University Students’ Perceptions about Gender Discrimination at the Workplace

This paper investigated university students' perceptions about gender discrimination at the workplace. The purpose of this study was to find out how university students' perceive gender discrimination with them, others, as well as how it can impact their careers. The focus of the study was also to compare the male and female students’ perceptions about gender discrimination. For this purpose, data were collected through a questionnaire developed by Carr et al. (2000). A total of 344 students (185 male and 159 female) studying in the final year of MBA and BSIT programs who had completed the mandatory internship were selected randomly as participants of the study. The findings showed that university students are aware of gender discrimination issues and they perceive that gender discrimination exists at the workplace. Moreover, female students perceive that gender discrimination has more negative effects on them and their careers as compared to male students. Female students perceive that gender discrimination affects their confidence, skills, and advancement. Hence, the educational institutions might play a significant role to reduce gender discrimination by having close collaboration with the community and educating male students to treat women with equal respect and rights.