WGSS affiliated faculty and Associate Professor of Sociology Eileen Otis has written an article for the journal Gender and Society, “Walmart… Empowering Women?“.
Walmart’s Women Empowerment Program has been lauded by many in the media, although Prof. Otis argues that its contents “are at best insignificant to women working for Walmart, at worst detrimental to women’s status in the workplace”. Walmart launched the program three months after female Walmart employees filed a class action lawsuit protesting discrimination from male managers, the largest lawsuit to date against the firm. Rather than addressing the concerns of its female workforce, Walmart instead focused its resources on sourcing products from women-owned businesses. Testimonials and promotional materials for the Women Empowerment Program stereotypically depict women as selfless and nurturing, placing a burden on women in order to mend Walmart’s corporate image.
Read more about this on the CSSH news page.
