Women in the workplace : understanding the impact of discriminatory HR practice.

Abstract

For women, some of the most harmful gender inequalities are enacted within HR practices. The purpose of the study is to provide new insights about gender discrimination in the Middle East and Lebanon in specific. It will shed light on HR discriminatory practices at the workplace and their impact on the female workforce, the organization as a whole, and the economy. This will contribute to the existing literature of gender inequality in the middle east and raise awareness partly for HR professionals to eliminate-avoid such practices and partly for employees to clearly identify which practices fall under discrimination and speak up-challenge such actions. A survey was conducted with 100 females who participated in sharing their perception and experience with relevance to gender discrimination. In addition, 15 HR professionals were interviewed to tackle how gender discrimination can be encouraged or avoided through various HR practices. The results have shown how gender discrimination infiltrates through the organizational system and impacts HR practices, leading to biases in recruitment and selection, and limiting training opportunities. Such practices have shown negative effects on individuals, their families, the organization, and the economy.