Who Will be better off in the

Future? Men or Women

By Sophia Wornick

Gender

• A person's sexuality comes from within him or her, making a person heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or asexual, depending on the partners he or she is(or is not) attracted to.

• Unlike sexuality, however, gender roles are imposed from without, through a variety of social influences. Formed during the socialization phases of childhood and adolescence, gender role issues influence people throughout their lives; conflict can arise when some one does not feel at ease with his or her gender role

Expectations

• The necessity in many prestigious jobs is to put in very long work hours and then leave the more mundane aspects of daily life—like cooking, grocery shopping, and picking up the kids—to other people.

• This generally means that women put many more hours into these household activities than men. This greatly disadvantages women in the workplace. It is unrealistic to expect gender equality if workplaces demand that women be available all the time

• Gender bias is prejudice or discrimination based on gender, or conditions or that support gender stereotypes of social roles Gender biases not only describe stereotyped characteristics of men and women, but they also set standards for how men and women should think and behave

• Four Examples of Gender Stereotypes

• 1.Personality traits —Women are often expected to be passive and submissive, while men are usually expected to be self-confident and aggressive.

• 2.Domestic behaviors —Caring for children is often considered best done by women, while household repairs are often considered best done by men.

• 3.Occupations —Until very recently most nurses and secretaries were usually women, and most doctors and construction workers were usually men.

• 4.Physical appearance —Women are expected to be small and graceful, while men are expected to be tall and broad-shouldered

• The gender gap is much wider than is commonly believed - women’s incomes are 61% of men’s, despite years of trying to close the gender gap. Two decades of women’s progress has resulted in marginal improvements

• Girls and women have made major strides since 1990, but they have not yet gained gender equity. The disadvantages facing women and girls are a major source of inequality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health, education, political representation, labor market, etc — with negative repercussions for development of their capabilities and their freedom of choice

The Answer? Men

“Women are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world. The numbers tell the story quite clearly. 190 heads of state -- nine are women. Of all the people in parliament in the world, 13 percent are women. In the corporate sector, women at the top, C-level jobs, board seats -- tops out at 15, 16 percent. The numbers have not moved since 2002 and are going in the wrong direction.”

Women face harder choices between professional success and personal fulfillment. A recent study in the U.S. showed that, of married senior managers, two-thirds of the married men had children and only one-third of the married women had children.

BarriersThe "supply barrier" refers to the lack of qualified women and minorities because of inequities in the nation's educational system

The "difference barrier" refers to the stereotypes, prejudices, and biases that individuals harbor about cultural, gender, or racial differences

"Government barriers” include the lack of vigorous and consistent monitoring and law enforcement; weaknesses in the collection and disaggregation of employment-related data; and inadequate reporting and dissemination of information relevant to glass ceiling issues

How Much do Women Work?

• 63.3 percent of women age 16 to 24 worked in 1998 versus 43.9 percent in 1950.

• 76.3 percent of women age 25 to 34 worked in 1998 versus 34.0 percent in 1950.

• 77.1 percent of women age 35 to 44 worked in 1998 versus 39.1 percent in 1950.

• 76.2 percent of women age 45 to 54 worked in 1998 versus 37.9 percent in 1950.

• 51.2 percent of women age 55 to 64 worked in 1998 versus 27 percent in 1950.

• 8.6 percent of women age 65+ worked in 1998 versus 9.7 percent in 1950.

The Glass Ceiling (Or Cage)

• Women lag anywhere between 5 and 12 percent behind their male counterparts

• Although some progress has been made in recent years, proactive efforts are still needed to address the invisible but impenetrable barrier that continues to deprive women and minorities of access to the high est levels of the business world regardless of their accomplishments or merit

The Labor force

Earnings, Men Vs. Women (2014)

Based on people 16 years and over. Median weekly earnings of full-time salary workers

Earnings by sex and age, 2014 annual

averagesAge Women Men

16-19 357 392

20-24 468 507

25-30 679 755

35-44 781 964

45-54 780 1011

44-64 780 1021

65 and over 740 942

• http://www.civilrights.org/monitor/vol8_no1/art7.html

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/07/the-white-houses-own-wage-gender-gap/

• http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders/transcript?language=en

• Lean In, Sheryl Sanberg