What Is Gender Inequality Essay

We live in a society where men and women are not see the same nor are treated equally. Gender inequalities have always been an issue in our society. Women have always gain less respect than men based on their sex. The society has developed certain images and roles for males and females. Men are seen to have masculine traits such stability, independence, and confidence; whereas, women have more feminine traits such as nurturing, affection, and patience. As well, the society has developed the division of occupations for genders. Females are expected to work in caring professions such as: a nurse, sectary, or teacher. While men are expected to be: doctors, lawyers, and construction workers. These stereotypes of gender should not state what a woman can do. A woman should have the same opportunities as men when is come to issues such as paying rate and job positions. This paper will address gender inequalities that women face in their occupations.

Gender equality is something that has been a problem through the ages. Susan B. Anthony and many others fought for the right to vote which was granted in 1920. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law stating that no employer can discriminate based on gender. The American Association of University Women published a graph on Women’s Median Annual Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s Median Annual Earnings for Full-time, Year-round Workers, 1974-2014 and it shows that in 1974, women were paid 59% of what men were paid. The graph shows the improvements over the years and that in 2014, women were paid 79% of what men were paid. The gap has not budged since 2014. The gender pay gap has improved over the years, but it will not close until new legislation passes.

With the majority of law based rights already having been granted to women, more focus will be put on equalizing the individual perception of gender. Although it isn’t legal to discriminate against women for the amount of work they do, or to give better jobs to men, more women are currently and will continue to push for these thoughts to cease to exist at all. As of 1963, the Equal Pay Act requires that men and women doing equal work must receive equal pay (Cunnea 9). With men and women receiving equal pay for the same work, the only things that should end up mattering for employment other than the usual experience, qualifications, and reviews of past management are an individual person’s work ethic and

The extensive studies conducted over the past 50 years on gender based wage gap show that even though the gap has narrowed over the years, it still irrefutably exists. The laws such as The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibit gender based wage discrimination, and The Civil Rights Act, helped reduce the wage gap over the years but did not help eradicate it. Numerous studies and scholarly research continue to show the differences in the earnings of men and women, for equal work. Figure 1 shows the wage discrimination from the 1960s to the year 2015.

For several decades, gender inequality in the workplace has been a problematic topic for discussion. In terms of higher management and pay, some may agree to disagree that women are getting the shorter end of the stick. There is a significant difference in the salary and positions women are obtaining in large companies or corporations. Does that stir up the question, what is it that men are doing better than women? Or are women lacking certain qualities required to achieve these certain rights and opportunities? The preference towards a certain sex is the primary cause of gender discrimination, however, it is important that the theories of each party are understood and why it is present in the workplace today.

In 2014, female full-time workers made only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 21% according to IWPR Org or Institute for Women’s Policy Research. There is no debate that in the past women have been discriminated against when it came to compensation and wages in the workforce which led to the enactment of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This a federal law signed by John F Kennedy attempting to amend wage disparity based on sex, under this law, it is still illegal for employers to discriminate wages by sex for the same amount of work, which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and are performed under similar working conditions with the exception of seniority system, merit system, or based on quantity or quality of production. With all these laws and statistics, the raw differences between the gender wage gap can be attributed to the differences in choices made by an individual.

Women in the workforce still face issues regarding gender wage gap (Equal Pay Day: Are Women Surging or Stalling?, 2018). Even though there has been progress surrounding awareness of these issues, the wage gap between women and men is still very prevalent. Here in the United States, we have enacted a law called the Equal Pay Act that requires employers to pay man and women same wage for the same work (CARD, CARDOSO & KLINE, 2016). Beyond the Equal Pay Act, employers are prohibited from practicing discrimination on the basis of gender. If an organization overall pay their employees higher salaries relative to other organization then salaries for women tend to be more equitable. Organizational practices are also changing. Some organizations

Bias, prejudice, and discrimination are issues that are still prevalent in the world today. These issues can include: gender, race, ethnicity, or even religion. A common dilemma that the nation faces today is gender discrimination in the workplace. Women who possess the same level of competence and aptitude as men are still getting paid less in the same careers. Studies show that, “Women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men” (Goldin). How can this inequality be solved? It can be easily resolved by paying men and women in the same careers equal wages.

On June 10th, 1963, John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, which prohibits wage discrimination based solely on gender. Despite the passing of this bill, women today are still not earning equal pay for equal work. Currently, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 states that an employer in any business cannot discriminate between employees based on gender by paying wages less than an employee of the opposite sex. There are many causes of the gender pay disparity, many can be explained away by level of education, experience, and job tenure. It is the job of a human

Throughout history, countless acts of gender inequality can be identified; the causes of these discriminating accounts can be traced back to different causes. The general morality of the inequity relies on a belief that men are superior to women; because of this idea, women have spent generations suffering under their counterparts. Also, a common expectation is that men tend to be more assertive and absolute because of their biological hormones or instinctive intellect. Another huge origin is sexual discrimination; even in the world today, many women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than a real human being with

within Barriers and Bias. Accordingly, after giving birth, women see a 4% decrease in earnings per child. Meanwhile, men actually thrive in fatherhood, with an average 6% earnings increase.  The confidence gap, which has been a discussion for years, contributes to this divide in the workforce. This inequality contributes to the damage that is committed.

Gender inequality has been an issue since long before the 1840s, when feminists finally brought the problem to light. Most ancient cultures were societies based on gender inequality, skewed towards male-dominance. Most societies are still mostly patriarchal, in fact. Patriarchy is the root of discrimination between sexes and genders and has been for a very long time.

In the 21st century, many people believe that we have overcome the obstacle of gender inequality and evolved into a society of fairness and righteousness. As many know, females can be just as proficient and qualified as males at any task. Though some efforts to off-set this gender imbalance is in place, it is still commonly acknowledged that many careers are stated to be a male job such as lawyers, and female jobs such as secretaries. Gender inequality is a visible fact in our society and in this essay, I hypothesize that gender inequality still exists as a result of factors such as post-secondary education differences of the two genders, role of females in families, female objectification, career choice differences of the two genders, and

The journey towards gender equality has existent for more than a century, tracing its roots from the suffragettes of the 19th century and the prehistoric attempts to reduce gender based prejudice. Similar to other forms of discrimination, gender biasness emanates from cultural believes and norms that organize human race into stereotypes and use the same stereotypes to determine capability, position as well as societal roles. Historically, the male stereotype has been applauded, assigned to certain roles both at home and at the workplace, leaving the females to only participate as subordinates hardly holding leadership position. However, with the continued feminism actions, the line between gender roles continue to blur, with Hillary Clinton’s attempt to secure the presidential seat in the US marked as the greatest achievement. In essence, accordance with civilization of man, gender is expected to be a non-issue in assigning roles in the workplace. However, the practicability of this presumption remains adamant following the underlying traditions, perceptions and believes that associate gender with individual capability. This paper analyses the issue of gender roles in the workplace in wide perspective incorporating the underlying believes, ever growing tensions, the conflicting theories about the issue in an effort to understand this intricate and belligerent discussion. In essence, as gender bias tends to diminish in the modern workplace, other attributes emerge

Gender inequality is undeniably outdated in today’s society, but this does not mean that it is non-existent. Through the ages, women all around the world have been mistreated and denied of basic fundamental rights. As we move forward in the 21st century, there have been several movements such as Emma Watson’s “He for She” which empower women to fight for their rights. Both India and Canada are countries which are changing to involve women in education, government and the general workforce, but the success in both countries varies. Canada is a developed nation which has been progressing on the path of gender equality for over a century, whereas India is a developing nation which is slowly moving in the same direction. The vast disparity in women’s rights in these countries can be seen by comparing the degree of education, presence in the workforce and overall respect women have in both these countries.