The modern society is characterized by the increasing extent of globalization. The concept of globalization refers to the “intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (Giddens, 1990, p.64). This process is exerting immense influence on the society we live in and the way it perceives women. Four – five centuries ago, it was impossible for women to work on an equal basis with men, and in modern times, the situation has changed. Nevertheless, women still face gender stereotypes and a glass ceiling in the workplace. The current paper discusses the issue of women in the workplace from four perspectives: history, humanities, natural and social sciences.
From the historical perspectives, the changing position of women in the workforce is illustrated by the feminist movements that were held with the goal of acquiring the possibility to work. Though these movements began to gain momentum since the 1960s, for the first time, women entered the workplace during World War II when men were forced to become soldiers, and women had to take their workplaces even if a job required hard manual labor. However, even in the developed countries, after the end of the War, “women disappeared from industrial employment with postwar reconversion” (Kossoudji & Dresser, 1992, p.431). From this, it could be inferred that society still was convinced that a woman should be a housewife, while a man should be an employee.
From the viewpoint of a historian, it is essential to mention the Quiet Revolution that goes on since the mid-1970s. This revolution is marked by the transformation of the labor market since the number of employed women continues to increase. Due to globalization’s rising speed, this process affects not only economically developed countries but also the developing ones. According to Goldin (2006), this revolution is remarkable because it changes how women perceive themselves; it modifies their individual identities. A few centuries ago, women, with rare exceptions, were deprived of the ability to make a name and act independently from the husband’s will. Thus, over time globalization women have more political and economic freedom.
Moving to the sphere of the humanities, it is curious to notice that women with a degree in this field are two times more likely to be employed in teaching than men (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2015). In contrast, men more frequently get managerial positions (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2015). Besides, the field of humanities, in contrast to exact sciences, is commonly believed to be female. According to Trusz (2020), this division exists because teachers more actively encourage boys during math and physics classes while girls during the literature, history, and language ones. Although humanities are regarded as a female by nature, the survey conducted by Brown (2019) reveals that, on average, a male artist’s work is sold at a higher price than a female one. This point signifies that women’s labor is still rated as cheaper in contrast to one of men.
The perspective of natural and applied sciences is closely related to the previously described topic of humanities due to the existence of gender prejudices. The survey conducted by Noonan (2017) reveals that women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce as they comprise only “24 percent of STEM workers” (p.2). Greider et al. (2019) argue that the reason for the underrepresentation of female workers in STEM lies in “sexual and gender-based harassment” (p. 692). From this, it could be inferred that women face numerous barriers that prevent them from being employed in the field of natural and applied sciences.
Finally, the percentage of women engaged in social sciences is also immensely small. Data provided by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2019) reveals that women comprise less than 30 percent of researchers worldwide. Social scientists blame culture and gender bias for the fact that the female workforce remains less valuable than a male one. The most severe gender gaps in income and employment appear to be in low- and middle-income countries (World Health Organization, 2019). One could suggest that these countries still did not develop an appropriate culture that would enable them to implement economic policies that would raise income per capita and reduce bias towards the employment of women.
To sum up, it should be stated that even though in the modern globalized world, women actively promote their rights and freedom, and feminist movements gain popularity, female workers remain underestimated. Even in the sphere of humanities, the paintings of male artists are more expensive and more popular. Undoubtedly, the gap is gradually reducing and, probably, in a few decades, the situation with women in the workforce will be better than now. Until society does not eradicate stereotypes connected with gender, the discussed issue would remain topical.
References
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2015). Gender and the Occupations of Humanities Majors. Web.
Brown, T. (2019). Why is work by female artists still valued less than work by male artists? Arts Economics. Web.
Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Polity Press.
Goldin, C. (2006). The quiet revolution that transformed women’s employment, education, and family. American economic review, 96(2), 1-21.
Greider, C. W., Sheltzer, J. M., Cantalupo, N. C., Copeland, W. B., Dasgupta, N., Hopkins, N., & McLaughlin, B. (2019). Increasing gender diversity in the STEM research workforce. Science, 366(6466), 692-695.
Kossoudji, S. A., & Dresser, L. J. (1992). Working class rosies: Women industrial workers during World War II. Journal of Economic History, 52(2), 431-446.
Noonan, R. (2017). Women in STEM: 2017 Update. US Department of Commerce. Web.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2019). Women in Science. Fact Sheet No. 55. Web.
Trusz, S. (2020). Why do females choose to study humanities or social sciences, while males prefer technology or science? Some intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors. Social Psychology of Education, 23, 615–639.
World Health Organization (2019). Delivered by women, led by men: A gender and equity analysis of the global health and social workforce. Web.