Differences Between Gender Treatments in the Work Force

This research focused on gender differences as one of the most important issues in all aspects of life. Gender discrimination is a global issue, not a local one, particularly in the workplace. Although an important focus in the 1990s, which included important anti-discrimination laws being created in places like the United States and the European Union, unfortunately, in recent years, as globalization has had a dramatic effect on organizations, the issues of gender discrimination have taken a "back burner." Over the last decade, we have heard the term "knowledge worker" to describe the type of worker who will have an advantage in the new economy. Brown (1999) explains that blue collar workers will be replaced by "information specialists called knowledge workers who are equipped to maintain and expand our technological leadership role in the next century" (Stockard, J., Wood, J.W., 2008, pp.1). With the "Information Revolution," many cultures are seeing the fruition of this prediction. However, women still lag behind, especially in conservative cultures like the Arabian Gulf nations. This causes a drain on the amount of knowledge that can be contributed because women are often limited in their occupations, even when highly educated as the majority of women in the Arabian Gulf are. The investment made in education for Muslim women is often unrealized in creating the knowledge workforce because of customs, tradition and even religion. Stereotypes regarding gender are still strong around the world, but are exemplified in Muslim cultures. The Literature Review includes different thinking, attitudes, reactions, behaviours, physical and biological characteristics that make each gender perceived in a distinctive, but often stereotypical way (Bravo, M.J., et. al., 2008). The focus will be on the Arabian Gulf cultures. The researcher used the interview method of P.R. practitioners in the UAE to compare their realistic expectations and/or assumptions about gender.