Social attitudes While attitudes towards gender and societal roles were increasingly egalitarian for many years, the growth in support for equity dipped in the mid-1990s. Data from the General Social Survey's questions about gender roles used to track gender attitudes reveals that the previously rapidly growing egalitarian attitudes that reflected the blossoming gender revolution began plateauing or even decreasing during the mid-1990s. The gender revolution had stalled, with some of the lowest points occurring in 2006. After 2006, however, there was a rebound, and by 2012, egalitarian gender attitudes were back up. However, despite how active women are in politics, there is no definitive or proven solution to address all gender disparities in our political systems. As stated in a research study by Thomsen (2020), "women are less likely to consider running for office and less likely to be encouraged to run than their male counterparts." However, several studies have found that the presence of female candidates and politicians increases female citizens' political attitudes and participation. Women living in regions and districts with active female House candidates are more likely to report that they are interested in politics and political discussions. Not only are women's political ambitions increasing and expanding, but men become more politically and socially active as well when women are represented in politics.
Benevolent sexism, sometimes referred to as chivalry, which holds women as something to be protected, also has psychological effects. Women who hold these views are more likely to have less ambitious career goals, and men who hold these views tend to have a polarized and stereotyped view of women, made up of both very favorable and very unfavorable traits.
Sexual assault A 2007 survey by the
National Institute of Justice found that 19.0% of college women and 6.1% of college men experienced either sexual assault or attempted sexual assault since entering college. In the
University of Pennsylvania Law Review in 2017, D. Tuerkheimer reviewed the literature on rape allegations, and reported on the problems surrounding the credibility of rape victims, and how that relates to false rape accusations. She pointed to national survey data from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that indicates 1 in every 5 women (and 1 in 71 men) will be raped during their lifetime at some point. Despite the prevalence of rape and the fact that false rape allegations are rare, Tuerkheimer reported that law enforcement officers often default to disbelief about an alleged rape. This documented prejudice leads to reduced investigation and criminal justice outcomes that are faulty compared to other crimes. Tuerkheimer says that women face "credibility discounts" at all stages of the justice system, including from police, jurors, judges, and prosecutors. These credibility discounts are especially pronounced when the victim is acquainted with the accuser, and the vast majority of rapes fall into this category. The
U.S. Department of Justice estimated from 2005 to 2007 that about 2% of victims who were raped while incapacitated (from drugs, alcohol, or other reasons) reported the rape to the police, compared to 13% of victims who experienced physically forced sexual assault.
Political representation The
Center for American Women and Politics reports that, as of 2013, 18.3% of congressional seats are held by women and 23% of statewide elective offices are held by women; while the percentage of Congress made up of women has steadily increased, statewide elective positions held by women have decreased from their peak of 27.6% in 2001. Women also make up, as of 2013, 24.2% of state legislators in the United States. Among the one hundred largest cities in the United States, ten had female mayors as of 2013. Unfortunately, with these stereotypes considering their types of candidacy based on their gender, they create more definite unfair expectations for women and highlight a significant difference in the power of their influence. When women are appointed to the highest levels of political power, it sets a powerful example of progress in terms of women's descriptive representation. Descriptive representation refers to the degree of similarity between representatives in terms of their physical or social characteristics and shared experiences. An increasing representation and inclusion of women also challenges the traditional notion of political officeholding being associated with men. Schmitt's 2019 research discusses another active scenario of political imbalance: how the role of gender and elections is shaping the size of legislators' policy agendas in Congress. The social relationship between gender and elections is crucial, as gender plays a significant role in moderating the correlation between elections and legislative behavior. Our social gender beliefs impact not only how the general public perceives women in political office but also their decision-making and political actions. Congress and the House of Representatives are renowned gendered institutions with a structure and organization designed for male authority. This insinuates that female politicians are more likely to favor consensus than competition, unlike men, who tend to favor the opposite.
Women Running for Congress The participation of women in Congress has seen a notable increase over the years. As of 2021, women hold 27% of Congressional seats, indicating a slow but steady progression towards greater gender parity in federal legislative positions. This increase is significant compared to 2013, when women only held 18.3% of Congressional seats. The growth in women's congressional representation can be partially attributed to a broader societal shift towards recognizing the capabilities and rights of women in leadership, as discussed by Lawless and Fox (2018). These authors examine the evolution of women's roles in political spheres, particularly in the context of the challenges faced during the 2016 elections, linking these to broader trends in contemporary feminism. Kelly Dittmar (2023) emphasizes the importance of nuanced metrics for measuring women's representation. Her work suggests that traditional methods may not fully capture the complexities of women's contributions to politics, particularly in leadership roles where qualitative impacts are significant but often overlooked. Crowder-Meyer (2020) further investigates the gendered development of political ambition, revealing that everyday sexism and gendered expectations continue to hinder women's political careers. Additional barriers include fundraising challenges, where Sorensen and Chen (2022) find that gender and race significantly influence the ability to raise campaign funds, often to the detriment of women, particularly those of color. Despite these challenges, the presence of women in Congress has been gradually increasing, supported by a network of organizations dedicated to training and mentoring female candidates, shifts in public perception that favor diversity in leadership, and legislative changes that address the specific needs of women in politics. The insights from these studies underscore the complex, multifaceted challenges and advancements in women's political participation in the United States, highlighting the ongoing efforts to achieve gender parity in all areas of government.
Workplace inequality The United States is falling behind other
Western countries in the percentage of women engaged in the workforce. Researchers from the
Institute for Women's Policy Research at the
University of California Hastings College of Law argue that this growing gap is due to a lack of governmental, business and societal support for working women. They ranked the United States last out of 20 industrialized countries in an index that measured such programs as
family leave,
alternative work arrangements, part-time employment, and other means to make workplaces more flexible and family-friendly. Another study found that women were significantly less likely to receive a job offer or an interview for a high-paying waiter position when compared to equally qualified men; this study also found that such hiring discrimination may be caused in part by customer's discrimination of preference for male wait staff, but that it could not be concluded, since the male/female gap could be explained by the fact that more female waiters than male, such that the preferred hiring of male waiters could actually help equality. Research from
Lawrence University has found that men were more likely to be hired in traditionally masculine jobs, such as sales management, and women were more likely to be hired in traditionally feminine jobs, such as receptionist or secretary. However, individuals of either gender with masculine personality traits were advantaged when applying for either masculine or feminine jobs, indicating a possible valuing of stereotypically male traits above stereotypically female traits. US women spend over twice as much time on housework as men, averaging an extra 65 minutes per day (7.6 hours per week) . If the women are employed, or highly-paid, they don't do less housework. In fact, when women work or earn more than their husbands, they do more housework. This has been explained as a way to make their career success less threatening and reassert traditional sexuality. US women are reluctant to delegate housework to men, partly because they believe that it won't be done properly. Women are, on average, more concerned about undone housework, an attitude gap that has been attributed to
socialization and societies that hold women responsible for the state of the home. In households and societies where gender equality is more highly valued, less time overall is spent on housework. According to a study and analysis conducted by Lawless and Fox in 2018, women who work are still responsible for handling most household tasks at a rate six times higher than men (43% compared to 7%). Additionally, women are ten times more likely to be the primary caregivers for their children (60% compared to 6%).
Pay gap and the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, the primary cause of this gap is discrimination manifested in the tendency of women to be hired more frequently in lower paying occupations, in addition to the fact that male dominated occupations are higher paying than female dominated occupations, and that, even within comparable occupations, women are often paid less than men. In medicine, female physicians are compensated less, even though evidence suggest that the quality of care female physicians provide may be higher than that of male physicians. In addition to the gender pay gap, a "family gap" also exists, wherein women with children receive about 10-15% less pay when compared to women without children. There is not one reason behind this gender pay gap, rather the pay gap is a result of many factors that cannot be apparent to the general public. As the gender pay gap is the racial pay gap that exists in our country today, and has been present since women were given the right to work. Not only are women discriminated against for their gender, but also women are discriminated against for their race. The racial pay gap in the workplace is just another aspect of the pay gap issue that our society needs to overcome as soon as possible. Overall, different groups of women experience distinct gaps in pay in the workplace due solely to their race. A 2016 study by the
Pew Research Center reported that Asian women, on average, receive about 18 dollars an hour, while white women earn 17 dollars, African American women get 13 dollars, and Hispanic women receive 12 dollars.
Hispanic Female Hispanic women earn wages far less than their women and male counterparts. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, in 2017, the median salary for a white male was $60,388, $46,513 for white women, and $32,002 for Latina women. They earn the lowest among all ethnicities including Asian and Black women workers. In 2017, for every 1 dollar a white male worker earns, a Hispanic woman earns 53 cents, whereas a white female employee makes 80.5 cents for each dollar a man makes. In other words, Hispanic women earn 47 percent less money than white males and 31 percent less money than white females. The Institute for Women's Policy Research stated that in 2016, 31.2 percent of Latina women were unmarried and the primary provider for their family and 21.3 percent were married and still the families' primary source of income. This disparity of income interferes with Hispanic women's ability to afford childcare services and to take time off from work.
Native American Native American women earn significantly less than other women and men in the country. On average, it would take a Native American woman an additional 9 months to receive the same annual salary as a white man. In addition, the average Native American woman earns approximately $0.58 per every individual dollar a white man earns. In comparison, a white woman earns $0.77 per each dollar earned by a white man. The annual wage gap between a Native American woman and a white woman is approximately $24,443. Because 67% of Native American mothers are the primary breadwinners of their families, this wage gap can cause higher poverty rates for Native American women.
Caucasian The pay gap between Caucasian women and Caucasian men is substantial. In 2018, the median weekly pay for all Caucasian women with full-time jobs was $789, while the median weekly pay for men was $973. These numbers depict that, on average, white women make around 81% of what white men do. While these numbers clearly describe the inequality between white men and white women, there are far greater differences in wages for women who are not white. Increased awareness of gender inequality in the workplace has increased women's salaries by 1.6% between 2016 and 2017. Women's annual salaries have continued to slightly increase in the years following this change. One of the biggest factors that creates this
economic inequality is parenting. While many white women are staying home to take care of their families, men are continuing to work and earn money. When white women eventually go back to work, they make about 39% less than their peers who are not mothers. In general, these differences in salary can be attributed to the scarcity of free childcare services in America.
African American As of 2017, African American women make 61 cents to the white man's dollar. This is much lower than the earnings ratio for all women in this country, which is 80 cents to the white man's dollar. In the top 25 states with the largest numbers of Black women working full-time, year-round, the pay compared to white men ranges from about 48 to 68 cents for every white man's dollar. For example, in places like Washington, D.C. and Mississippi, Black women still only make 55 cents to the white man's dollar even though they have the highest amount of full-time working black women. Furthermore, 80% of Black women are the sole source of income in their household and 4 million Black women are reported to be the heads of their households. Even still, 1.2 million of those 4 million women are living below the poverty line. Black women also report dealing with microaggressions and workplace harassment at high rates by their colleagues in the workplace. They feel constant pressure to perform better than their peers so that they can receive the same treatment and opportunities. The researchers also found that when teachers were asked to compare a boy and a girl of the same socio-economic status and race who received the same scores on math tests and had similar behavioral records in school, teachers overwhelmingly stated that the boy had superior mathematical abilities, a finding replicated in a study over a decade later.
Gender differences in degree choices Specific to university and college campuses, gender inequalities can be seen when looking into the demographics of particular majors. This initial entrance into a particular field of study is shaped by an individual's desires to take a certain set of classes, leading to somewhat specific career opportunities and subsequently, salaries. When exploring the depths of college majors, there is a tendency for each gender to cluster into certain majors. These stereotypical "masculine" and "feminine" degrees are key indicators of the inequalities women face in certain fields, specifically within the sciences and mathematics. Based on the Department of Education collections of data from the College Class of 2015, "women earn the large majority of degrees in health professions, psychology, education, English and communication, while men earn the large majority of degrees in engineering, computer science, and theology." These exact percentages can be seen in the table distributed by the Department of Education, exemplifying the overall majority men have in the STEM field. The participants categorized the masculine majors with computer science, chemistry, business, history, and mathematics, while they placed the feminine majors as psychology, communication, music, and art. These perceptions may not accurately describe the gender percentages in each field, but prove that men are more likely to be seen in STEM concentrations than women. Additionally, Yale researchers have published studies which prove that young male scientists are more likely to be favored than female scientists with the same candidacy. As of 2013, only of Physics PHDs were awarded to women and only 14% of physics professors were female. A large factor in the major and minor inequalities seen at the college level come from the encouragement of peers and educators to go forth in certain subjects. Ultimately, women are not receiving the same support and backing as their male counterparts, and thus, do not pursue STEM fields. Since a large sum of money lies in these occupations, women are not receiving an equal share, further perpetuating gendered salary inequalities. Child-rearing may account for a contributing cause of inequality in educational outcomes among men and women in the United States. The research shows negative associations between both marriage and expectations of achieving a master's degree or PhD, and having children and expectations of achieving professional degrees or PhDs for women, but not men. A larger positive association was found between anticipated age at parenthood and an expectation to achieve a graduate or professional degree for women than for men. The relationship between expected age of marriage and expectation to achieve a PhD was also higher for women.
Gender inequality in representation at elite institutions Women have recently surpassed men in the ratio of students enrolled in colleges around the nation. In 2017, women were awarded a majority of doctoral degrees, at 53%, for the ninth year in a row. With striking progress from the late 1900s, gender inequality in higher education persists with the consideration of female representation at elite universities. The higher representation of women is largely attributed to schools with "higher acceptance rates, lower faculty/student ratios, lower standardized test scores, and lower fees"; thus, underrepresentation persists amongst the top schools in the nation. The effects of a less-notable degree proceed to play out in the workplace and job recruiting processes. Scholars have reasoned this inequality to be the effect of part-time enrollment and the advanced engineering characteristic of elite universities. Women are extremely underrepresented in high-paying academic disciplines, like science, business, and law, yet overrepresented in low-paying fields, such as English, romance languages, and education. Not only is there a gap in salary but rank as well. Research has shown that top universities average only 34 percent female in full-time faculty. The disparity only worsens as faculty rank increases. Within top universities, the only category in which female faculty hold the higher proportion is "Non-Eligible for Tenure." In universities overall, men continue to make up a disproportionate ratio of full professors, while women make up a majority of assistant professors, instructors, and lecturers.
Health care Gender inequality
is still seen in health care, in cases of women seeking emergency room care for serious conditions such as stroke and heart attacks they are 33% more likely to receive a misdiagnosis in comparison to men. On top of receiving incorrect treatment, when seeking treatment for autoimmune disorders, which affect more women than men. It takes an average of seeking care from five different doctors and a span of 4 years to receive a diagnosis. Women's health has come a long way, and with help from the FDA and NIH making new policies to include more research gender specific for women, the gap is slowly closing. Health care providers respond differently to pain for cisgender men and women. Cisgender women aged 55 and older are prescribed pain medication less frequently or with lower dosages than their male counterparts. Cisgender women have fewer visits to the doctors compared to cisgender men with similar demographic and health backgrounds. Black and American Indian/Alaska Native cisgender women have a higher risk of infertility compared to White cisgender women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 700 cisgender women in the United States die from pregnancy-related complications annually. The gap widens for cisgender women ages 30 and over. The pregnancy related mortality rates are four to five times higher for Black and AI/AN cisgender women ages 30 years and older compared to their white counterparts. ==Current issues for men==