Hi Everyone,
There is plenty of literature discussing sex and gender inequality. Much of the literature focuses on men and women in regards to opportunities, rights, and representation. Increased opportunities are often linked to more women in the workforce and higher educational attainment. Increased rights are often linked to voting, owning property, inheritance, and reproductive healthcare. Increased representation is often linked to more women in political office and Government. There are far fewer discussions relating to masculinity and femininity and any possible discrimination against masculine and feminine traits and roles. There is also limited discussion about the validity of different indicators and measures of inequality and the possible motives for their usage.
In this three part series, I want to discuss the subjugation of femininity and the distortion of reality in regards to the treatment of women and to a certain extent men.
- [In Part 1, I discuss several important definitions and I investigate the main measures and indicators used to compare gender/sex equality in various countries.](https://peakd.com/hive-112018/@spectrumecons/the-subjugation-of-femininity-and-the-mirage-of-sex-equality-part-1-definitions-and-the-illusion)
- [In Part 2, I discuss the natural differences between the sexes as well as the data and trends relating to wages, job opportunities, and places of employment.](https://peakd.com/hive-112018/@spectrumecons/the-subjugation-of-femininity-and-the-mirage-of-sex-equality-part-2-differences-by-nature-and-by-opportunity)
- [In Part 3, I discuss my opinions regarding inequality between men and women and how the Establishment created this problem just to pretend to be solving it.](https://peakd.com/hive-112018/@spectrumecons/the-subjugation-of-femininity-and-the-mirage-of-sex-equality-part-3-my-opinions)
## Differences Between Men and Women
It is important not to confuse feminine with female and masculine with male. There is a relationship between them but they are not synonymous. Feminine can be described as having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, as sensitivity or gentleness. ([dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/feminine)). Masculine can be described as having qualities traditionally ascribed to men, as strength and boldness ([dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/masculine)). Table 1 contains a sample of a more detailed list of qualities that are typically associated with masculinity and femininity.
### Table 1: Examples of Traditional Masculine and Feminine Traits
**Masculine**| **Feminine**
---|---
Direct| Patient
Focused| Empathetic
Strong| Receptive
Restrained| Vulnerable
Dominant| Flexible
Rigid| Adaptable
Logical| Intuitive
Selfish| Giving
Daring| Nurturing
Overbearing| Loyal
Straightforward| Caring
Consensus Builder| Encouraging
Independent| Collaborative
Competitive| Connected
Arrogant| Humble
Aggressive| Open
**Source: [Runaway Digital](https://www.runwaydigital.com/blog/human-qualities/)**
Assigning all of the above masculine traits to men and all of the above feminine traits to women would be oversimplifying the traits of the sexes. For these perceptions to exist, there is likely to be some truth behind them. However, everyone sits on a spectrum. Some men could possess many of the feminine traits and some women could possess many of the masculine traits.
There is a link between traits that were considered masculine with the left hemisphere of the brain and a link between traits that were considered feminine with the right hemisphere of the brain. See Figure 1, which describes the functions of both hemispheres. These functions are contested in the scientific community ([Office for Science and Society](https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history/left-brain-was-logical-it-was-male)).
### Figure 1: Brain Lateralisation
**Source: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brain_Lateralization.svg)**
There is scientific evidence that male and female brains are different and operate differently. An article on the website [Learning Minds](https://www.learning-mind.com/male-brain-vs-female-brain-20-differences/?utm_content=buffera8144&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer), discusses 20 differences between male and female brains. The claims made in article are sourced from various scientific journals. According to a [2013 study conducted by Ragini Verma and Ruben Gur](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/02/men-women-brains-wired-differently), male and female brains operate slightly differently. The neural connections in the male brain mostly run between the front and back of the same hemisphere of the brain. Whereas, neural connections in the female brain mostly cross left and right between the two hemispheres. The differences in connections could explain why men and women are more inclined to demonstrate certain traits. Figure 2 compares male and female brains.
### Figure 2: Connectivity in Male and Female Brains
**Source: University of Pennsylvania cited by [Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-hardwired-difference-between-male-and-female-brains-could-explain-why-men-are-better-at-map-reading-8978248.html) and [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25198063)**
### Comparisons made using the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator
----
The results of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tests indicate that men and women, on average, think differently. MBTI tests are used to determine a person’s personality type. The tests require participants to answer sets of questions. The answers to these questions determine, which personality type the person best fits. There are 16 personality types, which are determined based on four categories. These categories are extraversion or introversion, sensing or intuition, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. Figure 3 provides a brief overview of the Myers-Briggs personality types.
### Figure 3: Myers-Briggs Personality Types
**Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers%E2%80%93Briggs_Type_Indicator)**
These tests do not definitively determine a person’s personality type. Results can vary depending on the questions asked. However, these tests could be used as a broad comparison between men’s and women’s personalities. Results from the MBTI tests have been used to compare personality types of men and women in the US. Figure 4 compares the personality types most likely determined for both men and women.
### Figure 4: Comparing Myers-Briggs Personality Types for Men and Women
**Source: Data from Personality Desk cited by [Slayerment](https://www.slayerment.com/mbti-gender)**
**Note: Data collected prior to 2015**
The results show a wide difference between men’s and women’s personality types. The biggest difference is in regards to the ‘thinking or feeling’ category. Men dominated ‘thinking’ (personality types containing ‘t’) and women dominated ‘feeling’ (personality types containing ‘f’). The concepts of ‘thinking; and ‘feeling’ relates to the decision-making process and not emotion. ‘Thinking’ personality types place more weight on principles and facts; whereas, ‘feeling’ personality types place more weight on people and compassion. Women had a stronger leaning towards ‘judging’ than ‘perceiving’ than what men did. This category relates to the desire for planning and organising. ‘Judging’ personality types prefer a planned or orderly way of life’. ‘Perceiving’ personality types prefer flexibility and exploration. Even though women were more likely to lean towards ‘judging’ than men. Men were still found to lean more towards ‘judging’ than ‘perceiving’. The most common personality types for men contained the combination of ‘thinking’ and ‘judging’. Both men and women favoured ‘sensing’ over ‘intuition’. This category relates to learning from experience (sensing) to learning from analysing a problem (intuition). Figure 5 contains the most dominant personality types for each sex.
### Figure 5: Most Dominant Myers-Briggs Personality Types for Men and Women
**Source: Data from Personality Desk cited by [Slayerment](https://www.slayerment.com/mbti-gender)**
**Note: Data collected prior to 2015**
Based on the above data, the personality types ‘ISFJ’ and ‘ESFJ’ make up approximately 1/3 of women’s personality types. The personality types ‘ISTJ’,’ESTJ’ and ‘ISTP’ make up approximately 1/3 of men’s personality types. Figure 6 contains the jobs/professions that are likely to be most appealing or best suited for each of the above personality types.
### Figure 6: Women’s and Men’s jobs based on Myers-Briggs Personality Types
**Source: [MBTICharts](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/29906785008595410/)**
The above is a theoretical matching of jobs that align with the most common women’s and men’s Myers-Briggs personality types. How well do these align with jobs actually held by men and women? Figure 7 contains the jobs that are most dominated by men and women in the USA in 2022.
### Figure 7: Jobs dominated by Men and Women (2022 US Data)
**Source: [Zippia](https://www.zippia.com/advice/male-dominated-careers-female/)**
Most jobs dominated by men align with the ISTP Myers-Briggs personality type, which also happens to be the personality type most dominated by men. Jobs with ISTJ and ESTJ Myers-Briggs personality type did not appear at the top of the jobs most dominated by men. This could be because these jobs are overwhelming dominated by men with personalities aligning with ISTP Myers-Briggs personality type (lowest on the list had 96.2% domination by men). The jobs most dominated by women align with both the ISFJ and ESFJ Myers-Briggs personality types. Differences in women’s and men’s personality types appears to be a strong reason for jobs being dominated by just one sex.
### Women Work for the Public Sector
----
The types of jobs that attract women are more likely to fall under public sector employment and the types of jobs that attract men are more likely to fall under private sector employment. Figure 8 contains the percentage of women public sector employees for various OECD countries.
### Figure 8: Women Working in the Public Sector vs. Total Employment by Country (2019)
**Source: [OECD ilibrary](https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/1c258f55-en.pdf?expires=1679056931&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=DF469110936E39A5211E31629A99FAF1)**
For the majority of these countries, more than 50% of public sector employees are women. However, overall, less than 50% of the workforce for most of these countries are women. For some countries, the differences in percentage of women employed by the public sector and private sector is huge. For example, in Sweden, over 70% of public sector employees are women, just under 50% of all people employed are women, as 30% of the population is employed by the Government ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_public_sector_size)), approximately only 40% of the private sector workforce in Sweden are women. This is considerably less than the percentage of women working in the public sector.
The wages of people who work in the public sector are not determined by market forces. They are determined by Governments with some brokering from unions. Some unions in some countries are strong enough to raise the wages of their members and the industry’s employees’ as a whole. The strongest Trade Unions are often dominated by men ([Mail & Guardian](https://mg.co.za/article/2000-07-21-trade-unions-still-dominated-by-men/)). In most cases, Governments have the upper hand because they are main employees for particular jobs. People do not have many other employment options. The wages of people who work in private sector jobs that are not dominated by Government employment or a limited number of main employers are in a better position to earn higher wages. Employers need to pay them to prevent them from working for their competitors or becoming direct competitors by starting their own businesses. The higher percentage of women working for Governments is likely to prevent women’s wages from reaching close equivalence to men’s wages.
Overtime, Government expenditure has been gradually increasing (see my post [The Masters of Production](https://peakd.com/hive-112018/@spectrumecons/the-masters-of-production) for data). Increasing the size of the workforce by hiring more women could be a contributing reason for this increase. Women are often hired for jobs relating to childcare and teaching. Services relating to childcare and early education are often heavily subsidised or free to use. To fund these jobs and subsidies, Governments raise taxes, this puts pressure on single income families and possibly pressures more women into the workforce. For countries and cultures where extended families are less prevalent, affordable childcare and early education reduces the opportunity cost for women entering the workforce. This is also likely to contribute to a higher participation rate.
### Women’s Wages vs. Men’s Wages
----
From a glance at wage statistics, it may appear that women’s wages are substantially increasing and the gap between them and men’s wages is closing. Figure 9 compares the wage gap between men and women between 1979 and 2015 in the USA.
### Figure 9: Women’s wage expressed as a percentage of men’s wages (1979 to 2015)
**Source: [Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/a-look-at-womens-education-and-earnings-since-the-1970s.htm)**
There are two important factors that Figure 9 does not consider. It does not have the wages earned by men (for the purpose of seeing the overall trend in wages) and it does not include the level of expertise required to earn these salaries. In the US, women’s academic qualifications have vastly increased over the past 50 years. Figure 10 contains women’s qualifications from 1970 to 2015.
### Figure 10: Women’s Academic Qualifications (1970 to 2015)
**Source: [Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/a-look-at-womens-education-and-earnings-since-the-1970s.htm)**
More qualifications enables women to access higher paying jobs. This will cause their average wages to increase. A more appropriate approach would be to consider women’s wages based on academic qualifications. For example, how have women’s wages with Bachelor degrees changed over time and how does this compare to that of men’s wages? Figure 11 compares wages in four years (2000, 2007, 2018, and 2019) for educational attainment (less than high school, high school, some college, college, and advanced degree) for women working in the US. It also compares women’s wages as a percentage of men’s wages for each year and level of educational attainment.
### Figure 11: Women’s Wages by Educational Attainment
**Source: [Economic Policy Institute](https://www.epi.org/publication/swa-wages-2019/)**
The annual percentage increase in real wages per hour is very low for all levels of educational attainment (less than 1% real annual increase). Women’s wages as a percentage of men’s wages has barely changed over the 20 year period. For college and advanced degrees, women’s wages have fallen slightly against men’s wages. Figure 12 contains a graph of the cumulative change in women’s wages for each educational attainment level.
### Figure 12: Trend in Women’s Wages by Educational Attainment
**Source: [Economic Policy Institute](https://www.epi.org/publication/swa-wages-2019/)**
Over a 20 year period, increases in real average hourly wages has been small. Since 2019, inflation has increased, it is possible that most of these real increases will be erased in a very short time.
Figures 9 to 12 only contains data from the USA. There is less detail available data for many other countries. However, it is still worth considering a broad comparison of the wage gap between sexes. Figure 13 contains comparisons of wage gaps between various countries based on GDP per capita.
### Figure 13: Unadjusted gender wage gap vs. GDP per capita (2016)
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
There appears to be a slight correlation between higher GDP per capita and wage gap. On average, the wage gap is slightly higher for countries with higher GDP. There could be many reasons for these differences. It could be because of the widening of the wage gap at higher educational attainment levels as seen in the US data. It could be because of larger western Governments, which hold wages back being the sole employer for certain jobs that attract more women. It could be because of Government’s tall hierarchical structures that cause women to fall behind when they have children.
Luxembourg is an example of a country with a high GDP per capita but with very minimal differences in wages. Luxembourg is one of the few wealthy countries that have a higher percentage of women working in the private sector than the public sector; refer back to Figure 8. Figure 14 contains the countries where the sex wage gap favours women or is the smallest. Figure 15 contains the countries where sex wage gap is the largest and favours men.
### Figure 14: Countries with narrowest sex wage gap or favours women
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
### Figure 15: Countries with widest sex wage gap
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
Several of the countries (e.g. Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, and France) with largest wage gap between men and women are ranked highly by sex equality indices such as the Gender Inequality Index and the Gender Gap Index (See Figures 5 and 8 in Part 1).
Wages are not just linked to educational attainment and profession, they are also linked to how far a person progresses in a hierarchy. Figure 16 contains the percentage of top management positions held by women by various regions in the world and by income category of countries.
### Figure 16: Share of firms with a female top manager (2020)
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
In terms of women in top positions, high income countries and European countries are roughly on par with the world average. They are below the average for middle income countries, Latin America and Caribbean countries, and East Asia and Pacific countries. Figure 17 contains the countries with the highest percentage of women top managers and Figure 18 contains the countries with the highest percentage of women in senior and middle management roles.
### Figure 17: Countries with the highest percentage of women top managers
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
### Figure 18: Countries with the highest percentage of women in senior and middle management roles
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
A possible reason that women are not reaching the top management positions in western countries are the size of hierarchies. Governments and businesses have grown bigger (see discussion in my post [The Masters of Production](https://peakd.com/hive-112018/@spectrumecons/the-masters-of-production)). More people are employed in organisations with large and tall hierarchies. People’s wages increase as they climb these hierarchies. Women’s ability to climb a tall hierarchy is hindered when they need to take time off work to have and look after children. A 2017/18 study from Denmark (ranked highest on the Gender Inequality Index), indicates a sharp fall in women’s wages just prior to the birth of her first child. On average, it takes about 6 years to return to the same level of income prior to childbirth and growth in income is significantly slower than for women who do not have children. Men’s income is unaffected by the birth of their first child. See Figure 19.
### Figure 19: Income Penalty from birth of first Child (2018 Denmark Study)
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
Flatter hierarchies are more likely to favour women as opportunities for promotion in their absence is limited. Small businesses have less tiers and sometimes no tiers in their structure. Small business ownership is also likely to offer women better opportunities. Their success is in their own hands and they have control over any penalties relating to childbirth. Figure 20 contains data from the World Bank on the number of women and men business owners in countries with the most women business owners.
### Figure 20: Women and Men Business Owners in various countries
**Source: [World Bank](https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship/gender#1)**
**Note 1: Data is incomplete as many large OECD countries such as UK, USA, France, and Japan are excluded from the data.**
**Note 2: For China, only the data for Beijing and Shanghai were included.**
Western countries such as Italy, Germany, Norway, and Denmark (ranked 2 places below Norway) have considerably less women business owners in terms of actual numbers and percentage of businesses than the top 7 countries ranked above Italy. Romania is the only EU country in that top 7. The data for women ownership can be broken down per a region using online tools provided by the World Bank [Enterprise Surveys website](https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/enterprisesurveys). See Figure 21.
### Figure 21: Women ownership, top management, and employment based on region (2020 where possible data)
**Source: [Enterprise Surveys](https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/custom-query)**
In terms of women’s involvement in ownership and top management, European and Central Asian countries do not differ much from the world average. In terms of percentage of women employed, they exceed all other regions. Women from Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian countries, have limited ownership and employment opportunities. This is most likely because of the religion and culture in these regions.
Data indicates that there is an inverse relationship between income and opportunities to start or grow a small business. This relationship is true for both men and women. Figure 22 contains the percentage of men and women who borrowed money to start, operate, or expand a farm or business.
### Figure 22: Borrowing to start or expand business, men vs women (2017)
**Source: [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
For high income countries, on average only 2.1% of women and 4.29% of men borrowed money for the purpose of starting or growing their business. This is considerably lower than the world average of 5.36% and 7.57% for women and men respectively. In relative terms to men, on average, women borrowed less money for business purposes in high income countries (49%) than the world average (71%).
Data for women owned businesses from the USA is not included in the available data from the World Bank. According to the [UENI](https://ueni.com/blog/), women in the US own approximately 45% of businesses. This is considerably higher than the European countries reported in the World Bank data. The high percentage is a little misleading. Most of these women owned businesses are sole proprietorships. For business with 4 or more employees the percentage owned by women is considerably lower (just over 30%). Figure 23 compares the percentage of women’s ownership of businesses at different sizes based on the number of employees.
### Figure 23: Percentage of women business owners in the USA (2020)
**Source: [UENI](https://ueni.com/blog/american-women-make-up-45-of-the-entrepreneurial-landscape-in-2020/)**
Holding a high position in a business or organisation enables a person to contribute to the shaping of that organisation. They are involved in strategic planning and direction as well as the people and the type of people they want to hire. It is likely that the people in high positions will seek to hire people that meet their criteria for the position. This criteria will be biased based on their perceptions of the requirements needed to best perform a job. Men are more likely to value masculine traits as they are more likely to align with their perceptions. Likewise, women are more likely to value feminine traits as they are more likely to align with their perceptions. Therefore, men would be naturally more inclined to hire men as they are more likely to be a better match to their hiring criteria and women would be more likely to hire women for the same reason. Figure 24 contains the percentages of permanent full-time employees that are women for women run businesses and for men run businesses
### Figure 24: Women Employment for Men and Women Led Businesses
**Source: [World Bank](https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/how-many-companies-are-run-women-and-why-does-it-matter-0)**
On average, for men led businesses in all countries, less than 50% of full time employees were women. Whereas, on average, for women led businesses for many countries, the majority of employees were women. Many western countries have “diversity” requirements. Governments and large organisations are encouraged or required to hire a certain number of women to meet diversity standards. This requirement is focused around the sex of the employee and not the requirements for the job. In western countries, high positions in Government and large businesses are still occupied by mostly men. Therefore, the bias towards masculine traits would still remain. Therefore, the women more likely to be hired or promoted are more likely to have more masculine traits. Therefore, diversity of skills and ability is not necessarily achieved even with more women in typically men dominated jobs.
Before moving to the next section, let us reflect on how countries with smaller wage gaps between men and women, more women business owners, and more women in top management positions scored on the Gender Inequality Index described in Part 1. In Figure 25, scores of these countries are compared to the score for the collection of countries defined by the United Nations as having ‘Very High Human Development’.
### Figure 25: Gender Inequality Index scores for selected countries with relatively low sex wage inequality, high number of women business owners, and/or high number of women in top management positions
**Source: United Nations cited by [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality-by-gender)**
The scores are very diverse. Nigeria had the worst score (0.68) and Chile the best (0.19). However, none of these countries came close to scores achieved by the top performing European countries; see Figure 5 from Part 1 of the series. This a further indication of how unrepresentative the Gender Inequality Index is of actual sex inequality in different countries.
## Women’s Happiness
If women’s quality of life has improved because of the proclaimed narrowing of inequalities between men and women, we should expect women’s level of happiness to have increased. They should be happier than they were before all of the proclaimed improvements. They should also be relatively happier compared to men. However, this does not appear to be occurring. Women’s decline in happiness has been referred to as [the paradox of female happiness](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w14969/w14969.pdf). Figure 26 contains a comparison of men’s and women’s life satisfaction between 1970 and 2000. It compares the trends in satisfaction and proportion of people who are considered very satisfied based on their responses to various surveys conducted between 1972 and 2000.
### Figure 26: Life Satisfaction in the United States, Virginia Slims Poll
**Source: [Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w14969/w14969.pdf) cited by [Peter Martin Economics](https://www.petermartin.com.au/2009/11/its-different-for-girls-happiness-is.html)**
[The General Social Survey Final Report (1972-2014)](https://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_PsyWellBeing15_final_formatted.pdf) also found that women’s happiness has been consistently declining since the 1970s. Figure 27 compares women’s and men’s happiness based on the percentage of surveyed people’s response of ‘very happy with their life' between 1970 and 2012.
### Figure 27: Men vs. Women ‘Very Happy' response USA
[The General Social Survey Final Report (1972-2014)](https://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_PsyWellBeing15_final_formatted.pdf)
Women’s declining happiness is not a phenomena unique to the USA. Surveys from other countries are showing a similar trend. Data from Australia indicates that women’s level for life satisfaction is falling faster than men’s. Figure 28 contains data for Australia between 2000 and 2018.
### Figure 28: Men's and Women's Happiness Australia (2000 to 2018)
**Source: [Queensland Mental Health Commission](https://www.qmhc.qld.gov.au/media-events/news/australia-are-you-ok-here-are-the-groups-with-the-highest-and-lowest-life-satisfaction)**
Women also appear more prone to negative feelings than men. According to Gallup polls, for OECD countries, on average, 15% of women and 12% of men reported experiencing more negative than positive feelings. For almost all OECD countries, women experienced a higher percentage of negative feelings than men. A negative affect balance ratio has been calculated for OECD countries using data from 2010 to 2018. The ratio is calculated by dividing the percentage of negative feelings reported by women by the percentage of negative feelings reported by men from the same country. See Figure 29
### Figure 29: Gender Ratios for Negative Affect Balance (Data pooled from 2010 to 2018)
**Source: [OECD](https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/b48de22e-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/b48de22e-en#section-d1e12047)**
Several of the countries (e.g. Norway, Denmark, and New Zealand) that performed well based on the Gender Inequality Index or the Gender Gap Index have a relatively bad negative affect balance ratio for women.
## Quick Summary
There are stereotypes about men and women and their traits. These traits are assumed to influence the roles that attract men and women. The stereotypes are part social construct and part truth. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicators indicate a clear difference to how most men and women perceive the world and process information. The most notable difference is the men’s focus on objects ‘thinking’ and women’s focus on people ‘feeling’. Different personality types are attracted to different roles and work. This proves to be accurate when personality types are matched with professions most dominated by men and women. Based on occupation, it appears that women are more likely to be employed in the public sector and men are more likely to be employed in the private sector. Private sector employers are more likely to pay higher than the public sector employers (Government). This is because wages in the private sector are more likely to be determined through markets than the wages in the public sector. Public sector employees normally have fewer choices of employment than private sector employees.
In the USA, since the 1970s, women’s wages have been consistently increasing as a percentage of men’s wages. This percentage increase is almost entirely a result of women pursuing and attaining higher education qualifications. When we compare women’s with men’s wages for the same level of educational attainment, there is has been little change. The higher educated women are earning relatively less since the start of the millennium. Real hourly wages of women have increased on average by less than 1% a year across all levels of educational attainment.
According to the sex inequality indicators discussed in Part 1, western countries have the least inequality. This does not represent the differences in wages. Inequalities in wages appear to be rising slightly with countries GDP per capita (most of the western countries). When we consider individual countries, more western countries are in the top 20 for inequality than the top 20 for equality. Western countries have some of the lowest percentage of women in top management positions and the fewest entrepreneurs (USA being an exception). The countries that score highest for equality in terms of top management positions, entrepreneurship, and investment opportunities perform badly according to the Gender Inequality Index. Even overall wage differences factored very little for most of these countries.
In Part 3, I explore my theories and opinions regarding sex inequality and the perceptions around gendered roles. I explain how I believe inequalities developed and have persisted. I discuss the subjugation of traditional women’s roles as an attempt to increase the size of the workforce in terms of both employees and working hours. I describe the impact this most likely has had on wages. I discuss what I consider the real motives behind the encouragement of women to participate in the workforce. I finish with a brief discussion regarding degenderizing of men and women and the focus on roles with disregard for biology.
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