BUSI 600 - Literature Review
Tony Hinds
Liberty University
Dr. Janet Jones
October 11, 2013

Abstract
The purpose of this literature review is to identify, discuss, and address gender discrimination in the workplace. Due to the broad spectrum of research regarding gender discrimination, this paper will primarily focus on women and pregnancy discrimination. This paper will attempt to uncover the obstacles and challenges experienced by women as they are subjected to the employment process and, if accepted for employment, what could await them within their workplace once they begin working. The statistical data collected and compiled within this literature review will attempt to support and prove that discrimination still exists today.
In some cases, employers would hire or promote women into managerial positions only to stifle their upward mobility. This devious plan that played out like a game of chess was devised to move women out of the potential running for executive positions in order to slingshot a male candidate without opposition or threat of discrimination allegations. This was a sly attempt to backdoor the system and denies women the opportunity to reach the executive level, also known as the glass ceiling. A glass ceiling’s first known use was in 1984 and is defined as “an unfair system or set of attitudes that prevents some people (such as women or people of a certain race) from getting the most powerful jobs” or “an intangible barrier within a hierarchy that prevents women or minorities from obtaining upper-level positions” (Merriam-Webster, 2013).
The discrimination against women can be subtle to the point where it could easily be overlooked or even unnoticed in many cases. It is important to know and understand your rights, the depth of the laws that are enforced by the EEOC, and when a claim can be legally investigated and/or filed against an employer. The EEOC defines sex-based discrimination as “treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of that person's sex as well as treating someone less favorably because