How far has sexual equality progressed in the UK? Girls now generally perform better than boys in GCSE and A-level subjects. The UK has the highest female employment rate of the major EU countries. But while there has been encouraging progress in the gender debate, indications are that we still have a long way to go. Chapter one of this book explores gender and education, chapter two looks at gender and employment, while chapter three examines the broader issue of gender and society.
The information comes from a wide variety of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Gender and Education
Girls outperform boys at GCSE and A level, Education and gender – the facts, What is the cause of boys’ underachievement?, Computers widen gender gap, Girls-only education is shaping the future, Single-sex teaching, Are girls short-changed in the co-ed classroom?, The achievement gap, Gender and achievement, Equality issues in education.
Chapter Two: Gender and Employment
Key facts on women in the labour market, Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts, Positive discrimination and positive action, Breaking through the Glass Ceiling, What is the pay gap and why does it exist?, Gender pay gap wider than previously thought, Women at the top, Women to hold 60% of UK wealth by 2025, Do our daughters really have the world at their feet?, Free to choose?, Women’s job satisfaction, Jobs for the boys?, Sisters are ‘building it for themselves’, Jobs for the girls.
Chapter Three: Gender and Society
Gender development, Britain in top 10 for closing gender gap, Men’s changing lifestyles, The great intellectual divide, Would you Adam and Eve it?, Boys, young men and gender equality, Sugar and spice?, ‘A Black woman took my job’, Global gender inequality.
Key Facts
Additional Resources
Index
Acknowledgements
• Of 58 countries, the UK now has the 8th best record in closing the gap between the fortunes of men and women, with particular reference to economic status, political empowerment, health and education. (page 4)
• Sex stereotyping still has a strong influence on course choices made by pupils: greater numbers of boys take technological and scientific subjects, while girls dominate in English and Modern Languages. (page 11)
• The Glass Ceiling is an imaginary term used to describe the invisible barriers that exist within organisations and which block women from attaining senior executive positions. (page 15)
• The gender pay gap of 14.4% expresses the difference between men’s and women’s hourly earnings. (page 16)
• 80% of girls and 55% of boys said that they would or might be interested in learning to do a non-traditional job. (page 21)
• In psychology, ‘sex’ is used to refer to the clear biological differences between men and women (e.g. reproductive organs, secondary sexual characteristics) and ‘gender’ is used inclusively to refer to all of the differences between men and women, including the vast amount of differences that are due to social influences. (page 28)
• Professor Richard Lynn – who in the past has courted controversy by claiming that intelligence varies with race – says there are more men than women with higher IQs. (page 31)
• There is a sexual double standard, in which boys who are sexually active are judged in positive ways while girls seen to be sexually active are subject to negative labels and sanctions. (page 34)
• Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, and produce half of the world’s food, yet earn only ten per cent of the world’s income, and own less than one per cent of the world’s property. (page 39)
Women, Men and Equality Study Guide
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.50
ISBN: 978 1 86168 357 1
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