Internationally, there are many differences in the experiences that women have at work. In certain countries, the gender gap may be smaller while in others, it might be larger. But the fact is that it still exists, no matter what you might think.
Differences in Skill Between Men and Women
In some cases, the gender gap may arise due to differences in skill. Women are found more in certain positions but not in others. For example, if you live in the U.S., you’ll find that most receptionists and personal assistants are female.
This could be a throwback to the time when women were only allowed to work as secretaries and not in any more responsible positions. But it could also be due to the fact that women have slightly better customer service skills. Their voices are perceived as more pleasant. And they’re generally better at dealing with people.
Differences in Pay Between Men and Women
Whether it’s because of a difference in skill sets or a difference in perception, the fact is that the gender gap exists. In some cases, it expresses itself as a difference in profession/occupation. In other cases, you may find that women get paid less than men at the same job. This tends to happen the world over.
Less Women Than Men in the Workplace
There are less women than men in the workplace because many of them still choose to stay at home and raise their kids (which is, in fact, a full-time occupation.) This is also true the world over although you might find that it occurs more in developing countries rather than developed ones.
Work Style Differences Between Men and Women
Men and women have different styles of working. Let’s imagine that there’s a man and a woman in the same managerial position. You’ll often find that the man is more task-oriented while the woman is more people-oriented.
What exactly does this mean? The man will try to figure out the best way of doing a task. He might divide one task into 5-6 steps and make sure that the steps get done perfectly one after the other. On the other hand, the woman will divide the task into steps but will also try to figure out each person’s strong point and then give them a task in keeping with that.
Differences in Aggression Between Men and Women
Women around the world tend to be less aggressive at work. This generally means that there will be less fights/confrontations. In fact, you’ll often find women in caretaking positions such as nursing where the idea is to nurse people back to health and aggressiveness generally plays no role.
Men tend to be more aggressive/confrontational at work. They can also get more competitive.
Differences in Risk-Taking Between Men and Women
You’ll often find that women tend to play it safe at work. They don’t want to take too many risks. A man might take the risk of asking for a promotion or a raise before it’s due but a woman will probably wait until it’s overdue. In other ways too, women tend to take less risks, like when it comes to the stock market or any other type of investment.
Exceptions to the Rule
The above-mentioned differences between men and women might generally exist but it’s good to keep in mind that there are always exceptions to every rule. There might be women who are not good at talking to people but who are still very good at getting the job done. And there are men who might be excellent at understanding and communicating with people. Similarly, as time goes on, we start to see more and more women who have a competitive spirit and who aren’t afraid to take risks.
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