American society has dealt with gender inequality since the conception of our country. Since the women suffragist movement in the 1920’s and the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, gender inequality has decreased significantly but work still needs to be done.
The article by Noam Cohen states that “many women lacked the confidence to put forth their views” since they were in a minority group. This can either be a human reaction i.e. we all tend to lack confidence when we are in a minority group or women, in particular, lack a certain confidence in the business world. An article written by John Sides presents the case that women are less likely to run for political office while their male counterparts are. The research showed little difference though when it came to marriage, having children, and career success. “Young women are less likely to want to effect change via political office” which is interesting when you look at the fact that women consistently make up the largest voting group for political elections year after year. A possible cause to this is that women tend not to seek leadership positions in their fields because they do not feel qualified for it.
In the U.S. men hold 83% of all executive committee positions as presented by McCullough in an article about gender inequality at the corporate level. She proceeds to give reasons for this imbalance stating that many programs are focused at women adapting a more masculine personality. Women should be allowed to be who they are in the workplace and contribute their ideas without having to act more masculine. Acknowledging the gender inequality by both men and women is the first step to solving this problem.
Time, however, may be the ultimate factor in this situation. Our parents and grandparents are the ones at the top of the corporate ladders and deciding policies in Washington. They were born in the mid-1900’s where inequality was the norm. Even though civil rights came about in the 1960’s, it took decades for the general population to start to accept the change which affected everyone growing up. Now, growing up in a digital age allows for ideas and opinions to spread even faster and for the younger generation to learn to accept each other and our differences.
Programs that help reduce gender inequality may help in the short run for our parents and grandparents but it is hard to unlearn something that was instilled upon someone as a child. It is what the millennial generation will do once we get to the top of the corporate ladders and determining policies in Washington that will lead to true change and hopefully eradicate gender inequality. So do you think it is just a matter of time until the millennial generation comes to power to ultimately see the elimination of gender inequality?
Millennials and Internet 