Category: Gender

The US society is seen as an illustration of an egalitarian society where all people enjoy equal rights and have equal opportunities. Nonetheless, the power is still distributed unevenly between the genders. Women are still seen as creatures fit for child-rearing and keeping households. Men still think that women cannot perform certain tasks and take up some responsibilities. Remarkably, women tend to share such views as well (Helgeson, 2015). Aluko (2015) stresses that even women who enjoy significant financial independence still believe that females should stick to their households and children or some feminine areas.

It is still unclear why these stereotypes persist and how they are created. It is important to answer these questions as it unveils the way society affects peoples behaviors, choices, and ideas. The answer to the questions concerning the persistence of gender stereotypes in women can help reveal new facets of human psychology. It is especially important to explore females ideas on the experiences that shape their attitude towards gender stereotypes (with the focus on the distribution of gender roles). A clear understanding of females views on the reasons for the persistence of gender stereotypes will unveil some psychological traits.

The study may contribute significantly to the field of general psychology as it will provide insights into the psychological peculiarities of women as regards their views on selves, their roles, and society. It is important to note that a lot of research is done in the sphere of stereotypes, and it has been acknowledged that women share similar views on gender roles distribution (Helgeson, 2015). Nevertheless, womens accounts on the reasons for such persistence of stereotypes is not well researched. At the same time, personal accounts may shed light on the issue and reveal factors affecting the spread of stereotypes and their prevalence in the human society.

Aluko, Y.A. (2015). Re-evaluating the empowerment potential of womens paid work. International Journal of Gender and Womens Studies, 3(2), 190-201.

Helgeson, V. (2015). Psychology of gender. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Unit 7 Discussion 1

The study aims at examining the views of women on gender stereotypes. Women about the middle-class can be of particular interest as they have certain financial independence and are usually educated (or, at least, had an opportunity to obtain an education). It can be assumed that these females should have egalitarian perspectives on the distribution of gender roles. Therefore, it can be beneficial to focus on the population of a particular community.

Multistage sampling allows the researchers to carry out the sampling procedures in a comparatively easy way. Thus, the first stage of the sampling procedure will be cluster sampling. Cluster sampling can be an appropriate option for this study as a particular group of people is in the researchers lens (Mertens, 2014). The cluster sampling presupposes choosing a specific naturally occurring group (Mertens, 2014, p. 330).

The researcher will randomly choose a block of households in a community where people (about the middle class) dwell. When the block is chosen, simple random sampling will be implemented. This approach will eliminate possible sampling errors (Lichtman, 2010). When the list of the population is available, females (aged 18 and above) will be chosen. The list of eligible females will be used for random sampling.

Importantly, the focus on the middle-class community may lead to the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities, but this issue will be mitigated through the focus on a diverse community. Thus, census data (with the focus on ethnicity) will be used to choose the eligible communities. As for the number of participants, it is possible to recruits 30 women for interviews. Between 15 and 20 interviewees will take part in the focus group discussions. The number of participants is not very big, but due to the nature of qualitative research, it is hard to involve more participants. At that, random sampling will ensure that all major groups are represented, and the results can be generalized.

Lichtman, M. (2010). Understanding and evaluating qualitative educational research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Mertens, D.M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Unit 7 Discussion 2

Wertz (2011) notes that interviews allow researchers to examine peoples views and elicit various meanings. Open-ended questions ensure a significant degree of sincerity and precision. The answers will be tape-recorded. The researcher will also make field notes as it will result in more data since non-verbal communication can also be taken into account. It is possible to put the following questions:

1. How are roles distributed between genders in US society?
2. What stereotypical views on gender roles do you have?
3. How do you think your parents shaped the way your ideas on gender roles developed?
4. How were roles distributed between your parents (within your family and between siblings)?
5. In what way did your college (high-school) years affect the development of your perspective on gender roles?
6. Do you think society is patriarchal? In what ways?
7. In what ways do you think society influenced the way you see gender roles?
8. How did your ethnicity affect your perspective on gender roles?
9. How does your financial independence (or dependence) shape your views on the distribution of gender roles?
10. In your opinion, why do gender stereotypes persist?

After the preliminary analysis of the participants answers during the interviews, focus group discussions will be implemented. The researchers will encourage the participants to discuss the issues mentioned during the interviews. The use of focus group discussions will bring about more insights into the issue (Merriam, 2009). Importantly, different views will be brought to the fore, which will enable the participants to reveal and explore new facets of the issue. It is necessary to add that the researcher will employ a conversational interview format. This method implies the use of a list of prepared questions as well as asking additional questions.

Reference List

Merriam, S.B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Wertz, F.J. (2011). Phenomenological currents in twentieth-century psychology. In H.L. Dreyfus & M.A. Wrathall (Eds.), A companion to phenomenology and existentialism (pp. 394-412). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.

Andrews and Ridenour (2006) assert that gender stereotyping in children is a common reality that superintendents and school principals cannot ignore. In particular, the authors argue that young learners who aspire to work as school administrators must be in a familiar learning environment whereby equality exists between both boys and girls. In the case where equitable treatment of both genders does not exist, such children may never learn how to fairly handle gender issues arising in learning environments. Journals of individual student experiences were maintained by young graduate learners. The respondents were drawn from culturally diverse courses.

A total of 122 graduate learners took part in the empirical study that was conducted by the researchers (Andrews and Ridenour, 2006). Records for the course teaching were kept by the researchers who were also the authors of this journal article. In addition, assignments that were written by the students were recorded for the sake of analyzing the research findings. The latter standards were provided by the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium. The main agenda of this consortium was to champion the reform agenda in the leadership of schools. After conducting a detailed analysis of all the materials that had been written by the learners, the researchers made final conclusions.

To begin with, the results indicate that there is increased awareness of gender stereotyping among children who are exposed to the practice. In other words, children in higher learning institutions are more aware of the limiting effects of gender stereotyping (Andrews and Ridenour, 2006). Second, children in learning centers may decide to exercise gender fairness as a way of demonstrating appropriate professional practice even if they are not professionals. Third, children are quite aware of all practices related to power differences and gender discrimination that take place in learning institutions and households. Finally, the authors also found out that learners tend to acquire high level of sensitivity when it comes to the use of gender-biased language.

In order to carry out the qualitative study in the most effective manner, the gender awareness training was examined by the researchers. They found this type of training to be instrumental in the preparation program for school administrators. They also correlated the latter findings with those of students who desire to work as school leaders. Moreover, the authors used a specific research question in order to give guidance to the study. The research question posed by the authors explored the role played by gender in influencing school culture.

According to the authors, equity and fairness are required when preparing children for leadership positions in schools. One of the core gender roles of children who aspire to be school administrators is to understand the influence of gender in the process of leadership. The authors have also pointed out that the research study did not include certain perspectives and theories in compiling the final report. Some of the independent approaches that were not considered in the empirical study include gender standpoints, multi-ethnic viewpoints, and feminist theoretical perspectives (Andrews and Ridenour, 2006). In addition, the research study deliberately left out the discussion on how leadership affects class, race and gender.

In terms of the research plan, the authors employed a qualitative design in compiling the study. Hence, document analyses of field notes were carried out. The latter process assisted the researchers to correlate gender issues and the attitudes of students towards the practice of stereotyping.

Reference

Andrews, M. L., & Ridenour, C. S. (2006). Gender in schools: A qualitative study of students in educational administration. The Journal of Educational Research, 100(1), 35-43.

Nowadays, the question of identity stirs tempestuous debates. The traditional paradigm with a white man in the center of the universe is slowly passing into oblivion. Still, many people defend this model sorting others in men and women, black and white. It is hard for them to think outside the box, but the truth is that all the boundaries rise from a brutal struggle for survival that our ancestors had to face. Fortunately, technical and social progress allows humanity to get rid of outdated rules of living.

Admittedly, it may be impolite to ask a person about their race or nationality. However, there are many people display rudeness towards those who differ from them. For instance, Thomas McIlwraith writes that he has problems with people identifying him differently: I have either a pasty white or somewhat olive complexion (Brown, McIlwraith, González, et al., 2020a). This is an example of how people try to pin a label on each and every person they meet.

Concerning labels, the fact is that people are taught to segregate they peers since birth. Girls and boys are given presents in different colours to mould the concept of having a certain gender role. Therefore, they struggle with the idea that the division of humans into two and only two categories, male and female is outdated (Brown, McIlwraith, González, et al., 2020b). People seem to become the prisoners of the poisonous gender theory.

Admittedly, human beings have used race and gender patterns from time immemorial. The recent research claims that there is the so-called cultural performance connected with the concept of identity and stereotypes connected with it. Indeed, a cultural performance is a performance whereas performing culture refers to how our everyday words and actions are reflections of our enculturation (Brown, McIlwraith, González, et al., 2020c). The idea is that in the past people had to perform certain rituals to survive. In the modern world nobody needs these traditions.

To sum it up, humanity has created specific patterns of behaviour and segregation to make life easy back in times. However, there is no sense in sorting out friends and foes in the modern world, because people belonging to a different race are not enemies anymore. The same concerns genders because the planet is overpopulated. Therefore, there is no need to make people start a traditional family with mother and father to breed as many children as possible.

References

Brown, N., McIlwraith, T., & González, L. T. (2020). Perspectives: An open introduction to cultural anthropology. The American Anthropological Association.

Introduction

Literature studies may be utilized to access the vast amount of human experience on gender issues in order to raise awareness among individuals. Books have traditionally acted as guidebooks for behavior, enforcing social norms on female readers through moral norms in the texts (Dicke et al., 2019). Thus, it is possible that some readers, particularly female readers, would unconsciously follow the storylines and adhere to the anticipated gender representations by exhibiting proper feminine features or behaviors. Instead, literature studies can serve another purpose: exposing readers to literary works dealing with social gender and morality.

History and Social Context of Gender Studies

Gender studies basically investigates what it means to make gender salient, scrutinizing everything from working circumstances to healthcare access to popular culture. Gender studies sprang out of Womens Studies, which had become a well-established academic topic by the 1970s (Zaborskis, 2018). Some of the issues that arose as a result of the change from womens studies to gender studies fears that the discipline would decenter women and erase the feminist action that gave origin to the field.

Representative figures for Gender-Imbalance

The figures below represents some of the gender based imbalances (UN women, 2020).

The Principles, Concepts and Paradigms of Gender

The Gender Principles

Forced sterilization and sexual assault are just a few of the problems that women face today. All people must be treated equally and without prejudice based on their gender or age or other characteristics (Pilcher et al., 2017). It should be recognized as a grave human rights violation when violence against women and girls happens in the home, in the community, or when the state condones it.

Gender Concepts

• Gender Equity. To be gender-equitable is a procedure that involves treating women and men equally (Pilcher et al., 2017). In order to achieve equality, steps must be done to compensate for historical and societal barriers that prohibit women and men from competing on an equal footing.

• Gender Equality is the state or condition that affords women and men equal enjoyment of human rights, socially valued goods, opportunities, and resources.
• Gender Mainstreaming is the process of incorporating a gender perspective into policies, strategies, programs, project activities, and administrative functions

• Gender-Based Violence is defined as violence resulting from gender norms and roles, as well as uneven power interactions between men and women. Violence is directed towards a person because of the gender, and it disproportionately affects women.

The Gender Studies Paradigm Shift

Earlier, women needed to be inspired and their family members counseled to enable them to have a positive impact on the country. This was mainly accomplished by education, job, or political involvement (A paradigm shift from womens studies to gender studies, 2019). For this reason, the focus of the research has shifted to gender. Both men and women have the ability to engage on an equal basis in all disciplines that demand their efforts. As a result, an investigation is necessary to examine their social, behavioral, and cultural characteristics, including their hopes and expectations. This is mostly due to an increase in public knowledge of womens rights and their parity with mens rights.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that gender disparities have reduced in recent decades, inequities persist and obstacles continue to exist in a number of crucial fields. Gender disparities persist in employment, self-employment, part-time work, entrepreneurship and decision-making, as well as salary and pensions, and as a result, women continue to be more vulnerable to poverty as compared to males. On the other hand, Gender stereotypes and Gender-based violence are still widely prevalent in society. Hence there is a need to explore what areas of study are most critical to address for future generations of girls and boys.

References

A paradigm shift from womens studies to gender studies. (2019). Blogspot.com.

Dicke, A.-L., Safavian, N., & Eccles, J. S. (2019). Traditional gender role beliefs and career attainment in STEM: A Gendered story? Frontiers in psychology, 10.

Pilcher, J., & Whelehan, I. (2017). Key concepts in gender studies. Sage.

Zaborskis, M. (2018). Gender studies: Foundations and Key Concepts  JSTOR Daily. JSTOR Daily.

UN WOMEN. (2020). Visualizing the data: Womens representation in society. UN Women

Before the emergence of the discipline of gender studies, there was an understanding that the social is biologically determined; that is, boys and girls are like that because they were born like that. The understanding that the dual division of norms constructed by society does not coincide with the biological one gave rise to the development of gender studies in the 1960s and 1970s (Baligar, 2018). Currently, the direction of social constructivism was developing in the social sciences. It is based on the idea that a person has an active consciousness, and the whole social reality depends on what kind of consciousness a person has, what they know and what norms and patterns they are guided by. Accordingly, all this gender superstructure and gender relations are socially constructed, not biologically predetermined behavior parameters (Baligar, 2018). This means, firstly, they may not correspond literally to the binary system of gender patterns, which is tied to the division into male and female, and secondly, they may change over time.

The binary system too rigidly fixes patterns of behavior, a set of responsibilities and expectations for a woman and a man. Non-compliance with these patterns causes disapproval on the part of society and can provoke real painful sanctions (for example, the dismissal from work of fathers who ventured to take parental leave) (Sarti et al., 2018). It is worth noting that the possibilities to choose behavior scenarios are significantly narrowed. The binary gender system usually becomes a tool for reproducing gender inequality in society. It is difficult for a woman who is seen only as a mother and a housekeeper to become president.

Modern reality offers a wide range of patterns, including gender behavior. That binary system of sex roles, which was mentioned above, ceases to coincide with the requests and desires of people, becomes too tight. Its lack of alternative contradicts the wide possibilities of choice in planning family life, professional career, creative trajectories of personality that exist in modern society. Thus, gender becomes an essential object for sociologists to study, as it is directly related to the changes taking place in society.

References

Baligar, M. P. (2018). Gender theories in sociology. Journal of Research and Analytical Review, 5(3), 617619. Web.

Sarti, R., Bellavitis, A., & Martini, M. (Eds.). (2018). What is Work?: Gender at the Crossroads of Home, Family, and Business from the Early Modern Era to the Present (Vol. 30). Berghahn Books.

The gender pay gap is the analysis of wages earned by women compared to men without including positions. Despite several ways to calculate the pay gap, all the results point to the fact that women are paid less than men. The gap has been perceived to be wider for women of color. The pay gap in the labor industry is a pertinent issue because diversity is becoming part and parcel of every organization and every nation; therefore, dealing with this backlash is a challenge to many. There is a fight for inclusivity in employment as more women are empowered and educated globally. Some multinationals employ people from all backgrounds, and compensation has to be harmonized. Pay Gap is, therefore, the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed to understand its root causes and the parties that need to spring to action to bridge the gap.

Statistics of the global gender pay gap

Several countries have different gender pay gaps as developed nations harmonize the issue through labor policies while developing countries still suffer at large. In Australia, the average weekly wages for men are $1837, while women earn $1575.50 (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2021). These statistics iterate that women make less than men by $261.50 every week. This is just a general overview of what the gap in Australia means and how women are affected. Further statistics on the various labor sectors for either public servants or the private sector might create revelations worth a lawsuit. When factored in by region, Western Australia has the highest gender pay gap of 21.9% compared to Eastern Australias 7% (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2021). However, the public service has tried to harmonize this gap with a 7.3% variation compared to the private sectors 23.5% (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2021). Other nations might be worse than what Australia has portrayed.

One of the places where the gender pay gap has been reported in the US is the higher learning institutions. Women have held most low-paying jobs in the higher education sectors, with men being offered high-paying jobs. In a study on the representation of women in institutions of higher learning, it was reported that the position most women are offered is that of the human resource manager (Bichsel &McChesney, 2017). There has so far been no woman by 2017 to be given the post of chief officer in any top university; this means that women still earned less than men. Despite women being outnumbered 9:1 in the top positions, they made far better than their male counterparts (Bichsel &McChesney, 2017). This begs for the question, are only women who are paid less? Men are also subject to the gender pay gap debate and should not be left out of the discussion.

It appears that closing the gender pay gap looks like a lifetime effort. The world economic forum suggests that the gap can only be completed in the 52 years in Europe even if all the countries embark on sustainable development goal of equal pay with sanctions (World Economic Forum, 2021). The forum further suggests taking the US 62 years and the Latin America and the Caribbean 69 years. In all other regions that have been reported to have human rights issues, it is estimated that it would take over a century. For example, it would take the middle east and northern Africa 142 years to close the gap. Only in south Asia, it is believed that the gap would be completed in close to two centuries to come. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the countries are the third world, it will take 122 years for womens pay to be at the same level as mens.

Causes of the gender pay gap

Culture

With such a disparity witnessed in different regions with different economic and cultural setups, the causes of the gender pay gap can be narrowed to cultural and racial diversity. To further highlight this, women are underrepresented in most positions; hence they naturally earn lower than men. Culture plays a more significant role than any other cause for the increasing gender pay gap. To begin with, some industries are male-dominated while others are female-dominated; this disparity can be linked with culture. Men do not want to associate themselves with women industries while women do not associate themselves with male industries. The female-dominated industries and jobs perceived to be female attract lower pay (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2021). This is part of the cultural divide between gender roles where women are below men in society and should be submissive.

Gender-defined roles are also disadvantageous on the part of women as they take more time away from work. Take the example of a woman who is eight months pregnant; she is considered disabled because pregnancy comes with many limitations (Equal Employment Opportunity, 2021). Taking time away from the workplace means that it is difficult for women to advance their careers. They would be primarily concentrating on the welfare of their newborns, which is also a gender-defined role. If women do not grow their careers, their pay will stagnate while men who have a one-month paternity leave rise. Therefore, women are still held to the confines of gender-defined roles where they look after their families as men march out to provide and advance their careers. It is, therefore, difficult to find women in the comfort of their homes taking care of their families while sitting at the top of the food chain in the labor industry.

The issue of stagnated careers for women brings to light the empowerment of women. There are few women in top positions, thus showing a lack of charge. Empowerment spans the sectors of education caused by a cultural divide and lack of economic development that results in a lack of resources for financing education (Barroso & Brown, 2021). With little or no empowerment for women in society, their pay would still be less. They will be forced to work part-time jobs with fewer hours of duty hence low income. In reality, it would be challenging to employ a woman with little education to positions that enumerate handsomely; the employers hands, in this case, are tied. Therefore, women will still be behind men in pay since men are more educated than females. Bridging this gap would thus help reduce the pay gap that exists for women in most workplaces.

Racial Disparity

Today, Black women work in an assortment of occupations and enterprises at every unique level. However, many Black ladies stand up to the very misperceptions about their work that have been framed at the convergence of racial and sexual orientation inclinations for quite a long time (Reese, 2018). Therefore, Black ladies face unreasonable assumptions, unique difficulties, and one-sided presumptions concerning where they fit in the working environment that contrasts with the insights held regarding ladies from other racial and ethnic gatherings just as men. Individuals of color have needed to explore and now and again face contending, imperfect, or fragmented stories about their hard-working attitude, family obligations, and general esteem that impact choices regarding what they ought to acquire (Frye, 2019). At the point when sexism and bigotry cross in the working environment, the impact is obliterating.

A further look at the racial disparities in the gender wage gap brings to light the plight of immigrant workers and how they are paid in the US. Every year several immigrants come into the US for greener pastures with the promise of better work opportunities. These immigrants come from different places, including but not limited to the Latino from Mexico, Chinese, and Indians. These employment opportunities they are promised make them believe they would be paid better. It has been reported that 5.4 million immigrant women living in America are undocumented out of the total 23.2 million immigrants (American Immigration Council, 2020). Because these women are undocumented and would do anything to make ends meet, employers take advantage of this to pay them below the minimum wage, which is better than their countries of origin. Therefore, undocumented women have no choice but to work with the bit of low-paying jobs they get.

Bridging the gender pay gap; a public policy perspective

The gender pay gap is an issue of public policy because reducing it is suitable for the general public. Policies, therefore, have to be developed to ensure that the sustainable goal of gender equality in pay is achieved by 2030. One of the policies that can help bridge the wage gap is the Paycheck Fairness Act which prohibits discrimination on compensation based on sex (United States Congress, 2021). The Act also bans workplace policies where employers direct employees not to reveal their salaries to colleagues. Employers often did these to ensure there were no protests on how employees were paid. There is a high likelihood that employees would abandon their tools if they conversed about their salaries and realized there are a lot of discrepancies. The ActAct, therefore, infringes privacy while protecting the fundamental right of discrimination that causes the gender wage gap.

During recent debates, one thing that has come when the gender pay topic arises is womens empowerment in societyempowering women spans the economy, education, and cultural sectors. Economic empowerment of women makes them realize the strength of their gender and rights. Having the financial means to create jobs gives women power over several other things. Women can now set the enumeration standards in the market that other businesses can emulate. Economic empowerment also gives the female gender a seat in the room where economic policies are formulated. Where women are leaders or are placed in top positions, junior employees, especially their fellow women, are rewarded handsomely (UN Women, 2018). Therefore, it would be difficult for women who are economically empowered to subject their fellow women to the same awful experience they went through when they did not.

Educationally when women are empowered, they are provided with the knowledge to decide between right and wrong and make policies for a better future for the girl child. Being educated refers to a lot of things; first, it means getting the required academic qualifications. Secondly, it means creating awareness about the gender pay gap and situations that cause it, including how to reduce the gap. Educating women will ensure that they are more qualified to apply for the top positions that have for a long time been a preserve for men. Their salaries would thus be higher due to the competition they create for such posts. Informing women about their rights, such as maternity leaves, can help a lot. In 2018, there was a campaign by Bill and Melinda Gates that aimed at providing income for women having parental leaves (Clifford, 2019). This helped them remain in financial control even during their leaves, thus earning them economic empowerment.

The next step in ensuring the gender pay gap for women is reduced is to open up opportunities for women to allow for a diverse representation. The possibilities for women should start with political seats where several women are encouraged to apply for public office. The current vice president for America is a woman, Kamala Harris, who was chosen as a running mate to the surprise of many. An excellent example of where opportunities should open up for women is in the Supreme Court, where out of nine justices, only three are women (Supreme Court of the United States, 2021). The pay cannot, however, be complained about as the justices are paid based on experience. Junior associates are paid less than chief justices regardless of gender. This means that Jr., Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, is paid less than Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Lastly, the government should thump up its efforts to reduce the gender pay gap by introducing several policies aimed at doing so. One of the policies that can be introduced allows women on maternity leaves to work from home for up to a year. Usually, when women are given maternity leaves, they are not expected to work until the maternity leave expires. Some employers often fire their employees during such leaves, while some deny them essential services. Enabling the employees to work from home allows them to continue with the employment and gain more experience until they are ready to return to the office. Cultural interventions for this issue include defining the traditional gender roles that have kept women behind the curtains, thereby derailing their progress in the career world. Once through with maternity leave, a woman should go back to work and not be forced to stay at home to take care of the child.

In conclusion, the gender pay gap for women is a public policy issue because it affects the general public. The gender pay gap for women is also an issue that cannot be dealt with immediately; instead, gradual efforts should be implied from a collective responsibility perspective. The disparity existing for womens pay is mainly caused by racism, discrimination by sex, and cultural norms. It can, however, be reduced by empowering women economically, education-wise and helping them define the cultural norms that have led to the disparity. Racism and discrimination by sex can be handled by introducing public policies directed towards curbing the said vices. With the said efforts put in place, societys women will almost be equal to men, and at least, the efforts made to empower them will not be in vain.

References

American Immigration Council. (2020). Immigrant women and girls in the United States. Web.

Barroso, A., & Brown, A. (2021). Gender pay gap in U.S. held steady in 2020. Pew Research Center. Web.

Bichsel, J., & McChesney, J. (2017). The gender pay gap and the representation of women in higher education administrative positions: the century so far. Research Report. College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Web.

Clifford, C. (2019). Bill Gates Foundation says 52-week paid leave isnt doable after all, but will give new parents $20,000. CNBC. Web.

Equal Employment Opportunity. (2021). Is pregnancy covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act? SHRM. Web.

Frye, J. (2019). Racism and sexism combine to shortchange working Black women. Center for American Progress. Web.

Reese, C. C. (2018). The status of public sector pay equity for women of color in the United States. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 39(4), 594-610. Web.

Supreme Court of the United States. (2021). Justices. Web.

UN Women. (2018). Facts and figures: economic empowerment. Web.

United States Congress. (2021). H.R.7  117th Congress (2021-2022): Paycheck fairness act. Congress.gov | Library of Congress. Web.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (2021). Australias gender pay gap statistics 2021. Welcome | WGEA. Web.

World Economic Forum. (2021). Global gender gap report 2021. Web.

I argue that gender separation in sports is both useful and necessary, and there are several reasons for that. Gender-separated sports provide better opportunities for all gender involved while also respecting gender-related patterns of building social relations, and replacing gender with other criteria, such as athletic performance, would likely undermine womens position.

The main advantage of gender-separated sports is that it provides better competitive opportunities for everyone involved. While gender is not synonymous with biological sex, there is still a strong correlation between the two and, correspondingly, the physical characteristics of athletes. Creating gender-mixed teams based on athletic performance would result in the best teams being utterly dominated by men with few chances for women. Hence, as Ore (2018) puts it, sex-separate competitive opportunities are the best route to equal opportunity and fair competition for all (p. 107). One may argue that gender separation in sports may impede the athletes ongoing socialization. However, even if one considers children and youth shoes socialization is not yet complete, sports is only a secondary socialization mechanism as compared to family or school (Dalen & Seippel, 2019). Moreover, there are significant gender differences in building social relations in sports teams, meaning that gender separation may provide for better team cohesion (Dalen & Seippel, 2019). Thus, gender-separated sports are both useful and necessary in terms of equality and efficiency alike.

The issue has practical implications for ensuring better opportunities in sports in all settings. It can inform ones practice by highlighting the fact that the abolition of gender separation in sports will most likely diminish opportunities for female athletes. Ones awareness of gendered social patterns of building social relations in sports teams may also be useful to ensure better cohesion.

References

Dalen, H. B., & Seippel, (2019). Social networks and gender in organized youth sports. European Journal for Sport and Society, 16(4), 323-341.

Ore, T. E. (2018). The social construction of difference and inequality: Race, class, gender, and sexuality (7th ed.) Oxford UP.

Social learning and gender schema theories study the origins of differences related to gender. They present various theoretical constructions, explaining how sex-related cognitive development and social behavior influence peoples understandings of gender roles and apply different terminology. However, social learning theory and gender schema theory also share similar features showing the crucial role of cultural perceptions and upbringing.

Gender schema theory is similar to social learning theory because it merges its elements with cognitive development theory. Both stated approaches confirm the value of culture and imitation in the process of gender development (Helgeson, 2017). Hence, the stated two theories suggest that children will also behave differently with the changes in role models and cultural norms (Helgeson, 2017). Social learning theory and gender schema theory share similar views, aiming to show how the social environment contributes to sex differences and predict the process of learning.

The differences in theories are connected with various theoretical assumptions of the gender-related development process and their terminological apparatus. First, two theories vary in their definition of the gender development process starting and finishing points: when social learning theory states that it continues from infantry till adulthood, gender schema theory emphasizes preschool and late childhood years (Brannon, 2017). In addition, social learning theory claims that children adopt gender roles following their social environment models behavioral patterns, and behavior could be reinforced by positive or negative responses (Helgeson, 2017).

Social learning theory also states that children are more likely to imitate the typical patterns of gender-related behavior and prefer the models obtaining the position of power. Gender schema theory assumes that some people, when performing their gender roles rely on schemas  categories guiding the behavior by dividing the world into feminine and masculine dimensions (Helgeson, 2017). Gender schema theory uses the construct of androgyny to describe gender aschematic. The theory suggests that there should be more than two categories for sex, derived from potential combinations of a gender role, sex, and orientation.

In conclusion, social learning theory and gender schema theory, studying the same subject, provide their perceptions of gender-role development. The stated approaches put the culture and society norms at their core and could serve as powerful tools in behavioral prediction. Still, social learning theory and gender schema theory rely on various constructions of the behavioral learning process and explain it through their specialized concepts.

References

Brannon, L. (2017). Gender: Psychological perspectives (7^th ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.

Helgeson, V. S. (2017). Psychology of gender (5^th ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.

Gender inequality is a global challenge requiring immediate response from political and social principles from different countries. This inequality could not be more prevalent if a positive means of whistle-blowing from concerned personnel. There is an increasing imbalance between male and female workers in the security sector. This has been the modern trend leading to gender inequalities, thus delimiting womens rights in security sectors. Gender inequality is an international norm that highlights the unequal ownership of women and men of opportunities and resources. In the context of the security sector, gender inequality has been experienced in the management and oversight, security needs of women and men, and participation in the provision of various personnel need to be based on their gender. It is essential to address gender inequality as a social problem, especially in the security sector. This has been identified as a developmental problem that integration measures can only solve.

The security sector is one of the most sophisticated environments which requires professional etiquette. The fallacy surrounding this sector denotes that it is the dominant male environment. However, good security sector governance requires that the specific security and justice needs of men, women, boys, and girls be addressed in the provision of equal opportunities (Huang et al., 2020). This permits gender quality principles by providing equal employment and management opportunities. Applying gender equality is not an attempt to apply western values to non-western social contexts. Instead, it tries to expand choices and options and remove barriers based on gender.

Labor inequalities result in socio-economic challenges, especially for the most affected gender. There is a need to enhance, integrate, and formulate principles to guide recruitment based on individual interests to improve performance. The international community has responded by acquiring a framework for addressing women, peace, and security, including United Nations Security Council resolutions and binding international law. To build a developed robust framework around gender equality and womens rights, there is a need to initiate developed advocacy for equality between women and men in the security sector.

Data from the study showed that almost ten out of 100 military personnel in any security sector are women. This represents 10% of the total population, which is minimally low to the international gender equality guidelines. This begs the question: How can global labor regulation allow men to have more opportunities than their gender? There is, however, a much darker side to the inequality in the military, which goes beyond the required minimum rate in labor regulations. Statistical analysis indicates an estimated 15% of women in security management. This is very low regarding socio-economic considerations and gender biases. While there is a need to improve gender equality in the security sector, inequality continues, especially in the most sophisticated careers, such as military and police departments.

Every country globally has a security sector that plays a critical role in promoting peace and harmony. Given such circumstances, there should be a better approach to solving gender inequality issues within this sector. When girls are valued less than boys, women less than men, they face multiple risks throughout their lives, either at home, at school, from families, and strangers-Bukky Shonibare. The challenge of gender inequality is perceived as a global problem that can only be solved through integration measures and positive mitigation principles guided by international laws.

Given the legacy of international law, it is no surprise that most countries still dont have a legal system that embraces gender equality in the security sector. Results from the International Women Days conference indicate various challenges, especially when discussing the issues of womens inclusion in the security field. Some women professionals in the security sector who work as experts want to be considered equal to their male counterparts. About 60% of women professionals think of similar opportunism to promote career growth; this eventually determines the results in labor market dynamics.

Without an equal employment opportunities between male and female candidates, there will be no gender equality, thus delimiting child career growth and development. This means the girl child will be forced to consider an alternative profession. The security sector is a male dominant; those female counterparts who can afford opportunities are low-ranked, thus unable to be on a trajectory of professional success. To achieve success in the security profession while adhering to the set rules and standards on employment, there is a need to set the minimum required gender balance. This should involve both active and non-active personnel. With well-resourced information and more appealing security professionals with their sizeable paychecks, gender inequality in security sectors should be a minor factor to discuss in the modern environment.

The assumption of gender composition in the security sector has been linked with the apparent norm that women cannot explicitly work in the military. However, there is a need to minimize fallacies based on traditional standards and beliefs. International organizations should harmonize civil laws to improve performance and create trust in the child. What is clear is that the current social environment considers the male gender for security professions compared to the female gender. We should encourage equal opportunities based on professional qualifications to end this norm.

Reference

Huang, J., Gates, A. J., Sinatra, R., & Barabási, A. L. (2020). Historical comparison of gender inequality in scientific careers across countries and disciplines. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(9), 4609-4616.

Prior to reading the given article, I was not even thinking of the scale of gender inequality in Google. However, this problem is inherent to the majority of modern companies, not only Google. For example, England et al. (2020) argue that the last decade has been marked by a significant slowdown in gender equality in the US. At the same time, Googles administration is aware of the existing problem and is willing to tackle it (Sonnemaker, 2021). Hence, the reason for the underrepresentation of women in Google lies not in the companys policies per se. Instead, inequality might arise because technical education is not in demand among women for a wide range of reasons. Therefore, the given article does not change my perception of Google as an employer. Some percentage of women employed in Google shows that it is possible and both genders should work hard to get a job there.

In my opinion, men at Google continue to hire mainly men because they evaluate the candidates experience, skills, and qualifications, not their gender. Undoubtedly, following diversity policies is a good thing because it helps eliminate gender inequality. However, Google is known for selecting the best and the most promising candidates. From this perspective, it is unfair to refuse to hire a decent employee just because the company needs to meet requirements on gender representation. Another possible reason is that young women tend to get pregnant and, hence, the company will have to pay them for maternity leave. From this point of view, it is easier to hire a man because the probability that he will require parental leave is lower.

If I worked at Google, I would suggest implementing training programs to help managers, recruiters, and employees eliminate bias toward the opposite gender. Atal et al. (2019) also argue that an IT company might try to use the services provided by minority-owned suppliers. In the case of Google, the company might more actively involve women-owned suppliers and subcontractors. Still, the most fundamental step is to eliminate bias and gender-based stereotypes from the worldview of people responsible for diversity in Google.

References

Atal, N., Berenguer, G., & Borwankar, S. (2019). Gender diversity issues in the IT industry: How can your sourcing group help? Business Horizons, 62(5), 595-602.

England, P., Levine, A., & Mishel, E. (2020). Progress toward gender equality in the United States has slowed or stalled. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(13), 6990-6997.

Sonnemaker, T. (2021). Google will pay $2.6 million to workers over claims its hiring and pay practices were biased against women and Asians. Insider.