In the western world, women have only recently been able to have careers. In decades prior, due to the patriarchal society, women were expected to stay at home and care for their children, often times not receiving the same educational opportunities that men were. Due to recent societal developments, women now have the option to be employed in the same positions and companies as men. However, the discrimination that women now must face in the workplace is often overlooked by the general populace. To this day, women have to face many injustices in their job such as lower pay than men on average, sexual harassment from authoritative figures and customers, cruelty, discrimination due to pregnancy, and general discrimination from their employers. Women are still statistically much less likely to take positions of authority in the workplace, leading to the conclusion that societal viewpoints influence women to take more subservient roles. Throughout the west, gender discrimination continues to be a very prevalent issue that has negative repercussions on both the advancement of women's careers and the companies that employ them. It is evident from this mistreatment of women that there is still much work to do in improving the workplace and making it a more equal and safe place for the unfortunate victims of this discrimination. 

Lower pay is arguably the most blatantly obvious form of discrimination that women face in the workplace. The glass ceiling still exists in the modern business world, and even though Equal Employment Opportunity laws have been in place for decades, men still out earn women (Sipe, Johnson, & Fisher 339). On average, women are paid only seventy-nine cents to a man's dollar (Hill). This means that there is a twenty-one percent gap between the earnings of men and women. However, women of color are at an even more severe disadvantage, having a much lower median earning than the average white man (Hill). The most disadvantaged group, Hispanic women, are paid only fifty-four percent of the average white man's earnings (Hill). Older women are also at a significant disadvantage, earning only ninety percent of older men's earnings after they hit the age of thirty-five, and only being paid seventy-six to eighty-one percent afterwards (Hill). Women in authoritative roles also in the workplace also earn only ninety-five cents to a man who has the same position (Frank). Even though having a leadership position in the workplace does help women earn more money than they would otherwise, men still have a higher income than them. These statistics indicate that there is clearly a huge discrepancy in pay between men and women in the west. 

The part that is perhaps not so clear, though, is why the gender wage gap exists in the first place. One of the culprits could certainly be the sexism that exists in the workplace. Harassment caused by this sexism also causes wage discrimination. Whether it is sexual or another form, harassment often causes women to leave their job or unfairly lose it, leading to a loss in income, promotions, and other job opportunities. Another contributor would be occupational segregation, which can be attributed to gender discrimination and societal stereotypes and expectations of women. Many "women's" jobs, such as those that are more in the caretaking category, are paid significantly less than "men's" jobs (Frank). Pay disparity between men and women is something that undoubtedly exists in the west, and although there are many contributing causes, it is clearly evident that gender discrimination seems to play some role in it. 

There are some though who argue that the gender wage gap is mistakenly labeled as something caused by gender discrimination. People who argue against the wage gap statistic and assert that it is a myth, such as Carrie Lukas, argue that "women tend to seek jobs with regular hours, more comfortable conditions, little travel, and greater personal fulfillment" (Lukas). On the other hand, men take more technical and physically taxing jobs that have a higher pay (Lukas). This means that rather than blatant sexism, the wage gap is largely attributed to women's own inclinations and personal preferences for employment. However, this claim can be refuted since physically taxing jobs that require one to "drive trucks across the country, toil in sewer systems, stand watch as prison guards, and risk injury on fishing boats, in coal mines, and [work] in production plants" (Lukas) hardly pay much at all even though they require quite a bit of labor and long hours to be spent on the job. A job being uncomfortable does not necessarily indicate a higher pay, so clearly there is something much more than the difficulty of a job dictating the income of the one performing the work. There is also the statistic mentioned previously indicating that women in the exact same position of authority as men earning only ninety-five cents to their dollar, meaning that women are even paid less than men when working the same job (Frank). This indicates that there is another factor causing women to be paid less than their male counterparts in the same positions of employment, which could definitely be gender discrimination.

Others argue that women's choice to have children is another cause for the wage gap. In many cities, young, childless women out earned men (Goldenberg). Even so, the idea of women not earning as much due to their children fails to account for the fact that women sometimes have to leave work regardless of their own wishes due to their role as a mother (Covert). Women are often disproportionately expected to carry the burden of caring for their children while their husbands work, leading to a loss in pay for them. In the United States, the lack of paid family leave and childcare assistance also contributes to their significant decrease in income due to their maternal role (Covert). Although there is a definite correlation between women's earnings and having children, it must also be kept in mind that it is extremely difficult for both parents to remain in the workforce, and women often have little choice but to leave if they want children. Studies have also shown that experience, occupation, and industry do indeed account for much of the wage gap. More than forty percent of it is unexplained by these factors though, leaving much room for the possibility of discrimination (Covert). Even though women's own choices and natural inclinations may certainly influence them to take less-paying career options, there is still a large percent of the gap that could be explained by something else.

The gender wage gap is not the only way in which women in the west face discrimination in the workplace. Women are often harassed by their employers and customers on the job, often in a sexual manner. Harassment of women in the workplace is much more common than perhaps often expected: "Work in U.S. settings shows that over half of women are subjected to behavioral forms of mistreatment), and most have observed some form of harassment in the workplace" (Bergman, Cunningham, & Miner). In recent times due to regulations put in place to prevent blatant discrimination of women, subtle forms of mistreatment have been much more prevalent, allowing the offenders to abuse women in a way that is under the radar and can be excused as simple oversight or misunderstanding. This mistreatment is extremely detrimental to the lives of the victims; it negatively impacts their job performance, career, health, and home life. Consequently, it also has negative impacts on the place that they are employed. Studies have shown that the mistreatment of women in the workplace reduces the effectiveness of the organization that they are employed at, perhaps due to women's inability to perform their work successfully in hostile environments (Bergman, Cunningham, & Miner). Women employed in these exclusive companies were also found to be far more likely to leave their positions, leading to a loss in employees. Companies with interpersonal mistreatment of women also had poor evaluations from employees in comparison to those that did not, indicating that employee satisfaction was considerably lower (Bergman, Cunningham, and Miner). Harassment of women in the workplace is often a very insidious but potent presence with terribly detrimental effects on the lives of the women affected and the companies that employ them.

Women are also frequently discriminated against during pregnancy. Discrimination due to pregnancy has been known to have very scarring effects on women's careers; in fact, one in three women who leave work for maternity leave never return to the former place of employment, which is a huge waste of their potential value, skill, and talent (Pregnancy Discrimination Is Not a Myth). While being pregnant and employed, women have been known to be forced out of work, face aggression from their employer, be harassed and bullied, and have to plead for time off work. One woman from the United Kingdom stated, "I was shouted and sworn at for being in the toilet with morning sickness" (Pregnancy Discrimination Is Not a Myth). Many women have been forced to unwillingly sacrifice their career just because of their maternal role. In the United States, women are not legally entitled to paid leave. In fact, fifty-one percent of new mothers in America are not given paid maternity leave (Beck). As a result, many women lose their jobs because of the time they require to take care of their children or they simply chose to leave for good. However, many other developed countries are actually much better than the United States in terms of their treatment of pregnant women in the workplace. The US is only one out of four developed countries that fails to offer paid leave to new mothers (Beck). The remaining three, Lesotho, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea, are not even industrialized nations, signifying how far behind the US is compared to other developed countries. As well as the lack of paid leave, American women can also be fired while pregnant; the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prevents firing pregnant women, unfortunately has some loopholes. One of the ways to fire pregnant women is to claim that their performance in the workplace is poor (Beck). Another way, which is perhaps even more malicious, is to treat them so cruelly that they choose to leave on their own. Even though laws and policies have been put in place to end discrimination against new mothers in the workplace, it is still clearly ongoing in the west as evidenced by the loopholes in the system and the lack of paid maternity leave in the United States.

The lack of women in authoritative positions in the workplace is another indicator of gender discrimination in the workplace. It has been statistically proven that women are far less likely than men to take leadership roles in their career than men are. There is a huge gap between the number of men and women, respectively, in positions of authority: "Women comprise

66% of the U.S. workforce, yet only 21% hold middle management positions, and a mere 15% are at the senior management level" (Sipe, Johnson, & Fisher 340). Even though some women may manage to rise to the top, studies have proven that very few remain in these positions. This is probably because of "the difficulty of combining work and family life, the unforgiving and relentless battles against the male stronghold of traditional organizational cultures, and the continued dominance of the male leader stereotype" (Sipe, Johnson, & Fisher 340). Other possible reasons include "a commitment to norms barring women from exercising authority over men, stereotyped beliefs that women are too emotional to be effective managers, belief in the efficiency of 'statistical discrimination', or simply the desire to preserve men's power and privileges" (Wright, Baxter, & Birkelund 408). The research study undertaken by Wright, Baxter, and Birkelund from the American Sociological Review indicated that the gap in authority does not seem to be caused by the result of gender differences in personal attributes or employment settings, and the fact that women choose to pursue positions of authority due to familial responsibility does not seem to play a very large role in it as some may argue that it does. The study also indicated that women from countries with a lower gender wage gap have a lower gap between the number of men and women in positions of authority, indicating that there is perhaps some correlation between workplace discrimination and the choice for women to take leadership roles (Wright, Olin, Baxter, & Birkelund 426). And perhaps most importantly, the study showed that the gap of authority is much smaller in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States. This demonstrates that America is making tremendous progress in solving issues related to workplace hierarchies. It also conveys the fact that women are more frequently taking managerial positions now and women's political movements are gradually changing traditional gender roles. The most important message of this study is that societal viewpoints play a crucial role in determining why women may choose not to take authoritative roles in the workplace. The view of women as subservient is something that is therefore deterring them from taking leadership roles where they are employed.

It is an undeniable truth that women do face gender discrimination in the workplace. Nonetheless, solving the issue is a bit complicated since it is quite difficult to make others put ideas into practice. One of the most important steps of all is to inform people. The majority of college students in America are poorly educated about gender discrimination in the workplace. Studies have proven that they vastly underestimate it with the mindset that even though it may exist, it will not be an issue that influences them (Sipe, Johnson, & Fisher 344). Due to this failure to educate university students regarding this matter, many female college graduates go into the workplace completely unprepared for the harsh reality and thus face many negative repercussions. However, on the bright side, education in university about this subject can prepare students and help to negate these consequences through proper education on policies, training, and enforcement. Education is critical not only to preparing women for their employment, but also for ultimately ending workplace gender discrimination altogether since it can help to also end certain detrimental stereotypes about women that exist in today's society that may hinder them from obtaining the job or position of their choice. 

It is also important to emphasize that excusing sexist behaviors as being natural due to biological differences is flawed and leads to gender discrimination in the workplace (Housh 120). It is pivotal to understand that biology is not the main culprit that determines the behavioral trends of the two sexes; the way our brain is conditioned also has a crucial role, and therefore it is important not to perpetuate the misogynistic stereotypes that exist in society that may influence women not to take certain career paths. Normalization of misogyny is therefore something that needs to come to an end in order for gender discrimination in the workplace to disappear. Other changes can be made to end this discrimination, especially in regards to the difference in pay between men and women. Companies need to conduct salary audits to monitor and address gender-based pay discrepancies (Hill). Women also have a role in this; they must learn tactics to improve their negotiation skills in order to obtain a greater salary. Policies such as the Equal Pay Act, which has not been updated in decades, need to be improved by urging employers to actually follow the law. These are gradual changes that can change the future of women for the better in the long run. 

Although improvements have clearly been made, gender discrimination in the workplace is still something that exists and women today are unfortunately still forced to contend with it. Despite this, there are multiple approaches that can be taken to end this mistreatment once and for all. The key change that needs to be made to make the workplace fairer for women is educating both men and women about the severity of the issue and teaching women how to deal with possible oppression in the workplace. Education can help with both preparation and ending the misogynistic stereotypes against women that exist in modern society. Throughout the west, gender discrimination is a still ongoing problem that has negative impacts on both the advancement of women's careers and the companies that they work for. Even though there is still work to do, progress has been made and this situation can be continuously improved if efforts are undertaken to do so.

