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Many women set a powerful example of what it means to defy society’s standards and become successful. Today we can see women as leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, and so on, and as proud as we are of what they have accomplished, we can’t help but realize that many other women can’t even land a job due to illogical reasons.
In fact, many women have taken their hiring process problems to social media to complain about the discrimination and marginalization that is happening against them. Many companies set unrealistic rules when it comes to hiring women unlike what happens when they’re hiring men.
In this article, we will showcase what kinds of struggles women go through from the moment they apply for a vacancy to the results of the interview.
The Barriers That Women Face During A Job Hunt
Some women go through tricky hiring processes that sometimes end with being rejected due to illogical reasons that can be called nothing but discrimination.
When talking about the banking sector, it is commonly known that it is one of the hardest sectors when it comes to getting accepted and it is widely known that all banks don’t hire married women, women with kids, and sometimes even engaged women.
While the banking sector hires women based on their marital status, other companies hire based on looks. Many girls complained about being rejected by companies either because they’re not wearing a Hijab, they’re overweight, or they’re a hijabi.
One of the barriers is that not all women get paid the same amount as men despite having the same title
It is shocking to know that job vacancies now discriminate between women based on how they look! In fact, a few days ago, a girl posted a video on TikTok that she was rejected from a job because she’s a hijabi and the whole interview questions revolved around her choice of wearing a hijab.
Interview Result: Rejected Due To Wearing A Hijab
A few days ago someone posted on Facebook that his colleague was rejected from a job vacancy due to being a Hijabi.
The topic went viral on all social media and even some online platforms reported the incident. The story is when a girl who applied for a vacancy at a certain company. They invited her for an interview, and as the girl stated, the interview revolved around her choice of wearing a Hijab and not about her experience or skills. Later on, she was informed that she had been rejected.
This enraged people all over social media and everyone kept wondering when this discrimination would end.
“Why Was I Rejected?”: Based On True Stories
We asked in groups for women only if any of them were discriminated against in a job because of their marital status or their looks and the stories will shock you.
Hajar Jamal – Social Media Specialist
“I gave birth 2 months ago and after one month of my maternity leave, the company called me asking me to get back to work because there was a huge workload and I had to help. After a lot of negotiations, they agreed I’d work from home and I started working I found out that there was no workload and they just assigned me other employees’ tasks that were not even in my specialty and were never assigned to me before I even got pregnant.”
S.M
“4 years ago I applied for a position in an international school and even though I met all the requirements, I was rejected because I was pregnant. The principal told me “We can’t hire you because your due date will be during the exam and we can’t give you any days off.”
Anonymous
“I was about to work in a very famous bank in the sales department but outdoors. Since I’m wearing a Hijab, every once in a while the Sales manager kept asking me if by any chance I was willing to take my hijab off, and when I insisted that I couldn’t take it off, he told me that he would check the hiring process and let me know the result and they never called me back”.
Z.F – Social Media Marketing Department Head
“Unfortunately, this happens a lot and I was once the interviewer and the interviewee.
As an interviewer, the upper management was very strict about hiring people who are fully dedicated and since I’m a feminist, they always asserted on this point because most of our candidates were females. I didn’t know how to say it bluntly to the candidates so I just told them the rules and that full dedication is required and days off are not to be taken in the first 3 months. I remember I had an employee who was pregnant and took her maternity leave a little bit early due to her health issues. The owner insisted that I force her to work from home, and when I rejected, he made me work on her tasks”
“As an interviewee, lately the employers have asked me directly about my marital status because they think women can’t be committed when they are married. I started replying to them with the word “Spinster” and then I told them about my experience. The whole situation is very rude and hurtful to so many women.
Amal Magdy – Customer Service Representative
“I was rejected from a real estate company due to wearing a Hijab and having a kid. Even though I told them I would be leaving my kid with my parents, they still rejected me”
Anonymous
“I applied for a teaching assistant role in a popular university and after I was contacted by the dean who was very impressed with my resume and we agreed on the salary and the available days she asked me which university I graduated from and when I told her Zagazing University, she said “Zagazig? What is that? Where is it located?” and when I told her it is in Al-Sharqeya governorate, she replied with “Ok, I’ll get back to you later” Next thing they rejected me”.
Anonymous
“I had an interview in 2019 and frankly speaking I didn’t notice they required single women to apply. When I went to the interview, everything went well starting from the salary to everything else. By the end of the interview, the interviewer noticed my ring and asked if I was married or engaged, I said “Married”. He suddenly changed he replied with a very weird question, which was “Are you taking any pills or using any method to prevent pregnancy?” I was in shock and I only said “This is a very personal question” He then walked me to the door saying we will be in reach and never called back.”
Anonymous
“I got rejected twice. The first time, I was working on a project and when it ended I was pregnant. After the project was done, they asked me to come as a volunteer because there would be vacancies later. After working extremely hard in preparing the project and amending it, when the vacancies were open, I applied. The manager invited me to a meeting and told me they couldn’t accept me because I was pregnant and they wouldn’t give me 3 months maternity leave.”
“The second one, I had a very weird interview to the extent I wished I wouldn’t get the job. The interviewer kept asking me personal questions about where I live and my kid and of course I was rejected. Years later, I got accepted into another job, and by accident, we ran into each other again, and he said “We didn’t accept you last time because you lived far away and had a kid.”
Not Only Married Women Are Being Discriminated Against
Some women struggle with being promoted or taking higher positions due to being a “Woman”.
Getting a promotion is based on the talent, skills, and qualifications the employee has but unfortunately, some companies promote their employees based on their gender despite having the right qualifications.
Many women have complained that when it comes to promoting someone, their company always chooses a man. Employers believe that men are more serious, they’re not emotional, and more dedicated just because a woman can have a husband or kids.
Women are being discriminated against based on their looks; many women are rejected from a job because they’re either too skinny, too overweight, a hijabi, a non-hijabi, and even because they have darker skin.
In fact, many women stated that even in the interview they were asked irrelevant questions and personal questions about their private life.
Discrimination Against Women On A Global Scale: Did You Hear About The Marriage Bar?
The Marriage Bar is the practice of restricting the employment of married women and it was activated mainly in the English-speaking countries.
From the late 19th century to the 1970s, the Marriage Bar was often called for the termination of the employment of a woman when she was about to get married, especially in teaching and clerical occupations.
The Marriage Bar didn’t stop there, it actually treated any women with children even widows as if they were married and refused to allow them to be hired. In the 60s, the practice was widely regarded as employment inequality and sexual discrimination.
Later on, the practice started to be canceled in the Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland.
What The Solution Could Be
We wonder when discrimination against women in the workforce will end and every woman could easily be hired for the right job.
So far, there’s absolutely no solution presented by an official organization to support women as there are many feminist organizations.
The reason why companies refuse to hire women is that they don’t want to provide maternity or annual days, they need someone who’s available 24 hours and capable of dealing with male clients, working late, and won’t ask for maternity leave. We believe that companies need to be more unbiased towards a certain gender and take the risk as this female candidate might be better than a dozen of male candidates. What the country can do is add a new law that urges every company to have a certain number of female employees, managers, and leaders.
When do you think women won’t be discriminated against and marginalized and find justice? The majority of women are waiting for this day.
