Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Sept. 16, 2009, edition 1 / Page 19
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Oampus Nfeice Page 19 Wednesday, September 16,2009 {The Blue Banner} Shattered? Glass ceilings are hard to break Women still unable to crack through obstacle of discrimination in America Women, even with similar cre dentials as men, earn lower sala ries. Equality? No. Discrimination? Yes. UNC Asheville women consti tute twice the population of men, according to university statistics. Also, women graduate from col lege at higher rates and with similar credentials as men, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Higher credentials should entitle anyone to a higher salary. Unfortu nately, for women, this is not the case. The salary of women compared to men decreased since 1980, ac cording to the national census. “A lot of people don’t realize how detrimental this statistic is to ^omen,” said Cynn Chadwick, lit erature lecturer. “As long as wom en are not in charge, there will con tinue to be an inferiority.” She also said she found it to be an issue that is almost ignored in our generation. “I noticed when I tried to dis cuss the inequality of women in Work and education in my literature classes, fewer women were willing lo speak on this issue,” Chadwick said. What does this say about our generation of young women? Even though the percentage of women ?u colleges continues to increase, inequality of women in the work place should not be ignored. “In my classes. I’ve found wom en who attended co-ed high schools Were less willing to speak up in class, and women who attended fe- rnale-dominated high schools were ruore willing to speak up in class,” Chadwick said. Young women in college should uc aware of the possible discrimi- By Precious Barksdale Staff Writer PJBARKSD@UNCA.EDU nation that may occur in their fu ture careers. These women may be consid ered privileged to obtain a college degree compared to women who are faced with other responsibili ties. Consider the scenario of a single mother with three children. If this mother attended college, the possible responsibilities could include her children, bills and aca demics. Aside from her many responsi bilities, the mother will also deal with the fact that she will not re ceive the same salary as her male counterparts. “Being a single mother in college is a sacrifice a lot of mothers have to make,” Chadwick said. “They try to get part-time jobs and classes so that they can make it home by the afternoon when their child gets off the bus.” Women’s roles, until the 1970s, were to support the family and to tend to the duties in the home, ac cording to the American Union Movement. Could the previous expectations of women in the home influence the discrimination of women on the job today? Two discriminating factors seem present in the workforce: lower sal aries and sexual harassment. According to the American Union Movement, 31 percent of women today in male-dominated This notion is not to be taken as a sexist viewpoint; if men experienced the same degree of discrimination, there should be a push for equality for them, as welL careers claim to be sexually ha rassed. “Discrimination could occur because women were once not ex pected to work,” Chadwick said. “I remember when I graduated from high school, a lot of my female classmates were planning their weddings and wanted to have chil dren.” The closest thing to a higher ed ucation for women back then was going to secretarial school, and you were really ambitious if you want ed to go to a community college, Chadwick said. Just because women were not expected to work in the past doesn’t mean they aren’t expected to work today. “Today you find more men that make the sacrifices of quitting their jobs and staying at home to take care of their children,” Chadwick said. “It’s becoming less to do with gender and more to do with financ es, especially in an economy with fewer job opportunities.” If gender roles continue to change, then why do lower salaries and sexual harassment still exist for women? “The gender roles of women have not completely changed. There are still women today who decide to get married and have chil dren out of high school,” Chadwick said. Once there was a dispute be tween working women and house wives, she said. Working women wondered why the housewives wouldn’t want an education and housewives wondered why work ing women did not want to tend to the family. Some people may argue that dis crimination cannot always be the determining factor with women in the workplace. “What about women on the job who have to take maternity leave when they have children?,” Chad wick said. “While these women are gone, this could allow men a greater opportunity to obtain a pro motion.” Although this is q possibility, it does not justify the lower salary of women. “Some women don’t have chil dren until after their 20s,” Chad wick said. “Even once they have children and decide to go back to work, they end up going back to college.” The birth rate has decreased since the 1980s, according to the national census. Since, biologically, women are the only sex with the ability to have children, this factor should be taken into consideration in the workplace. This notion is not to be taken as a sexist viewpoint; if men experi enced the same degree of discrimi nation, there should be a push for equality for them, as well. Instead of ignoring these facts, a close analysis helps prevent domi nation based solely on gender.
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