Africa Women In The Workplace

Africa Women In The Workplace

    Although a dramatic increase in the number of women participating in the labor force
has taken place in the past decade, women have played a secondary role in that work
force since the ancient civilization of man. The value of women was and still is viewed as
less than that of a man. Traditionally a women's role in society was that of raising

children and handling the duties of the household but now most women want and desire
careers and their own place in this world. They want to stand on their own two feet,
become self-sustaining individuals and become independent and free of other’s limits.  
In today’s world, it has become clear that women in all careers are striving to gain
equality in the work force.    

    There are many issues that still surround women in the workplace and for a long time
women have been at a disadvantage when it came to competing with men. Women
were not given the educational opportunities that the men were given and women were
stereotyped into certain jobs. For years this discrimination has been fed by gender bias
and proven by the fact that women entering the workforce have been paid less than a man
for doing the same job.  

    Even though women in the workplace have had the odds stacked against them, they
manage to make great contributions. Through determination, women have been the
driving force in the enactment of laws to protect not only themselves but others in the
workplace. These laws are designed not just for protection from gender discrimination
but also protection from discrimination based on marital status, pregnancy, race,
disabilities, sexual preference and age (Dobritch, 2000). This gives women the ability to
break out of the gender roles that were created for them by society long ago.  

    One of the issues still affecting women in the workplace is that they are constantly

being stereotyped....