Gender Identity and Gender Discrimination Among Female Employees in India

Abstract

Gender discrimination is an unspoken reality for Indian women and it extends to the workplace. It limits the true potential of the female workforce and the growth of the nation, besides adversely affecting women’s health and engagement at the workplace. The study emphasizes the need to understand and dismantle gender discrimination as there is a strong economic and welfare rationale for doing so. Gender is viewed from a social identity perspective and thus, the role of gender identity in the perception of gender discrimination at work is examined for 65 female employees at work. Significant correlations were observed between three out of four dimensions of gender identity and gender discrimination. Multiple regression results indicated that the four dimensions of gender identity together explain 41% variance in the perception of gender discrimination. The model reflected a good fit and can be expected to generalize the findings well on the population. The study highlights the importance of gender identity in the perception of gender discrimination at work and shows that various dimensions of gender identity can impact gender discrimination differently. Managerial implications of the same are also discussed and development of gender and identity related interventions is advised to tackle gender discrimination in a positive way at the workplace.

Keywords: Gender, Gender Identity, Gender Discrimination, Social Identity, Organizational Behaviour

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