A common problem found is that women aren’t expected or encouraged to join the ranks of high-level positions in companies. From a very young age, children are taught their traditional gender roles in elementary school and kindergarten that influence them for the rest of their lives. This is the source of the problem that creates the glass ceiling; women from a young age are pushed into believing that they are unable to achieve the same level of success in their careers as men.
My solution isn’t an instant fix to the whole problem but will work over time to equalize the wage gap and create a more balanced economy. Simply put, it would involve changing all the philosophies in the public schools to make a more gender-neutral environment. Tasks such as cleaning wouldn’t be given out only to girls and tasks such as carrying things wouldn’t be given out only to boys. This is the root of the issue because from a young age, people unknowingly discriminate based on gender, which is no fault of their own. They are simply following the same principles that they were taught as children.
To further tackle this problem, teachers would equally engage students of both genders to become indulged in what they want to do rather than what society wants them to do. This wouldn’t mean forcing girls to learn more STEM and boys to go into caregiving professions but instead letting them choose what they want to focus on in their studies. By broadening what children learn at a young age, the process in turn broadens their horizons in the future when the children grow up and are on their own.
Gender-neutral language is also an important component of eliminating patriarchal dominance in society. Our society is very saturated with words such as fireman, policeman, businessman which establish patriarchal dominance. It was in high school in a writing class where I learned that the use of these words is sexist and should overall be avoided if possible. At that point the words were fully ingrained into my mind so it was difficult to just suddenly change my way of thinking.
Ultimately the best way to solve the wage gap and the gender ceiling involves penetration at a young level. Children absorb the most information at a young age so it is the best time to ingrain gender-neutral language and ideas so that everyone has an equal chance at being successful. It would solve the idea of picking and choosing male candidates for jobs for which some women may be more qualified to do.
Sources:
- http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/Modern-Parenthood/2014/1009/Gender-neutrality-Why-teachers-won-t-ask-boys-and-girls-to-line-up-in-Lincoln-Neb
- https://bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/SocialJustice/Issues/LGBTQ/GenderNeutral.pdf
