North American Gender Inequality free essay sample

Abderahmane Behilil Submitted to: Mrs. Meszaros Due Date: Dec, 7th, 2012 North American Gender inequality Elizabeth 2nd, 1952)â€Å"No employee shall employ a female employee for any work at a rate of pay that is less than the rate of pay at which a male employee is employed by that employer for identical or substantially identical work† Although it is law in all of North America, gender inequality has been profoundly observed within the government and areas such as companies and industries where the female gender continues to experience unequal gender concentrations in different job positions, unequal gender pay, as well as being discriminated against when employment comes into question. Although it has been suppressed to some extent, it is still a problem in the labor force. It is especially evident when examining employment issues. As a matter of fact, the governments along with companies and industries, all across North America have been experiencing unequal gender concentrations in different job positions. Of the 267 directors of board, only 11 percent are female in 27 North American publicly held steel companies (Petry 1997). This demonstrates that there is indeed a glass ceiling (unofficial yet know prevention of promotion in position/rank) because females are openly suppressed to lower incomes or power positions. Women comprise 66% of the U. S. workforce, yet only 21% hold middle management positions, and a mere 15% are at the senior management level† (Sipe, 2009). This means that though women make up more than half of the labor force, they are still viewed as the weaker gender and in turn not suitable for promotion. In the auto industry, woman make 80 persent of all sales, yet there are only 100 females in high ranking positions. Although the female gender contributes more than its fair share, they are still left in low income positions. With females contributing greatly to the labor force and still being subdued to low income and rank positions, the male population will end up acquiring most of the top positions which may lead to discouraged female employees and a potential great loss of female employees at middle positions creating weak support for the economy. To illustrate, gender inequality is evident due to the female gender being subdued to the lower income/management positions in the labor force. In addition, unequal gender pay has been found to be more evident than previously assumed. Female North American university professor publication rates have been found to be much lower than male professor publication rates which have been argued by some to be the reason behind their lower income, taking into consideration that only professors are allowed to publish. However, looking at gender differences in field seniority and rank, the difference with the male gender was very well explained (Doucet et all, 2012). Although the education system teaches society to work towards gender equality, it has failed to implement it and have therefore turned gender equality into a theory. In the United States, Minnesota’s population is roughly around five million yet the average woman earns 22 percent less of a dollar then the average man does, even though 197,000 homes in the state are female headed( Gender pay gap persists in Minnesota, 2012) . Once again the government has failed to create equality amongst the population as they have allowed woman to be paid less. In the insurance sector, income gap is indeed widening. Male managers incomes rose by 2. 5 percent, whereas the same role maintained by females increased by only 1. 9 percent. Once again although it is low, females are still paid less than males portraying that the government, companies, and industry do not value gender equality. To clarify, gender inequality has been found to be inconspicuous because of the gender gap. Equally important is the fact that female unemployment is not only evident but is shown to be increasing. In the United States alone, the number of unemployed woman has sky rocketed by over the past 4 years these statistics show that not only are woman unemployed but that the unemployment rate is increasing at an alarming rate. According to the United States Bureau of Labor, since the June of 2012 â€Å"the unemployment rate for woman was 8 percent, up from 7 percent since 2009†. The data shows that rather than the unemployment rate decreasing and moving towards gender equality, gender inequality is actually increasing. According to statistics Canada, reports showing the number of people unemployed in the open labour market were female, specifically single mothers. These females composed 55 percent of the jobless population. This once again summarizes the idea that although females make up more than half of the workforce, they are still looked upon by some to be the â€Å"weaker link† and are in turn not rewarded correspondingly for their efforts. In short, gender inequality is found to be clear due to society’s ignorance, and prejudice against the female gender. In North America, the examination of unemployment issues has brought life to the once again increasing dilemma of gender inequality. Due to the increasing rise of gender inequality, it has been proven that the law did not solve it and is not the way to solve it. Instead, society has to come together, bring their humanity, and ask this question, is gender inequality ethical? Bibliography: * Few gains for women on executive ladder; road to success difficult in steel industry. (1997, April 1). www. galegroup. com. Retrieved November 25, 2012, from go. galegroup. com/ps/i. do? action=interpretamp;id=GALE%7CA19273100amp;v=2. 1amp;u=ko_k12hs_d48amp;it=ramp; * University Students Perceptions of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace: Reality Versus Fiction. (2009, July 1). www. Bigchalk. com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from http://elibrary. igchalk. com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document? set=searchamp;dictionaryClick=amp;secondaryNav=amp;groupid=1amp;requestid=lib_canadaamp;resultid=2amp;edition=amp;ts=C07D1C4A0B0241976166934259C33922_1354874002906amp;start=1amp;publicationId=amp;urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BB * Pay structure, female representation and the gender pay gap among university professors/Structure salariale, representation feminine et ecar ts de remuneration selon le genre chez les professeurs duniversite/Estructura salarial, representacion femenina y . n. d. ). www. galegroup. com. Retrieved November 24, 2012, from go. galegroup. com/ps/retrieve. do? sgHitCountType=Noneamp;sort=DA-SORTamp;inPS=trueamp;prodId=GPSamp;userGroupName=ko_k12hs_d48amp;tabID=T002amp;searchId=R10amp;resultListType=RESULT_LISTamp;contentSegment=amp;searchType=BasicSearchForm ¤tPosition=1amp;contentSet=GALE%7CA284937847amp;amp; * An act to promote equal pay for female employees. (n. d. ). www. Websiteofrights. com. Retrieved November 20,