Women as a Minority
Minority groups refer to categories of individuals who experience some relative disadvantage in relation to members of a dominant social group. Women may not be a statistical minority group; however they are considered a minority group because there is still a variation in terms of sharing power, opportunities, rights and the privileges they enjoy in society as men.
The unequal treatment of women in the different spheres of society that included political, family, legal and economic created an imbalance that tilted social dominance towards men. This led to the creation of a patriarchal society. In the United States, historically, by virtue of marriage, women lost some rights and were not legally recognized as persons until in 1875 when the Courts in the case of Minor v Happersett gave their legal existence that was suspended in a marriage. The suspension of their legal existence came with lose of many rights and opportunities that made women play catch up with men and this is part of the reason they were considered a minority.
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Politically, women did not have the rights to participate in their governance processes as they could not vote. This discrimination impacted greatly in the society as it depended wholly on what decisions men made. The denial of this right to take part in their governance meant that majority of the legislations and government programs would not be in their favor too. This came with lost opportunities. However, in 1920 the Nineteenth Ammendment to the United States Constitution tried to create a balance by allowing both men and women an opportunity to participate in the democratic processes of governance.
Economically, despite the fact that both men and women made great strides in accessing education and employment, women still faced significant hurdles that men did not go through. Institutional barriers prevented women from advancing beyond particular positions, regardless of their performance and qualifications. Such ceilings indicate that women are not enjoying the same opportunities as men even today.
There existed a need to have a society that claimed equal rights for both men and women and remove the institutional barriers, some which were supported by law, local custom or even behavior. Empowering women would create a better society as no one will be left behind.
Women Empowerment in the United States
Women empowerment in the United States can be attributed to legislations that are aimed at allowing the inclusion of women in all the aspects of the economy, including politics to achieve more gender equality .
Empowerment through Micro Financing
One majority tool that has worked towards women empowerment globally, not just in the United States is micro financing. This increases women access to microfinance services. One significant advantage of micro financing is that it creates entrepreneurship. This is because whenever have access to financial services, they then can be able to invest in their talents, either through growing the businesses they own or by starting their own businesses. The profits made from their businesses then get invested in their families, helping improve the general livelihoods of many families. Studies have indicated that with access to microfinance, about 72% of women turn into breadwinners for their families, enabling provision of essential needs such as food, payments of school fees and building and buying decent homes (Johnson, 2017).
Access to microfinance also empowers women through creation of employment. Besides providing goods and services to the community and purchasing property for their own families, they also generate jobs for the people. This ensures financial independence that creates empowerment in women. The impact is that women are able gain ideas, and the power to make independent choices besides gaining a voice among their peers.
Women Empowerment in the Formal Workforce
Initially, when the law did not confer a legal status to a woman in a marriage, many women were left in the house every morning as the hardworking businessman left the house every day for work. Most women were left in the house to take care of children and prepare food. With institutional barriers being lifted up, more women are leaving the Kitchen and the sitting room to pick a brief case to go out and look for opportunities in the expansive economy. This growth can be illustrated in the figure below.
Figure 1 : Percentage of Employed people by Gender
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Lifting institutional barriers has also seen women holding more jobs in the US work force than the men. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that women have 109,000 more jobs than men, accounting for 20.04% of the total workforce in the United States (Kelly, 2020). It is projected that women are going to continue dominating the labor force, and their continued growth in jobs that were traditionally male dominated is a pointer towards their empowerment. Economic sectors that hire women mostly such as the health sector and the education sector are growing. Statistics continue to indicate that in public service in the United States, women are well taken care of with 58% of employees being women compared to 42% for male and the 56% of the 58% female in the public sector are holding positions in departments that deal with finance (Omeokwe, 2020).
Women are also beginning to gain entry in the mining and manufacturing sectors, which traditionally were viewed as male oriented. They are now comprising a total of 13.8% of employees in the logging and mining sectors. This bold entry into some of these growing jobs heralds the entry of women in the labor force. This is all massively contributing to the equality in our society.
Empowerment in the Education Sector
By the early 1970 in the United States, statistics indicated that nearly a third of the women in the whole country had not received any high school qualification. This drastically dropped to less than 7% of the women in 2010. This number has been on a gradual trend, allowing more women to enter the work force (Ziman, 2013). The Figure below shows the percentage of women and their qualification in the labor force between1970-2010.
Figure 2 : Percentage of Women in the Labor Force
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Women are currently earning more degrees than men, meaning more women are getting higher qualifications. In the United States in the graduating class of 2016-2017 indicate that women who got bachelor’s degrees were 57.3%, masters degrees were 59.4% and doctorate were 53.3% (Kelly, 2020).
The Figure below shows the number of degrees conferred on women between 2004 and 2014.
Figure 3 : Number of degree conferred on women
Source: Institute of Education Sciences
Conclusion
The above paper shows that women have made tremendous strides in terms of gaining education and the necessary skills needed in the workforce from 1950 to date and have surpassed men. Access to financial services has contributed largely to stability ion many families and that meeting the basic needs is no longer a challenge for most families. Bridging the inequality gap will be a major stabilizer in society both in terms of human and social development.
References
Johnson, B. (2017). Four Ways Microfinance Empower Women FINCA Empowerment in women https://finca.org/blogs/4-ways-microfinance-empowers-women/
Kelly, J. (2020) Women Now Hold More Jobs Than Men In The U.S. Workforce Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/01/13/women-now-hold-more-jobs-than-men/#60306dde8f8a
Omeokwe, A. (2020) Women Overtake Men as Majority of U.S. Workforce The Wall Street Journal Updated Jan.10 1:42pm https://www.wsj.com/articles/women-overtake-men-as-majority-of-u-s-workforce-11578670615
Ziman, R. L. (2013) Women in the Workforce: An In depth Analysis of Gender Roles and Compensation Inequity in the Modern Work Place. University of New Hampshire https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1158&context=honors
