Introduction Gender inequality is a persistent issue that continues to thrive in the United States as well as various nations across the world (Buchanan, 2014). In order to understand the concept of gender inequality, it is crucial to have a clear comprehension of some key terminology, such as social norms. Social norms are the beliefs of a society regarding how individuals should and should not behave in a given situation (Klugman, Kolb, & Morton, 2014). The construct of social norms thus leads to biased gender norms, which are expectations of how women and men should behave in specific circumstances (Klugman et. al, 2014). If men and women deviate from these societal roles, it can lead to gender inequality, or the unfair and unjust treatment
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According to previous studies from over eighty three different countries, it demonstrates that on average, women are getting paid between ten to thirty percent less than men (Klugman et. al, 2014). With this discrepancy in wages, it also discourages many women, which is the reason why, in the past twenty years, the presence of women in the workforce has fallen marginally from fifty seven to fifty five percent (Klugman et. al, 2014). Besides unequal pay, women also face gender inequality when it comes to the types of jobs that they are seeking to apply for. For instance, construction, transportation, manufacturing, managerial, legislative, and communications, tend to be male dominated fields, whereas women have more difficulty receiving employment in these areas (Klugman et. al, 2014). Additionally, women are underrepresented in the areas of STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and math (Klugman et. al, 2014). Since women are underrepresented in these fields due to the lack of opportunities, they tend to be overrepresented in the areas of education, health, and social work (Klugman et. al, 2014). Thus as a consequence of gender inequality, women are not free to apply to any job that they wish, and if they do seek employment, then they run the monumental risk of being unpaid
According to previous studies from over eighty three different countries, it demonstrates that on average, women are getting paid between ten to thirty percent less than men (Klugman et. al, 2014). With this discrepancy in wages, it also discourages many women, which is the reason why, in the past twenty years, the presence of women in the workforce has fallen marginally from fifty seven to fifty five percent (Klugman et. al, 2014). Besides unequal pay, women also face gender inequality when it comes to the types of jobs that they are seeking to apply for. For instance, construction, transportation, manufacturing, managerial, legislative, and communications, tend to be male dominated fields, whereas women have more difficulty receiving employment in these areas (Klugman et. al, 2014). Additionally, women are underrepresented in the areas of STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and math (Klugman et. al, 2014). Since women are underrepresented in these fields due to the lack of opportunities, they tend to be overrepresented in the areas of education, health, and social work (Klugman et. al, 2014). Thus as a consequence of gender inequality, women are not free to apply to any job that they wish, and if they do seek employment, then they run the monumental risk of being unpaid