Running head: GENDER EQUALITY IN EUROPE 1

GENDER EQUALITY IN EUROPE

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Gender equality and empowerment to women is very crucial as far as human rights are

concerned. Both gender equality and empowerment are very crucial as they both increase the

levels of growth in the economy its prosperity and furthermore its competitiveness. The making

of sustainable development is dependent on gender equality as it cannot happen if half the world

is left behind. Over the years significant progress has been made in the field of gender equality,

however, there has been an uneven distribution of gender equality across most states. Women

and girls continue to face some level of discrimination and some elevated levels of violations of

their rights. Our modern society may provide us with the notion that gender inequality is an

outdated issue but this is far from reality. The European Union has nevertheless made some

improvements in the position of women in the workforce in recent years. The continuous entry of

women into the labor market, especially in European countries, has brought about new issues

such as the compilation of paid employment with family duties (Anker, 1998).

Women job positioning in the European labor market is centralized in areas such as

those of care and social needs. The stereotypic view of women in the European labor

markets is a clear picture of the observed nature of discrimination in women salaries in

work of similar quality to that of men. The low income observed by women is reflective of

their vocational activity, by averaging low wages of income women have potential low

opportunities in the European labor markets to invest in themselves. The highest

differences in earnings is observed in the highest position of work such as managerial

positions where women average. Discrimination in this nature questions why women earn

less than men despite the fact they have higher standards of education. Women arguably

have a lot of skills that are in line with business operation such as interpersonal skills they

however lack collective experience in sustaining managerial positions.

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Research has shown that workforce or paid employment activities and motherhood have

close relationships in affecting the decisions of an individual. Due to this engagement in both

careers and having children has been known to gradually change over time. Progress in women’s

gender equality has been at an all-time low this past decade the position of women in the labor

market has been quite instrumental in the revelation of this fact (Dorsey, 2002). In the labor

market, women have been seen to take up smaller roles than men similarly women numbers in

the labor market are lesser to that of men. The main reason however as to why women

average less high jobs positions in Europe is because in some scenarios where there are

limited job opportunities in the market and employers choose men since they have fewer

family responsibilities. The difference in the wages between men and women is also

classified in this stereotypic view where men have more wages than women since they have

no family commitments and their value in work is based on their value in long-term

commitment to work.

Employment segregation is based on the fact that there is significant gender inequality

between roles in the workplace of a man and woman (England, 2005). The problem stated in the

earlier times as women are known to surpass men in education in the modern era. With this

women have made significant strides in the integration of previously men owned roles in the

workplace. The labor market has since been occupied by women who find themselves in

occupations, industries and furthermore roles that were owned by men. The roles that women

and men have may sometimes interplay to help each other and at times they work to

disadvantage each other. In a workplace, for instance, men are considered the images of strong

negotiators. This is seen as a privilege to men when defining gender roles in a workplace as this

role allows them to be better negotiators. A research showed that men who hold the master's
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degrees were able to negotiate higher salaries for women when entering the labor market. In a

workplace setting, women’s roles are working as team players. The role of women in a

workplace is being more receptive to a team combined effort. Women are seen in the labor

market to be more supportive and rewarding when taking up leadership roles. The results also

show that in a workplace setting women are more persuasive and assertive. In a workplace, men

and women may work together on a daily basis but gender inequality is a sure issue when it

comes to the roles of work.

Research has shown that men are likely to acquire more promotions, more challenging

jobs and a further access to high leadership roles than women do. Due to this, the confidence in

men at any particular workplace is seen to be at an all-time high considering that they feel they

are more susceptible to winning an executive role. For instance, less than half of the women

present in the United Kingdom labor market feel that promotions in a workplace happen in a fair

way. A significant number of women cannot account for the fairness in opportunities handed out

in a workplace. They all argue that gender has been the factor discouraging advancements in

promotions and raises in a workplace. This belief also makes them acknowledge the fact that the

roles they play in a workplace will give them a harder time for any sort of advancement in the

future. The level of gender inequality in a workplace is seen as a battle for the sexes, where the

competition for roles in a workplace is unfairly handed to men at times whereas deserving

women go unnoticed (Williams & Dempsey, 2014). The presence of such unfairness of the labor

market due to gender presents the problem of a gender gap.

Jobs in supervisory positions for women in the United States are currently on the

decline for women the reason for this can be attributed to the high rates of labor. Women

in the United States have less access to high office jobs as there is the consideration they
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have to leave for child care. Men also have childcare leave just like women and they both

receive paid leave of absence in the period of child care. Women nevertheless are seen to

hold more work related with family and home presence and there is thus the consideration

that they hold a lower value in the labor market. Maternity leave is mandatory but for high

managerial positions in the workplace there is need for an ever present workforce which

most employers see as the gender of men. Social networking also causes the disparity in

men and women’s access to high managerial jobs. Women most acquire such jobs through

the process of mentorship which helps them to break barriers in high job acquisition.

Statistical discrimination does not favor women as employers see qualified young women as

are seen to be less committed to jobs than men.

A gender gap is a difference between the salaries of a woman and man which is

expressed as a percentage of the men’s earnings. The gender gap is used to express the woman’s

position in a paid workforce setting. The United Kingdom’s gender gap is significantly narrow

but at 9.1 % the gender gap is quite unfair. In analyzing of the different salaries offered to men

and women there has to be a consideration of various factors such factors would include: age,

occupation particularly in industries and sectors variables (Kalleberg & Sorensen, 1979).

According to age in the United Kingdom men are seen to develop faster earnings at the age of

21-22 years old. Their pay rise from such years is only seen to the age of 40. However after the

age of 46 women earnings are higher compared to that of men. This theory is explained by

women at such times are seen to take breaks in their work to go into motherhood, they, however,

return later to their workplaces to continue their careers. More than that, it is also quite visible to

see that there is a distinct difference in the earnings between men and women higher leadership

occupations such as managers and also higher secretarial occupations. This is due to the fact that
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men occupy higher roles in leadership levels they are thus able to tip the scales in their favor in

the acquisition of more earnings as compared to that of women.

Women are subjected to more discrimination when it comes to occupation in such roles

in working in various sectors of industries which would include: manufacturing and skill set

required industries such as fishing. Arguably, it is only the public sector which is seen to offer a

fair wage based on gender. Discrimination is seen to occur in occupations where there is equal

output in productivity but the wages are different due to their characteristics in gender (Correll &

Benard, 2006). The classification of time in productivity between men and women is more often

in favor of men. The idea in such situations is that the women’s salaries are considered a

supplementary salary whereas that of men defines the specialization in their area of expertise.

This is one stereotypic approach used in most states. The view in this is that the female gender at

some point in their lives has the need to attend to their duties in their families as mothers. The

idea that women’s working time is less than that of men forms the basis to the lesser pay gotten

by women. In such cases, the evidence of this is seen where women occupy more part-time jobs

and men on average jobs are seen to earn more than women in such working conditions. There

are a number of reasons explaining the pay gap in the United Kingdom. One such reason is that

women in the United Kingdom mostly occupy occupations in the service industry rather

compared to men who acquire jobs in management, leadership, and skill needed areas.

The view of gender segregation has transpired to be broken down into various categories;

Horizontal gender segregation and vertical gender inequality. Horizontal gender segregation

describes the type of gender inequality owning up to the fact that women and men are entitled to

work different types of jobs (Estévez-Abe, 2005). One such example is that men are entitled to

working in jobs requiring leadership or for instance heavy manual labor under the stereotypic
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misconception those women cannot handle this type of jobs. In the United Kingdom women

graduating in fields such as computing and engineering make up a [percentage of 22% and 15%

respectively of the total graduates. As for such women in this fields do not negotiate for higher

pay rises as they feel they are less likely to seek promotion. This situation in the United Kingdom

presents a gender gap in the annual wages gotten by both men and women. For a lot of reasons,

the stereotypic notions seek to undervalue women’s work. In relation to this, there is also the

existence of vertical gender inequality in the United Kingdom. This is used to refer to the

concentration of either the male or female gender in certain positions or levels of authority. The

female representation in occupations requiring skill sets and managerial positions is significantly

low in the United Kingdom.

In almost all the existing societies, there is a certain tendency for a particular gender to be

more concentrated than the opposite gender in a certain occupation. In the United Kingdom,

there are various examples of occupations that are associated with such acts of vertical gender

inequality they include; mining, plumbing, and driving. With the entry of women in the

workforce, some of the men owned jobs have been somewhat feminized with occupations such

as advertising and insurance as examples. In an effort to effectively reduce work segregation

feminism has been in place to try and integrate women in various work occupations while

fighting for equal occupational opportunities in the provision of access to top positions (Dobbin,

2009). Women were seen to have a lot of limitations when entering labor markets and due to this

it may inhibit the way that individuals may work collectively for common good. Gender

inequality in workplaces should be a thing of the past by now.

Negotiating a way to narrow the gender pay gap should be the highlight of the fight

against gender segregation in a workplace. There are certain policies set in place in this fight, for
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instance, the equal pay act of 1970 which seeks to prevent any favorable treatment between both

genders in terms of payment and employment conditions. The equal opportunities commission

has also developed sustainable ways for an industry to prevent any form of inequalities in the

labor market. The requirement of an industry to provide a full audit of payment of employees is

one way. There are various ways in which an industry can promote gender equality, for instance,

making gender equality part of training and education. This is to say that young people should be

supported in the career of their choosing regardless of their gender.

Gender segregation in a workplace setting has a particular influence on women’s

economic equality. Despite the fact that women are occupying more roles handled by men, still,

gender segregation remains to be a social norm which similarly restricts occupational choices by

women and men. This is seen to distort the nature of labor markets and the influences of this are

seen in the wages women get for their productivity. The highest levels of occupation continue to

be occupied by men this is another side effect of gender segregation. Occupational

discrimination of women is made even more possible by the existence of natural differences

between the skill sets in both men and women. There is need to change this stereotypic behavior,

men and women are equal nevertheless and a work place setting should not present any type of

gender discrimination. There is a further need to take up an active role in preventing gender

stereotypes from growing in the labor market. In conclusion, men and women roles in a

workplace are no different they play equal roles and such segregation in workplaces should not

exist.
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References

Anker, R. (1998). Gender and jobs: Sex segregation of occupations in the world. International

Labour Organization.

Correll, S. J., & Benard, S. (2006). Biased estimators? Comparing status and statistical theories

of gender discrimination. In Advances in group processes (pp. 89-116). Emerald Group

Publishing Limited.

Dobbin, F. (2009). Inventing equal opportunity. Princeton University Press.

Dorsey, B. (2002). Reforming men and women: Gender in the antebellum city. Cornell

University Press.

England, P. (2005). Gender inequality in labor markets: The role of motherhood and segregation.

Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 12(2), 264-288.

Estévez-Abe, M. (2005). Gender bias in skills and social policies: The varieties of capitalism

perspective on sex segregation. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State &

Society, 12(2), 180-215.

Kalleberg, A. L., & Sorensen, A. B. (1979). The sociology of labor markets. Annual review of

sociology, 5(1), 351-379.

Williams, J. C., & Dempsey, R. (2014). What works for women at work: Four patterns working

women need to know. NYU Press.