Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gvh9x Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T03:03:01.502Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 19 - Gender Inequality

from Part III - Problems of Discrimination and Inequality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2018

By
William J. Scarborough  and
Barbara J. Risman
Edited by
A. Javier Treviño
A. Javier Treviño
Affiliation:
Wheaton College, Massachusetts
Get access

Summary

In this chapter, we provide a brief overview of gender inequality in contemporary society. We begin by reviewing several theoretical frameworks that have been used to explain women's subordinate position in society. After a discussion of the historical development of gender theory, we use a gender structure framework to organize contemporary theories into the analytic categories of individual-, interactional-, and macro-level explanations of gender inequality. Next, we illustrate both progress that has been made toward gender equality and the level of inequality that remains, and sometimes has even increased, in three realms: education, paid employment, and the family. We close the chapter by discussing the prospects for a world without gender inequality – stressing the way gender consciousness must coincide with change in interpersonal interactions and organizational structures.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems , pp. 339 - 362
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acker, Joan. 1990. Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender and Society 4(2):139–158.Google Scholar
Aldridge, D. 1999. Black women and the new world order: Toward a fit in the economic marketplace. In Latinas and African American Women at Work: Race, Gender and Economic Inequality, edited by Browne, Irene, 357–79. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Along, Sigal, and Gelbgiser, Dafna. 2011. The female advantage in college academic achievements and horizontal sex segregation. Social Science Research 40(1):107–19.Google Scholar
Anderson, Eric. 2009. Inclusive Masculinity: The Changing Nature of Masculinities. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Anzar, Uzma, Harpring, Sharon, Cohen, Joseph, and Leu, Elizabeth. 2004. Retrospective Pilot Study of USAID-Funded Education Projects in Malawi. Washington, DC: USAID.Google Scholar
Bem, Sandra Lipsitz. 1993. The Lenses of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Bendick, Marc. 2007. Situation testing for employment discrimination in the United States of America. Horizons Strategies 3(5):17–39.Google Scholar
Berger, Joseph, Conner, Thomas L, and Fisek, Hamit M 1974. Expectation States Theory: A Theoretical Research Program. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop.Google Scholar
Bianchi, Suzzanne M., and Milke, Melissa A.. 2010. Work and family research in the first decade of the 21st century. Journal of Marriage and Family 72:705–25.Google Scholar
Bianchi, Suzzanne M., Milke, Melissa A., Sayer, Liana C., and Robinson, John P.. 2000. Is anyone doing the housework? Trends in the gender division of household labor. Social Forces 79:191–228.Google Scholar
Bianchi, Suzanne M., Robinson, John P., and Milke, Melisa A.. 2006. Changing Rhythms of American Family Life. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Bianchi, Suzzanne M., Sayer, Liana C., Milke, Melissa A., and Robinson, John P.. 2012. Housework: Who did, does, or will do it, and how much does it matter? Social Forces 91(1):55–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bielby, William T. 2000. Minimizing workplace gender and racial bias. Contemporary Sociology 29:120–129.Google Scholar
Bielby, William T., and Baron, James N.. 1984. A woman's place is with other women: Sex segregation within organizations. In Sex Segregation in the Workplace: Trends, Explanations, Remedies, edited by Reskin, B., 27–55. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Bolzendahl, Catherine. 2014. Opportunities and expectations: The gendered organization of legislative committees in Germany, Sweden, and the United States. Gender and Society 28(6):847–76.Google Scholar
Breen, Richard, and Cooke, Lynn Prince. 2005. The persistence of the gendered division of domestic labor. European Sociological Review 21(1):43–57.Google Scholar
Browne, Irene, ed. 1999. Latinas and African American Women at Work: Race, Gender and Economic Inequality. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Browne, Irene, Hewitt, Cynthia, Tigges, Leann, and Green, Gary. 2001. Why does job segregation lead to wage inequality among African Americans? Person, place, sector, or skills? Social Science Research 30(3):472–95.Google Scholar
Browne, Irene, and Misra, Joya. 2003. The intersection of gender and race in the labor market. Annual Review of Sociology 29:487–513.Google Scholar
Buchmann, Claudia, DiPrete, Thomas A, and McDaniel, Anne. 2008. Gender inequalities in education. The Annual Review of Sociology 34:319–37.Google Scholar
Budig, Michelle J. 2002. Male advantage and the gender composition of jobs: Who rides the glass escalator? Social Problems 49(2):258–77.Google Scholar
Bull, Torill, Mittlemark, Maurice B, and Kanyeka, Ngasuma E.. 2013. Assets for well-being for women living in deep poverty: Through a salutogenic looking-glass. Critical Public Health 23(2):160–73.Google Scholar
Catalyst, . 2013. 2013 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners. New York: Catalyst.Google Scholar
Catsambis, Sophia. 1994. The path to math: Gender and racial-ethnic differences in mathematics participation from middle school to high school. Sociology of Education 67(3):199–215.Google Scholar
Charles, Maria. 2011. A world of difference: International trends in women's economic status. Annual Review of Sociology 37:355–71.Google Scholar
Charles, Maria, and Bradley, Karen. 2002. Equal but separate? A cross-national study of sex segregation in higher education. American Sociological Review 67(4):573–99.Google Scholar
Charles, Maria, and Grusky, David B. 2004. Occupational Ghettos: The Worldwide Segregation of Women and Men. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Chisamya, Grace, DeJaeghere, Joan, Kendall, Nancy, and Khan, Marufa Aziz. 2012. Gender and education for all: Progress and problems in achieving gender equity. International Journal of Educational Development 32:743–55.Google Scholar
Chodorow, Nancy. 1978. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Collins, Patricia Hill. 2000. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Coltrane, Scott. 2004. Comment: Elite careers and family commitment: It's (still) about gender. Annals, AAPSS 596:214–20.Google Scholar
Coltrane, Scott, and Adams, Michele. 2001. Men's family work: Child-centered fathering and the sharing of domestic labor. In Working Families: The Transformation of the American Home, edited by Hertz, Rosanna and Marshall, Nancy L., 72–99. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Connell, Raewyn W. 2005. Masculinities. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Connell, Raewyn W., and Messerschmidt, James W.. 2005. Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society 19:829–59.Google Scholar
Correll, Shelley J. 2001. Gender and the career choice process: The role of biased self-assessments. American Journal of Sociology 106(6):1691–730.Google Scholar
Correll, Shelley J., Benard, Stephen, and Paik, In. 2007 Getting a job: Is there a motherhood penalty? American Journal of Sociology 112(5):1297–339.Google Scholar
Craig, Lyn. 2006. Does father care mean fathers share? A comparison of how mothers and fathers in intact families spend time with children. Gender and Society 20(2):259–81.Google Scholar
Damaske, Sarah. 2011. For the Family? How Class and Gender Shape Women's Work. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Davis, Shannon, and Greenstein, Theodore N.. 2013. Why study housework? Cleaning as a window into power in couples. Journal of Family Theory & Review 5:63–71.Google Scholar
Davis, Shannon, and Risman, Barbara J. 2015. Feminists wrestle with testosterone: Hormones, socialization and cultural interactionism as predictors of women's gendered selves. Social Science Research 49:110–25.Google Scholar
Deere, Carmen Diana, and Doss, Cheryl R. 2008. The gender asset gap: What do we know and why does it matter? Feminist Economics 12(1–2):1–50.Google Scholar
Deutsch, Francine. 2007. Undoing gender. Gender & Society 21:106–27.Google Scholar
Driessen, Geert, and Langen, Annemarie van. 2013. Gender differences in primary and secondary education: Are girls really outperforming boys? International Review of Education 59:67–86.Google Scholar
Eliot, Lise. 2009. Pink Brain Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps – and What We Can Do about It. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar
Elliott, James R., and Smith, Ryan A.. 2001. Ethnic matching of supervisors to subordinate work groups: Findings on bottom-up ascription and social closure. Social Problems 48(2):258–76.Google Scholar
Engels, Frederick. (1884) 1978. On the origin of the family, private property, and the state. In The Marx-Engels Reader, edited by Tucker, R., 734–59. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
England, Paula. 2010. The gender revolution: Uneven and stalled. Gender and Society 24(2):149–66.Google Scholar
Epstein, Cynthia. 1990. Deceptive Distinctions: Sex, Gender, and the Social Order. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Ferree, Myra Marx. 1990. Beyond separate spheres: Feminism and family research. Journal of Marriage and Family 52(4):866–84.Google Scholar
Flashman, Jennifer. 2013. A cohort perspective on gender gaps in college attendance and completion. Research on Higher Education 54:545–70.Google Scholar
Foschi, Martha. 1996. Double standards in the evaluation of men and women. Social Psychological Quarterly 59:237–54.Google Scholar
Fuligini, Allison Sidle, and Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne. 2004. Measuring mother and father shared caregiving: An analysis using the panel study of income dynamics child development supplement. In Conceptualizing and Measuring Father Involvement, edited by Day, R. D, 341–85. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Gaunt, Ruth. 2005. The role of value priorities in paternal and maternal involvement in child care. Journal of Marriage and Family 67(3):643–55.Google Scholar
Gaunt, Ruth. 2006. Biological essentialism, gender ideologies, and role attitudes: What determines parents’ involvement in child care. Sex Roles 55:523–33.Google Scholar
Gaunt, Ruth, and Scott, Jacqueline. 2014. Parents involvement in childcare: Do parental and work identities matter? Psychology of Women Quarterly 38(4):475–89.Google Scholar
Goldin, Claudia, and Rouse, Cecilia. 2000. Orchestrating impartiality: The impact of “blind” auditions on female musicians. The American Economic Review 90(4):715–41.Google Scholar
Goldscheider, Frances, Bernhardt, Eva, and Lappegard, Trude. 2015. The gender revolution: A framework for understanding changing family and demographic behavior. Population and Development Review 41(2):207–39.Google Scholar
Grant, Monica J., and Behrman, Jere R.. 2010. Gender gaps in educational attainment in less developed countries. Population and Development Review 36(1):71–89.Google Scholar
Gupta, Sanjiv. 2007. Autonomy, dependence, or display? The relationship between married women's earnings and housework. Journal of Marriage and Family 69:399–417.Google Scholar
Gurian, Michael. 2001. Boys and Girls Learn Differently! San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Harvey Wingfield, Adia. 2009. Racializing the glass escalator: Reconsidering men's experiences with women's work. Gender and Society 23(1):5–26.Google Scholar
Hays, Sharon. 1996. The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hochschild, Arlie R., with Machung, Anne. (1989) 2003. The Second Shift. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Hook, Jennifer. 2010. Gender inequality in the welfare state: Sex segregation in housework, 1965–2003. American Journal of Sociology 115:1480–523.Google Scholar
Hook, Jennifer, and Wolfe, Christina M. 2012. New fathers? Residential father's time with children in four countries. Journal of Family Issues 33(4):415–50.Google Scholar
Kalleberg, Arne L., Reskin, Barbara F., and Hudson, Ken. 2000. Bad jobs in America: Standard and nonstandard employment relations and job quality in the United States. American Sociological Review 65(2):256–78.Google Scholar
Kan, Man Yee, Sullivan, Oriel, and Gershuny, Jonathan. 2011. Gender convergence in domestic work: Discerning the effects of interactional and institutional barriers from large-scale data. Sociology 45(2):234–51.Google Scholar
Kanter, Rosabeth. 1977. Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
King, Elizabeth M., and Mason, Andrew. 2001. Engendering Development: Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice. New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank.Google Scholar
Leaper, Campbell, and Van, Stephanie R.. 2008. Masculinity ideology, covert sexism, and perceived gender typicality in relation to young men's academic motivation and choices in college. Psychology of Men and Masculinity 9(3):139–53.Google Scholar
Legerski, Elizabeth Miklya, and Cornwall, Marie. 2010. Working-class job loss, gender, and the negotiation of household labor. Gender and Society 24(4):447–74.Google Scholar
Lopata, Helena Z., and Thorne, Barrie. 1978. One the term “sex roles.” Signs 3(3):718–21.Google Scholar
Lorber, Judith. 1994. Paradoxes of Gender. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Mann, Allison, and DiPrete, Thomas A. 2013. Trends in gender segregation in the choice of science and engineering majors. Social Science Research 42:1519–41.Google Scholar
McCall, Leslie. 2011. Women and men as class and race actors: Comment on England. Gender & Society 25:94.Google Scholar
McDaniel, Anne. 2009. Cross-national gender gaps in educational expectations: The influence of national-level gender ideology and educational systems. Comparative Education Review 54(1):27–50.Google Scholar
McGuire, Gail M., and Reskin, Barbara F.. 1993. Authority hierarchies at work: The impact of race and sex. Gender and Society 7(4):487–506.Google Scholar
Messner, Michael. 2000. Barbie girls versus sea monsters: Children constructing gender. Gender and Society 14(6):765–84.Google Scholar
Miller, Eleanor M., and Costello, Carrie Yang. 2001. The limits of biological determinism. American Sociological Review 66(4):592–98.Google Scholar
Misra, Joya, and Murray-Close, Marta. 2014. The gender wage gap in the United States and cross nationally. Sociology Compass 8(11):1281–95.Google Scholar
Morgan, Stephen L., Gelbgiser, Dafna, and Weeden, Kim A.. 2013. Feeding the pipeline: Gender, occupational plans, and college major selection. Social Science Research 42:989–1005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moss-Racusin, Corinne A., Dovidio, John F, Brescoll, Victoria L., Graham, Mark J., and Handelsman, Jo. 2012. Science faculty's subtle gender biases favor male students. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109(41):16474–479.Google Scholar
Murdock, George Peter. 1949. Social Structure. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education. 2012. Title IX at 40: Working to Ensure Gender Equity in Education. Washington, DC: NCWGE.Google Scholar
OECD. 2014. Education at a Glance 2014. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Parsons, Talcott, and Bales, Robert F. 1955. Family, Socialization and Interaction Process. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Perkins, Robert, Kleiner, Brian, Roey, Stephen, and Brown, Janis. 2004. The High School Transcript Study: A Decade of Change in Curricula and Achievement, 1990–2000. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.Google Scholar
Purcell, David, MacArthur, Kelly Rhea, and Samblanet, Sarah. 2010. Gender and the glass ceiling at work. Sociology Compass 4(9):705–17.Google Scholar
Ransom, Michael, and Oaxaca, Ronald L. 2005. Intrafirm mobility and sex differences in pay. Industrial and Labor Relations Review 58(2):219–37.Google Scholar
Rehel, Erin M. 2014. When dad stays home too: Paternity leave, gender, and parenting. Gender & Society 28(1):110–32.Google Scholar
Reskin, Barbara F., and Bielby, Denise D.. 2005. A sociological perspective on gender and career outcomes. Journal of Economic Perspectives 19(1):71–86.Google Scholar
Reskin, Barbara F., McBrier, Debra B., and Kmec, Julie A.. 1999. The determinants and consequences of workplace sex and race composition. Annual Review of Sociology 25:333–61.Google Scholar
Reskin, Barbara F., and Maroto, Michelle L.. 2010. What trends? Whose choices? Comment on England. Gender and Society 25:81–87.Google Scholar
Ridgeway, Cecilia L. 2011. Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ridgeway, Cecilia L., and Correll, Shelley J.. 2000. Limiting inequality through interaction: The end(s) of gender. Contemporary Sociology 29(1):110–20.Google Scholar
Risman, Barbara J. 2001. Calling the bluff of value-free science. American Sociological Review 66(4):605–11.Google Scholar
Risman, Barbara J. 2004. Gender as a social structure: Theory wrestling with activism. Gender & Society 18:429–50.Google Scholar
Risman, Barbara, and Davis, Georgiann. 2013 From sex roles to gender structure. Current Sociology 61(5–6):733–55.Google Scholar
Sax, Leonard. 2005. Why Gender Matters. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Shaw, Susan. 2008. Family leisure and changing ideologies of parenthood. Sociology Compass 2(2):688–703.Google Scholar
Shelton, Beth, and Daphne, Joh. 1996. The division of household labor. Annual Review of Sociology 22:299–322.Google Scholar
Smith, Ryan A. 2002. Race, gender, and authority in the workplace. Annual Review of Sociology 28:509–42.Google Scholar
Snyder, Thomas D., and Dillow, Sally A.. 2007. Digest of Education Statistics 2006. NCES 2007-017. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Snyder, Thomas D., and Dillow, Sally A.. 2010. Digest of Education Statistics 2009. NCES 2010-013. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Snyder, Thomas D., and Dillow, Sally A.. 2013. Digest of Education Statistics 2012. NCES 2014-015. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Spangler, Eve, Gordon, Marsha A, and Pipkin, Ronald M.. 1978. Token women: An empirical test of Kanter's hypothesis. American Journal of Sociology 84(1):160–70.Google Scholar
Stacey, Judith, and Thorne, Barrie. 1985. The missing feminist revolution in sociology. Social Problems 32(4):301–16.Google Scholar
Stainback, Kevin, and Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald. 2009. Intersections of power and privilege: Long-term trends in managerial representation. American Sociological Review 74(5):800–820.Google Scholar
Stainback, Kevin, and Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald. 2012. Documenting Desegregation: Racial and Gender Segregation in Private-Sector Employment Since the Civil Rights Act. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Oriel. 2004. Changing gender practices within the household: A theoretical perspective. Gender and Society 18(2):207–22.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Oriel. 2006. Changing Gender Relations, Changing Families: Tracing the Pace of Change over Time. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Little-field.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Oriel. 2013. What do we learn about gender by analyzing housework separately from child care? Some considerations from time-use evidence. Journal of Family Theory & Review 5:72–84.Google Scholar
Tichenor, Veronica. 2005. Maintaining men's dominance: Negotiating identity and power when she earns more. Sex Roles 53(3):191–205.Google Scholar
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 20 USC ∼1861 (1972).Google Scholar
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 USC ∼1861 (1972).Google Scholar
Tomaskovic-Devey, Don, and Skaggs, Sheryl. 2002. Sex segregation, labor process organization, and gender earnings inequality. American Journal of Sociology 108(1):102–28.Google Scholar
Tomaskovic-Devey, Don, and Stainback, Kevin. 2007. Discrimination and desegregation: Equal opportunity progress in U.S. private sector workplaces since the Civil Rights Act. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 609:49–84.Google Scholar
Tomasovic-Devey, Donald, Zimmer, Catherine, Stainback, Kevin, Robinson, Corre, Taylor, Tiffany, and McTague, Tricia. 2006. Documenting desegregation: Segregation in American workplaces by race, ethnicity, and sex, 1966–2003. American Sociological Review 71(4):565–88.Google Scholar
US Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2014. BLS Reports: Women in the Labor Force: A Databook. Washington, DC: BLS. www.bls.gov/opub/.Google Scholar
US Census Bureau. 2012. Statistical Abstract of the United States. 131st ed. www.census.gov/compendia/statab/.Google Scholar
van der Lippe, Tanja, and van Dijk, Liset. 2001. Women's Employment in a Comparative Perspective. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Vincent-Lancrin, Stephan. 2008. The reversal of gender inequalities in higher education: An on-going trend. In Higher Education to 2030, Vol. 1, Demography, 265–98. Paris, France: OECD.Google Scholar
West, Candace, and Zimmerman, Don H. 1987. Doing gender. Gender and Society 1(2):125–51.Google Scholar
Williams, Christine L. 1992. The glass escalator: Hidden advantages for men in the “female” professions. Social Problems 39(3):253–67.Google Scholar
Williams, Joan. 2000. Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do about It. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wils, Annababette, and Goujon, Anne. 1998. Diffusion of education in six world regions, 1960–1990. Population and Development Review 24(2):357–68.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×