Business ethics

Possible Ways to Tackle Gender Discrimination


The problem of gender inequality at workplace has been attracting increasing attention during recent years. Although there are different opinions on the scope of the problem and the methods by which it can be addressed, there is no denying that this issue presents ethical challenge for modern businesses. This observation is especially true about the tech industry. Thus, (companies) have been known for championing the ideals of diversity and equality. nevertheless, the tech industry remains the one in which women are most underrepresented. This paradoxical situation makes it vital to find the ways in which the issue of gender discrimination can be addressed.

To achieve the goal mentioned above, it is necessary to answer the question concerning the underlying causes of gender inequality in tech industry. A reasonable way to address this issue is to rely on the lack of fit model which explains gender discrimination with the statement that “gender stereotypes create difficulties for women pursuing traditionally male work, as female stereotypes are incompatible with the attributes and behaviors thought necessary for success in those fields” (Heilman and Caleo 727). In other words, addressing unequal gender representation in the industry is impossible without tackling the problem gender stereotypes prevailing in society.

One of the strategies useful for tackling the lack of fit perceptions is reducing the salience of one’s gender. This approach can be applied in several ways. For example, it is possible to reduce the prominence of the gender of female by careful group composition which means avoiding including token females in exclusively male groups and concentrating women in stereotypically female departments such as HR (Heilman and Caleo 730-731). Moreover, reduction of the salience of gender can be applied during hiring process as well as while dealing with the current employees. one of the commonly accepted methods of doing so is blind hiring which means that the data suggesting candidate’s gender is removed from the application materials (Heilman and Caleo 731). This approach is feasible because it aims at objective decision making. At the same time, its effectiveness can be disputable as deep-rooted gender stereotypes may prompt the decision makers to look for the clues about the applicant’s gender.

Another way to address the issue of gender discrimination in the tech industry is to change the popular narrative about the tech industry and make it less biased. A reasonable first step in this direction would be to ensure that job-descriptions and job titles use gender-neutral language. Heilman and Caleo point to the fact that although nowadays the majority of employers refrain from the practice of stating the preferred gender of the candidate in their job descriptions, “research suggests that organizations continue to use