Sexism: A Barrier Against Equal Opportunities

By Shubashree Mishra

In spite of numerous efforts to address gender discrimination, it still exists in the world. Prevalent in many parts of the world, unequal pay is given for an equal amount of work done due to discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. In most countries, a gender wage gap exists. What is a gender wage gap you ask? A gender wage gap refers to the difference in the average salary of men to that of women. In simple terms, this means that female employees are paid less than male employees. At first glance, it seems like the gender pay gap is just the difference in salary; however, there are several reasons which combine together, leading to the gender wage gap, such as discrimination in opportunities, education, unpaid care work etc.

According to Forbes, Scarlet Johansson was the highest-earning actress of 2018 and earned $40.5 million in a year, while George Clooney topped the list of highest-earning actors with $239 million per year. Scarlet Johansson, who was seventh on the list, was the only actress who earned as much as men in the top ten. According to Forbes, the 10 highest-paid actresses in 2018 earned less than 30 cents for each dollar earned by the male actors. This shows that the gender wage gap is a worldwide occurrence and can be seen even in Hollywood.

A significant amount of research has been carried out on the topic, and most figures show that females receive lower wages than males. As there are multiple ways to measure the gap, a lot of people seem to believe that the data for this is unreliable. However, that is not the case. No matter how the gender wage gap is measured, it does not change the fact that there is a gap. We must ask ourselves why this gap exists in the first place. It is imperative to know the cause of the problem to fix it.

I believe that one of the major reasons for the gender pay gap is gender discrimination and the preconceived notion of men being more capable than women. Several employers still harbour this notion and overlook women who are promising employees. Another contributing factor is that most women tend to go into professions relating to teaching, nursing, childcare etc. which are low wage industries and mainly constitute women. No one questions why these are low wage industries. Gender disparity, again, is the root cause of this. The way society is shaped, leads a woman to choose professions which are less demanding or allow her to take care of her responsibilities at home as well. Less value is given to these professions and societal norms discourage women from choosing professions that are male-dominated. Typically, women are expected to spend their time doing work at home and this leads them to take on professions that allow them to do so. Most women also face a 'motherhood penalty,' although nothing of that sort can be seen for men. Mothers find it harder to acquire jobs that suit them and receive lesser pay while fathers face no such problems. This results in fewer hours of work and thus lesser pay.

The average Indian woman spends 19.5 per cent of her time in unpaid care and domestic work as compared to just 2.5 per cent of men. Women also do about three times the amount of childcare as men. These expectations and cultural norms reduce job opportunities for women.

During the course of Indian history, women have only been recognised as wives and mothers. This belief, although less prominent, still exists in India. In India, the female literacy rate (53.7%) is also lower than the male literacy rate (75.3%). Lesser women enrol in schools and many drop out soon or do not complete their education. Women also have lesser educational opportunities, especially in rural areas which harbour the belief about sons being more useful than girls. These two reasons contribute to the economic wage gap in India.

To sum up everything, the gender pay gap exists and is a major problem. The only way to combat this is by raising awareness about gender equality. Today, with an ever-progressing nation, gender equality has become the need of the hour, and it is vital that the world realizes this.