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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

Gender issues related to the differences of male and female were pinpointed in decade of 1950s, but highlighted as an important issue in management and organizational studies in between 1980s & 1990s. The duration between these two periods recognized the gender effects in different studies. Hearn & Parkin (1987) emphasized on female issue in those organizations who are dominated by male. Gender is defined as; “Gender comprises a range of differences between men and women, extending from the biological to the social” “Discrimination is treating differently on the basis of sex or race” (Word net web) on the basis of above definitions we can conclude that basically gender discrimination is preference of one gender upon other. The gender discrimination may exist in various dimensions which include hiring discrimination, differences in salary and wages, discrimination/differences in promotion and inequity related to different goods and facilities provided to different gender. Employee is a back bone of the organization that performs critical tasks for the survival of the organization and employee productivity affected by gender discrimination.

Normally, Male is dominated in Pakistan so whole preference is given to him. We have done this research in order to check gender discrimination & its effect on productivity level in Telecom sector of Pakistan. This study helpful for the human resource managers of telecom sector who are facing such kind of issues related to gender discrimination and its affect on employee productivity.It will also helpful for the employee in any telecom company, by providing information about the basic effective points of gender discrimination on your productivity.

Gender issues should also be considered when looking at the inequality between men and women, and their access to the economics profession and wages. The accounting profession also shows such differences. This topic seems to be particularly interesting in emerging countries, where sustainable development is attempted against the background of historical and near-term systemic changes. The accounting profession is shaped by many factors, but from the perspective of sustainable development, the sense of job satisfaction has become particularly important. In this study, we investigated whether the sense of job satisfaction and its prestige, as seen by accountants in Poland, are associated with determinants, such as gender, age, length of service, type, and size of the business entity. Prestige means a level of respect at which accountants are regarded by others. This research was conducted after the social and economic transitions in the country, which has had an influence on the development of the accounting profession. The subject of our study is closely connected to behavioral trends in accounting, which has been gaining traction since the 1950s. There have been continuous changes to the International Accounting Standards and International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS), and follow-up legal amendments in individual countries. These changes mean that accountants are constantly being forced to update their knowledge and skills in the interpretation and communication between business entities and their operating environment, as well as within the businesses themselves. Bebbington, et.al (2017). These changes are accompanied by changes in the regulations of the accounting profession and the need to define new rules for verifying the quality of performance in the accounting profession.

Challenges in accounting are being increasingly observed beyond the requirement of sufficient financial and mathematical qualifications of accounting professionals. The behavioral aspects of the accounting profession, including ethical aspects, have become more apparent, as globalization of capital and its diversification spreads. Jackling, et.al (2007)

In the literature, research trends, inter alia, can be observed in the aspects of personalities in the accounting profession, such as personality types, underlying reasons for choosing the accounting profession and gender issues. Iyer, et.al (2007). In Poland, post-World War II, the nationalization and standardization of accounting regulations did not require accountants to have high-level skills or qualifications. The situation changed with introduction of the market economy at the beginning of the 1990s, when growing businesses started to require qualified accountants, but the research on gender and behavioral issues within the accounting profession in Poland had only been conducted on a small scale.

One of the more controversial issues in the context of the accounting profession is gender as a factor directly or indirectly determining the quality of professional performance and job satisfaction. Whether gender affects the quality of performance and job satisfaction in the accounting profession is particularly relevant in countries that have undergone political, economic, and social transitions. In Poland, the accounting profession has been strongly feminized for many years. However, establishing the number of people employed in the broadly defined accounting services in Poland is difficult due to the lack of legal rules governing the profession and relevant statistical research in the field. A few studies have shown that social and cultural changes accompanying the shift toward a market-based economy have strongly influenced the perception and assessment of the accounting profession.

History of work-life programs can be traced back to 1930s, when introduction of reduced working hours with four shifts of six-hours instead of the usual three daily eight hours shifts in W.K. Kellog Company resulted to enhanced employee morale and productivity (Lockwood, 2003). Still, it took the next decades (1980s) for the concept to gain importance with the consideration of certain aspects as job satisfaction, reward systems, physical work environment, worker participation, rights and esteem needs. Most of them, particularly textiles, cement, bakery, leather, paper manufacturing and many others are all producing with machinery that were procured in the 1960s and 1970s, giving rise to frequent breakdown and reduction in capacity consumption rates (Anyanwu, 2007). Low technology is responsible for the inability of local industry to produce capital goods such as raw materials, spare parts and equipment, the bulk of which are imported.

The areas of focus of Gender and development studies research group include the following; gender inequality, gender based violence, women’s work, sexuality and reproductive health issues including the need for male involvement in reproductive health; female empowerment and                   socio-cultural determinants of health inequities. Gender inequality has been recognized as a major challenge in achieving a humane and meaningful development. In fact gender inequality was highlighted as a key factor that has hampered the progress in attainment of the entire millennium development goals not merely goal 3 (OECD, 2010). This is particularly so due to the vicious cycle of poverty resulting from gender inequality (GADN, 2013).

However, managers want committed employees because such workers are assumed to have higher Jevels of effort and performance and lower rates of turnover and absenteeism, with attendant reductions in costs of replacement and training (see Mowday, ;.,. Porter, & Steers, 1982). From a societal point of view, committed workers may contribute to economic growth and high levels of productivity. High commitment may also be desirable from an individual standpoint, to the extent that committed workers are better compensated or have better career prospects. There may, however, be negative side effects of high organizational commitment for· the individual, such as stress, career stagnation, and family strains (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Mowday et al., 1982). Hence, the research tends to examine gender as determinant of job-related benefits in organizations.