Gender and Education - Consequences of Sex Discrimination in Education

Consequences of Sex Discrimination in Education

Discrimination results in a substantial gender gap in pay towards women (.75 cents for every dollar that men make), for the most part, being in low status, sex-stereotyped occupations, which in part is due to gender differences in majors. They also have to endure the main responsibilities of domestic tasks, even though their labor force participation has increased. Sex discrimination in high school and college course-taking also results in women not being prepared or qualified to pursue more prestigious, high paying occupations. Sex discrimination in education also results in women being more passive, quiet, and less assertive, due to the effects of the hidden curriculum.

However, in 2005, USA Today reported that the "college gender gap" was widening; stating that fifty-seven percent of U.S. college students are female. By 2010 nearly 60 per cent of bachelor's degrees in the US went to women.

Since the 1990s, enrollment on university campuses across Canada has risen significantly. Most notable is the soaring rates of female participants, which has surpassed the enrollment and participation rates of their male counterparts (Christofides et al., 2006). Even in the United States, there is a significant difference in the male to female ratio in campuses across the country, where the 2005 averages saw male to female university participants at 43 to 57 (Marklein, 2005). Although it's important to note that the rates of both sexes participating in post-secondary studies is increasing, it's equally important to question why female rates are increasing more rapidly than male participation rates. Christofides, Hoy, and Yang (2006) attempt to explain the 15% male to female gap in Canadian universities with the idea of the University Premium. Drolet (2007) further explains this phenomena in his article, "Minding the Gender Gap": "A university degree has a greater payback for women relative to what they could have earned if they only had a high-school diploma because men traditionally have had more options for jobs that pay well even without post-secondary education". From a sociological standpoint it is the gender issues of society that are pushing more women towards higher education at a faster rate than men. It is not a gender issue in education against men that results in higher female participation at the university level, but a gender imbalance in society that requires women to acquire more education in order to obtain well-paying jobs.