Defining gender equality in the workforce
Earlier this week, President Obama and Mitt Romney made appeals to female voters at the second presidential debate, bringing to question the meaning of true equality between men and women.
“One of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates and women are getting the same fair deal as men are,” said President Obama, who focused on the issue of equal pay, bringing up his support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and even more largely on women’s health care.
Romney, however, focused on the balancing act between work and family that becomes an issue for some women in the workforce.
“I recognized that if you’re going to have women in the workforce, that sometimes they need to be more flexible,” he said.
As an example, Romney brought up the woman who served as his chief of staff while he was the governor of Massachusetts -- a working mother of two school-age children.
“She said, ‘I can’t be here until 7 or 8 at night. I need to be able to get home at 5 so I can be there for making dinner for my kids and being with them when they get home from school,’” Romney recalled. “So we said, ‘Fine. Let’s have a flexible schedule so you can have hours that work for you.’”
For young women watching the debate at home, the candidates’ exchange on women’s issues raised the question of what equality between the genders truly means, especially in the workforce.
For some, maintaining equality in the workforce entails providing the same options to both men and women, including flexibility in work schedules.
“Any parent should be given that flexibility for a certain amount of time,” said Boston University junior Crystal Shah, 20. “If you’re going to keep things equal, you have to provide it to men, too.”
For others, ensuring equal treatment in the workforce also necessitates re-evaluating traditional gender norms.
“There are increasing numbers of gay parents. Who’s to say who plays the caretaker role in that family?” said BU junior Amanda DiMeo, 20. “Whether it’s a gay or straight relationship, you can’t just assume that one is the caretaker. They may share household responsibilities.”
“If they’re going to give flexibility to women, it shouldn’t be because women are assumed to be the ones going to make dinner or spend time with the kids,” Shah said.
According to the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, 58.6% of women 16 years of age and over in the U.S. were working or looking for work in 2010. They comprised 46.8% of the total U.S. labor force, a figure that is expected to increase by 2018, as women are projected to account for 51.2% of the increase in total labor force within that time period.
Just as the number of women in the workforce is increasing, so is the number of women attaining a higher education. Women earned 57.4% of all bachelor’s degrees, 62.6% of all master’s degrees and 53.3% of all doctor’s degrees in the U.S. in 2009-2010, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
As more women gain employment and higher education, many of them may face a dilemma between career advancement and family. Some remain optimistic, however, that a balance is achievable.
“You could take online classes or night classes after the children are in bed or take a leave of absence,” said Shah. “If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Olga Khvan is a Fall 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.