Our society still has a long way to go in eradicating gender inequality within, as well as outside, the workplace. The inequity is evident in the presence of the gender wage gap and the significant lack of women in leadership positions. Contrary to these currently existing conditions, the presence of women in the workplace has been proven to positively affect company revenue. The most important way to close not only the gender wage gap, but also societal gender bias, is to encourage young women to pursue those positions that are traditionally male-dominated.

One of the biggest contributors to the lack of women in managerial positions is, of course, the gender bias that continues to exist in our society. The attached Pantene video highlights this bias, giving such examples as the stereotype that a man will be called a “boss” while a women in the same position will be called “bossy” [4]. It stresses the unfortunate reality of gender biases and labels within our society; it is not hard to imagine the negative effect it has on women’s confidence in entering a typically male-dominated field. As a result of this societal bias, women constantly, and usually subconsciously, underestimate their own skills and hard work – they are more likely than men to attribute their success to luck [1]. There is also a lack of strong, successful women (when compared to men) to serve as role models for young women. Fun fact: the highest-paid woman CEO, Martine Rothblatt, was born a man [2].

Empowering women to take on leadership positions and break through the glass ceiling will slowly but surely mitigate the gender bias deeply entrenched in our society. This will consequently lead to a shift in the societal gender bias and, consequently, on the gender lens on economic growth. It greatly benefits companies to have women in leadership positions because it is shown to increase organizational effectiveness [3]. A solution that can address these problems is the establishment of an organization dedicated to encourage leadership skills in young women. The process would begin with a student chapter at the City College of New York and involve college students and faculty members acting as mentors for interested high school and college students. CCNY is an ideal place to start such an organization because there are two high schools on its campus. The club would not be geared specifically for women in a certain field of study because possessing leadership skills are essential to advance in any field. We would gauge initial interest by visiting high school classrooms and distributing surveys. Ideally, as the members advance in their studies and later in the professional world, they would provide the existing club members with job and internship opportunities. This would create an continually expanding network of women and encourage young women to pursue that CEO position just as confidently as a man would.

References:

[1] https://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders

[2] http://www.businessinsider.com/the-highest-paid-woman-ceo-was-born-a-man-2014-6

[3] http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures#notes

[4] Pantene’s Video: “A Man’s a Boss, a Woman’s Bossy”

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

Looking at economic growth through a gender lens, the immediate impression is that women incur penalties in the job market because of their gender. Many in this class have discussed this problem in some facet. Personally, I wrote about this being a culture issue, resulting from the way that people are raised and holdovers from less progressive decades. I think that the only way to truly combat the issue of women being mistreated in the work force is change perceptions over time. This is not a quick fix but will be much more effective than forced equality through some sort of legislation. In some ways this strategy is already being implemented as society’s expectations for women have become more progressive in the last few years. However, this process can be sped up if an emphasis on equality between genders is taught to young children in environments such as their home and school. In these places, children look to adults for indicators on how they should behave. Although we cannot force a change inside peoples’ homes, changing the public school curriculum remains a strong possibility. Even in my elementary school, which promoted conservation, equality, and fairness, gender roles were evident in teachers’ unconsciousness assignments of classroom chores: girls were asked to clean and boys to put chairs on tables at the end of the day. By making a conscious effort to promote gender equality in classrooms society’s progressive shift can be accelerated.

Previously, I stated that forcing equality through legislation is not a real fix. However, it can still be an effective plan while we wait for societal norms to change. For example, a law dictating employers to provide employees in the same position equal pay would help regulate gender bias. Unfortunately, this is not really a feasible idea due to pushback from companies and employees who often negotiate starting salaries. A better idea is to require corporate transparency, forcing companies to release the salaries and bonuses of employees at least within their organization. This would give employees the ability to check their earnings in comparison to comparable peers. If enacted, this would allow employees to take advantage of laws against sexual discrimination in employment that have already been ratified.

One controversial idea on this subject is the implementation of Scandinavian maternity/paternity leave laws in the United States. In countries like Norway and Denmark, companies are required by law to give new parents extensive leave when compared to the United States. In this country maternity leave often does not exceed a few weeks and paternity leave is often nonexistent. However, Scandinavian parents receive much more than that. For example, Sweden allows parents to receive 90% of their wages during paid leave for a total of 480 days between them per child. Currently, 90% Swedish fathers take paternity leave for an average of seven weeks and mothers take more. In 2013, 12 million days of paid paternity leave were given to fathers in Sweden. Although this is not a plausible idea to be implemented in the United States due to f this country’s much more capitalistic nature, it should be noted that Sweden rates as one of the top nations in terms of gender equality.

References:

1. http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/07/economist-explains-15

2. http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/gender-equity-in-education.pdf

3. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/gender-and-education/

In my previous post, I listed three problems that plague women in today’s society which will only hinder progression if left unchecked. The three problems are the wage gap between the genders, the lack of care for maternity leave needs, and the reluctance of women to enter the STEM fields. If we solve these problems or work towards a solution, society will benefit from the new perspectives and ideas brought by women and men working in a cooperative fashion.

STEM fields, which stand for science, technology, engineering, and math, are essential in the progression of the material world since the fields improve understanding in technological application and home care. It is a much needed field since it is a direct link to solving the world’s problems. According to a White House report, women will earn 33% more money than other jobs if they decide to participate in a STEM related field. If more women choose STEM fields, the wage gap between men and women will gradually lessen and equal pay will be distributed to everyone based on ability. Only about 20% of all STEM related bachelor’s degrees were given to women in 2012 and if we increase that fraction we will eventually make great progress in solving many of the gender inequality gaps.

While this process will be difficult, there should be steps to help empower women into the STEM field. This has to start with more women entering STEM fields first so there are role models to follow. To entice women to enter STEM fields, more scholarships for women should be granted and reallocating some funds from the military budget to the education budget would help a lot. There are currently a few organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers and the Center for Women Technology that do give scholarships for STEM women but there needs to be more. An initial push for women in STEM will be necessary for more to follow and nurturing that at an early age will be necessary. The education system will potentially need to be changed to teach more math, science, and technological skills to induce interest at an early age. The image and gender roles of women will also need to be changed so there will not be any societal expectations that hinder women from going into STEM fields. This image of women will be repealed once more women enter the STEM field. When there is a high market of women in the STEM fields, companies will eventually have no choice but provide better maternity leave policies for the growing population and labor force. As a result, the first step of empowering women to enter the STEM fields can result in a big step for societal change and solutions to the many problems women currently face in the workforce. Therefore, STEM fields are the future for not only technological application but for societal benefits as well.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/women

http://www.ngcproject.org/statistics

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/stem-education/2011/12/13/9-college-scholarships-for-women-in-stem

According to radical feminism, an ideology that I strongly subscribe to, inequality in pay is a severely minor outcome stemming from overarching patriarchal constructs. While fixing the “77 cents” problem is important, it won’t solve the root of why these problems exist. I believe solutions to gender gap and economic growth problems must fundamentally change our way of thought and current social/educational structures.

The first step is to increase female representation at all levels, particularly at the top where the ratio is harshly skewed to males. The presence alone of females gives an added perspective that cannot be learned or considered by men in the workplace. An environment of equal representation creates a safe space that is more welcoming and productive. Let’s take government for example. We have 196 countries, yet as of as of “January 2015, 10 women served as Head of State and 14 served as Head of Government” (“Facts,” 2015). The fact that women don’t hold power is evidence of the social and gendered stigmas that prevent women from rising. Strict enforcement of gender quotas are a method of resolving this issue. In 2006, Norway instated a 40% female gender quota for company boards. Germany followed suit with a 30% female gender quota. Competent and skilled female workers are available, especially considering that women outpace men in higher education; however, they are not given the jobs they deserve. “One study found that a commitment by hiring committees to shortlists with at least 25% women helped to remove anti-woman bias” (H.J., 2014).

Another societal shift that needs to occur is the removal of gender roles. Female (maternal) roles are intensely degraded. The dilemma of “having it all” should not be just a women’s concern. Along the same lines, any male that appears to take on maternal roles is considered emasculated in society. Providing salaries for parents who choose to pursue maternal parental roles full-time is a key way to change oppressive cultural thoughts. The fact of the matter is that money is a symbol of value and a means to achieving greater power within our capitalistic structure. Paying full-time parents creates financially stable families that can invest back into the economy and their children. “ Paid leave raises the probability that mothers return to employment later, and then work more hours and earn higher wages” (Miller, 2015). Paid leave and payment for parental duties are long-term investments. It creates a larger, more strengthened workforce that can positively impact economic growth.

The removal of gender roles must not begin at parenthood, but start early in schools. “Departments of education should be providing mandatory gender-equity resource modules to in-service teachers” (Chapman, n.d.). Essentially, educators must be made of aware of existing biases in teaching materials and methods. For example, the use of adjectives (nice, polite girl vs. strong boy) even as early as pre-school must be monitored as they influence gender role identity. Schools should develop and use gender-neutral language/material in order to build environments and a future consciousness of equality. When children grow up without being berated by these social constructs, they are less likely to find ideas of equal pay, equal gender quotas, or paid leave as absurd or financial burdens.

References

Chapman, A. (n.d.). Gender bias in education. EdChange Project. Retrieved from http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/genderbias.html

Facts and figures: leadership and political participation. (2015, February). UN Women. Retrieved from http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures

H.J. (2014, Mar. 25). The spread of gender quotas for company boards. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/03/economist-explains-14

Miller, C.C. (2015, Jan. 30). The economic benefits of paid parental leave. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/upshot/the-economic-benefits-of-paid-parental-leave.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

One of the big problems that for women in the workplace is the notion that men are better at working than a woman would be. This notion does not only exist in the workplace but in various other places like sports and education. Gender roles are not something that a teacher or parent directly presents to children. It is clearly in various multimedia and underlying tones that are seen everyday for many children. In order to remove these notions that men are supposed to succeed while women are meant to stay at home and take care of the children, we must change the minds of the future generations. This clearly will not fix the problem immediately, but the next generation will have the ability to live outside of these gender roles that are present in society. According to the Riggs Institute, a child who learned how to play an instrument will play it better 20 years later than an adult starting out. In order to get children to get into the habit of having women be successful and leaders we have to set up a program in elementary schools.

The program in elementary school would be focused on spending at least half an hour a day focused on empowering women. While this does not need to happen very explicitly in classrooms it needs to be done. To make this program appealing having the government gives extra money to schools that undertake the program. This will give many schools incentives for going through this program. A very integral part of the program would be that the boys would also need to be present along with the girls. Simply altering the girl’s perceptions would not be enough to remove these gender roles. Having both men and women participate in these activities would force both the boys and girls face the fact that both men and women are equal. If these men are later in their lives found in positions of power, they will look at women without any bias due to the program.

The activities that would be done during the half hour period could involve watching shows where there is a female protagonist or holding a sports competition like football or soccer. Having girls play sports has actually been seen to increase the confidence that women. The Huffington Post covered a story where teenagers were playing football on a regular basis. Usually in sports there is a different division for both men and women, but these teenagers were playing against other boys. The experience of playing football really showed them how gender roles are all in their mind. Another big activity would be to half would be to bring in female parents come and talk about their jobs. Hopefully, some of the parents brought in are in some of the popular dream jobs for children like police officers, firefighters and doctors. This will bring children to learn that both men and women can undertake these jobs. In order the change the gender roles in the future we have to change the minds of the future.

Sources:

http://www.riggsinst.org/brainpower.aspx

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-alice-stephenson/football-taught-twelve-year-olds-girls_b_6681262.html

One of the most apparently problems with gender and economic growth lies within a simple concept called the gender wage gap. As I previously mentioned in the post regarding problems, the problem lies in its name. Why do women tend to get paid less when producing the same amount of work in offices? This problem can be alleviated by making gender equality a reality. Some causes cannot be changed such as women being the ones giving birth and the patriarchal society we are living in. From various sources, women make 60 – 80% of what men make in many jobs and vary in the states also.

A proposition by the Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, established by The White House in attempt to close the wage gap, described an app to educate people about the salaries of different jobs to educate the public about the wage gap and how employers are underpaying some employees. Another effort to close this gap was a release of data by Salary.com to educate people about salaries they should possibly be receiving. I believe educating the general public about the salary of their current job will help them obtain a clear idea of what they should be paid.

Studies also show that unions offer a higher tendency of following the wage gap than those are not part of one. The researches show that the gap differs by about 8% in favor for those in a union. One of the main reasons why unions help reduce the wage gap is exact the same as the purpose of the actions by the Task Force and Salary.com. They reduce wage secrecy to raise awareness of rightful salaries and fight against salary discrimination.

As I said in the very beginning, women should not punished simply due to the fact that they are the ones with the biological capability to give birth. According to an analysis by the Census Bureau, half of the working mothers did not receive a paid maternity leave. About three-quarters of women will get pregnant which means about three-eighths of women in the work force will not get paid for something that is biological.

One solution that struck me was the idea of creating a paternity leave to complete the idea of a parental leave. This allows men to also have a period off work to take care of the wife and the child. According to a source, many firms consider this leave to be a “disability,” which I find outrageous.

By having educating the public about different salaries for the same or different jobs will allow employees to argue against wage discrimination whether they are part of a union or not. Creating a paid job leave for both parents takes out the “inequality” for men who think women are having through the nine months of pregnancy.

http://rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/how-fix-gender-wage-gap-going-far-beyond-app

http://www.financialsamurai.com/gender-wage-gap/

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the most vexing problems of gender inequality in the workplace is the pay gap. The pay gap is a serious issue, with women roughly earning 77% of every dollar a man is paid, based on various studies conducted by interest groups, academic organizations, and even governmental entities. While there is no easy way to just close the gap, as economics is much more complicated than that, there are several steps and theories that can be worked out and tested. The pay gap may not close with a single legislation, though any step in the right direction would be positive.

One solution, besides the over encompassing Equal Pay Act, could be to lobby for a policy that ensures equal hourly wages. Now, solving the pay gap is not as simple as this, as various jobs pay their employees not only based on hourly wages, but continuous work with familiar clients like in the case of doctors and lawyers, and based on product, like in journalism fields. However,Harvard Labor Economist Claudia Goldin stated in the Forbes article, “A New Way to Close The Gender Gap” by Susan Adams, stated that pay based entirely on hourly wage is an excellent way of obtaining a step closer in equal pay rights, and she points out the pharmaceutical professions:”In contrast to fields like law or finance, where job-sharing doesn’t really work because clients want the same individual to focus on their case or transaction over a long period of time, pharmacy customers don’t care who fills their Prozac or Viagra prescriptions, as long as the person knows what she’s doing. That means that women can take long leaves and then come back and work part-time without suffering a wage penalty” (Adams 1). Regardless, there is still a wage discrepancy, of about 5-7% according to the article. Still economists like Jordan Weissman claim pharmacies to be “secret little altars to gender equality” (Adams 1). This is the type of institution we can look to in which basic programs, like equal hourly wage pay, can make the difference in closing the pay gap. This setting can be applied to various jobs that share this hourly pay set up, and for more diverse jobs, other steps can be taken that will need to be further explored.

I would also suggest the formation of a preparatory women’s focus group, to mentor women in college and prepare them for the realities and challenges in the workplace. Myself being a male individual with no work experience, I could not fairly identify the problems that women may encounter in the workforce. However, if a focus group mentored by woman from all walks of life started a program of that caliber, and if that program could have the same status and broad interaction as lets say famous campus greek life, considerable changes could be made. Some studies attribute to the gender gap being influenced by women not being active in asking for wages, or pursuing more technical jobs. Obviously this is not the only factor affecting the pay gap, but they may contribute, even if its as little as 1%. Fighting against this institutionalized sexism would be beneficial to all people, and certainly to women.

Lastly, there should be more information on the details of the wage gap. This gap is so debated and convoluted through red tape, political jargon, and survey errors and biases, that it is hard to track down conclusive data that all people will readily believe. The first step in solving a problem is addressing it. And once people address it, institutionalized sexism, right down from job selection to employers asking employees their current finances, can all be resolved.

Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/03/19/a-new-way-to-close-the-gender-pay-gap/

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/02/22/bill-aims-close-gender-wage-gap/eAX5j5HxHZU9h14orWLXJJ/story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/opinion/the-truth-about-the-pay-gap.html

While the position of women in the public sphere, workplace and the economy have proven to be unequal for the longest time, a number of solutions exist that help improve gender equality in society. While a total transformation of societal gender perception seems unlikely to occur for quite some time, these solution can begin to bridge the gap between men and women’s opportunities in a myriad of ways. These solutions include initiating educational programs that help women compete in male dominated workplaces, requiring companies to hire a mainly equal amount of workers of both genders and helping women build networks that will be useful for their professional careers.

According to the World Economic Forum, in many large Western European cities like Zurich, women make anywhere from 24-32% less a year than their male colleagues. To solve this inequality, the forum proposes that both schools and special programs should start initiatives to “make gender equality part of training and education. Young people should be supported in choosing jobs that are future-oriented and promising, regardless of their gender” (WEF.org). By thus instructing women from a young age to pursue their passions without any stereotypical gender discrimination, and providing these women with the tools to pursue any career that men would pursue, nations can empower women to eliminate gender inequity and pursue upper level jobs, progressing both the economy and society.

Another strategy for solving gender inequality would be for workplaces and/or businesses to promote equal hiring and of women at work as well as a respectful attitude to men and women equally at work. For example, the Huffington Post suggests that employers can “build an inclusive culture in your workplace, join a global platform for collaboration with women around the world, or rally your colleagues to raise money to support a female entrepreneur in a developing country” (HuffPost). In creating such an inclusive and nondiscriminatory work setting, women can thus feel safe and inspired to work and contribute to society. By ensuring that their businesses hire men and women at even proportions, business owners can benefit from more diverse perspectives, while contributing to the improvement of our society.

An additional way for women to begin to improve the gender gap is through networking. The Business Insider says that the general public is often against women who network, saying “Researchers asked students what they thought of venture capitalist and legendary networker Heidi Roizen. The researchers found that students deemed her “more selfish and less desirable” than the fictional subject Howard Roizen, who had the exact same credentials and contacts as Heidi. Basically, Heidi was given a lower likeability rating than Howard for no other reason than being a woman” (Business Insider.com). This article therefore illustrates that evolving the societal perception of women making networks is vital to female empowerment at work. This is because by teaching women that networking is a useful tool to successful professions, not something that only a men are allowed to take advantage of, women can use networking to be more equipped to prosper in male dominated work settings.
References

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-women-can-network-more-effectively-2013-11

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/katie-zeppieri/gender-equality-workplace_b_6297626.html

https://agenda.weforum.org/2014/10/six-ways-fix-gender-inequality-workplace/