The Inequality of Gender Equality

College of Business, Lewis University
BSAD30000: Business Communication

Table of Contents
Introduction
3
Background
3
Purpose
3
Scope
3
Limitations
4
Questions
4
Discussion (you can have as many or as few points below that you need) 5
Methods
4
Point 1 (customized to your topic – rename it)
5
Point 2 (customized to your topic – rename it)
6
Point 3 (customized to your topic – rename it)
7
Point 4 (customized to your topic – rename it)
8
Point 5 (customized to your topic – rename it)
9
Conclusion
11
Recommendations
11
Summary
12
References
14
3
Introduction
“That’s what twenty-first-century feminism is about: the idea that when everybody is
equal, we are all more free” (Obama, B. 2016). This powerful quote is stated by former
President, Barack Obama. Obama reflects on his support of feminism, and he aims to advocate
on behalf of gender equality. In the United States, there are still inequalities facing women in
society, education, and the workplace. Despite the significant progress that has been achieved in
recent decades to lessen the extent of gender inequality in the United States, gender inequality
continues to subordinate women to men in society, education, and the workplace, suggesting that
additional solutions are necessary to close the gender inequality gap. Society should continue
advocating and diligently working for gender equality until it is achieved; only when society
recognizes that both men and women are equal is the time when all of society will be free.
Background
Gender inequality, initially beginning from biased societal norms, remains present, even
in the twenty-first century, in almost every aspect of daily life, including society, education, and
the workplace. Traditional societal norms apply pressure on men and women to “fit into” strict
gender roles, not allowing much room for change and resistance. These strict gender roles carry
over into education inequality, in which women must earn an extra degree than men in order to
receive equal pay in the same position and STEM occupations are typically more pursued by
men than women because men have traditionally held these jobs.
Consequently, women are paid less than men in the workplace, even though women are
equally educated with equal degrees, equally qualified, and hold an equal position to men, with
most of the pay gap being unexplainable. Until gender inequality is eliminated, men will
continue to exert dominance over women and limit opportunities for women in society,
education, and the workplace. Even though positive actions have been taken in an attempt to
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reduce gender inequality, gender inequality remains a major problem in the United States that
demands even stronger actions to eliminate it in all aspects of life.
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to develop strategies to eliminate gender inequality by
educating people on ways to overcome the barriers and prejudices that have led to gender
inequality in the past.
Scope
Research for this report has been limited to gender inequality that exists in three different
areas: society, education, and the workplace. The study analyzes historical and present
perceptions, as well as statistical data that demonstrates the existence and persistence of gender
inequality in today’s society. For the purpose of this study, gender inequality is defined as the
different, and usually negative, treatment of women, compared to men, despite having the same
skills, abilities, and education levels.
Limitations
This report only analyzes gender inequality trends in the United States. While this report
examines general gender inequality trends, there may be significant differences within subsets of
the population. For example, these differences may be attributable to different geographical areas
in the United States, as well as cultural, educational, and occupational differences. This report
does not explore gender inequality trends in other countries.
Questions
Some questions that will be considered in the discussion of gender inequality are:
1. Are women treated differently than men?
2. In what ways are women treated differently than men?
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3. How does society’s unequal treatment of women contribute to women’s unequal
treatment in education and the workplace?
4. Has the United States made any progress in reducing gender inequality, or has gender
inequality declined or stayed the same over the last 30 years?
Discussion
Methods
I reviewed and analyzed previous surveys, research studies, and statistical data that
investigated gender inequality in society, education, and the workplace.
Point 1
According to …..
Point 2
Point 3
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Point 4
Recommendations
1. Awareness programs should be implemented to reinforce the importance of treating
everyone equally, regardless of gender.
2. Schools should educate their students on the importance and reasons of advocating for
gender equality.
3. Communities should make it a priority to allow for lengthy discussions of gender
inequality issues and provide community members with opportunities to raise questions
and offer solutions to the gender inequality problems.
4. Employers should raise women’s wages to equal men’s wages for performing the same
work with the same skills and education.
An important first step to solve gender inequality issues is through awareness programs,
helping people become more aware of the problems of gender inequality. Awareness programs
that promote discussions of gender inequality issues are a way that people can better understand
the problems that women face. For example, “Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle
proclaimed April 17, 2012, as Equal Pay Day, in honor of the value of women’s skills and
contributions to the workplace. She called on all employers of Cook County to provide equal pay
for work” (Cook County Government, 2018, para. 3). By requiring that all employees earn equal
pay on Equal Pay Day, women’s efforts and contributions are recognized and society becomes
aware of the necessity of making cultural changes that promote the equality of women.
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Awareness programs allow for the recognition that contributions made to benefit society are
significant, whether it is a man or a woman’s contribution.
Besides solving gender inequality through awareness programs, discussions are also
necessary. In order for both men and women to achieve equality in the United States, discussions
must occur, focusing on the causes, effects, and solutions of gender inequality. It is only after
discussions of the issues of gender inequality that cultural changes can be devised to rectify these
problems. Cultural changes in society that promote gender equality are necessary to create a
domino-effect, which can lead to gender equality in society, education, and the workplace. A
sociology professor at Harvard University, Mary Brinton (2018), explains how changes must
begin in society, and then have a trickle-down effect into education and the workplace. She
states, “[a]s a society, we need to continue to encourage people to go beyond stereotypes and
recognize the contributions that each individual, male or female, can make to the workplace and
to relationships at home” (para. 16). Brinton reveals that one solution to gender inequality is to
encourage discussions of the issues and help people debunk stereotypes about both men and
women. Instead of focusing on stereotypes, which are typically false, society should overcome
those assumptions and realize that both men and women make important contributions to society,
education, and the workplace. All individuals in society must work together on changing the
culture that allows gender inequality to exist and make conscious decisions to advocate for
gender equality.
Conclusion
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Summary
While passing laws can help solve gender inequality, changes that challenge the social
norms are needed to enforce the laws. In the textbook, entitled Race, Ethnicity, Gender, & Class,
Healey et al. (2018), explain the idea, that along with the passing of laws, social changes must
accompany them. They write, “[s]ome changes can be attained through hard-won political and
legal struggles, while others will have to be addressed more creatively through the processes by
which we social people and in the cultural norms we uphold throughout various institutions – the
family, religion, schools, and media, just to name a few” (Healey et al., 2018). This statement
shows that the government can pass laws, but attitudes and perspectives must also change, or the
problems of gender inequality will remain. One solution that the authors imply is that in order for
societal norms to be challenged, children should be introduced and taught about the impacts and
consequences of gender inequality in the classroom. This way, the children, who become the
leaders of the future, can take actions and advocate for gender equality. These solutions can be
used in the fight for gender equality, but other solutions are necessary in order to achieve this
goal.
Each day, most women in the United States face inequalities based on their gender in one
or more aspects of daily life: society, education, and the workplace. Even though women face
considerably less discrimination in the present, due to the significant progress that society has
made, it still remains a large issue. Solving gender inequality will require a multi-faceted
approach involving: awareness programs to help people acknowledge and understand the gender
inequality problems, discussions to encourage people to question and analyze traditional social
norms and the impact they have on men and women, and passing laws. Hopefully, one day, men
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and women will be treated equally, and gender inequality will no longer be a problem in society,
education, and the workplace.
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References
Bibbs, R. (2018, August 13). Female teachers key to breaking stereotypes in STEM
classes. http://ezproxy.lewisu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W6688139376&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Brinton, M. (2018, April 14). Gender inequality and women in the workplace.
https://www.summer.harvard.edu/inside-summer/gender-inequality-women-workplace.
Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., & Gulish, A. (2018). Women can’t win.
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/genderwagegap/.
Cook County Government. (2018). Women’s issues seminars and forums.
https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/womens-issues-seminars-and-forums.
Healey, J. F., Stepnick, A., & O’Brien, E. (2018). Race, ethnicity, gender, & class
(8th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Obama, Barack. (2016, August 4). President Barack Obama says, “this is what a feminist looks
like.” Glamour.
https://www.glamour.com/story/glamour-exclusive-president-barack-obama-says-this-iswhat-a-feminist-looks-like.
Parker, K., Horowitz, J. M., & Stepler, R. (2017, December 5). On gender differences, no
consensus on nature vs. nurture. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/12/05/on-gender-differences-no-consensus-onnature-vs-nurture/.

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