We are treated differently in our workplaces, depending on who we are and how others perceive us. It affects us during our whole work life, from getting a job and going on to make a career for ourselves.
When you apply for a job, you have to submit your CV and personal letter. People with disabilities, such as dyslexia, can have problems writing them. This might entail that they do not get selected for a job interview. So already from the start, we risk missing out on valuable skills by excluding people.
What’s the reason for this?
Norms are rules or expectations, about how something or someone is supposed to be or act. The standards for applying for a job, follows a norm that does not make allowances for people’s differences.
Feeling good at work
An example
Joking and having prejudices about heterosexuality, is not as common as with any other kind of sexuality. This means that people who are not heterosexual are more often subjected to abuse, leading to illness, which in turn results in an unhealthy work environment for everyone.
What’s the reason for this?
Heteronormativity is the belief that all people are heterosexual, becoming attracted to someone of a different sex. This can create a work environment where certain people or groups are excluded. The person who makes a joke might have good intentions. However it is always the person on the receiving end, who has the prerogative of deciding how it is perceived.
Receiving appreciation for ones skills
An example
Young people with an education in leadership sometimes do not get management positions because of their young age, which creates an imbalance in who has the power to affect the workplace.
What’s the reason for this?
A norm about what a manager is supposed to be can be created if many people of a certain sex, age and background have a management position. Thus a strong an narrow norm can be maintained, based on how society used to look.
Salary and salary trend
An example
People with a foreign background are more likely to be unemployed or given less qualified jobs. This regardless of them being well educated and having a long work experience. In combination with them often having temporary employments, they do not have the same positive salary trend as others.
What’s the reason for this?
Our prejudices impact what we think certain people can or cannot do, affecting their salary and salary trend. Furthermore, some skills or experiences are more appreciated than others. This is an example of what is known as structural differences.
The possibility of having a career
An example
The general assumption is that women more often than men will go on parental leave, and be gone for a longer period of time. Being away from work for a long time can mean that women are not considered for the same kind of positions that men are.
What’s the reason for this?
Like many other norms, these expectations are based on how our society used to look. This norm stems from an old-fashioned and far too narrow view of parenting, still affecting many people’s working life and career opportunities.
