Many high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the work force in many developed countries is more than 50% female. Companies should be required to allocate a certain percentage of these positions to women. To what extent do you agree?

Male employees are given preference in terms of filling high power executive positions like those of CEO and CFO in a corporation; despite the fact that almost half of the working population in a given workplace is represented by female workers. Some people assert that a fixed number of these positions should be reserved for women; however, I do not personally believe that imposing quotas is the only solution. To start with, men and women should have the same opportunities as it avoids discrimination and creates a pleasant work environment to have a better balance of the genders in management and senior levels. However, having the same number of men and women on all positions is simply unrealistic. A company should be free to appoint best candidate for each position based on their qualifications, experience and skills, in order to contribute to the success of their business. In this way, both have same opportunities, and applicants know that they will be successful only if they work hard to achieve their goals. Forcing companies to fulfill certain percentages will have a negative impact not only on the morale but the productivity of employees too. Furthermore, gender equality is an ideology that essentially seeks to break limitations set by ancient stereotyping and to provide a society where opportunities of any genders are all equal. A quota for employing the women, if imposed will surely lead to more confident female community. However, I believe that it would be unfair to reserve few seats for women as it may also result in negative discrimination against deserving men. Finally, it has been seen that artificially imposing the rules has not always result in desired effect. Even in developed countries, there still exists a discrepancy when it comes to female making the same wages as men or even holding the same positions of power. The employers find some loopholes to get around any such law by simply changing the job titles to ensure that women were still paid less than men. In conclusion, the selection of a candidate should be based on merit, and it would be both impractical and unfair to change to a selection procedure based on gender quota system.