Discrimination is everywhere. The work environment is allegedly fair, giving equal opportunities to different sections in the community. But stereotyping is a problem highly present in the work environment. A lot of people are denied the opportunity to get a promotion or even get a job in the first place because they don’t fit certain criteria that have nothing to do with the job description.
Individuals covered under the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws are protected from illegal discrimination, which occurs when people who share a certain characteristic, such as race, age, or gender, are discriminated against because of that characteristic. People who have the designated characteristics are called the protected class. In theory, laws have identified the following characteristics for protection:
- Race, ethnic origin, color
- Gender (women, including those who are pregnant)
- Age (individuals over 40)
- Individuals with disabilities (physical and mental)
However, examining the work environment, we find that these laws are often broken indirectly and without causing companies any liabilities. In fact, there are law experts who ensure that the company can get away with breaking these laws. A lot of people might be harassed at the company or denied a promotion due to their different color or ethnic origin, attributing certain characteristics to certain ethnicities. This is highly recognizable in the GCC and the US, basically any country recognized with diverse ethnicities.
If a man and a woman have the same qualifications, the man is more likely to get a higher wage provided that the job does not depend on looks. Women are usually preferred in public relations jobs, especially young good-looking women. Pregnant women are usually discarded at the early stage of screening CVs and preliminary interviews, as they are expected to go on maternity leave where the company is not allowed to get someone else to fill the post. The same case happens with people with disabilities although companies are legally required to provide a certain percentage of available posts to disabled people. But the problem usually lies in defining disabilities.
People above a certain age are usually considered “outdated”, less technology-friendly and more likely to adopt traditional ways towards problem solving. This is unnecessarily true as all individuals are equally likely to benefit from training sessions devoted to introducing new technologies, regardless of their age.
Misconceptions based on stereotyping affect the productivity in the work environment. Denying certain individuals or sections in society the opportunity to work is depriving them from the right to live and grow as human beings. But still it happens every day.
Heba Hassan
Photography: Hadeer El’Masry
EDITOR: Nada Adel Sobhi