Gender Equality In Work Force

Gender Equality in the Workforce
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September 22, 2018
Introduction
The history of civilization around the world shows how women have fought for their rights throughout the ages. These days, however, a glance at a modern-day office setting would seem to show that the fight is now over. Issues due to inequalities before, such as the right to suffrage, education, work, and equality are now inexistent in almost every part of the world. On the one hand, this is because of the rapid technological innovations that are happening around the globe. Ever since the start of the decade, people thousands of miles away from each other have been capable of connecting and expressing their ideas to those from the other part of the globe. On the other hand, social transformations brought about by long and grueling campaigns towards gender equality has also paved the way for states and societies to finally embrace these principles and show the world that ‘men and women’ are equal. However, this does not mean that an ideal type of gender equality now exists even within societies which are liberated, fully embracing the principles of feminism. While there are people who believe that women are as capable (if not more) as men in doing everything, it must be noted that inequality could exist in all shapes and sizes. Therefore, the author believes that only awareness and vigilance against all forms of gender inequality workforce could only happen by knowing its realizations in the women’s professional lives.
Present-day Status of Gender Equality in the United States
Every year, thousands of Americans celebrate the Women’s Equality Day on August 26. The celebration commemorates the day when the 19th amendment of the United States’ Constitution has given women the right to suffrage, enabling them to vote and choose the people whom would represent the country. It would be due to this change that gender equality is now present in almost every aspect of our lives. One testament to this is the fact, that today there are about thirty-two (32) Fortune 500 Chief Executive Officers and one-hundred seven (107) members of the Congress are women (Fielding, 2017). These women have shed light that the ‘glass ceiling’ for women is not as unbreakable as we once thought. Adding to this, data taken from the United States Department of Labor shows that about 47% of all of the workforce in the country are women in the year 2010. Within this number, 73 percent of employed women worked on full-time jobs, while 27 percent worked on a part-time basis. In daily living, recent government policies such as the Affordable Care Act of 2010, has also provided women with access to affordable “maternity care and birth control” (Fielding, 2017). Consequently, this lessened the risks that they experience during pregnancy and birth. Nonetheless, in spite of all these improvements that are happening, some may think that gender equality is already just around the corner. However, as stated earlier, inequality does not only exist in manifest acts but also how both men and women think about women’s roles.
Cultural Aspect of Inequality
While most parts of the world have already embraced that idea that men and women are inherently equal, specific differences could still exist between lines of culture. Thus, in analyzing inequality, it is important to note the context in which it is viewed, as different traditions and beliefs could affect how ‘equality’ is defined. Consequently, gender inequality across the world is a cultural construct. While some cultures perceive gender equality in the workplace when they see that women “have jobs” regardless of their positions, others could have more stringent views, seeing equality as only present when both genders could reach top positions and receive the same wage. For example, some ‘traditionalist’ countries might think of the United States as one of the nations that have already closed the “gender gap.” However, a closer look at different factors has revealed that 48 countries are now ahead of it (Johnson, 2017). Additionally, lines between different cultural beliefs also affect how equality is perceived and enacted by different people, from the same culture. As according to Bennett (2016), “today’s sexism is insidious, casual, even friendly. It is a kind of can’t-put-your-finger-on-it behavior that isn’t necessarily intentional or conscious”.
While culture could affect how people perceive women’s rights and responsibilities, these perceptions, in turn, could affect how th...