Why our brightest female graduates are still at a disadvantage?

From a study done by the American Association of University Women, they had findings that women only make about 82% of what their male counterparts did, even with the same education. The basic reasoning would be that there was a pay gap, women stay behind to take care of the kids, or they didn’t go for higher management roles. However, they rules most of the factors and none of the women had children, looked at their academic differences in majors, and the timing since they looked at women who had only been out a year after undergraduate. They found other reasons for their pay gap and why for the most part it still exists.

                Even though now women are the vast majority of college student and do better than men in undergraduate degrees and advanced degrees, it seems like women would be doing better for themselves and achieving equality, but in actuality they aren’t. “Studies show that while girls do better than boys in high school, they start to trail off during their college years”. Now why would women be doing worse than men if they are doing better? According to their study they say that, “They enroll in different kinds of classes, tend to major in less rigorous subjects, and generally head off with less ambitious plans”. (Spar) Women don’t think highly of themselves and experience sexism within the campus. To Gilman, she would say that most women are trapped in the sociobiological tragedy, where women are oversexed and have “too much emphasis on their sex distinction” (192, Appelrouth).

Women don’t see themselves as leaders and don’t look for taking a leadership position, but instead allow men to take the control and depend on them to fulfill what is needed. “[A]t Princeton, an ambitious 2011 report found that the number of women in leadership positions on campus was not only considerably lower than the number of men, but had actually declined since the early years of co-education” (Spar). Why would women allow such leadership opportunities go? Gilman would say that this could relate to the idea that women are economically dependent on men and they submit to them because it’s what they think is right, even if it they are accepting social inequality.  

Gilman would argue that women are being subdued to the corset and are being “choked” to keep the traditional institutional features because “their college experience leaves them somewhat confused” (Spar ). Where women know there is inequality, but they don’t sense it or do anything to help it. Although they have this corset blocking them from trying to further them, they realize that even if they do try and pursue their passions, they are pushed hard to do as well as possible. A drawback is that it can cause them to want to revert back to their traditional institutions because “they are too exhausted, and too scared of failing” (Spar).

What are ways that people can help this issue or help women realize that they too have the power to change their future and it’s not in the hands of men with economic power? According to the article their honest answer is there is nothing they can do. It’s the sexism and stereotypes placed on women that show they can only pursue what they think society finds suitable. So in turn, they don’t ask for a higher pay. Gilman would not find this suitable and would believe that women should break free from the corset and pursue more economic equality.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/why-our-brightest-female-graduates-are-still-at-a-disadvantage/2013/02/21/68cb192a-7c5a-11e2-82e8-61a46c2cde3d_story.html 

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