Under the rubric of modern, twentieth century career ethics, there has been a long problem with gender equality in the job market. Nowhere is this inequality more apparent than in the differences in hiring practices experienced by members of the female gender. In fact, gender differences do exist in hiring practices of management personnel favoring men over women. This research tested just that hypothesis by collecting data from the personnel administrators at six insurance companies in Southern California. All of these companies had over 100 employees, and the data represented all applicants (83 people) who applied for a management level position between January 1, 1987 to December 31, 1989. The research showed a clear bias of men over women, for of the eight positions filled from 83 applicants, six were filled with men (75 percent) and two with women (25 percent). Further research showed that the average pay for men was 32 percent higher than for women with the same job title and basic job qualifications ($38,000 for men to $26,000 for women).
Introduction and Literature Review
In the modern office, the presence of some women in key, or high level, positions is commonly viewed as an anomaly. In fact, the almost complete dominance of men over women in key executive jobs has led to a sociological and cultural presumption that women should be excluded from positions of authority. When surveying occupation research, one clearly finds that the two genders tend to be engaged in different activities; most men are employed in occupations dominated by men, most women in occupations predominantly staffed by women. According to most sources, there are virtually no occupations in which men and women are equally represented (Peitchinis, 1989, pp. 10 12).
Thus, the research problem under consideration here revolves around one aspect of that perceived inequality, namely: are women discriminated against in hiring practices for ma...