EAP
WRITING 110,01
Final
Paper
May
1, 2012
There's situation which catches our
attention today- more women occupied the professional jobs in workplace. A
study from Economist points out that the number of men in workforce has
decreased from 80 percent to 52 percent. On the other hand, the number of
female employers increased from 20 percent to 48 percent of the whole workforce
in the United States (Angela Harrison).
Comparing with the two data, it seems like that men and women get the equal
economic opportunities. However, women still get low pay even though they do
the same job as men in many top 500 international companies, which exactly
expresses that women still face some unequal treatment in modern society. BBC
News recently pointed out that the figures showed us there was a 4 percent rise
of female professors in the UK universities in 2011 (BBC News). In the past,
professor was considered as a male job which needs ability of counting and more
professional skill. However, more and more women become professors in
universities. By the end of 2009, a study showed 27 percent of professors are
female. In some famous universities. Like Columbia University and Yale
University, this number are 37 and 38. These figures seem like women are doing
good at universities. Unfortunately, female professors still face many
challenges in universities. These challenges come from many different areas,
such as discrimination, sexual harassment, unequal pay, causing many
misunderstandings in universities.
Today, many female professors still
suffer from discrimination in many ways. In educational area, female professors
are deemed to be less respect. Many college students think they can easily
break rules in female professor's classes. For example, students usually think
they can hand in homework late if they can find some excuses which the
stereotypes are caused by women's mother roles and more sympathy than male
professors.
On the other
hand, universities usually have two main methods to make money. Part of their
money is come from student's tuition. Another large part is come from the
project they do for many big companies and get money from them. These big companies only chose male professor to do
research about their project because they think female professor that they have
less mathematical ability. Because of this kind of discrimination, female
professors usually get lower income than male professors. This problem is very
serious in engineering school and computer science school which are two schools
could finish a lot of projects from many big companies.
Another
discrimination is female professor usually meet resistance when they want to
get higher position in universities. A female professor from University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth, said the university put resistance to prevent her from getting full
professor. Finally, she get 620,000 dollar compensation (Fisher).
In general, female professor suffer many discrimination in many ways. In their
career, they have to disperse much energy to deal with these discrimination in
universities, which influence their normal life. This trend hasn't been changed
a lot recent years, it is still happening in our daily life even someone
mentioned this issue in universities, which is still ignored by most people,
even the female professor themselves.
Not only female students in universities sometimes
suffer sexual harassment, but also many female professors suffer from sexual
harassment. First, we need to know what is sexual harassment. Sexual harassment, a untypical
crime, which can occurs whenever somebody talks or does anything sexually
related which you don’t want them to say or do, regardless of who they are (The
University of Iowa). Whether such unwelcome sexual behaviors are sexual
harassments depend on the circumstances that the behaviors occur. This is a definition
of sexual harassment from the University of Iowa. A sexual harasser
may be anyone in University. But From many reports of universities, a lot
female professors always suffer sexual harassment from male professors, teaching
assistants, research assistants and so on. Female professors are always vulnerable
groups in universities which are easily suppressed in the universities. There
are many reasons result in female professors suffer sexual harassment in their
workplace. Although almost employers in universities usually get high education
and degree, some of them are still short of the basic ideas of morality in some
ways. First, many female professors are ashamed of telling others that they
suffer sexual harassment from others because many of them are conservative and
traditional women which always pay attention to their reputation. Second, the
United States is a country of law. Everything needs evidence in the court. Many
sexual harassment failed to publish the criminal due to short of evidence or
the victims are shamed of Testifying people who did sexual harassment to them.
A professor from MIT(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
points out that the main reason for the fail charge of sexual harassment is the
victims are short of the feelings of protecting themselves. Overall, universities
should make specific rules to project female professors.
Another big issue in universities which the female
professor faced is that unequal pay. Although the United State government has
already make the law about equal pay for women, which acted in 1963 (Equal
Pay/Compensation Discrimination). It has almost 50 years history of the law. President
Obama has pledged to “keep up the fight” to pass the law recently. It seems
like we have enough time to practice this law pretty well, Unfortunately, a
study from the University of Iowa pointed out that averagely women get 12
percent lower that men if they do the same jobs (77 Cents
on the Dollar Isn’t Fair). In the same study,
they also pointed out that the female professors usually get 15 percent lower
than male professor even they are in the same position. A real story happened
in 1987 when the law of equal pay has already existed more than 24 years. A
female assistant professor sued the college in Maryland where she worked,
because she felt she was being paid less because she was a woman. She found a
male professor who hold the same position with her has a higher income. That
male professor has a 20 percent higher income than her in 1986. At last, she
failed the case because the court thought the female professor was not doing
works as much as that male professor. Although female professor did the same
works as the male professor, they are always considered to do less than male
professors even if they do the same work or more than what male professors do.
This problems caused by a lot of gender stereotypes. First, the universities
may always think the female professor seldom ask for leaving work and female
professor often ask for leave with some excuse. This because comparing with
male professor, female professor may face some personal problems. They may need
to take care of their children or husband. Sometimes, they need to have a long
break because they have babies. All in all, equal pay is a serious problem
which female professor faced in universities.
Although more and more female professor stated to show
their knowledge and glamour in many big universities, they still need to pay
attention and work out for many challenges they faced in universities. The
first one is discrimination in universities, which is a most common one that
almost every female professor faced in universities even in the interview. The
discrimination usually contains three majors. Less respect than male professor
from students, No chance of taking research project for many big companies and
big resistance for going to higher position. The second challenge is sexual
harassment, a serious one, which people usually ignore it. This one serious
damages female professor's feeling and safety. The third challenge is equal
pay. The law of equal pay has already there for 49 years. But the truth and
figure have told us the equal pay is still a big problem for the female
professor need to deal with in many universities.
It is still a long way for female professor to relive
their goals and dreams in universities. It seems like female professors get
really equality and freedom in universities. However, female professor should
know what they need to fight for themselves. And just doing it in the way they
think is correct, showing their social intelligence and conversation ability in
the work (Rosin).
Work
Cited
“77 Cents on the Dollar
Isn’t Fair.”, New York Times,
New York Times. 20 April 2011. Web. 26 April
2012.
Equal Pay/Compensation
Discrimination, "www.eeoc.gov/",
2012, post.
Fisher, Bonnie
S. University In The Ivory Tower.
London: Sage Publisher, 2009. 39-40, Print.
Harrison,
Angela, "http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16633634", unction correspondent, BBC News, post, January 19
2012.
Rosin, Hanna. “The End of Men.” Global Issues 11/12. Ed. Obert M. Jackson. New York: McGraw Hill, 2011. 195-199. Print.
Sexual Harassment on Campus,
"www.sexualharassment.uiowa.edu,"
The University of Iowa, 2010
Trei, Lisa, www.wageproject.org/files/MD_paystory.php
"It Happened To Me: Unequal Pay,"
post, 1998.
