In present-day America, we often speak of how far women’s rights have come over the years. However, it must be said that there is still an obvious gender gap that is hindering our nation to this very day. Here, I will discuss the problems associated with this gender gap and how these problems are currently affecting the economic growth of our nation.
According to Elizabeth Nyamayaro, the gender gap is hurting the nation as a whole from an economic standpoint. If a man and a woman were both to make the same amount of money in a year, the woman is more likely to spend that money on family, friends, and other related expenses. In contrast, men are more likely to put their earnings into a bank account or investments. This has been proven. According to the Department of Labor, women earn roughly 78 cents for every dollar that a man makes. If men and women received equal pay, think of how much this would allow the economy to thrive just by looking at it from a consumer-spending point of view. Unequal wages are a current problem related to gender inequality that is holding back the economic growth of the U.S..
Next, I would like to touch upon the gender gap in management of companies. A recent survey of 60 major corporations confirmed that the percentage of women in the higher ranks of organizations demonstrates inequality to say the least. According to the piece, women make up 53% of entry-level employees, 40% of managers, 35% of directors, 27% of vice presidents, 24% of senior vice presidents, and 19% of executives in the C-suite. Aside from these stats demonstrating our nation’s bias in hiring men to management positions, there are also economic growth problems that result from this bias. According to a publication by the Harvard Business School, companies that have women in management positions have been statistically proven to be more successful and generate greater profit. With greater profit comes greater economic growth. Therefore, this disparity between the percentage of men and women in management positions is clearly a problem that is hindering the economic growth of our country.
Lastly, I would like to take a look at gender representation and disparity in our own government. While this may seem an extension of the previous problem, I think that it can be viewed as an entirely different one. In the U.S. Senate, men and women are given the task of writing bills and voting on them. As of 2014, the Senate was comprised of only 20% women. Our country has always been referred to as the land of opportunity. However, the opportunities are often limited to Caucasian males. Last year, the Senate blocked a bill that would have mandated employers to release information regarding wage differences and required a justifiable reason explaining the differences. I believe that if there were equal gender representation in the Senate during the time of the vote, it would have gone through and become a law. Having representatives in government that actually stand for the public good translates to laws being passed benefitting society as a whole. According to the slides shown in class, where the influence of women in public life is greater, the level of corruption is lower. Women are an extremely effective force for rule of law and good government. With this being said, equal representation in government can certainly help promote economic growth just by the mere fact that women have proved to be honest, uncorrupt leaders. As a result, I think unequal government representation has to be viewed as a problem that needs addressing in the near future.
References:
- http://www.ravishly.com/2015/03/16/gender-equality-isnt-just-womens-issue-interview-elizabeth-nyamayaro-un-heforshe-founder
- http://www.dol.gov/equalpay/
- https://hbr.org/2013/09/women-in-the-workplace-a-research-roundup
- http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/conferences/2013-w50-research-symposium/Documents/eagly.pdf
- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/09/women-future-cities-new-york-keys-to-empowerment
- World Bank: Gender Inequality, Economic Development, and the Knowledge Economy (ppt)
I think that your point about women only comprising 20 percent of the Senate is an important one. While I think that private spending on campaigns and endorsements affects the outcomes of votes much greater than the gender of the Senators, the idea of proper representation conflicts with the current state of congress. An increase in qualified female senators might give a different perspective on gender equality without changing the balance of opinions on other subjects. However, mandating female congressmen is clearly an impractical solution and so I think this problem once again stems from the perception of women in society. In a different culture where women are more respected in leadership roles and are considered equal to men because of their actions and accomplishments there would be a much more even split in the gender of congressmen. Of the current 20 women in this nation’s 114th Congress, 14 of them are democrats, displaying a more progressive attitude from the states that they were elected in. Only 6 currently serving female senators are republican. Hopefully, in the future, gender equality can be separated from political parties.
The wage gap between men and women is definitely a big problem. Especially considering the idea where women are spending it and having it recirculate into the economy where men just keep their money. I especially found the fact that men kept all their money in the bank to be very interesting. Usually we are under the impression that the men are the ones that bring home the money to be spent on the family. Finding out that this is the really changes how we view men in the family and in the workplace. I also agree with you in saying that the lack of women in leadership positions and government positions is an enormous problem. Considering that they make up half of the population they should at least take up half of the positions in these places. The fact that women only make the government and these companies better really shows that the problem is not necessarily due to the women. There is something in our system that is pushing women out of these positions and this definitely needs to be fixed as soon as possible. You clearly show that having gender diversity in both the workplace and government will only bring about good results.