Gender Inequality Essay Research Paper Gender InequalityThe

Gender Inequality Essay, Research Paper

Gender Inequality

The issue of gender inequality is one which has been publicly

reverberating through society for decades. The problem of inequality in

employment being one of the most pressing issues today. In order to examine

this situation one must try to get to the root of the problem and must

understand the sociological factors that cause women to have a much more

difficult time getting the same benefits, wages, and job opportunities as their

male counterparts. The society in which we live has been shaped historically by

males. The policy-makers have consistently been male and therefore it is not

surprising that our society reflects those biases which exist as a result of

this male-domination. It is important to examine all facets of this problem, but

in order to fully tackle the issue one must recognize that this inequality in

the workforce is rooted in what shapes future employees and employers–

education. This paper will examine the inequalities in policy, actual teaching

situations, admission to post-secondary institutions, hiring, and job benefits

and wages. It will also tackle what is being done to solve this problem and what

can be done to remedy the situation.

The late 1960s brought on the first real indication that feminist groups

were concerned with the education system in North America. The focus of these

feminist groups captured the attention of teachers, parents, and students. At

first the evidence for inequality in schooling was based on no more than

specific case studies and anecdotal references to support their claims but as

more people began to show concern for the situation, more conclusive research

was done to show that the claims of inequality were in fact valid and definitely

indicated a problem with the way that schools were educating the future adults

of society. One of the problems which became apparent was the fact that the

policy-makers set a curriculum which, as shown specifically through textbooks,

was sexist and for the most part still is.

Textbooks are one of the most important tools used in educating students

whether they are elementary school storybooks or university medical textbooks.

It is therefore no surprise that these books are some of the most crucial

information sources that a student has throughout their schooling. Many studies

have been done examining the contents of these books to reveal the amount of

sexism displayed in these educational tools. The results clearly show that

gender inequality definitely runs rampant in textbooks some of the sexism subtle

and some overt. To begin with, it is apparent that historical texts show a

distorted view of women by portraying them unfairly and inaccurately and

neglecting to mention important female figures, instead opting to describe their

sometimes less influential male counterparts. Elementary and secondary school

textbooks are also guilty of gender bias.

In elementary and secondary school textbooks, sexism takes many forms.

Boys predominate in stories for children; they outnumber girls 5 to 2. When

girls are present in texts, they are almost always younger than the boys they

are interacting with, which thus makes them foils for the boys’ greater

experience and knowledge– a situation commonly referred to as the .ninny

sister syndrome.’ Girls are shown to be far more passive than are boys and to

engage in fewer activities. In fact, sometimes grown women are portrayed who

rely on small boys (often their young sons) to help them out of difficulty.

(Fishel and Pottker 1977. p. 8)

Surprisingly it is not only these hidden forms of sexism that appear in

textbooks.

One study found sixty-five stories that openly belittled girls (two were

found that belittled boys). Another study pointed out an instance where Mark, of

the Harper & Row .Mark and Janet’ series, states: .Just look at her. She is just

like a girl. She gives up.’ Male characters said, in another story, .We much

prefer to work with men.’ This type of material on the treatment of girls would

seem to have little social or educational value, and its widespread use is

difficult to understand. (ibid, p.8)

In the long run, the ideas put in students heads through textbooks,

perhaps through the lack of female role models, can affect the choices they make

in the future with regards to employment.

Actual teaching situations are also prone to sexism. For the most part

teachers do not try to be sexist but, for sociological reasons, can not help it.

For the sake of this paper, it will be assumed that these situations occur

mostly in co-educational schools, but single sex schools are in no way immune to

the same problems. A perfect example of society’s male-dominance interfering in

education unintentionally is when teachers assign projects to their students.

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать