Week 2 Research Selection

Many factors primarily drive promotion, hiring, and firing decisions for employees. One of the most common reasons for a company to hire someone is the need for diversity in an organization (Templeton et al.,2019). Diversity promotes innovation and helps businesses operate more efficiently. At the same time, some people are discriminated against because of their race or gender. Therefore, this paper will examine how race/gender can play a factor in predicting promotion from one position to another.

In order to successfully determine a promotion for employees, it is essential first to consider that in today’s diverse climate, there is a distinct difference between the way men and women are treated. For instance, contrary to many people’s beliefs, women earn less than men on average (McGee, 2018). Moreover, they have received smaller bonuses and, more importantly, have occupied fewer senior positions than their male counterparts. This phenomenon is in part due to the way male managers treat women.

In addition, gender and age can be the ultimate factors in predicting employee promotion. These two factors are intimately connected. They form the core of an individual’s identity, and based on how they express their identity, and they get categorized (Templeton et al.,2019). This categorization then becomes a part of their resume and thus becomes a determinant for promotion. Racial discrimination also manifests itself in different ways; sometimes, it is direct, while at other times, it is indirect.

Furthermore, many other factors influence promotion decisions, rather than just race or gender. These include education level, experience level, and technical know-how. These factors are what an employer looks for in promoting an employee. However, personal biases and prejudices towards certain groups of people can overshadow these factors and thus skew the promotion decision (McGee, 2018). Among all these factors, gender is the most common reason for discrimination in promotion decisions. Its role is played when two equally-qualified candidates are competing for a position, and one is male while the other is female. The chances of that woman getting promoted are lower than her competitor’s.

Gender bias is one of the most common forms of discrimination in promotion decisions because most managers attribute merit to masculinity. This may result from the belief that only men can achieve traditionally masculine characteristics. In addition, some managers are not comfortable promoting women to higher-level jobs because they fear that other male employees might not take it well (Templeton et al.,2019). There is a significant difference between the way men and women are treated during their careers. There is more job security for men than there is for women. Men have a better chance of getting promoted and being considered for leadership positions. Moreover, they have better chances of getting pay raises than do women.

Discrimination is difficult to detect when it manifests itself in indirect ways, making it difficult to pin down. This is what happens in the case of race. In order to detect this form of discrimination, managers have to become more aware of the subtle ways in which it manifests itself. However, it is worth considering that different races are not equal. When deciding upon promotion, an employer cannot make decisions based on race – they must make a decision based on merit (McGee, 2018). Merit for one employee is not necessarily meriting for another employee. Merit can be measured by how well the employee has performed in his or her current position and also how well he or she can perform in a new position.

To conclude, gender, race, and age can be used in determining promotion for employees. These factors are the main reasons women do not reach higher positions than men. They also play significant roles in performance reviews. In addition to this, indirect types of discrimination are not easy to detect. These factors can play a critical role in deciding whether an employee will be promoted.

References

McGee, K. (2018). The influence of gender, and race/ethnicity on advancement in information technology (IT). Information and Organization, 28(1), 1-36.

Templeton, K., Bernstein, C. A., Sukhera, J., Nora, L. M., Newman, C., Burstin, H., … & Busis, N. (2019). Gender-based differences in burnout: Issues faced by women physicians. NAM Perspectives.