Gender equality is one of the most discussed topics in the United States as well as in other parts of the world. The society, through leaders, human rights activities, and the gender public, has dedicated efforts to fight for gender equality in society. Although achievements have been made in enhancing gender equality in workplace representation and reproductive rights, more needs to be achieved to promote equal participation in political, corporate, media, and academic areas, as well as equal pay for the same jobs and skills.
Despite the fight for equal representation in positions of power in the United States, significant gaps remain as far as gender equality is concerned. In the political sphere, women are underrepresented, with the percentage of female candidates in both the Senate and the House of Representatives still comparatively small. Even though the number of women senators has increased in recent years, they are still below 30% of the total seats in Congress (England et al., 2020). Likewise, women are not adequately represented in gubernatorial and state legislature positions, where women constitute less than half of these offices. This imbalance, in addition to other factors, not only curtails women’s ability to impact the direction of public policy but also reinforces a political environment that needs to accurately reflect the expressive range and the experiences of the diverse constituency.
Gender inequality in positions of power is not only seen in politics but also in the corporate world. Women still occupy fewer seats on corporate boards and executive office positions, with the highest marginalization in the Fortune 500 group (Campuzano, 2019). Although the studies show that the gender-inclusive leadership board is a prerequisite for better financial results and decision-making, the pace at which gender parity in the C-suite is accomplished is very low. Structural barriers like gender bias, absence of professional networking opportunities and insufficient exposure to mentoring programs are the major reasons for the perpetuation of this gender gap in corporate leadership.
Discrimination between genders is also present in academia, as women make up a smaller percentage of faculty and administrative positions, which are the highest-ranking roles in universities and research institutions. Despite the fact that women have obtained a considerable part of doctoral degrees, it cannot be denied that they encounter more challenges in securing full academic professorships or senior administrative positions (Qian & Yavorsky, 2021). This lack of representation undermines efforts to build an open and acquainted academic environment and restricts the capacity of female role models in higher education to be seen and chosen. Gender inequality in the academic sphere still has a lot of problems in the States, with women continuously dealing with a lack of representation, career progression, and acknowledgement inside different academic fields and institutional frameworks. Although women today have a higher participation rate in higher education compared to before, serious obstacles and unconscious biases remain important reasons that women cannot be fully involved and succeed in the educational world.
Gender inequality in the United States can also be seen in the media. Gender inequality in the media industry in the U.S. is still one of the concerns in the country despite years of awareness of the issue and calls for gender equity (Haraldsson & Wängnerud, 2019). Though some achievements in raising the presence of women in media have been registered, there are many sectors, such as leadership roles, salary equality, computing in content and dealing with harassment and discrimination concerns, that continue to experience obvious disparities. The media content often places women in a stereotype and, therefore, portrays fewer roles that shape the gender norms and, in the process, reinforce stereotypes (Haraldsson & Wängnerud, 2019). It has been proven that women are not the protagonists of the films, experts, and leaders because of their absence from entertainment, news media and advertising. This highlights that female characters in films are usually judged by physical appearance, and it also suggests that women are not given a chance to be themselves. They are in a situation that is not based on reality but on a fantasy world where humanity has to compete.
The gender pay gap is another factor that shows that the United States has yet to achieve gender equality. Hoffmann et al. (2020) note that, on average, women in the U.S. earn 82 cents for the number of dollars men earn daily. This gap is different from person to person depending on elements such as age, level of education, race or ethnicity and occupation. In addition, the earnings gap among women of colour is even wider, with black women making an average of 63 cents and Latino women making an average of 55 cents for every dollar paid to white male workers (Hoffmann et al., 2020). Discrimination with respect to pay parity, for instance, unequal pay for the same job or work of equal value, is the foundation of the gender wage gap. Studies have demonstrated that despite the control of elements such as education, experience, and job tenure, the remaining portion of the pay gap still cannot be explained, and this increases as the probability of gender discrimination is revealed.
Although gender equality remains a challenge in the United States, several achievements can be highlighted in this area. One of the achievements is the increased participation of women in the workforce. Women’s labour force participation has been growing greatly over the decades. In the present time, women are almost half of the American workforce, and their presence in manufacturing and production sectors is growing, which was considered a man’s domain some decades ago (Hyland et al., 2020). The extra participation of women in many economic activities has created new opportunities for women and has led to improvements in the poorer households’ incomes. In addition to labour force participation, the fight for equal pay has taken shape, with the pay system in the United States being more just as compared to the recent past. The strife to solve the gender pay gap has been reflected in legal breakthroughs such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which is against gender wage discrimination. Discrimination still exists, but enacting such legal measures has stimulated pay equity discussions and made the legal channel more available.
The achievements in reproductive rights are another commendable effort to attain gender equality in the United States. Reproductive rights have always been considered a hot topic in the United States, and there have been some key advancements that help people to have free and fair choices and access to quality medical care. Legalizing contraceptives can be seen as one of the achievements in the fight for equal rights. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down almost a century of state anti-birth plan regulations, which prohibited married couples from using contraception, with rulings in Griswold v. Connecticut that led to a landmark decision on privacy consideration, which the court held that it is a constitutional right (Cook, 2020). Though the necessity of population control initially prompted it, this decision opened the doors for the wide availability and access to contraceptives that empowered people to make conscious and informed decisions regarding family planning and reproductive health. The Affordable Care Act, signed in 2010, included some provisions that broadened access to preventive care services, including contraception, without any cost-sharing (Cook, 2020). Consequently, millions of individuals, whether they were from poor or rich backgrounds, were able to acquire many types of birth control methods without having to pay a fee for them. Thus, reproductive health and family planning enhancing measures were created due to it. These efforts show significant achievements in gender equality in the United States.
Gender equality still remains a challenge in the United States. Women’s participation in fields such as political spaces, media, academic institutions, and corporate leadership is still unequal. Further, there are gender wage gaps that need to be addressed for a more equal society. However, women currently account for almost 50% of the workplace, a factor that shows significant strides toward gender equality. Additionally, society has achieved significant results in relation to reproductive rights for women.
Campuzano, M. V. (2019). Force and inertia: A systematic review of women’s leadership in male-dominated organizational cultures in the United States. Human Resource Development Review, 18(4), 437-469.
Cook, R. J. (2020). International human rights and women’s reproductive health. Women, Medicine, Ethics and the Law, pp. 37–50.
England, P., Levine, A., & Mishel, E. (2020). Progress toward gender equality in the United States has slowed or stalled. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(13), 6990–6997.
Haraldsson, A., & Wängnerud, L. (2019). The effect of media sexism on women’s political ambition: evidence from a worldwide study. Feminist media studies, 19(4), 525-541.
Hoffmann, F., Lee, D. S., & Lemieux, T. (2020). Growing income inequality in the United States and other advanced economies. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34(4), 52-78.
Hyland, M., Djankov, S., & Goldberg, P. K. (2020). Gendered laws and women in the workforce. American Economic Review: Insights, 2(4), 475-490.
Qian, Y., & Yavorsky, J. E. (2021). The under-utilization of women’s talent: Academic achievement and future leadership positions. Social Forces, 100(2), 564–598.