Although not apparent on the surface, sexism runs deep in our society, and has done so for an extremely long time. With traces of it even found in the Bible, it’s no surprise that it has spread so fast, but this doesn’t mean it is even close to acceptable. There are so many different aspects of sexism around us that put both women and men down, that they can be difficult to recognise and therefore difficult to rectify. Ones involving career specifically tend to affect women on a regular basis, and this can be extremely damaging to their future.
As stated previously, sexism affects both women and men, but for the majority, it is recognised and associated with discrimination against women, which is obviously not always the case. However, sexism against women has been a lot more prominent throughout history, and it is still a huge problem today, with business-related prejudice being only a small fraction of this. Some common examples are differences between work, expenses and social expectations among others.
Raising children is something that many women desire, but it shouldn’t affect their career so severely. In the UK, the salary gap between males and females grows by 20% during the first 10 years of raising a child. This can be both due to the need to take maternity leave and the need to stay home and do more domestic chores, an expectation that society has created. Mothers get 52 weeks of paid maternity leave on average, whereas fathers only get 2. This allows for men to ‘get ahead’ and be seen as more available in an office, resulting in bigger promotions. With women only beginning to enter the workforce in the 1960s, the term ‘housewife’ can be accurately used when describing common misogynistic ideologies. This can refer to the exemplary traits that people believe a ‘good wife’ should demonstrate, such as cooking, cleaning, and bearing children, alongside the expectation that all women should marry in the first place, preferably a ‘gentleman’ who provides for their family, the ‘breadwinner’.
Social expectations can be really damaging to young peoples’ futures, and it is unfortunate to see that they are ingrained so early into a child’s life. Starting as early as nursery, toys can greatly influence a toddler’s mind and impact their views and preferences as they grow older. With international companies such as John Lewis, Lego and Argos enforcing these harmful stereotypes, this steers children towards certain careers from the get-go. By marketing things as “gifts for her” with unicorn pyjamas and baking games and “gifts for him” with astronaut shirts and construction activities, it allows children to grow up with set expectations and preferences, which greatly affect their choices in later life.
Because of this, it is no surprise that out of the five best paying college majors: petroleum engineering, mathematics and computer science, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, and pharmaceutical sciences, only one of these is dominated by females. Likewise, out of the five worst paying college majors: counseling and psychology, early childhood education, human services and community organisation, social work, and theology and religious vocation, only one of these is dominated by males. A major part of these decisions relates to society’s beliefs and how they imprint these into people’s lives, with women being seen as caring and maternal, supposedly excelling at humanities and creative subjects, whereas men are seen as the providers, supposedly excelling in scientific and mathematical subjects.
This is widely recognised by people of all ages, and it’s extremely detrimental that the people controlling these big companies fail to do so. Anastasia Proudnikova, a 14 year old girl, says “It’s definitely a huge issue. I remember being in reception and having the building blocks and trucks separate from the dolls and mini kitchen sets- and of course, I didn’t understand back then but now I can look back in disappointment. It’s so awful that children are taught to fit society’s expectations of gender roles from such a young age. It’s really harmful and can impose dangerous stereotypes on young children.” Similarly, Valentina Minetti, a mother of three, says “as a maths major, I believe that there should be more role models in society to inspire young women to set goals for themselves and challenge the stereotypes that pressure them daily. They should pursue whichever career path they enjoy and create their own likings and opinions. We need more members of society that can bring out this confidence.”
Clearly, there are some severe issues that need to be fixed in the business world and society as a whole, and there is still an extremely long way to go. The fact that many high-ranking companies are yet to change their marketing strategies and realise the havoc that they cause, indicates just how long it will take to get us out of this whole that we have dug ourselves into.
