Gender Disparity essays

Gender Disparity essays Gender Disparity: Whats the Big Deal? In 1999, speculation over political futures of Clinton and Dole came into focus. Not Bill and Bob, but Hillary and Elizabeth. With Mrs. Clinton a leading candidate for the New York Senate seat (having since attained that position) and observations that Mrs. Dole was a promising choice for the Republican presidential candidacy, gender disparity would seem no longer a Big Deal. More recently, Nancy Pelosi won the race for the No 2 House Democratic leader and will become the top-ranking woman ever in Congress. One of the first issues spoken about upon her victory was the fact that she sought no votes on the basis of her gender. She acknowledged that this is a difficult turf to win on for anyone, but for a woman breaking ground here it was a tough battle and history has been made. Despite the fact that women are now seen as desirable candidates for the nations most prestigious jobs, women still have a long way to go before their power, political and otherwise, can be considered e qual to men. Although gender disparity can been seen in areas outside the workforce such as intercollegiate scholarships, health insurance, and education and medical treatment, I have chosen to focus on the workforce. A news article dated March 26, 2001 quotes a national union leader as saying women earn 28 percent less than men in comparable jobs. Linda Chavez Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO said women work for free one week every month, and a 25 year-old female will earn $500,000 less than a man in a lifetime because of the wage gap on the national scene. Alicia Smalley, lobbyist for the National Association of Social Workers, said that females comprise 80 percent of her states social workers. Although this group had a 24 percent turnover rate, the governor did not recommend social workers receive a pay increase as he did for male dominated occ...