Gender equality is an admirable goal to hope to achieve in the future. One that will benefit our communities socially, economically, and politically. However as we examine issues surrounding gender and economic growth we realize we are far from reaching said goal.
One issue that is apparent is implicit bias in the workplace. Historically, women have been discriminated against in the workplace. However modern discrimination is more subtle. Women receive less challenging work assignments. Women are promoted less often. Women are also hired less often because employers fear her work performance would suffer should said women have children. In a study conduced by the Columbia Business School, subjects were asked to hire a candidate to perform a math task. Men were twice as likely to be hired for this position than women. The reason for these biases are long held beliefs that women share certain characteristics such as “…caring, warm, deferential, emotional, sensitive…” While men are thought to be “…competent, assertive, decisive, rational, objective…” Men’s characteristics are more appropriate for leaders which is why we see more men than women in leadership positions. When we do see women in leadership positions they are thought of as “pushy” as they are seen to have “…violated their prescribed norms.”
Just as there are male dominated industries as there are female dominated industries. In 2009, women compromise 78 percent of persons in the healthcare industry, 69 percent in education, 73.8 percent in social assistance, 95.8 percent in child day care services and 66.9 percent in advocacy, grant-making, and civic organizations. It is easy to identify a pattern in these industries. These are jobs in care-giving and jobs where relational skills are necessary. These are soft skills which are typically thought to be exemplified by women. While men are typically thought to possess hard skills. This may be a contributing factor to why the STEM industry is dominated by men. This is also the reason why men need to play an active roll in the struggle for gender equality. These industries as thought of as feminine. This prevents men from entering these rewarding fields as to maintain masculinity. If more men were to enter these fields, it would end the stereotypes concerning the type of skills which are possessed by either gender. This would also require women to enter male dominated fields. Gender inequality is an issue which must be tackled by both genders.
The most lethal issue in gender inequality is violence against women that is so common around the world. 35 present of women throughout the world have been the victims of physical abuse. 1 in 10 girls worldwide are forced to have sex before the age of 18. The World Health Organization has found that 35% of women who are murdered are murdered by their partners. There are different causes for these alarming statistics. In some areas, for example Nigeria, it is legal for a man to beat his wife. However, we see domestic violence even in places like New York City. From 2002 to 2013, there were 851 domestic homicides in NYC. The victims were largely female. The reason for this is that in many areas in the world, violence against women is under-reported as it is seen as a shameful thing. A study conducted in 28 countries of the European Union found only 14% of women reported instances of domestic violence.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3031101/the-future-of-work/the-new-subtle-sexism-toward-women-in-the-workplace
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/world/un-finds-alarmingly-high-levels-of-violence-against-women.html?_r=0
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2009/01/26/10-industries-where-women-rule/
http://www.nyc.gov/html/ocdv/downloads/pdf/Statistics_9th_Annual_Report_Fatality_Review_Committee_2014.pdf
I like that you took an overview of the major problems that are facing women in the contemporary workforce. I feel, however, that you need to look at some of the more microscale aspects of the macroscale-level problems you brought up. For example, you explained that women typically choose more relationship-based “soft” skilled careers and that they should be going into more male-dominated occupations, since character traits associated with those occupations are indicative of strong leaders. This is, I think, a part of the pay gap issue. However, the problem with this argument is that if women are, by their own will, choosing to go into certain types of occupations, that’s not really the social problem since it was by their own choice. Maybe what you mean is that since computer and engineering jobs are male-dominated professions, a number of microscale problems, such as lack of role-models, contributes to the perpetual lack of tendency towards these “hard-skill” professions. I like that your article stirs up a discussion.
Karolina, I agree with you when you speak of men needing to voice their opinions regarding change. At this point in time, there are several jobs that can be considered majority masculine or majority feminine in regards to the workplace. As you stated, men are more linked to jobs involving hard skills such as machine operation and programming while women are more connected to jobs that require soft skills such as care-giving. These are societal norms that must be challenged. However, it is not enough for women to simply voice their opinions. Men in positions of power will only see this as an opposing viewpoint and will often times disregard it. If men of power were to stand up and fight for women’s rights consistently, much like HeForShe does, the bias in the workplace would slowly but surely change. Employers seem almost intimidated by these societal standards. Time and time again we see statistics supporting the bias in regards to hiring men over women in certain positions regarding hard skills. If men were to stand up and fight more consistently, this would surely have a positive impact on the situation as a whole. It is one thing for a woman to stand up to a man. It is another for a man to stand up to a man. Whether we admit it or not, a man willing to voice his opinion in support of a woman is significant because his opinion and his support is of a group of people not representing himself. A man doing this is willing to put his own reputation on the line for the women’s rights cause and as a result he will be taken seriously. If more men are willing to put their own reputations on the line, women’s rights will thrive as a result.