Open Access
Subscription Access
Open Access
Subscription Access
Gender Identity and Gender Discrimination Among Female Employees in India
Subscribe/Renew Journal
Gender discrimination is an unspoken reality for Indian women and it extends to the workplace. It limits the true potential of the female workforce and the growth of the nation, besides adversely affecting women’s health and engagement at the workplace. The study emphasizes the need to understand and dismantle gender discrimination as there is a strong economic and welfare rationale for doing so. Gender is viewed from a social identity perspective and thus, the role of gender identity in the perception of gender discrimination at work is examined for 65 female employees at work. Significant correlations were observed between three out of four dimensions of gender identity and gender discrimination. Multiple regression results indicated that the four dimensions of gender identity together explain 41% variance in the perception of gender discrimination. The model reflected a good fit and can be expected to generalize the findings well on the population. The study highlights the importance of gender identity in the perception of gender discrimination at work and shows that various dimensions of gender identity can impact gender discrimination differently. Managerial implications of the same are also discussed and development of gender and identity related interventions is advised to tackle gender discrimination in a positive way at the workplace.
Keywords
Gender, Gender Identity, Gender Discrimination, Social Identity, Organizational Behaviour.
Subscription
Login to verify subscription
User
Font Size
Information
- Alavi, S. (2013). A historical analysis of women development in India. International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Research, 1, 111-116.
- Basu, J. (2010). Development of the Indian gender role identity scale (IGRIS): Psychometric properties and application. Journal of Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 36, 25-34.
- Basu, J., Dasgupta, S., Chakraborty, U., & Basu, S. (2012). Variants of the Indian Gender Role Identity Scale (IGRIS) for different age groups in Bengali population. Journal of the Indian Acadamy of Applied Psychology, 38(2), 305-310.
- Batra, R., & Reio Jr., G. T. (2016). Gender inequality issues in India. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 18(1), 88-101. doi: 10.1177/1523422316630651
- Cleveland, J. N., Vescio, T., & Barnes-Farrell, J. (2005). Gender discrimination in organizations. In R. Dipboye and A. Colella (Eds.), Discrimination at work: The psychological and organizational bases (pp 149-176). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Eliezer, D., Major, B., & Mendes, W. B. (2010). The costs of caring: Gender identification increases threat following exposure to sexism. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(1), 159-165.
- Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics: And sex and drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll. (4th ed.). London, UK: Sage Publications.
- Foley, S., Hang-Yue, N., & Wong, A. (2005). Perceptions of discrimination and justice: Are there gender differences in outcomes?. Group & Organization Management, 30(4), 421-450. doi: 10.1177/1059601104265054
- Foley, S., Ngo, H. Y, Loi, R., & Zheng, X. (2015). Gender, gender identification and perceived gender discrimination: An examination of mediating processes in China. Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 34(8), 650-665. doi: 10.1108/EDI-05-2015-0038
- Greenway, K. H., Haslam, S. A., Cruwys, T., Branscombe, N. R., Ysseldyk, R., & Heldreth, C. (2015). From “We” to “Me”: Group identification enhances perceived personal control with consequences for health and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000019
- Gutek, B., Cohen, A., & Tsui, A. (1996). Reactions to perceived sex discrimination. Human Relations, 49(6), 791- 811.
- Haslam, S. A. (2004). Psychology in organizations: The social identity approach. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
- Joshi, A. (2015). Need for gender sensitive counselling interventions in India. Psychological Studies, 60(3), 346-355. doi: 10.1007/s12646-015-0317-7
- Kapsos, S., Bourmpoula, E., & Silberman, A. (2014). Why is female labour force participation declining so sharply in India? Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office.
- Leslie, M. L., & Gefland, J. M. (2008). The who and when of internal gender discrimination claims: An interactional model. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 107, 123-140.
- Loewenthal, K. M. (2004). An introduction to psychological tests and scales (2nd ed.). Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
- Luhtanen, R., & Crocker, J. (1992). A collective self-esteem scale: Self-evaluation of one’s social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 302-318. doi: 10.1177/0146167292183006
- Madhav, R., & Sankaran, K. (2011). Gender equality and social dialogue in India. Geneva: International Labor Office.
- Major, B., & Dover, T. L. (2016). Attributions to discrimination: Antecedents and consequences. In T. Nelson (Ed.). Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. (2nd ed.) (pp.213-239). New York, US: Psychology Press.
- Major, B., Gramzow, R. H., McCoy, S. K., Levin, S., Schmader, T., & Sidanius, J. (2002). Perceiving personal discrimination: The role of group status and legitimizing ideology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 269-282.
- McKinsey Global Institute. (2018). The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in Asia Pacific. Retrieved from www.mckinsey.com: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/the-power-of-parity-advancing-womens-equality-in-india-2018
- Ngo, H. Y., & Loi, R. (2014). Antecedents and outcomes of perceived gender inequity in the Chinese workplace. International Journal of Employment Studies, 22(2), 49-78.
- Prabhu, N. (2017, April 17). Labour participation rate of women in India visibly low, says World Bank study. The Hindu. Retrieved from http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/labour-participationrate-of-women-in-india-visibly-low-says-world-bank-study/article18075087.ece
- Sanchez, I. J., & Brock, P. (1996). Outcomes of perceived discrimination among Hispanic employees: Is diversity management a luxury or a necessity?. Academy of Management Journal, 39(3), 704-719.
- Sandhu, S. H., & Mehta, R. (2008). Using psychographic dimensions to discriminate between men and women executives: An empirical analysis. Journal of Services Research, 8(1), 139-153.
- Schmitt, T. M., & Branscombe, R. N. (2002). Perceiving discrimination against one’s gender group has different implications for well-being in women and men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(2), 197-210. doi: 10.1177/0146167202282006
- Sethi, R. R., & Allen, M. J. (1984). A comparison of sex role stereotypes in India and the United States. Sex Roles, 11, 615-626. doi: 10.1007/BF00288115
- Shaffer, A. M., Joplin, W. R. J., Bell, P. M., Lau, T., & Oguz, C. (2000). Gender discrimination and job-related outcomes: A cross-cultural comparison of working women in the United States and China. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 57(395-427). doi: 10.1006/jvbe.1999.1748
- Sharma, S., & Sharma, M. (2010). Self, social-identity and psychological well-being. Psychological Studies, 55(2), 118-136. doi: 10.1007/s12646-010-0011-8
- Stratchan, G., Adikaram, A., & Kailasapathy, P. (2015). Gender (In) Equality in South Asia: Problems, prospects and pathways. South Asian Journal of Human Resource Management, 2(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1177/2322093715580222 Switzerland: International Labor Organization.
- Vindhya, U. (2007). Quality of women’s lives in India: Some findings from two decades of psychological research on gender. Feminism & Psychology, 17(3), 337–356. doi: 10.1177/0959353507079088
- Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2015). Two traditions of research on gender identity. Sex Roles, 73(11-12), 461-473. doi: 10.1007/s11199-015-0480-2
Abstract Views: 277
PDF Views: 0