Gender Inequality

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More often than men, women make up most of the workers at low skilled jobs because of occupational segregation. Women’s skills are undervalued because they are seen as ‘feminine’ and weak, and unable to carry out the duties of jobs that require more work and intelligence. Stereotypes about gender portray them as domestic workers, whose skills are not seen as beneficial in the labour-force. These jobs are created to attract women, who also get paid less than their male counterpart would, so they are beneficial for the employer. As has been documented (Meyer, 2003) women are more closely associated with “unremunerated and service-oriented reproductive labor” because they are thought of as to be better than men at repeating small tasks and they are believed to be cooperative unlike men. This is why low skill jobs hire women, and as they hire more and more women it becomes the norm and occupational segregation is observed, as these low skill jobs become associated with female workers.

Occupational segregation leaves women with low skill jobs that also pay less than a job that would be normal for a male to have. Discrimination is also caused by wage gaps, not only for being in low skill jobs, but even when men and women occupy the same position, women still end up making a small percentage less than their counterpart. Disparities in pay end up totaling somewhere between $750 thousand and $2 million over an individual’s lifetime based on a study done by the WAGE Now Project (Michailidis, Morphitou & Theophylatou, 2012). The occupational segregation typically places females in undervalued jobs that in turn give them low wages. Discrimination of females in the labour-force has a significant impact on their lives because of how much wages they lose out on, simply because of gender roles and stereotypes.

Women continue to be discriminated in the workplace because of socially constructed ideologies of gender roles. Gender stereotypes of being weak, ‘feminine’, and unequal have lead to women having a 37% less chance of becoming bosses than men. They also have a glass ceiling whereas men are placed on a pedestal and given benefits and promotions when they occupy female heavy jobs. Occupational segregation occurs with females typically occupying low skill jobs, and jobs that are seen as ‘feminine’. Regardless of what job they do, however, they are still subject to a wage gap compared to men doing the same job. Working inside out and eliminating discrimination in the labour-force such as: wage gaps, occupational segregation, and disadvantages in hiring and promotion can slowly eliminate the gender roles and stereotypes that have been socially constructed.

References

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