THE LAWWAY WITH LAWYERS JOURNAL

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VOLUME:-36 ISSUE NO:- 36 , JUNE 20, 2026

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Authored By:- A.K.Gajendhra

Co Authored By:- J.V.Naveen

A CRITICAL STUDY AND  ANALYSIS ON GENDER  INEQUALITY IN WORKPLACE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIA

Abstract

Gender inequality in the workplace might include hiring or training only one gender for a particular role. India struggles with gender inequality issues beyond just equal economic process and access to educational resource opportunities. The aim of the research is to analyse the gender discrimination in workplace, to analyse the steps taken by the government regarding women empowerment and to analyse the worldwide situation regarding gender inequality in workplace. The research method used is empirical research. The sample size is 204. The sample frame is a locality in Chennai using a convenient sampling method. The independent variables taken for the survey include educational qualification, age and occupation. The dependent variables are whether gender inequality still exists in India, the reason for gender inequality in the workplace, whether the government is taking enough steps to encourage women empowerment in the workplace, impact of gender inequality in the workplace and the best way to overcome gender inequality. The statistical tool used for the purpose of analyzing the result is graphical representation. The secondary data was collected from various journal articles. From the analysis of the result obtained from the graphs it is found that the public has the opinion that there is very less level of gender inequality found in India, the public has the opinion that uneven education is the reason for gender inequality in India, public has the opinion that the government is taking enough steps to overcome gender inequality, the impact of gender inequality at the workplace is unequal pay and providing equal opportunities in education and employment is the best way to overcome gender inequality in the workplace.

Keywords

Struggles,Inequality,social cultural norms,workplace,women empowerment.

Introduction

Although the constitution of India grants men and women equal rights, gender disparities remain.Research shows gender discrimination mostly in favor of men in many realms including the workplace. Discrimination affects many aspects in the lives of women from career development and progress to mental health disorders. While Indian laws on rape, dowry and adultery have women’s safety at heart, these highly discriminatory practices are still taking place at an alarming rate, affecting the lives of many today.According to recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) for the Asia-Pacific region, gender inequality in India is extremely high at the workplace and in terms of legal protection and political voice.A general strong association of cognition in older ages with education emerges as a potential explanation for gender gaps and cohort differences. Female disadvantage in cognition is greater in India, both before and after controlling for education. The process of rural–urban migration draws more cognitively able women to cities in China but not in India.In Singapore, the women’s labor-force-participation rate doubled from 28 percent in 1970 to 58 percent in 2016, reflecting a range of policies helping women to achieve work-life balance, including paid maternity leave, paid and unpaid childcare leave, increased tax relief, tax rebates, and childcare subsidies.Various studies have indicated gender gap in India.Equal Remuneration Act, 1973 provides for payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for the same work of similar nature without any discrimination. In order to ensure social security to the workers including women in the unorganized sector, the Government has enacted the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act 2008. The factors are affecting the gender inequality in workplace are Unequal pay,Racism,sexual harassment,Women are promoted less often than men,Fear of asking to be paid what you’re worth.In Middle East and North African women still have half the rights of men.Research shows gender discrimination mostly in favor of men in many realms including the workplace. Discrimination affects many aspects in the lives of women from career development and progress to mental health disorders.

Objectives

● To analyse the gender discrimination in workplace

● To analyse the steps taken by the government regarding women empowerment.

● To analyse the global situation regarding gender inequality in the workplace.

Literature Review

1. Renu Batra, Thomas G Reio Jr-India struggles with gender inequality issues beyond just equal economic growth and access to educational resource opportunities. Gender inequality exists in the form of socially constructed, predefined gender roles firmly anchored in India’s sociocultural fabric that has deep cultural and historical roots. Sociocultural influences have spillover effects across all domains, including the organizational workforce, and social and political contexts. This unquestionable influence is still accepted as the norm within the societal and familial periphery.(Blesia, n.d.)

2. Namrata Gupta-Since liberalization in the 1990s, India has witnessed a growth in the number of educated middle-class women in professions. However, there are few women in leadership positions and decision-making bodies. While the earlier notion of the ideal woman as homemaker has been replaced by one which idealizes women of substance, a woman’s role in the family continues to be pivotal and is even viewed as central in defining Indian culture.(Hirsh, Hollingdale, and Stecy-Hildebrandt, n.d.)

3. Priti Jha, Niti Nagar-The reality of gender inequality in India is very complex and diversified, because it exists in every field like education, employment opportunities, income, health, cultural issues, social issues, economic issues etc(Billing and Sundin, n.d.)

4. Singh Sumanjeet-Despite a high growth rate and plentiful Government measures to encourage gender equality, the gender gap still exists in India. Lack of gender equality not only limits women’s access to resources and opportunities, but also imperils the life prospects of the future generation.(Vokić, Obadić, and Ćorić 2019)

5. Namrata Gupta, Arun K Sharma-social stereotypes infiltrate the workplace and that there are latent aspects in the work environment that place women academic scientists at a disadvantage. These disadvantages are a function of a ‘patrifocal’ structure of Indian society, a general ‘lack of critical mass’ of women scientists and a lack of ‘universalism’ in science.(Dashper 2019)

6. Meena Razvi, Gene L Roth-Gender discrimination in India affects poor women’s socio-economic development. This paper describes and interprets recurrent themes indicating that the Indian government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other international human rights organizations show growing concerns regarding gender inequality in India. (Dashper 2019; “Social Media, Gender Inequality and the Workplace” 2016)

7. Reena Patel, Mary Jane C Parmentier-It is often expected that women’s participation in the professional realm will contribute to a breakdown of traditional gender roles. And indeed, the data illustrate that women are working in the IT sector in India in increasing numbers. (Bradley 1999).

8. Sanjukta Mukherjee-Part of this new image of a modern, progressive and tech savvy India that has embraced open market policies is the increasing visibility of and dependence on educated middle class professional women and a hegemonic discourse of ‘empowerment that is symbolic of the IT (information technology) sector.(Flynn, Haynes, and Kilgour, n.d.)

9. Mamta Mehrotra-The status of women is how society perceives a woman and not what it should be. Women at every stage are deprived of opportunities because of their sexuality.Women are the pillars of any society and the foundation stone of any family.(Flynn, Haynes, and Kilgour, n.d.; Johnson, n.d.)

10. Supriti Bezbaruah-Experiences of gender inequalities are geographically reconfigured in the Indian banking sector through the interplay between gendered organisational practices, local cultural discourses on femininity, institutional factors, particularly government laws and organisational structures.(Liebig, Gottschall, and Sauer 2016)

11. David Weir, Margaret Lay, Kenneth Langa-A general strong association of cognition in older ages with education emerges as a potential explanation for gender gaps and cohort differences. Female disadvantage in cognition is greater in India, both before and after controlling for education. The process of rural–urban migration draws more cognitively able women to cities in China but not in India.(Nemoto 2016)

12. Shoba Arun, Richard Heeks, Sharon Morgan-One ICT initiative–” gender-blind” and pursued within the globalised, competitive context of an increased role for markets and flexibility’–has generally reinforces gender inequalities. By contrast, a gender-focused ICT initiative involving significant state intervention has brought about positive changes to livelihood outcomes and empowerment of poor women.(Rao et al. 2015)

 13. Berta Esteve-Volart-We model gender discrimination as the complete exclusion of females from the labor market or as the exclusion of females from managerial positions. The distortions in the allocation of talent between managerial and unskilled positions, and in human capital investment, are analyzed. It is found that both types of discrimination lower economic growth; and that the former also implies a reduction in per capita GDP, while the latter distorts the allocation of talent.(Connelly, Barriteau, and International Development Research Centre (Canada) 2000

14. Namrata Gupta-Scientists refuse to blame the organization for inequalities by delinking gender issues from the organizational domain. This delinking occurs through rationalizing gender inequality as “social”, through separating informal behavior from the “system” and perceiving women as “privileged”. Such discourses while keeping intact the rationality and meritocracy of the organizations/institutions, reproduce the ideological “public-private dichotomy” and the male dominance at the workplace.(Heisler et al. 2020)(Nemoto 2016)

15. Anu Rammohan, Patrick Vu-Women’s schooling attainment in India continues to lag considerably behind that of men.Economic development is an important factor in narrowing gender gaps in education, with wealthier districts more likely to educate girls than poorer districts. However, the norm of patrilocal exogamy, where wives migrate to co-reside with their husband’s kin, is associated with worse outcomes for women’s schooling relative to men’s schooling; and, in keeping with anthropological research, gender-differentiated inequities in education are more pronounced in Northern India.(Sandberg 2013)

16. Sutapa Saryal-United Nation in its Millennium Summit in 2000 declared ‘Gender Equality and Women Empowerment As one among the eight ‘Millennium Development Goals To be achieved by the year 2015. However these goals are far from being realized in a country like India.(Leach 2015)

17. Nazia Zabin Memon, Lalatendu Kesari Jena-Gender inequality (GI) at the workplace and the ensuing opportunity loss of economy has long been studied, and results were established in different contexts. Several empirical research confirmed the impact of non-fulfilment of job characteristics and employee expectations on job satisfaction and motivation levels.(Lipman 2018)

18. Rajashi Ghosh-In the wake of globalization and changing nature of work, human resource development (HRD) professionals are faced with an ambitious task of unraveling these complexities and identifying effective ways to manage diversity and promote gender equality in organizations and in the Indian society at large.(Saddhono et al., n.d.)

19. Namrata Gupta, Arun K Sharma-Gender inequality in science is common to most

nations. To a large extent, this inequality is a product of the socio-cultural environment in which science is conducted. The professional environment and the socio-cultural context are inextricably linked together in the practice of science.(Bradley 1999).

• Carol Hymowitz and Timothy D. Schellhardt (March 24, 1986) – “The Glass Ceiling: Why Women Can‟t Seem to Break the Invisible Barrier That Blocks Them from the Top Job. They were the first to use this term. The term resonated with women around the world because it captured their frustrations and the term “glass ceiling” has now become commonplace.

Research Methodology :

The type of research conducted is empirical research which uses primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected by conducting a survey with a sample size of 204. The sample frame is a locality in Chennai using a convenient sampling method. The independent variables taken for the survey include educational qualification, age and occupation. The dependent variables are whether gender inequality still exists in India, the reason for gender inequality in the workplace, whether the government is taking enough steps to encourage women empowerment in the workplace, impact of gender inequality in the workplace and the best way to overcome gender inequality. The statistical tool used for the purpose of analysing the result is graphical representation. The secondary data was collected from various journal articles.

Analysis

Frequency graphs :

Fig.1 :

Legend: Fig. 1 shows the distribution of respondents among various age groups.

Result : From the analysis of fig.1, it is found that there are more respondents in the 18-30 years of age group and the lowest percentage of respondents are in the under 18 age group.

Fig.2 :

Legend: Fig. 2 shows the distribution of respondents among various occupational groups.

Result : From the analysis of fig.2, it is found that more percentage of respondents are occupied in the private sector and the least among the respondents are doing businesses.

Fig.3 :

Legend : Fig. 3 shows the distribution of respondents among various educational qualification groups.

Result : From the analysis of fig.3, it is found that there are more undergraduates and the lowest among the respondents are uneducated.

Fig.4 :

Legend: Fig.4 shows the distribution of respondents among various educational qualification groups and their agreeability on whether there is existence of gender inequality in India.

Result : From the analysis of fig.4, it is found that majority of the respondents who were undergraduates have strongly disagreed that there is still the existence of gender inequality in India and the least respondents were uneducated who strongly agreed that there is existence of gender inequality in India.

Fig. 5 :

Legend : Fig.5 shows the distribution of respondents among various occupational groups and their agreeability on whether there is existence of gender inequality in India.

Result : From the analysis of fig.5, it is found that the majority of the respondents who were occupied in the private sector have strongly disagreed that there is the existence of gender inequality in India and the least who were students have responded neutral on the same.

Discussion 

Overall it is observed from fig 1 to 5  that the public has the opinion that there is very less level of gender inequality found in India. This may be because the public might have been in an environment wherein equal opportunities were given to women in education as well as in employment.

Conclusions And Suggestions

From the analysis of the result obtained from the graphs it is found that the public has the opinion that there is very less level of gender inequality found in India, the public has the opinion that uneven education is the reason for gender inequality in India, public has the opinion that the government is taking enough steps to overcome gender inequality, the impact of gender inequality at the workplace is unequal pay and providing equal opportunities in education and employment is the best way to overcome gender inequality in the workplace.

I suggest that gender inequality has been eradicated a lot in the past few decades due to the functioning of various schemes established by the government. But it is not fully eradicated due to certain reasons like lack of awareness of the schemes provided by the government, lack of support from the family and some other physical reasons of women. It is mandatory in this competitive era to provide equal education and equal opportunities to women and not be discriminated against on the basis of gender in spite of the constitutional provisions. I also suggest that families should allow women to go on their way in achieving their goals instead of making them marry at a particular age due to societal compulsion.

Reference

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2.Blesia, John Urasti. n.d. “Gender Inequality in the Workplace: A Lesson from New Zealand’s Accounting Profession.” https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201610.0138.v2.

3.Bradley , Harriet. 1999. “Women and Men at Work: Gender, Inequality and Jobs.” Gender and Power in the Workplacehttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27050-7_5.

4.Connelly, Jane L., Patricia Barriteau, and International Development Research Centre (Canada). 2000. Theoretical Perspectives on Gender and Development. IDRC.

5.Dashper, Katherine. 2019. “Challenging the Gendered Rhetoric of Success? The Limitations of Women‐only Mentoring for Tackling Gender Inequality in the Workplace.” Gender, Work & Organization. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12262.

6.Flynn, Patricia M., Kathryn Haynes, and Maureen A. Kilgour. n.d. “Introduction: Reducing Gender Inequality in the Workplace through Leadership and Innovation.” Overcoming Challenges to Gender Equality in the Workplace: Leadership and Innovation. https://doi.org/10.9774/gleaf.9781783532667_2.

7.Heisler, Christine A., Katrina Mark, Jessica Ton, Pringl Miller, and Sarah M. Temkin. 2020. “Has a Critical Mass of Women Resulted in Gender Equity in Gynecologic Surgery?” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, June. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2020.06.038.

8.Hirsh, Elizabeth, Hazel Hollingdale, and Natasha Stecy-Hildebrandt. n.d. “Gender Inequality in the Workplace.” Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life. https://doi.org/10.4337/9780857930958.00023.

9.Johnson, Brenda. n.d. “Racial Inequality in the Workplace: How Critical Management Studies Can Inform Current Approaches.” Critical Management Studies at Work. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781848449497.00026.

10.Leach, Melissa. 2015. Gender Equality and Sustainable Development. Routledge.