education. Women saw jobs and careers as rights that had previously been denied to them. Women were tired of just being "Big Johns Wife" or "Little Johnny's mommy". They wanted to be known the way men have always identified themselves by their jobs, their careers, and the level of success to which they had risen. Status, not salary, was the prime mover of the first wave of women to assault the previously all male worlds of medicine, and the corporate citadel . 1975 The second wave of women entering the job market was motivated less by desire and more by necessity and the need to earn money. Everything cost more now and the amenities of middle class existence can no longer be maintained on a single income. With the rising cost of houses, cars, college, private schools. The economic facts are clear, women must work. Now is the time for women's equality from Congress to all other government and corporate decision-making levels. With men, we get rhetoric, more problems and no answers, but lots of excuses. In the political arena women are making strides throughout America. Although women elected to positions of prominence do not always take pro-women positions, their presence makes a difference. The transnational company that works within government structures and agencies is in an ideal position to use its home country experience working with women managers, and executives to positively reinforce the role of women in government in those jurisdictions where the company has subsidiary operations. Although there are many examples of the growing numbers of women in Americas government, Most recently it was announced that in Peru, Martha Chavez will serve as South America's first female president of congress, and in addition to this term in Peru, there are13 women in congress, several women ministers, a woman attorney general, and all three of the Congressional Steering Committee members are women. (Mandel-Campbell, p. 13A).

Unfortunately, today, women are still paid less than men are, even when they do similar work and have similar education, skills and experience.

Functional theory helps to explain why there is discrimination of women in the workplace and why it has lasted as long as it has. According to functional theory, society is based on stability and the cooperation of its parts to maintain that stability. Because of the longstanding tradition of women staying home while their husbands go to work, women fell into the roll in society of the domesticated housekeeper. Functional Theory states that society tends to maintain its equilibrium and that any change disrupts this equilibrium. Therefore, women joining the workforce have met a lot of resistance, and society has to make changes elsewhere - for instance recognizing the equality of women in the workforce - to compensate for these changes in order to reach equilibrium again.

Another viewpoint is conflict ...