The issue of workplace equality for women is an oft-discussed issue that manifests itself in many ways. Many groups and businesses have released reports and implemented plans to combat the lack of women in the workforce in various industries.
This is a good start, but many individuals still refuse to accept the existence of the wage gap and general social disadvantages for whatever reason. The lack of wholesale acceptance and recognition of the need to combat this issue is greatly disappointing.
The main issues that must be addressed are the lack of female employees in certain industries and fields, gender stereotyping — specifically with young women — and the sad state of maternity leave policies in the U.S.
And, yes, the wage gap.
I will look at underrepresented industries and gender stereotyping in this article and will finish the topic in my piece next week.
The lack of female employees in various industries is easy to accept for most people, so let’s start there. Some of the fields women are most underrepresented in are STEM fields, aviation and, to a slightly lesser extent, finance.
According to research by the Department of Commerce, in 2011 women had less than 25 percent of all STEM jobs. The study also concluded that women are underrepresented in all STEM undergraduate degrees, especially in engineering.
According to the FAA’s Aeronautical Center, women made up only 6.6 percent of licensed pilots in 2013. When it comes to commercial piloting, the most visible form of piloting, women only made up 6.39 percent.
The bigger issue in financial services is the lack of female leadership. According to research by Morningstar and Harvard Business School, women make up less than 10 percent of fund managers in the United States, and only about 2 percent of funds are run exclusively by women.
However, in some niches of the finance industry, like private equity, venture capital and real estate, women only make up 17 to 23 percent of total employees, not just leadership.
Why are there such visible gaps in these careers and industries?
Some of the blame for this can potentially be attributed to the other issues with workplace inequality: gender stereotyping and poor maternity leave policies.
The maternity leave will have to wait for next week. Let’s take a look at gender stereotyping, which can directly influence what career paths girls choose in schools.
In the U.S. and most of the world today, girls are still subjected to outdated, inaccurate gender stereotypes starting at a very young age.
A recent piece in the United Kingdom from the Daily Mail showed young schoolchildren being surprised to find that a doctor, a firefighter and a fighter pilot were women when revealed. When the children drew pictures before the reveal, only 5 of the 66 drawings were of women.
If girls are being fed portrayals that they cannot be in a certain career, they are potentially being stunted from an early age, which can lead to shying away from challenging subjects in school later. It can start with just making them think girls wear pink.
This issue continues with maternity leave letdowns and the wage gap, which I will look at next week. But if this isn’t enough at least to get you thinking about how women might not be as well off as men in the workplace, I recommend doing some reading in the next week.
macwhitt@indiana.edu
