#changeoldstructures

[genderparity]

TedTalk by Saadia Zahidi speaking about gender parity. How to be aware, analyze, and take action about the wide gender parity.

Gender parity does not only happen in the United States, it happens on a global scale. Around the world, many cultures hold males in high regard leading to parents prioritizing their sons’ education and daughters dropping out early. According to Zahidi, a Pakistani male is 30% more likely to go to middle school and 10% more likely to go to university than their female counterparts. Men are more prominent in the workforce, but when women make it, they are only paid 20% of a man’s earnings. In Switzerland, even if women and men go through similar education, men are still more likely to join the workforce, have a higher wage, and twice as likely to be in leadership positions. Women have limited opportunities to enter the workforce; when women finally get the chance to go into the workforce, they are subjected to oppressive discrimination. Although there is a huge gender wage gap right now, there is a possibility that this gap will close.

Prospectively, it will be another 81 years before gender parity is abolished. The health and education gap for women are almost nonexistent yet the political and economic gap are extremely wide. Since the health and education gap are narrow, this means there is a chance for the economic gap to close. Studies show women being in the workforce leads to more prosperous and enriching outcomes. A multiplying effect happens when women are more educated and healthier, their children are too. When women are at the top of their companies, they outperform others 13% in the stock market. Women, rarely seen in higher standings in the workforce, benefit companies and have a better impact. However, women are less confident to go for higher paying jobs or ask for raises so they miss out on numerous chances to go up the social ladder. The impact women have in companies are apparent, but companies still prize men over women. Stereotypical thoughts persist like how men perform better than women in general and women are too troublesome to join labor forces because of child rearing and household responsibilities. These notions hurt a woman’s progress in the workforce, but there are solutions for gender parity being put forth.

One solution is a collaboration between leaders of companies to put forth ideas on how they can solve gender equity. Companies still perform in out-dated structures; the stereotypical thinking of women at home being caregivers and the division of labor being mainly men. Although most of these leaders are men, they still have immense power and influence to change these outdated structures. They can start changing the environment of how people are hired, paid and promoted. Furthermore, they can dismantle the societal norms blocking women from having equal opportunities in the workforce. Although the progress to obtain economic gender equality is slow, the influence from company leaders are working and the benefits about women being in leadership positions are spreading. Some companies are successful in integrating these policies or strategies for closing the gender wage gap. By collaborating, many companies can adopt and learn from these strategies and integrate more women in higher standings in companies. Enacting these plans are difficult, but these collaborations and spreading of information will push others to try to lessen the gender wage gap.

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Zahidi, Saadia. “Gender Parity: Awareness, Analysis, Action | Saadia Zahidi | TEDxLausanneWomen.” Youtube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 29 Jul. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rk8cIxYGiQ. Assessed 1 Dec. 2019.