Women's Studies Progress

G R A C E B U L L A B A U G H - V A L M I K PAT E L - G A L I T D E S H E

WOMEN Worldwide Working Women

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about this issue

United States and Canada SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE Experience of harassment has decreased over the years from its peak of 32% of women in late 1992 and mid-1994 to 24% in 2011.

Also, more sexual harassments are being reported in the workplace, with 41% in 2011, compared to only 33% in 1994.

DID YOU KNOW?

-1 in 4 women will report sexual harassment in the workplace.

-1 in 10 men report to have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Sexual harassment in the workplace is considered sex discrimination, and it violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

WHAT YOU CAN DO -If you feel safe speaking directly to the person harassing you, you can explain what behavior is bothering you and ask them to stop.

-If your employer has a sexual harassment policy in place, write a complaint.

-Go to your supervisor or human resources.

-File a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 6 months of the harassment if you have a Title VII discrimination complaint.

CURRENT EVENTS: US NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM GENDER PAY GAP: Last year, the US women’s team produced $20 million more in revenue than the men’s team. Yet their players make four times less.

Top women players make around $70,000. Top Male players make around $250,000.

NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH: CANADA In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave Canada its first equally represented cabinet, with 15 male and 15 female ministers!

This cabinet is also ethnically diverse, including 2 aboriginal and 3 Sikh members!

When asked about his reasoning for setting up his cabinet in such a way, Trudeau replied: “Because it’s 2015.” NICE JOB TRUDEAU!

Latin America WAGE GAP

Women earn between income.

60 percent and 90 percent of men’s average

FIELDS OF WORK

60 percent of women are included in the informal sector as opposed to only 48 percent of men.

POLITICAL POWER

Josefina Vazquez Mota is first woman ever to serve as Mexico’s Secretary of Education and Secretary of Social Development, and is the first woman ever to run for president.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

Michelle Bachelet was the president of Chile .

-Income equality law -Expand educational opportunities for women

Europe PAY GAP IN EUROPE

European countries also see a difference between the average salaries of men and women.

Management positions are overwhelmingly held by men.

Men are promoted more often than women in every sector.

Less than 4% of European CEO’s are women.

FEMALE UNEMPLOYMENT

In 2013, Britain achieved its highest female employment rate ever recorded: 67.2%. Unfortunately, this exciting growth in female participation in the workforce coincided with an increase in the pay gap.

This increase in the pay gap may be due to more British women declaring themselves as self-employed. Self-employed women tend to work extensive hours for less than the minimum wage.

Many more women identify as self-employed than men.

DOUBLE DUTY FOR WOMEN

Even though more and more women are joining the workforce in Europe, studies show that women in heterosexual relationships still do about twothirds of the housework in their homes.

-This same study by Europe’s Economic and Social Research Council also showed that this unequal distribution of housework between men and women can also be detrimental to men. The men who claim that their wives do most of the housework often also complained of greater family conflict. Aw, those poor guys!

-According to this report, nordic countries have the fairest division of household labor. Sweden shows the greatest equality, with women still doing two thirds of the housework.

-Southern European countries report women doing the greatest share of housework, with Greece topping the list at four fifths of the work being done by women.

Africa

Sub saharan Africa has smallest gap between genders for full time employment.

WOMEN IN CERTAIN FIELDS

-Majority of women make up the informal workforce -Heavily agricultural- “women known to grow 80% of food in Africa” -Improvement- women continue to move into different professions, including those traditionally seen as male jobs, such as engineering and architecture.

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION/MATERNITY Women often suffer employment discrimination because they need to take time off for maternity leave or when a child is sick.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Career women often have to work harder at their jobs to keep even with their male counterparts

“On June 4, 2014, a new law was approved by then interim president, Adly Mansour, criminalising sexual harassment for the first time in modern Egyptian history.”

Middle East

DID YOU KNOW?

-In every Arab country except for Yemen and Morocco, female literacy rates are pretty much equal to those of men.

-The number of male and female college graduates in the Middle East is fairly equal, with slightly more female college graduates than male (although women do make up a greater percent of the population).

-Arab women outperform Arab men in hard sciences. Also, the number of women graduates in sciences is greater in the Middle East than in Western Europe.

-In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s Sheikh Muhammad enacted a plan to force all public boards to be composed 50% of women.

EDUCATED, BUT UNABLE TO WORK

Although women in the Middle East and North Africa are receiving greater education than ever before, workplace participation unfortunately lies at only 25% – about half of the world average in 2013.”

The reasons for this disparity are the legal and social barriers that are still present against Middle Eastern women.

South Asia

FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT GAP

South Asia has the largest gender employment gap in the world, doubling the worldwide average.

Women’s participation in the workforce is dropping in India.

WOMEN IN RESEARCH

PROPORTION OF SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN RESEARCHERS TO MEN BY SUBJECT

29 % 27 % 25 % 25 % 22 % 18 % 17 % 16 % 16 % 15 %

ARTS AND HUMANITIES

BIOCHEMISTRY, GENETICS, AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

SOCIAL SCIENCE

HEALTH PROFESSIONS

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTING

PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

MATHEMATICS

EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

ENERGY

ENGINEERING

East Asia

DID YOU KNOW?

-Women make up 44.7 percent of the work force, but just 25.1 percent of people with positions of “responsibility,” -Fewer than 1 in 10 board members of China’s top 300 companies are women.

-In general, men are preferred for white-collar managerial jobs while women are preferred in sales and clerical positions.

-In Japan, did you know: women are “birth-giving machines.” Comment by the president. - 9 years ago? ‘ -Japanese women now outpace American women in labor force participation. 64% of Japanese women are in the workforce while 63% of American women are in the workforce.

Is the wage Gap a Myth?

Although statistical evidence suggests a clear gap between the average salaries of male and female workers of the same field, many skeptics continue to insist that the wage gap is a myth. They claim that the reason women seem to make less than their male counterparts is not due to sexism, but rather due to the professional choices generally made by women.

For example, they argue that women choose to work in less lucrative fields, work fewer hours, or stay home with their children.

Ok then. Let’s focus on the medical field.

In America the majority of doctors are male and make very high salaries, often well into 6 figures.

This seems to be appropriate, because doctors are very important and must get a lot of education and training to perform their jobs, right?

Well, in Russia, things are a little different. The medical field there is actually dominated by women.

And, in Russia, the average salary for a medical professional is approximately 28,000 rubles a month, which is less than $12,000 a year! That is about the same amount as teachers, secretaries, and janitors are paid there.

So, what does this show us?

Women are not paid less on average because the professional choices they make devalue them.

It is actually because simply being women makes their work less valuable. If male doctors in America are work 6 figures, then female doctors should be worth the same. It doesn’t matter what career women choose. If a field is primarily made up of women, then will lose its respect and its value.

Just because we choose to ignore a problem, doesn’t make it any less real.

photos: Cover http://www.lawpracticetoday.org US and Canada http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/

Sources: US and Canada http://viralnews1.top/us-soccers-wage-gap-is-americas-shame-les-carpenter/ http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/one-in-four-u-s-women-reports-workplace-harassment/ http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/legal-resources/know-your-rights-at-work/ workplace-sexual-harassment/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/04/canada-cabinet-gender-diversity-justin-trudeau