Barriers And Challenges To Pursue Of Gender Equality

Since the early 1800s, women in higher education have been battling to overcome barriers to gain access to education, and equal career opportunities. Research posits that women have made significant progress through government legislations during the 1960s and 1970s, which eradicated some of the barriers of gender inequality. The research also supports that women are moving the needle in educational attainment and employment in higher education as students, faculty members and senior-level administrators. However, recent data suggest that there is still work to do to increase the number of women in leadership roles. Especially black women in higher education.

David Sadker and Mellisa Koch. Gender insights coming to your classroom. “Educational leadership”. ASCD. Accessed 17 October 2017. https://rhysmillerteachinglearning.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/educational-leadershipdisrupting-inequitygender-insights-coming-to-your-classroom.pdf

There is change concerning perspective on gender inequalities in schools. I In and article written by Diane Reay, called “Nice Girls” “Girlies,” and “Tomboys”: Gender Discourses, Girls’ Cultures and Femininities in the Primary Classroom, explains that contemporary gender power relations within an elementary classroom, is more complicated than “girls versus boys”. Reay found that girls were split into identifiable groups, each group defining how feminine they were or weren’t. She concluded that gender either operates as oppositions or hierarchy or most commonly both at the same time. These studies can lead us into why later on in life, during the time we are looking for jobs and professional work, men and women are seen on different playing fields. When you think of a CEO of a company or of world political leaders, does a male or female come to mind? Many, if not most of us, see these positions as being held by men. Even though we are approaching the twenty-first century, women in our society are still not equal to men when it comes down to the professional world. This discrimination in the workplace results in women not receiving the same benefits that men do. In certain cases women do the same job, for the same amount of hours, and still do not receive the same pay for their work. The average women’s paycheck is usually less than the average man, consistent with any field of work. Is there a

Women make up half of the world, but they’re never been treated as equal to men. They’ve had to work for everything they have today. Women had to fight for the right to vote as well as the right to leave their homes and become working citizens. Women have broken many barriers placed on them, but they still haven’t broken the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is the invisible barrier that women, as well as other minorities, face when it comes to equal pay. For every dollar earned by a man, a woman only makes about seventy-five cents. This is not in any way a fair. Women work the same job for the same amount of time as men, but they earn less. This is what sexism looks like and there are laws against it, but these laws are not being enforced or taken seriously. The laws against the glass ceiling and sexism in the workplace should be enforced.

At the risk of placing myself of sleeping on the couch for a week, I am present with the thought … if the idea of” breaking the glass ceiling” is ultimately for women to have the power to choose and compete fairly against its male counterparts… whom is more in control women or men? Therefore, can only come to the conclusions women are as much responsible for the lack in opportunities for women in leadership roles in the public and private sectors.

The movement of promoting gender equality is exponentially growing every year; however, gender inequality is still a persistent problem in today’s workforce. Each year, gender inequality, especially employment equity, the distinct barrier between genders in the workforce, has become a topic of contention as its affecting working individuals worldwide, especially women. Before examining this problem, we must further understand what gender inequality is in the workplace. Gender inequality is an ascriptive factor, in which limits individuals to reach their full potential in their area of expertise by discriminating based on gender (module …). Both genders can have the same qualifications for an occupation, but a specific gender, mainly men, are seen to be more qualified than their female counterparts are. This can result in the refusal to allow the individual to take on leadership roles due to socially constructed views on gender. In addition, they may receive unequal wages compared to the opposing gender due to statistical discrimination which is the idea hiring or promoting individuals based on the average characteristics of their gender group rather than solely focusing on the individual( Textbook, 169). As we strive towards the goal of gender inequality, we must understand it in order to construct a proper solution.

What attitudes about women might contribute to their underrepresentation in positions of educational leadership? There are several attitudes that might contribute to women being underrepresented in positions of educational leadership. First, stereotyping is a major issue. Many still view women as being the weaker species that are supposed to take care of the children and household needs. Second, many women don’t have the higher educational experiences needed to be an administrator. Some didn’t reach a higher degree status out of the need of having to raise their children. Next, some think that women don’t represent a larger number of educational leadership roles because they lack self-confidence. Finally, most think that women in educational leadership roles are low because there isn’t enough mentorship opportunities

For my research question I will be asking: “How is America making progress on gender equity?” Fundamentally, I believe that women are still misrepresented, and are still facing many challenges in the workplace, especially in the business world. The gender stereotypes play a considerable role in the way the society sees women as leaders. However, it will be judicious to consider the small but noticeable changes that have been made over the past years concerning gender equality in the American workplace.

The generation now has made it easier to equalize men and women but there is still a substantial amount of places where gender inequality is still happening in the workplace and where females still face discrimination. Women are often discriminated in the workplace and are usually not promoted as quickly as men are and they also receive less pay. History shows that women have not always been defined as property and thought of as second class citizens. But in the 21st century many have seen a drastic change in the so called “traditional” family ways where women are suppose to stay home and take care of the household chores, food, and children and men are suppose to work to support their family and provide financial stability. Many assume that in the workplace women are more vulnerable and less competent than men because women 's instincts are to put their family before work or anything else. Whereas men are the ones who will usually stay the late hours to work. People on both sides of the political spectrum and everywhere in between seem to be fearful of what is to come and more fearful of others than they are often willing to admit.

Women have experienced a historic situation of inequality in the social as well as professional aspects. Women were normally the ones that would take care of children, do the chores in the house, and in rural areas; they would work in the field with the rest of the family. However, today’s women have become more self-sufficient and independent from the predominant male figure within every historical family. Gender inequality in the workplace is becoming less common; yet, gender is a factor that affects men and women. Especially women have been subjected to a historical discrimination that has influenced society to decide which job is more suitable for women than men. However women have confronted and tried to break down the barriers that

In America many groups have fought hard to gain equality in treatment, rights, and everyday living standards. Women are included amongst these groups. At one point in history women were not allowed to vote or carry the same positions as men in work. Due to amendments and affirmative action these hindrances for women have been abolished. What still remains to day is the inner struggle within jobs also known as glass ceilings? Glass ceilings are daily obstacles for most women in their jobs every day. As country of equal opportunity should we Americans continue to fight for more equality or accept the situation and be grateful for the change that has already come into place?

War is inevitable because of opposing views and conflicting opinions. During these hard times, women, although rarely recognized, played a big part in the success of our country. They made their mark during World War Two when they took over the jobs of men and proved they are just as efficient in the workplace. There has been a dramatic change since then. Women have found their identity through these hardships; which in return, has set the pace for the years to come and narrowed the gap of the social norm of women in the work place.

Even though numbers are slowly rising in the United States, there are still more men in executive positions than women. According to one survey, female workers only made up 43% of legislators, senior managers, and senior officials whereas male workers made up 57%. In congress, congresswomen make up only 17% of representation compared to congressmen making up 83% (Ferrante, 2011, p. 312). Gender stratification is one explanation for the tremendous gap. Ferrante (2011) describes gender stratification as the unequal distribution of opportunities and resources amongst male and female employees. (p. 311) For example, male workers have an increased opportunity to receive a promotion than a female worker. According to Tinsley (2013), women are more likely to receive executive positions when a company is doing well, rather than when a company is suffering. Some companies stereotype that women workers will leave the workforce soon to bear children, limiting their chances of achieving executive status (Ferrante, 2011, p. 316).

Throughout the past few decades, the gender inequality discourse have became a dominant feature of international, national and local policy debate on the subject of economic development. This policy concern has emerged as an area of scholarly research which seeks to show that improving gender equity leads to economic growth.

Rapid changes in the global economic market entail transformations affecting not only the external environment of organizations, but also its internal operations and processes (Hall, 2008; Hodgetts, 2002). One important change that has altered the nature of contemporary organization is the “acknowledgement, development and systematic use of the skills and knowledge of employees” (Ramirez et al 2007, p 496). The central role of employees’ participation in the success of the organization involves not only “high performance work systems… [but] they also involve the decentralization of decisions and work enrichment that is providing employees with opportunities for involvement in decision-making and innovation.” (Wood & de