Gender Differences in Perception of Ethical Practices

Author(s)

Puneeta Goel

Affiliations

Assistant Professor, Amity University Sector 125, Noida

Abstract

Existing research on ethical practices primarily focus on impact of ethics on employee performance, attractiveness to perspective employees, improved employee relationship, etc. The current study intends to explore gender differences in employee’s perception about the ethical practices being followed by Indian business organizations. Seventeen ethical value statements have been used to explore the ethical perception of employees using Likert scale rating. Using a sample of 412 respondents, Mann-Whitney U differential tests asserted that there is significant difference in perception of ethical practices between men and women. The male patriarchal set up of Indian societal norms seems to transgress from the social life to corporate life style. Men consider ethical codes as part of training program to be a significant ethical issue where as female gave more consideration to paying fair wages and taking care of health and safety. Age and position of female employees are correlated to their ethical perception. Role of ethics in Indian companies has not been adequately studied. Further, the interplay of gender dichotomy and perception of ethical conduct is also missing in literature. The research attempts to correlate gender and employee perception in a male dominated society and workplace in India.

M14: Corporate Culture, Diversity and Social Responsibility

Keywords

Ethical Issues, Employee Perception, Gender Differences, Patriarchal Society, Gender Sensitivity

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