by Electa Yeung

Is gender equality truly By Electa Yeung Image: Keya Desai achievable ?

o answer the question, let us first go back to a

Tsimple question. What is gender equality? The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals website gives a balanced definition on the subject matter. It states that “Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.

achievable ?

Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women.” In 18 countries, men can legally forbid their wives from working. Globally, women only earn 77 cents to the dollar that men earn; the World Bank found that these barriers translate to $160 trillion in lost income potential. One in five people around the world believe women are inferior to men and should stay at home. These are, indeed, all statistics that depict the prominence of gender inequality. However, what do a few numbers actually mean, and why is gender equality important? By trying to eradicate the problem, we, as a society, are giving everyone a chance to maximize their potential. This thereby creates a stronger economy, as well as a society where we are all seen as people regardless of our gender. Whilst analyzing the problem, fundamental issues stopping gender equality from happening must be taken into consideration. In view of women’s involvement in the sciences, a study of Swedish secondary school students explored why more boys are attracted to STEM subjects at university and more girls are attracted to subjects in the Heed (health, elementary education and domestic) spheres, with the findings mainly attributing the phenomenon to two factors: “social belongingness” – that teenagers felt they would fit in better in subjects that had more of their own gender and “self-efficacy” – the belief that one can succeed in a domain. We tend to approach domains where we feel we are competent and avoid those in which we do not. For example, despite outperforming boys across school subjects and because girls on average have low self-efficacy ratings in STEM, they tend to stay away from these subjects. Fundamental problems with gender inequality also exist in workplaces, with the major issue being the lack of opportunities for women. Harvard Business School conducted an experiment and found that even when women’s academic profiles are similar to that of their male counterparts, they only have a 37% chance of getting employed, meaning that from the get-go, without being in senior positions, women are bound to be paid less. In addition, pregnancy and childcare limit women’s mobility in workplaces. When females take long breaks from work, knowledge gaps are created, which keeps women frozen out of high positions in firms. Thus, whether or not gender equality is truly achievable depends on the aspect we are assessing. In terms of education, although biological differences between the two genders do play a part in the natural attraction towards different subjects, the problem that we are faced with now is that there is still a social stigma that exists for women in sciences. In terms of levelling the playing field of women in the workplace, by forcing there to be a set number of women to be in a certain job, gender equality is possible, as shown in Norway. The Norwegian government introduced quota legislation that required companies to have 40% female board representation by 2008. Currently, the percentage of female board members has since remained between 36% and 40%. However, is this really the way we want to do it? UN Women reported that in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, half of the economic growth over the past 50 years is attributed to girls having better access to education, as well as reducing the gap in the number of years of schooling between girls and boys. Hence, the road towards gender equality starts with education – in schools, in workplaces and in society to change the outdated mindsets of men being superior. That said, we must not forget that women are not the only victims. An estimated 12,000 men are raped in the UK every year, and more than 70,000 males are sexually abused or assaulted. Yet, only in 2017 did a 22-year-old, named Jordan Worth, become the first ever female in the UK to be prosecuted for sexual abuse under the offence, also only introduced in 2015, of controlling or coercive behavior in an intimate relationship. This case really raises the flag that gender equality is not just about the fight for women, but instead, for both sexes. All in all, achieving gender equality takes effort from both genders to change their mindsets. The former UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon once said that: “Achieving gender equality requires the engagement of women and men, girls and boys. It is everyone’s responsibility.” It takes the eradication of views that women can only do certain things while men can only do others. Yes, men and women may be better at doing certain things, but that should not limit the other gender from doing something that is “not in their league”. According to a 2017 report by the World Economic Forum, it could still take another 100 years before the global equality gap between men and women disappears entirely. From being able to vote, having the right to be educated, to the fight for women in the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, women, and indeed men, have come a long way on the road to achieve gender equality. However, we must not forget that we still have a long road ahead of us. The fight for gender equality will not be over until the day where, as a society, we can see past the barriers that arise because of gender.