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How does gender impact society
Interpersonal communication topic
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Topic Paper 1: The Impact of Adolescent Transition on the Gender Gap in Mathematics A few semesters ago, I took a sociology class that focused on education and culminated in a critical summary on a topic of our choosing. I wrote about the influence of society and education on the gender gap in STEM fields. Fortunately, the gap is shrinking but given my new knowledge about the transitional period of adolescence I have more understanding of why the gap existed and why it is shrinking. Statistics regarding educational achievement are obtained through several exams given to a variety of students in all grades, of all genders in several countries across the globe. For decades, the scores demonstrated that females in general were performing consistently worse on the mathematics portion of the exam when compared to their male counterparts. There have been several other more focused studies to identify why such a gap existed. One such study evaluated the influence of stereotype threat when taking a standardized test. The study showed that when females are asked their gender before they take the exam they do worse on average than those who are asked for their gender after the …show more content…
While social and biological changes can impact how well students perform, the most impactful changes are cognitive. As described by both Piaget’s theory and the information processing theory, adolescents develop the ability to think more abstractly as a part of their cognitive development. The information processing theory however, specifically details the development of metacognition which is the process of thinking about one’s own thinking. For most adolescents, this leads to self-consciousness as there is a heightened awareness of how they think that is extrapolated to how others may think. This leads to hyperawareness of one’s own behavior and appearance and can have serious
Throughout the history of the world, discrimination in all forms has been a constant struggle, whether it is race, gender, religion, appearance or anything else that makes one person different from another, it is happening every day. One significant discrimination problem that is affecting many women takes place in the work place. As of recently the gender wage gap has become a major topic for discussion. The gender wage gap is the average difference between men and women aggregated hourly earnings. Women who are equally trained and educated, and with the same experience are getting paid way less than men. In 2015, female full time workers earned eighty cents for every dollar earned by men.
Gender stratification can be described as unequal power, wealth, and privileges between men and women. This stratification is more generally aimed at women who are oppressed in the work place, economic class status, and many other aspects of life because of their gender. We can blame this on the patriarchal culture that we prescribe too, where males hold primary power and privileges in our society. Two of the most common aspects of gender stratification that we see in the United States includes the wage gap between men and women and the violence that women face. There are many more aspects to gender stratification, however, these two topics seem to be a gender stratification problem all over the world.
Gender discrimination is not a new topic, but it is oftentimes a controversial one. The differing political groups in the United States is a good example of how certain groups of people do not think the issue of a gender pay gap needs to be addressed. People on both sides of the political divide have dodged questions on whether or not the gender pay gap is a real issue and if it should be addressed. While some politicians may be divided, most scholars believe that having a gender gap does hamper the countries economy. For example, closing the gender pay gap in the United States should boost the economy by three to four percentage points (Bassett 2014), as this would introduce a group of people who will have more earning and spending potential
When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law, he hoped that it would allow working women to finally earn the same amount of money as men; however, more than half a century later, men continue to out earn women in almost every field of work (Lipman para. 4). Male dominated fields tend to pay more than female dominated fields at similar skill levels. In 2012, women earned an average of $691 per week while men earned an average of $854 per week. Furthermore, the majority of women remain unaware that they are earning less than their male colleagues (Hegewisch para. 1). The gender wage gap not only harms a woman’s ability to provide for herself, it also harms many children and families. Women are now the primary caregivers
The persistence of the gender wage gap in contemporary American society is not new. However, in 2015, the issue started garnering much public attention, especially since Patrica Arquette’s Oscar speech. Arquette asserted, “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all,” upon receiving the Best Supporting Actress award. Arquette is not the only high-profile Hollywood actress to address the issue: Diane Keaton, Meryl Streepe, Gwyneth Paltrow among many others have all shared their experiences of gender wage gap in interviews.
Gender inequality specifies to unequal treatment or approach of individuals based on their gender. It occurs from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. In 2006, the World Economic Forum introduced The Global Gender Gap Index. It is a framework that captures the magnitude and capacity of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. The index measures national gender gaps on political, economic, education and health based criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups, over time. The rankings are mainly designed to create a greater awareness among a global audience of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them.
Discrimination based on gender or sex is a common civil rights violation. Discrimination continues to exist in all forms, despite the efforts to eliminate it. Skin color, religion, and sex are the central components of discrimination in the world. One specific area that has shown great improvements over time is gender equality. Throughout world history, women have been viewed as inferior to men. In the United States, women were not allowed to join the military or vote. The United States has made great strides in providing equal opportunity to all genders. In spite of the several laws and acts congress has passed, women are still viewed as subordinate people. Judith Lorber, Shari Dworkin, Bianca Grohmann, as well as Christopher Greenwell and
Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.
The critical rank for reducing gender inequalities should be education, labor force participation, and lastly, wages. There are obvious differences between men and women whether it’s anatomically, financially, and so forth. The gender inequalities women face compared to men is alarming and saddening. Gender stereotypes reinforce gender inequalities because stereotypes can often be internalized which results in biases against either sex. These biases against a person can result in negative results. Gender inequality has been within our society for a long time especially amongst women.
Closing the wage gap between men and women is a continuing struggle today in nations all over the world. In many occupations women are paid less overall than their male counterparts. One nation, however, is making strides to bring this disparity in wages into the light. British law will soon require large companies to publish information about the salaries paid to their male and female employees. While this is a great step forward in recognizing the gender pay gap, many women also face many other obstacles to getting equal pay such as the “Mommy Tax” that reporter Ann Crittenden talks about in her piece of the same name (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 337). Another obstacle for women in the work place that ties into the “Mommy Tax” is how women are generally
Some boys around the age of seven, are reported to believe that their male peers are better at math than fellow female students. As for girls at this age, believe that both male and female students are equally capable in math, until the age of 10. This is where female students begin to believe that males students are better in the math areas. However, during adolescence years, boys begin to agree that girls and boys are equally good at math, as girls continue to state males are more successful in math (Saucerman and
Lastly, the discrimination of women due to their age also contributes to the gender pay gap. For men as they get older and gain more experience they get paid more, but this doesn’t always apply to women. Even only one year after graduating college a pay gap forms between men and women with the same degree (Goldberg and Hill). One year out of college neither male or female have much experience, all they have is their degree. Men and women with the same degree and same years of experience should receive equal pay, but that is not the case.
In today’s society, Women perform similar jobs to men. Whether it’s blue or white collar jobs, women are always present and thriving for success balancing a life of business and family. In the job market, some are graduates of the best schools and have interned at the best firms, but are still not compensated as equally as men. Following the recent comments by the CEO of Microsoft concerning women asking for raises and how they should trust the system to install equality, the issue seems to be still present, and women’s work is not rewarded similarly to men’s.
The gender issues in today’s society are issues to discuss because they are tainting the lives of people from an early age. This is important because girls and boys are showing increasing levels of insecurities that are arising due to fundamental gender issues in society. The masculine stereotype is one the most prevailing causes of gender issues in society, especially the issue of sexism. Our society must address this issue because the cycle of sexism only feeds into peoples’ insecurities. Men should not feel obligated to objectify women to feel masculine and women should not feel like they must be sensual and beautiful to have value. The stereotypes that are being placed on men and young boys effect the attitudes of the women around them and creates a cycle of hypersexualization and sexism, leaving the relationships between genders tainted and women feeling less confident in themselves. By changing the way people think men and women are supposed to be, we can change the way our society values one another and in turn, become a more equal and respectful society.
...cs. In the years, the country has started to realize the injustice it has been doing females in the field of mathematics. I believe that in the future these biases and disadvantages will be a thing of the past. Females have the mental capability to perform on an equal level with all respected and distinguished male mathematicians, but first social pressures and stereotypes must be eliminated.