The workplace has continued to be controversial with regard to gender equality, particularly concerning the debate over equal opportunity for men and women in more prestigious positions within corporations. According to an article published on BBC’s website yesterday, the European Union wants to implement measures to ensure women are adequately represented in the higher strata of professional success. The EU’s Justice Commissioner put forth a pledge firms could sign to implement these quotas voluntarily. However, just more than 20 firms cooperated with the new scheme. Data from the European Commission shows only 13.7 percent of board members in top European firms are women.
Placing potentially ill-qualified women in managerial positions to satisfy a quota will aggravate the issue. Respect for women in the workplace will severely diminish, as men could feel marginalized by such changes. Theoretically, sanctioning a certain percentage of employees who have to be women will decrease gender inequality in the workplace. Realistically, these quotas will discriminate against individuals who deserve to hold positions based on merit. A different kind of inequality will be bred from a society where the success of one’s career is based on one’s gender.
Obviously, a prevalent reason for this imbalance is the question of children. Naturally, companies are less inclined to hire women expecting children due to higher costs and lower efficiency due to potential time taken off. Unfortunately, companies are obliged to hire an individual who will best serve their job requirements and not vice versa. While incorporating more women into these esteemed jobs should be a priority, forcing change in such an authoritative manner will only worsen women’s reputations in the workplace.
Furthermore, quotas to prevent gender inequality will prompt questions over racial and cultural equality in top firms. If quotas are implemented to account for every discrepancy, procuring a job will be drowned in so much bureaucracy that qualifications will be obsolete; the only deciding factor in job selection will be physical and cultural categorization. Measures that were intended to promote equality will only drive us further from it.
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