Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination in the workplace continues to be an issue and problem for companies all over the world. While many organizations continue to take strides to try and prevent gender discrimination from occurring, there are still examples of it happening regularly. While gender discrimination can have a major impact on someone’s ability to advance in their career due to their gender, it can also take an emotional toll as well. There are several emotional effects of gender discrimination in the workplace that people should be aware of, which makes it quite clear that reducing this discrimination is extremely important.
Discrimination Can Lead to Clinical Depression
One of the most serious affects that can come with gender discrimination is clinical depression. Someone that feel discriminated against in the workplace could feel their sense of worth decline. When this occurs, it can quickly spiral into a more serious level of depression. When this occurs, someone may need to go through therapy, medication and many other processes that could have been avoided if they were not discriminated against. Further, trying to work in an environment that caused your depression can also be quite taxing on the body and brain.
Less Confidence
Beyond depression, another emotional effect that comes with gender discrimination is that you can feel less confident in the workplace. It will be very hard for someone to perform well in their job if they do not feel confident. While confidence can come with years of experience, someone that is discriminated against may feel that their experiences and past successes are irrelevant as their gender is preventing them from moving forward in their career. At the same time, they may feel that their gender could factor in when it comes to a job loss or other professional challenges. This lack of confidence can then transcend into other parts of their life and continue to have a negative impact.
Overall Mental Health is More Likely to Decline
While a decline in confidence and increase in clinical depression is a large concern, there are other emotional impacts to mental health that are concerning, including feeling of anxiety. Those that have been affected by gender discrimination in the workplace are more than three times as likely to notice a decline in their mental health. This could have a dramatic impact on their ability to live a happy and healthy life as well.
Less Motivation
To be successful in a competitive business world today, all people need to be motivated and have some career goals. While someone can enter the workforce with the dream to make it big and be successful, their motivation and goals can quickly change if they have been discriminated against. When facing gender discrimination, it can feel as if all of your hard work and dedication was for nothing. This can then quickly lead to an overall lack of motivation that can be hard to overcome. The lack of motivation can the lead to a reduced work ethic, which will impact your ability to move further in your career as well.
Impact on Workplace Relationships
Most people that work full-time jobs are going to spend a significant amount of time with their co-workers. Having positive relationships with these people is very important due to the amount of time you spend together and because it can help foster your career. Those that are discriminated in the workplace in any manner may find it is harder to have trustworthy relationships with people they work with. This could cause more stress while they are working and lead to feeling of isolation from their co-workers.
Emotional Impact Can Last Well After Discrimination Stops
If you are working for an organization that takes gender discrimination seriously, there is a good chance that you could get the behavior to stop if you speak to human resources or management. However, even if the discrimination does stop and you are provided with the opportunities that you deserve, the impact on your mental health will continue in the future. Studies have shown that women and other people affected by gender discrimination continue to feel the impact years later, which could affect their ability to perform well in their work environment.
It is quite clear that gender discrimination in the workplace can put an emotional toll and burden on someone. At the same time, it could impact someone’s ability to get the job of their dreams or reach their goals. If you feel that you are a victim of gender discrimination, it would be wise to speak with gender discrimination lawyers. These lawyers could provide you with a full consultation on your case to help you determine if gender discrimination took place. They could then help you with file and pursue a legal claim if you feel that you have been discriminated against.
