The Status Of The World 's Women

Although the issue of women’s rights has attracted international recognition and support, women still face many inequalities and barriers. Gender-based violence and economic discrimination are problems in many parts of the world.

In the world today, women have a say in what they want to do and things that they desire to do. Back in the day, before the 1800’s, women had to be submissive to their male counterparts and do according to what was required of them. In the end, this led to the demeaning of the woman and the concept that women were inferior to men. Even though this concept and perception changed, there have been some countries and regions of the world that have not yet recognized the equality that women deserve. Such areas do not allow women to vote, attend school, have a say in the community, and the women are at the mercy of their husbands, fathers or male superiors (Hartmann, Susan M).

In the United States, study after study continues to show that women have fewer opportunities to advance in the workplace than men. These disadvantages are a result of society’s views of women in leadership positions and how women may view themselves in these roles. Women have been making progress in terms of equality in pay and job positions, but significant gaps remain. Women who strive to be promoted into higher levels of responsibility in their companies often meet resistance that prevents them from achieving the goal of a senior or executive level of management. This barrier is referred to as the “glass ceiling” and it is a controversial issue in our country today. The glass ceiling called this because women are able to see the higher level positions, but can reach them because of an intangible barrier. One can look at the Fortune 500 companies, which are the most successful companies in the U.S. in terms of revenue to see how few women are in leadership positions. Clearly, women are significantly underrepresented in these companies, as less than 5 percent of these companies have female chief executive officers (CEO) today (Dockterman 105). Providing the opportunity for women to move into management positions, like CEOs, would bring a unique talent and a new perspective on how the company can operate to perform better (Buckalew 147). The “glass ceiling” is a real obstacle that creates an intangible barrier that puts women at a disadvantage in advancing in a company.

Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.

A question asked by many Americans is why there aren’t many women involved in politics and hold offices? This will certainly change in the future, take Hillary Clinton as the incipient. There are various components that will give her many votes, such as her understanding of economic inequality, support for LGBT, and the fact that she’s pro choice, or her wanting to fix citizens united. In an article on The Nation, Steven Hill indicated that “ethnically diverse and divided nations that elect women rather than men to key national leadership offices end up with better economic performance.” (“Why Does the US Still Have So Few Women in Office?” The Nation. Steven Hill, 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.) Women are effective legislatures; hereinafter in the article, researchers have found that the use of fair-representation electoral systems is a reason why women succeed in democracies. Women have the ability to develop plain but effective financial decision makings which will make a nation thrive. (Showing a growth of gross domestic product for example). Women don’t compromise as men do in Congress, and they strive to achieve policy goals. Global business is extremely important for America, and if women have strategies that prosper country relations, why wouldn’t there be more women participating in office

For centuries women have always strived to be as equal and superior as men. From shifting themselves as the careful house wife attending to the children, to helping out in factories and serving in war during the early 1900’s. Then eventually women received the right to vote. Women then began to receive and further their education, becoming professionals like men were. The past century has been a century where women have been catching up to men proving to be just as superior as men.

While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 33rd out of the 49 highest income countries when it comes to women in the national legislature. And it’s not better outside of government. Women make up only 4.6% of S&P 500 CEOs and 17% of directors, executive producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films.

Although many places in the world have made many advancements in granting women rights equivalent to those of men, there are still far too many places that refuse to recognize that women’s rights is still an issue, and an important one at that. Many developing countries in the world have caused outrage in the population of women as a whole and rifts in society and its social order. Worldwide, people are done with the fact that women are still not treated as equals. Although advancements have been made for the population of women globally in places like the US, Canada, and many parts of Europe; many developing countries throughout the world have refrained from allowing women equal opportunity politically, economically, and culturally.

Women and men have had certain roles in society that were understood amongst them to be specified for their particular gender. Males were known to have the leading role as head of the house hold and the bread winner while the woman’s duty was to stay at home and take care of the house and children. While many people years ago deemed this way of life and practice to be the right and ethical thing to do, times have changed and so this kind of treatment towards a woman’s equality must be questioned. Even though times have changed, this mindset of a woman’s ability to be as good as a man has not completely gone away. In today’s society a woman contributes to the economy and her family as equally as that of a man. Therefore, women should share equal rights and opportunities as their gender counterparts.

Unfortunately, women are not doing very well in some area. Last year according to the Department of Labor and the National Center for Women and Information Technology, women in the high-tech arena has declined by more than 10 percent. Women are also under represented in Corporate America where only 14 percent are in leadership positions.

The modern world has resulted in earnings, wages and salaries for the women similar to that of men, but the women are continuously facing inequalities in the work force (Andal 2002). This can be attributed to the pre-established notion that women shall not be given access to finance or communication with the world outside of the home which is highly unethical and unfair (Eisenhower, 2002). In the past, they were considered as the underprivileged ones which were not thought of having equal rights but this fact has changed now. For instance, the status of women can be explicitly defined as the equality and the freedom of the women.

The status of women can be related when observing the economic, social, and political aspects of a first or third world country. When a country has a good economic position in terms of infrastructure, labor and education, we can relate how much power or social equality will be distributed for each individual. In a first world country like Canada women earned in 2013 approximately a total income of $30, 100 whereas men earned $47,000 (Williams, 2010, p.7). Even though the economic gap proofs to have a wage disparities, this has helped women to gain power, voice, and rights for their fight for equality. Living under a first world country, can be an advantaged for many women who have better opportunities and other benefits offered in their country. On the other hand, living under a third world country where the economy is limited and controlled this will have a huge impact on the, status and rights for women. According to the Department of Labor and Employment (2016) in Myanmar an individual makes approximately $2.74 an hour. The position of women can be maximized or minimized on many variants such as political participation, social environment, marriage, and domestic violence this will benefit or affect the status of women.

This September is the 20th anniversary of a speech made by former US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton. In the speech, Clinton made the famous remark, “Women’s rights are human rights”. Since the speech, focus on gender equality has increased, especially in the workplace. Yet, some industries, like private equity, continue to have problem in attracting women.

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).

Gender and leadership? Leadership and gender? A journey through the landscape of theories start off by giving a statistical summary of percentages of women in higher echelon position in the workforce. With this information in the intro, the article quickly highlights the limited representation of women in exclusive positions in Fortune 500 companies. Next, the paper examines multiple theories why this problem exists in the workforce. The four theories examined are biology and sex; gender role; causal factors; and attitudinal drivers (Appelbaum et al, 2003, p. 44).