Research Paper: Gender Inequality

2168 Words9 Pages
Kit Ting Lai Professor Lewis Eng 1A 3/18/2011 Where can we see gender inequality? Our gender identities are constructed by our inborn biological characteristics and sociological factors. In terms of biological factors, men are generally more muscular than women. People may presume that men are stronger than women and tend to discriminate against women due to their physical differences. As a result, women may have a sense of inferiority due to the physical differences between the two, which serve as the basis of gender inequality. Undoubtedly, women participation has increased significantly in the recent past. Statistics from University of Maryland shows that nearly seventy-five percent of women between the ages of 25 to 54 are now currently engaging in the working force. Men’s rates are slightly higher only, which eighty-five percent of men are engaging in the working force. Women have also started to engage in “male fields,” which are the jobs that were previously dominated by men. They have increased their proportion in fields such as “law, medicine and engineering since 1970” (Giddens 231). Although statistics reveals that women have lessened their inequality in work participation, they still suffer from other forms of gender inequalities at work. One of the common gender inequalities that women face at work is glass ceiling. Giddens explains what glass ceiling is and how it influences women. Glass ceiling is a form of discrimination and “is a promotional barrier that prevents a woman’s upward mobility within an organization.” (Giddens 232) Basically, glass ceiling is simply a hurdle that prevents women from promoting. Glass ceiling does not simply include the promotional barrier, but different salaries for comparable work as well. Glass ceiling trends are more common in male-dominated fields. In many occasions, this barrier prevents women from
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