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Essay on Role of Women in Society

Students are often asked to write an essay on Role of Women in Society in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Role of Women in Society

Introduction.

Women play a vital role in society. They are not only homemakers but also contributors to economic, social, and political development.

Economic Role

Women contribute to the economy, both in paid and unpaid work. They manage households and also participate in workforce, boosting the country’s economic growth.

Social Role

Women are the backbone of society. They shape and nurture the future generations, and play a pivotal role in societal harmony.

Political Role

Women in politics ensure representation of diverse perspectives. They help in making balanced and inclusive decisions.

In conclusion, women are integral to the progression of society. Their roles are diverse and crucial.

250 Words Essay on Role of Women in Society

The role of women in society has been shifting significantly over the centuries, from a traditional focus on nurturing roles to a modern emphasis on participation in all spheres of life. This transformation has been driven by socio-economic changes, advancements in education, and the relentless fight for gender equality.

Economic Contributions

In the economic sphere, women have transcended the boundaries of domesticity to become key contributors. They are now CEOs, entrepreneurs, and professionals, driving economic growth and innovation. Their economic independence has shifted societal perceptions, emphasizing their capabilities beyond traditional roles.

Social and Political Influence

Socially, women have become vocal advocates for societal issues, championing causes such as environmental conservation, education, and health. Their empathetic and holistic approach to problem-solving has led to significant societal advancements. Politically, women’s representation has increased, influencing policy-making and contributing to a more balanced perspective in governance.

Challenges and Future Prospects

Despite these strides, challenges persist. Gender disparities in pay and representation, societal expectations, and gender-based violence are issues that women continue to grapple with. However, the future holds promise. As society continues to evolve, the role of women is expected to expand further, with increased opportunities for leadership and influence.

In conclusion, the role of women in society has evolved from traditional nurturing roles to active participation in economic, social, and political spheres. While challenges persist, the future holds promise for further expansion of women’s roles, contributing to a more balanced and equitable society.

500 Words Essay on Role of Women in Society

The role of women in society has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past few centuries. From being confined to their homes to emerging as key players in every sphere of life, women have broken the shackles of patriarchy and made their presence felt.

Historical Perspective

Historically, women were considered inferior to men and their primary roles were confined to childbearing and managing household chores. However, with the advent of industrialization and modernization, women began to step out of their homes to contribute to the family income. This shift was the first step towards the recognition of women as significant contributors to society.

In the current era, women have emerged as an essential part of the global economy. From being entrepreneurs and CEOs of multinational companies to working in various sectors such as technology, healthcare, and education, women have proven their mettle. They are not only contributing to the economy but are also driving growth and innovation.

Societal norms and values have also evolved to accommodate the changing role of women. They are now seen as equals, deserving of the same rights and opportunities as men. Women have become influential figures in politics, academia, and social activism, advocating for gender equality, human rights, and social justice.

Women’s participation in politics has increased significantly over the years. They are now occupying key positions in governments and international organizations. Their perspectives and leadership styles often bring a different approach to governance, emphasizing cooperation, inclusivity, and social welfare.

Challenges and the Way Forward

Despite these advancements, women still face numerous challenges such as gender-based violence, wage discrimination, and underrepresentation in leadership positions. Addressing these issues requires collective action and systemic changes. Education plays a pivotal role in this, as it not only empowers women but also fosters a society that values gender equality.

In conclusion, the role of women in society is multi-faceted and crucial. Their contributions span across economic, social, and political domains. While significant strides have been made in recognizing and valuing these contributions, there is still a long way to go. The road to gender equality is a continuous journey that requires the active participation of all members of society.

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How has the role of women changed over the last 50 years?

Women's representation in Congress and participation in the workforce has grown, but disparities still exist at home and elsewhere.

Updated on Thu, August 17, 2023 by the USAFacts Team

Societal structures change from generation to generation, leading to changes in the roles women play in politics and the workforce, and childrearing. But how has women's participation in different sectors of American society changed over the last 50 years?

Are more women serving in Congress?

In the past four decades, women’s representation in Congress has increased substantially. Women now make up a quarter of members of Congress, which is more than double the number who served in the 106th Congress of 1999 to 2001.

Women held 150 seats in the 117th Congress, which spanned January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2023, making up about 25% of Congress. Even though women’s participation in Congress is up 56% from a decade prior, to reach representation proportional with the population, that number would need to double.

Read more about women’s participation in Congress.

Has women’s participation in the workforce increased?

Women’s labor force participation rate grew from 34% in 1950 to 60% in 2000, and is expected to 0.7% per year through 2050. This figure, however, varies among different demographic groups.

Despite Congress passing the Equal Pay Act in 1963, a wage gap remains. In 2020, women earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . Even with educational advancements and entry into higher-paying fields, women tend to be more represented in lower-paying sectors.

For instance, 77% of public elementary and secondary school teachers were women in the 2020–2021 school year.

Even though 95% of elementary, middle and high school teachers have a bachelor’s degree or higher, their pay was lower than that of their similarly educated peers. Average earnings were $53,800 for elementary and middle school teachers, and $57,840 for high school teachers. To compare, biological scientists earn $69,880, urban and regional planners earn $79,790, and statisticians earn $96,320.

Read about women’s income and teacher salary .

How do women balance work and childcare?

Data indicates that mothers are four times more likely than fathers to miss work due to childcare , a trend that has continued even as women’s increasing participation in the workforce. Issues such as paid parental leave complicate this picture. Although the Family and Medical Leave Act mandates a 12-week parental leave for many employees, it does not require that this leave be paid. Recent data shows that 89% of workers had access only to unpaid family and medical leave .

Read more about how men and women use time differently .

Women’s roles in the United States— in political arenas, the workforce, and at home—have experienced significant shifts over the decades. As women’s representation in Congress has grown, so has their participation in the labor force. But, while some disparities shrink, others persist. Understanding the data behind these trends can add context to gender roles and inform debate and policy on future equity initiatives.

There’s a lot more where this came from: learn more in this interview between USAFacts’ Sasha Anderson and News Not Noise’s Jessica Yellin. Then see the differences in how men and women spend their time differently, and get the latest data by signing up for our newsletter .

Explore more of USAFacts

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Ielts essay # 28 - the position of women in society has changed markedly in the last twenty years, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, the position of women in society has changed markedly in the last twenty years. many of the problems young people now experience, such as juvenile delinquency, arise from the fact that many married women now work and are not at home to care for their children..

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The Role of Women in Society

In the 21st century, women have undoubtedly achieved many advances regarding their role in society, at least in western countries. However, even there they may still experience difficulties. Women may believe that they have to behave like men to succeed, and avoid the responsibilities of having children in order to have a flourishing career. They have all the legal rights of men, and in theory have equal access to employment opportunities – yet in practice this may be hard to enforce.

In some ways, the role of women is still a traditional one. Many countries are still highly patriarchal, expecting women to play a submissive and supportive role, and perhaps even denying them equal legal rights to men. Even in progressive western countries, women often still bear the burden of responsibility for childcare, care of elderly relatives, and domestic tasks. Although the outlook is changing, certain professions are still seen as either male or female, and women experience difficulties entering traditionally male occupations such as science or engineering.

Changes are slow to occur, but they are happening. In the 2017 parliamentary elections in the UK, almost a third of MPs elected were women, the highest number to date. In the US, women hold only around 20% of seats in the Senate, Congress, and House of Representatives. It is important for these numbers to increase, so that women are fairly represented at the highest levels. Women can be equally capable as men, and if they enter more positions of power then not only will they be able to work to improve the situation of other women, but it will send a message that they should be regarded as equals. This creates a ‘trickle-down’ effect throughout society; if we see women in roles of importance, then other women (and men) begin to understand that females are not only deserving of equal opportunities, but that they are every bit as capable as their male counterparts.

Since we still have issues regarding equal opportunities in more liberal western societies in 2017, it can only be assumed that changes in more patriarchal societies will be much slower to occur. Yet again, there we see signs that changes may occur over time. Many countries have grass roots organisations working to improve the situation for women and girls, ensuring that they have equal access to education and to protect their rights. Even in the most patriarchal society of all, Saudi Arabia, there have recently been small improvements in the ‘guardian system’, which requires women to have the permission of a male relative to access many services such as healthcare, education and obtaining a passport. A member of the Saudi royal family has even stated that he believes one day women will be permitted to drive, and that they will indeed play a greater role in society. This is acknowledging the great potential that women have, and the contribution that they can bring to the country and its economy – something that is as yet untapped.

In conclusion, we must observe that the responsibility for changing the role of women to a more equal one is in many ways the responsibility of men. Returning to the example of Saudi Arabia, changes will only occur if men in power and in society agree to it. This is true to some extent everywhere. But women must keep up the pressure worldwide to demand their rights, and demonstrate that they are every bit as capable as men. It is perhaps unfortunate that they must prove themselves, but it is a good way of showing that they are deserving.

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Essay on Role of Women in Society for School Students

women's position in society essay

Table of Contents

The role of women in society has been a highly contested topic throughout history. In general, the role of women has been largely subordinate to that of men; however, there have been a number of cultures and societies in which women have played a more equal or even dominant role. The status of women in society is determined by a number of factors, including economic, social, and political factors.

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Target Exam ---

The role of women in society has been changing rapidly in recent years. In many countries, women have been granted equal rights to men, and they have been able to participate in all aspects of society, including the workforce. However, there are still many societies in which women are not treated equally to men, and their roles are more limited.

We have provided various essays on role of women in society under different word limits for the school students.

Long and Short Essay on Role of Women in Indian Society in English

Role of women in society essay 1 (100 words).

Women play variety of significant roles in our society from their birth till the end of life. Even after playing her all the roles and all the job timely in efficient manner in the modern society, she is weak because men are still strongest gender of the society. Even after lots of awareness programmes, rules and regulations in the society by the government, her life is more complicated than a man. She has to take care of herself and family members as daughter, granddaughter, sister, daughter-in-law, wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, etc. By following such a big responsibility in the family, they are fully able to come out and do job for bright future of own, family and country.

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Role of Women in Society Essay 2 (150 words)

Women are considered as the goddess in the Indian society from the ancient time however it is also true that they are not treated as goddess. They are being ill-treated for many years and used just as things to fulfil the wishes of men. Considering them as goddess is not enough to give them full women empowerment in the society; however it needs positive continuous effort and participation of both men and women to really bring women empowerment.

Women play a great role in everyone’s life without whom we cannot imagine the success of life. They are the highly responsible for the successful continuation of the life on this planet. Earlier they were considered as only wives and mother who have to cook food, clean home and take care of the whole family members alone. But, now the condition has been improved a little bit, they have started taking part in the many activities other than family and kids.

Role of Women in Society Essay 3 (200 words)

The way of behaving, thinking and doing of women is completely different from the men so we can say that women are physically, physiologically and psychologically not equal to men. But women are more responsible than men in various means like child-bearing and child-rearing. The tradition and culture of women lifestyle in India is coming as usual for many years without any change however in terms of rights of women, it is so bad and backward than other countries. The main question is why it is so, is women are responsible for their backwardness or men or lots of women’s responsibilities in home.

Women are treated differently than men in terms of rights and dues in many Indian societies even in the modern world. Men have dominating nature over women in various perspectives. It is the matter of think that if women are given all the same facilities like men and force them to be free from all the home responsibilities and think like men then why not it is possible for women to be like men psychologically in every areas of life. Earlier women were limited to home works only and not allowed to go outside to perform social works like men. But things are getting changed now; women are being aware of their rights and understanding well the dominating nature of men over their whole life.

Article on Women Empowerment

Role of Women in Society Essay 4 (250 words)

If we compare the current status of women than the ancient time, we can say that really the condition is improving gradually. Women are being professional, bread-earners for their families and an independently thinking individual of the country even after only being responsible for many responsibilities of the life. Traditional Indian women have started proving themselves more skilled and competent in many professions than men. And, day by day the situation is improving fast by breaking all the barriers of the way.

The Indian government also has played great role in the women empowerment by implementing various rules and regulations. The ancient time trends such as female foeticide, dowry deaths, early child marriage, domestic abuse, child labour, sexual harassment, etc have been banned by the government which has really improved the women status in the society. A woman plays variety of great roles in everyone’s life in various forms by being involved in various relationships. From her birth till her end of life, she plays various roles as a daughter, sister, wife, mother and other relationships. However, her main roles are as a wife and mother. The status of women in urban societies is better however in various rural societies it is still worse because of lack of proper education and education system. A woman give birth to a baby and considered to be only responsible for her baby regarding care, education, job, etc for whole life. She never demands anything in return of her roles instead she performs her roles politely all through the life without any argue.

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Role of Women in Society Essay 5 (300 words)

Women in modern Indian society are really forward if we compare them from the ancient time but if we talk about the women empowerment, we can say that not really women are empowered in all areas. Even after being so forward, women need to go for long way defeating hard circumstances. Women have gained lots of influence in various fields until balance between two genders. We can say that women have more freedom than earlier however not true in many cases because prejudice still remains in the society.

In many places, women are still treated as inferior sex and forced to handle only house hold chores. Some women in the society love to follow the old traditions of the family and perform traditional female role by being housewife and mother. They live their whole life as general helpers to their husbands and kids. It has been in the usual practise for a woman by birth to handle home and stay unemployed at home. Some women from the society of high living status are keen to get employed like men in the future because they have been lived in the society having higher level of thoughts like that. They are never ill-treated in their family and always promoted to do better in life like men. However women in the backward society, where people only mean to earn food of two times daily, never understand their rights and responsibilities like men. All the differences are just because of the lack of proper education and education system in that area.

Women need to realize their roles towards their society and country together with their roles at home which is possible through the continuous effort, gender equality and women empowerment. People are being more advance in their behaviour and thoughts towards the women rights and empowerment.

Role of Women in Society Essay 6 (400 words)

Women play a great role in the growth and development of the society and making it an advanced and modern society. There is a famous saying by the Brigham Young that, “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” Educating and giving power to the women is of great importance which needs to be followed in the society to bring women empowerment and development of society. Because it is true that, if a man is getting educated and empowered, only he can be benefitted however if a woman is getting educated and empowered, whole family and society can be benefitted.

Women are not things which can be neglected because of their less power and authority instead they should be empowered and promoted to get higher education. Women are the half population of the world mean half power of the world. If women of any country are not empowered mean that country is lack of half power. By nature, women play their all the roles with great responsibilities and have capability to make a healthy family, solid society and powerful country. Lots of efforts have been done however still women are backward and limited to home activities. We need to understand that if an uneducated woman may handle home properly then why not a well educated woman can lead the whole country like men.

Without woman nothing is possible for men, they are basic unit of the society, they make a family, family make a home, home make a society and ultimately societies make a country. So the contribution of a woman is everywhere from taking birth and giving birth to a child to the care for whole life and other areas. All the roles and responsibilities of the women can never be neglected by the societies. Without education and women empowerment no development is possible in the family, society and country. Women know well how to talk, how to behave, how to deal with people of different classes, etc. She knows to handle all the situations because she knows well the basic fundamentals of a good society and play her roles politely as a main contributor in building a strong society.

Earlier, when the lives of women were worse than slaves, women were considered as animals and used as sex toys. It was a sin for women to give birth to a girl baby, either they were killed, buried alive or thrown away by the male head of the family. However, the condition has become advance now in many means but not completely.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Role of Women in Society

What is the role of women in society essay.

An essay on the role of women in society discusses the multifaceted roles women play, from homemakers to professionals, shaping the cultural, economic, and social fabric of their communities. It emphasizes the evolving importance and recognition of women's contributions over time.

What is women's status in society?

Women's status in society has seen significant evolution. Historically, many societies marginalized women, but today, increasing recognition of women's rights has led to their enhanced status in many areas. Yet, disparities persist in various regions and sectors.

What are the basic rights of women?

The basic rights of women include the right to life, equality, education, freedom from discrimination, right to work, health, and protection from violence. These rights aim to ensure women can live with dignity, make choices, and participate fully in society.

What are the problems faced by women today?

Women today face a myriad of challenges, including gender wage gaps, domestic violence, limited access to education in some regions, workplace discrimination, and societal stereotypes. These issues vary in intensity across different societies and cultures.

What are the biggest women issues in India?

In India, major issues faced by women include gender-based violence, dowry-related crimes, female infanticide, limited access to education in some areas, workplace discrimination, and issues related to women's reproductive rights.

What is the need for women empowerment?

Women empowerment is essential to ensure that women have equal opportunities to contribute to and benefit from economic, social, cultural, and political advancements. Empowering women leads to a balanced and progressive society, where all members can thrive.

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Essay on Status of Women in India for Students and Teacher

500+ words essay on status of women in india.

“You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women.”

This is a famous quote by Jawaharlal Nehru on women. The status of women depicts the social, economic and mental condition in a nation. Women have been regarded as a symbol of spirituality in our scriptures. Yet, women were denied rights and equality in ancient Indian civilization. They have been treated badly and unequally to men. Social evils such as dowry , sati-system, child marriage, and female infanticide were widely prevalent in the early ages.  The spread of education and self-consciousness among women has led to their progress over the period. Women of today are empowered. Also, women are gaining advancements and success in each and every field. True female liberty is only achievable when people shift their restrictive attitudes and mindsets regarding women.

essay on status of women in india

History of the Status of Women in India

Going back to our origins, we can see how vital women are to society, not only biologically, but also culturally. Women have been mentioned in our Vedas and ancient books since ancient times, and they have been assigned important positions. Because of the contributions of women, the texts of Ramayana and Mahabharat have been tremendously influenced and due to women, they may have become the most sacred of all.

But during the past few centuries, the conditions of women worsen. Previously, women were referred to as housekeepers. It was thought and passed down to others that women are meant to marry, take care of the house and their in-laws, and sacrifice all of their aspirations in order to realise the dreams of their husbands and children. Furthermore, women were kept out of school because families believed that only boys deserved to be educated and follow their aspirations. Women were married off at a young age, and occasionally without their consent. They have also been subjected to a slew of dehumanising practises, societal neglect, and rituals designed to limit them, and they are frequently considered commodities rather than human beings.

Women in India in Ancient Age

Women, in the early ages, were very educated but suffered from the evils of society. Some open-minded citizens like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda , Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and others worked for the wellbeing of women. Thus, the practices of sati, child marriage, and others were abolished. Various acts such as the Child Marriage Restraint Act were passed in this direction. Mahatma Gandhi also emphasized the abolition of child marriages.

Women were also provided training in martial arts. Moreover, women acquired a significant position in politics. Sarojini Naidu was a key figure in this context. She was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the governor of a state in India. Indira Gandhi was another woman who stood out in a male-dominated field. She became India’s first female Prime Minister and effectively led the country for fourteen years, contributing to domestic and financial progress.

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Women in Free India

Gender equality.

Women today are eager to take up professions and work. Thus, they enjoy equal respect and dignity in the family. Women in free India also enjoy equal pay for equal work in comparison to men. Also, there are provisions for maternity leave for them. Furthermore, females are provided equality of opportunity under Article 16 of the Constitution of India.

Educational Status

The girls in urban areas are almost at par in education with the boys. But there is a less educated female population in rural areas. This has also affected the social and economic development of rural India. The poor (hygienic facilities) facilities at school and lack of female staff have affected education. Kerala and Mizoram have a universal literacy rate.

Women and Politics

The maximum figure of female politicians in the world is from India. Women have occupied significant positions i.e. of President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and other high offices. “ Indira Gandhi ”, is the first female who held the office of the Prime Minister for 15 years.

Evils Against Women

The violence against women in India includes kitchen fires for want of dowry, sexual assaults, cases of rape, prostitution, throwing of acid. Also, the evils of child marriages are also widespread even today. Female infanticide, indecent behaviour, and honour killings add to the misery of the women. Also, sex-selective abortion is a deep-rooted evil leading to inequality in the sex ratio.

Current Status of Women in India

Following the development of the freedom movement across the nation, the ladies of the society began to emerge and burst through their shells. A larger proportion of women began to be given the opportunity to study and seek education. Currently, India does not have a shortage of women in the medical, technical, teaching, legal, or any other profession. India has seen an increase in the number of empowered women holding higher positions in various offices and organisations.

Women are involved in a variety of occupations and compete alongside males in a variety of disciplines such as technology, law, administration, teaching, and so on. Apart from traditional occupations, we have women who thrive in sports, such as P.T. Usha, Sania Mirza, P.V Sindhu, Mithali Raj, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, Dipa Karmakar, and others, who have represented and inspired many aspiring sportswomen in India.

We also have women who have had a significant impact on the art and entertainment industries since their inception, as well as cultural icons in many schools of art. Indira Gandhi, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, Annie Besant, Mahadevi Verma, Nita Ambani, Sachet Kripalani, Amrita Pritam, Sushma Swaraj, Padmaja Naidu, Kalpana Chawla, Mother Teresa, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, and others are some of the great Indian women leaders, social reformers, social workers, administrators, and literary personalities who have significantly changed the women’s status.

There has been a steady transformation in the status of women in comparison to earlier periods. Women of today take part completely in areas such as politics, status, military sectors, economic, service, and technology sectors. Moreover, they have contributed wholly to sports too. Thus, they have occupied a dignified position in family and society.

However, ending crimes against women is still a challenge. Even after significant advancements in women’s rights in India, they are still exploited, harassed, and abused in a variety of ways such as rape, sex discrimination, and so on. We can prevent ills by ensuring women’s autonomy, also increasing participation and decision making power in the family and public life.

FAQ’s on Status Of Women In India Essay

Question 1: What is the present state of women’s rights in India?

Answer 1: Women’s standing in India has evolved as a result of education and other societal progress. They are also given the freedom to pursue their objectives, obtain an education, and make their job goals a reality. Even in marriage, women are given the liberty to express themselves. Women in India today are well aware of their rights and benefits, and they are no longer politically, socially, economically, or educationally backward. They now have the same opportunities and rights as everyone else. They are capable of achieving any position or status in life.

Question 2: What is the Government of India’s role in improving the status of women in India?

Answer 2: The government has adopted numerous regulations and laws in favour of women. The Indian government launched a slew of initiatives aimed at empowering women in the country. Each of these plans is created with a focus on women and their needs in mind, so that Indian women, like women all around the world, can achieve all of their goals and enjoy a life of equal status. Among the most well-known schemes are:

  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
  • Women Helpline Scheme
  • Nari Shakti Puraskar
  • Mahila Police Volunteers
  • Mahila Shakti Kendras (MSK)

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Women’s Status and Secondary Position Essay

The secondary position of women within the community was more clearly defined during the European Renaissance. Humanist literature, on the other hand, began to appear during this time and offered an alternative viewpoint on women’s experiences in European society. The fundamental idea inherent in most works of art was that behind every great man was a great woman. Even though this idiom carried a positive meaning, it was evident that important women in a man’s life were not always associated with his achievements. It is even less surprising that the secondary status of women in society was more markedly defined during the European Renaissance. Considering the lack of equality and scarce women’s rights, it was unsurprising to see those biases exist. The representation of women in Renaissance texts showed that women were limited in their agency, but their place in society’s mind was slowly beginning to change. If one subscribes to the idea of continuities in human history, one can look to earlier developments in Western thought with regard to women to find the seeds for present-day women’s status. This article analyzes how women were portrayed in the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and the Heptameron by Queen Marguerite de Navarre, two Renaissance manuscripts.

In the Decameron , for example, Boccaccio focused on how women’s status affected their exposure to emotional experiences. Females were largely expected “to suffer in silence if their hearts had been crushed by a love interest” (Boccaccio 63). This statement can be perceived as a direct recognition of women and their feelings, especially with all the previous restrictions in mind that left many females unable to prove their point. Boccaccio sympathizes with women and understands that the latter were unjustly “restricted by the wishes, whims, and commands of fathers, mothers, brothers, and husbands” (63). His recognition of the woman’s plight and subsequent female characters in his stories shone a different light on the female experience in European culture. For instance, Madonna Filippa defends the unfair laws that targeted women but not men in the Decameron to prevent herself from being executed. By shedding a completely different light on females, Boccaccio paved the way for women’s respective agency and positive experiences in Europe. Even without the Decameron being a feminist manifesto, it still conveyed that women could be cunning and deserving praise. Considering the points described above, it is safe to say that women in the Decameron still had some power despite their restrictions. They could make their own decisions and occasionally even outsmart humanity. In Renaissance society, where women were frequently expected to be loyal and subservient to the men in their lives, these instances of the female agency were important. The existence of weaker female characters was no longer shown as something regular because everyone should be equal before judgment.

On the other hand, there was a collection of stories titled the Heptameron by Queen Marguerite de Navarre. De Navarre’s text and the Decameron have numerous similarities, especially in light of women’s place in society. Primarily, the Heptameron is similar to the Decameron in that women are described as either wives or lovers indicating that their place in society was defined by their relationship to men. The representation of women was nearly vicious in the past, with most females being displayed as mere objects of male desires. One example is a prior who “turned into a wolf” while preying on nuns to satisfy his sexual desires (255). Marie Heroet was able to thwart the prior’s overtures in the Heptameron and report him to the authorities, which eventually resulted in his arrest. The narration presents female strength through patience, virtue, and reverence. While the focal point of Boccaccio’s stories was female wit, de Navarre decided to facilitate her stories via female characters’ undeniable righteousness. In the Heptameron , women are able to make their own choices and escape the unfairness of men’s games where the powerful become corrupt. Even in the face of female dependence on men, it was evident that the main characters of de Navarre’s literary work persevered and attained justice. This is why the author stated that Marie “received the recognition she deserved for the virtues implanted in her by God” (265). In the Heptameron , the thin line between injustice and impartiality is erased to highlight the importance of treating women and men equally. Regardless of other literary works published in the Renaissance era, it can be claimed that the Decameron and the Heptameron are predictors of equal treatment and an empathetic approach to relationships between genders.

To conclude, Boccaccio and de Navarre thoroughly understood women’s place in European society during the Renaissance. Both the Decameron and the Heptameron paid significant attention to the secondary status of women in society and outlined the need to celebrate each of their steps forward. These Renaissance texts reflect that although women occupied a secondary status in society, their place and qualities were more openly recognized and even celebrated, which can be seen as a step towards greater female equality in Western society. The long history of female oppression could be seen as overpowered by the idea that females may have every right to pursue personal and professional aspirations. Even during eras of great intellectual exploration and accomplishment, men would do well to recognize the important women in their lives appropriately. Hence, it is vital to hypothesize that beside, every great man is a great woman. This way, females would get significantly more recognition, and males would be willing to advocate for women as partners and not rivals. When keeping their partners behind, both men and women can be prone to overlook the fact that collaboration is more effective than rivalry. Boccaccio and de Navarre managed to intertwine masculinity and femininity in their literary works without making one of the genders look weaker. This display of agency made the Decameron and the Heptameron stand out among other Renaissance texts and give recognition to every person who deserved it.

Works Cited

Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron . United Kingdom, A.H. Bullen, 1903.

de Navarre, Marguerite. The Heptameron . United States, Gates, 1877.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Gender Equality — The Evolving Role of Women in Society Today

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The Evolving Role of Women in Society Today

  • Categories: Gender Equality Women's Rights

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Published: Sep 16, 2023

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Historical context, key achievements, challenges faced, the path forward, 1. education:, 2. workforce participation:, 3. political engagement:, 4. social advocacy:, 1. gender pay gap:, 2. underrepresentation:, 3. gender-based violence:, 4. unpaid care work:, 1. closing the gender pay gap:, 2. promoting women in leadership:, 3. combating gender-based violence:, 4. redistributing unpaid care work:, 5. education and awareness:.

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women's position in society essay

Visualizing the data: Women’s representation in society

Date: 25 February 2020

Women’s full and equal participation in all facets of society is a fundamental human right. Yet, around the world, from politics to entertainment to the workplace, women and girls are largely underrepresented.

The visualizations below take a closer look at this gender-imbalanced picture over time, revealing just how slow progress is. Rooted in patriarchal norms and traditions, the consequences are far-reaching with detrimental, negative consequences on the personal, economic and future well-being of women and girls, their families and the community at large.

Building a sustainable future for all, means leaving no one behind. Women and girls are critical to finding solutions to the biggest challenges we face today and must be heard, valued and celebrated throughout society to reflect their perspectives and choices for their future and that of the advancement of humanity.

How many more generations are needed for women and girls to realize their rights? Join Generation Equality to demand equal rights and opportunities or all. Share this piece today using #GenerationEquality, #IWD2020 and #CSW64.

Politics 

Women’s political representation globally has doubled in the last 25 years. But, this only amounts to around 1 in 4 parliamentary seats held by women today. 

Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in the highest political positions. In October 2019, there were only 10 women Head of State and 13 women Head of Government across 22 countries, compared with four Head of State and eight Prime Ministers across 12 countries in 1995.

Source:  Inter-Parliamentary Union (Data as of 1 January 2020); Report of the UN Secretary-General E/CN.6/2020/3

In June 2019, the Fortune 500 hit a milestone with the most women CEOs on record. While every gain is a win, the sum as a whole is a bleak picture: Out of the 500 chief executives leading the highest-grossing firms, just under 7 per cent are women.

When looking at the workforce as a whole, the gender gap in labour force participation among prime working age adults (25 to 54) has stagnated over the past 20 years. Improved education among women has done little to shift deeply entrenched occupational segregation in developed and developing countries. Women continue to carry out a disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work. In developing countries, that includes arduous tasks such as water collection, for which women and girls are responsible in 80 per cent of households that do not have access to water on the premises.

Source:  Fortune 500 (Data as of 1 June 2019); Catalyst ;  Report of the UN Secretary-General E/CN.6/2020/3

Culture and sciences

Bestowed annually to recognize intellectual achievement and academic, cultural and scientific advances, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to more than 900 individuals in the course of its history from 1901 to 2019. Only 53 of the winners have been women, 19 in the categories of physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine. Marie Curie became the first female laureate in 1903, when she and her husband won a joint Prize for physics. Eight years later she was solely awarded the Chemistry Prize, making her the only woman in history to win the Nobel Prize twice. Although women have been behind a number of scientific discoveries throughout history, just 30 per cent of researchers worldwide and 35 per cent of all students enrolled in STEM-related fields of study are women.

Source:  The Nobel Foundation  (Data as of 2019);  Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2019 , UN Women

When it comes to equality of men and women in news media, progress has virtually ground to a halt. According to the largest study on the portrayal, participation and representation of women in the news media spanning 20 years and 114 countries, only 24 per cent of the persons heard, read about or seen in newspaper, television and radio news are women. A glass ceiling also exists for women news reporters in newspaper bylines and newscast reports, with 37 per cent of stories reported by women as of 2015, showing no change over the course of a decade. Despite the democratizing promise of digital media, women’s poor representation in traditional news media is also reflected in digital news, with women making up only 26 per cent of the people in Internet news stories and media news tweets. Only 4 per cent of traditional news and digital news stories clearly challenge gender stereotypes. Among other factors, stereotypes and the significant underrepresentation of women in the media play a significant role in shaping harmful attitudes of disrespect and violence towards women.

Source:  The Global Media Monitoring Project (Data as of 2015); Report of the UN Secretary-General E/CN.6/2020/3

Entertainment

Like other forms of media, film and television have a powerful influence in shaping cultural perceptions and attitudes towards gender and are key to shifting the narrative for the gender equality agenda. Yet, an analysis of popular films across 11 countries found, for example, that 31 per cent of all speaking characters were women and that only 23 per cent featured a female protagonist—a number that closely mirrored the percentage of women filmmakers (21 per cent). 

The gross underrepresentation of women in the film industry is also glaringly evident in critically acclaimed film awards: In the 92-year history of the Oscars, only five women have ever been nominated for the Best Director Award category; and one woman—Kathryn Bigelow—has ever won. And, Jane Campion remains the only woman director to have won the Cannes Film Festival’s top, most prestigious prize, the Palme d’Or, in its 72-year history. The only other women to have received the prize—but jointly—were actresses Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux with the movie's male director Abdellatif Kechiche. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the message is worth a million: If we are to shift stereotypical notions of gender and reflect women’s realities, we need more women in film, on-screen and off-screen. 

Source:  The Official Academy Awards® Database (Data as of 2020); A Brief History of the Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival (Data as of 2019)

Sports has the power to inspire change and break gender stereotypes—and women have been doing just that decade after decade, showing that they are just as capable, resilient and strong as men physically, but also strategically, as leaders and game changers (Generation Equality pro tip: Watch Billie Jean King’s history-altering tennis match Battle of the Sexes).

Today, women are far more visible in sports than ever before: The Tokyo 2020 Olympics is projected to have close to equal representation of women and men competing for the first time in its history. For comparison, only 22 women (2.2 per cent) out of a total of 997 athletes competed in the modern Olympics for the first time in 1900. Women and men will compete in almost all sports categories with an exception: Rhythmic gymnastics and artistic swimming are women’s-only events and Greco-Roman wrestling is a men's-only event—although women can compete in freestyle wrestling.

Despite progress, women still continue to be excluded in certain sports in parts of the world and are paid far less than men in wages and prize money globally. UN Women is working to level the playing field for women and girls, including through partnerships with the International Olympic Committee, and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and all-time top scorer of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Marta Vieira da Silva. 

women's position in society essay

Source:  The International Olympic Committee (Data as of 2020); FIFA (Data as of 2019)

Culinary arts

Despite women being prescribed stereotypical roles in the kitchen at home, the upper echelons of the restaurant industry have remained relatively closed to female chefs. As detailed in the documentary A Fine Line , women must often overcome active discrimination and navigate a culture that both glorifies masculinity and tacitly condones harassment. Paired with long, unpredictable and inflexible working hours, unfriendly family and childcare policies and lower salaries, women face enormous challenges when entering the restaurant business. The numbers match the story: Today, just under 4 per cent of chefs with three Michelin stars (the highest rating you can get) from the prominent restaurant guide are women. 

Source:  Michelin (Data as of 2019)

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Status of Women in India Essay

Women's equality and empowerment are crucial for a society's overall development and prosperity. When women can fully participate in all aspects of a society and have equal opportunities and rights, it can lead to a range of positive outcomes for individuals and the community.

  • 100 Words Essay on Status of Women in India

Women in India have a long history of facing challenges and inequalities, particularly regarding socio-economic status, education, and healthcare. Despite some progress in recent years, such as more women entering the workforce and taking on leadership roles, these issues persist. Gender discrimination and the gender gap in education are significant problems, with girls often facing barriers to education and career advancement.

200 Words Essay on Status of Women in India

500 words essay on status of women in india, modern challenges and inequalities, gender-based violence, recent trends.

Status of Women in India Essay

Additionally, women in India suffer from high rates of violence and discrimination, including domestic abuse and harassment in the workplace. These challenges significantly impact the lives and opportunities of women in India. Ensuring that women have good and equal status in society is crucial for promoting social justice and building strong, inclusive communities.

The status of women in India has undergone significant changes in recent years, but many challenges and inequalities persist. In ancient India, women were traditionally viewed as inferior to men and often relegated to a subordinate role. However, during the Vedic period, women enjoyed a higher status and were afforded more rights and freedoms than in later periods.

In modern India, women still face several challenges and inequalities. Despite the constitutional guarantee of equality, women continue to be disadvantaged in many areas, including education, employment, and health care. One of the most significant challenges women face in India is gender-based violence.

Domestic violence, sexual assault, and acid attacks are all common forms of violence faced by women in India. In addition, the country has one of the world's highest rates of female infanticide.

Women's participation in politics and public life in India is also limited. While there have been some notable female political leaders in India, such as Indira Gandhi and current president Droupadi Murumu, women are still underrepresented in positions of power. Overall, the status of women in India has improved in recent years, but significant challenges and inequalities remain. Efforts to address these issues, including education and increased public participation, will significantly promote gender equality in India.

The status of women in India has been a subject of significant discourse and debate for centuries. While progress has been made in recent years towards gender equality, women in India still face numerous challenges and discrimination in various spheres of life.

Due to son preference, women in India are treated unfairly and discriminatorily from the moment they are born and are discriminated against for the rest of their lives. This discrimination is evident in the persistent gender gap in education, with girls facing numerous barriers to education and career advancement.

The lack of education hinders the personal and professional development of girls and women and has broader negative consequences for society. As the former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated, "Investing in girls' education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty. When girls are educated, their whole communities benefit."

In addition to the gender gap in education, women in India face significant violence and discrimination. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, "a crime against a woman is committed every three minutes in India." Domestic violence, in particular, is a pervasive issue, with many women suffering from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of their partners. As the former President of India, Pratibha Patil, stated, "Violence against women violates their human rights. It is a blight on our society and a challenge to our development."

Furthermore, women in India often face discrimination and harassment in the workplace, which can prevent them from achieving their full potential and contribute to the gender pay gap. This illustrates the broader issues of gender inequality and discrimination that women in India face, as well as the need for progress towards gender equality and women's empowerment.

Having good and equal status in society allows women to realise their potential and pursue their goals and aspirations fully. It also promotes their overall well-being and quality of life, as they are less likely to face discrimination and violence.

Despite these challenges, there have been some positive developments in recent years towards improving the status of women in India. The government has implemented several laws and policies to protect women's rights and promote gender equality, such as the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act. In addition, there has been a growing movement for women's empowerment and gender equality, with more women speaking out about their experiences and advocating for change.

However, much work still needs to be done to address the challenges facing women in India and to create a more equal and inclusive society. As per the United Nations Development Programme, "Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world." The government, civil society, and the broader community must address the issues facing women in India and promote gender equality for the benefit of all. Furthermore, gender equality is a fundamental human right and a necessary foundation for a just and fair society.

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Position of Women In the Modern Indian Society | Sociology Optional for UPSC Civil Services Examination | Triumph

Position of Women In the Modern Indian SocietyBest Sociology Optional Coaching, Sociology Optional Syllabus.

Position of Women In the Modern Indian Society  

Table of Contents

(Relevant for Sociology Optional for Civil Services Examination)

Position of Women In the Modern Indian Society, Best Sociology Optional Coaching, Sociology Optional Syllabus

Introduction   

  • Women from different sections of the society are placed in very different situations in modern India. Some women are entering new fields and achieving the same feats as men, while some girls are being killed even before they are born. In earlier times women were seen only in the household, but this expectation is changing slowly, as they are coming to the fore and challenging traditional mindsets.
  • The modern Indian society, impacted by globalization and influenced by values of equality and liberty, seems to have accepted a more elevated position of women.
  • Main theme of the essay : The position of women in our society is determined by contradictory values, concerns, and forces. While there is great improvement in their position, when we compare it to that of men, there is a long way to go before equality is achieved.

Areas where position of women is equal to men

  • When it comes to political rights, the Indian Constitution grants equal position to men and women, such as the right to vote, to contest elections, and to citizenship.
  • Women and men are considered equal in law. They enjoy equal rights and privileges and all rules apply to them equally. In fact, some legal provisions, such as the law against dowry, seek to improve the current position of women in society.
  • Some may also argue that in jobs, salaries, and other economic opportunities women enjoy equal position as men, bur this can be contested as there is hidden discrimination against women employees while hiring, offering salaries, etc.

Areas where the position of women is unequal to men

  • Women enjoy lower status than men in many cultures and families when it comes to deciding whom to marry, inheriting property, and getting equal pay for equal work among other things.
  • If we look at development indicators such as health, educational achievements, and wealth/income, it is clear that Indian women fair worse than Indian men. This points towards systemic bias against women in the society.
  • Women face higher levels of violence, unfair treatment in society, and unequal access to resources when compared with men.

Factors that affect the position of women

  • Cultural bias against girls and preference for sons majorly undermines position of women in private as well as public sphere.
  • Like most modern societies, Indian society is patriarchal and this leads to unequal position of women although that is being challenged and changed.

Future of women’s position in India

  • The future for women looks positive in modern India if we compare their position vis-a-vis men at the time of independence to now. Women have better access to education, health, and opportunities than before even though not equal.
  • The government has played an important role in hastening the process of women’s empowerment through various acts, schemes, and provisions, such as reservation in local panchayats, but it needs to continue aggressive efforts to give equal position to women.
  • The cultural attitude towards women in India is changing with changing times, as women are getting educated, proving their mettle, and showing that they can be positioned equal to men if they are given the same opportunities.
  • Women in modern Indian society enjoy equal position as men in many areas such as politics, economics, and legal rights, although in many areas they are still not treated equal to men.
  • Patriarchal society, cultural preference for sons, and systemic bias against women have undermined their position in the society for a long time.
  • The future looks bright for women in modern Indian society as government initiatives are helping them overcome prejudice and society attitudes are changing. Women are proving to be capable of being equal to men, as they get more opportunities.
  • Keywords: position, women, modern Indian society
  • It is a straightforward topic with many examples and arguments to be given, so choose and organize your content with care and set your essay apart with uncommon examples.
  • Note that the crux of the topic lies in analysing the position of women vis-a-vis the position of men. We cannot talk about one without the other; so the essay should address this aspect clearly and adequately.

Symbolic Interactionism Sociology, Symbolic interaction, meaningful symbols, social interaction, human behavior, language, dramaturgical analysis, labeling approach, sociological theories, critical analysis.

To master these intricacies and fare well in the  Sociology Optional Syllabus,  aspiring sociologists might benefit from guidance by the  Best Sociology Optional Teacher  and participation in the  Best Sociology Optional Coaching.  These avenues provide comprehensive assistance, ensuring a solid understanding of sociology’s diverse methodologies and techniques.

Position of Women, Women India, Modern Indian Society, Women in India, Gender equality, Women’s position, Indian society, Cultural bias, Patriarchy, Women’s empowerment, Gender discrimination, Progress, Challenges, Prospects

Why Vikash Ranjan’s Classes for Sociology?

Proper guidance and assistance are required to learn the skill of interlinking current happenings with the conventional topics.  VIKASH RANJAN SIR  at  TRIUMPH IAS  guides students according to the Recent Trends of UPSC, making him the  Best Sociology Teacher  for  Sociology Optional UPSC.

At Triumph IAS, the  Best Sociology Optional Coaching  platform, we not only provide the best study material and applied classes for  Sociology for IAS  but also conduct regular assignments and class tests to assess candidates’ writing skills and understanding of the subject.

Choose  T he Best Sociology Optional Teacher  for IAS Preparation?

At the beginning of the journey for  Civil Services Examination  preparation, many students face a pivotal decision – selecting their optional subject. Questions such as “ which optional subject is the best? ” and “ which optional subject is the most scoring? ” frequently come to mind. Choosing the right optional subject, like choosing the  best sociology optional teacher , is a subjective yet vital step that requires a thoughtful decision based on facts. A misstep in this crucial decision can indeed prove disastrous.

Ever since the exam pattern was revamped in 2013, the UPSC has eliminated the need for a second optional subject. Now, candidates have to choose only one  optional subject for the UPSC Mains , which has two papers of 250 marks each. One of the compelling choices for many has been the sociology optional. However, it’s strongly advised to decide on your optional subject for mains well ahead of time to get sufficient time to complete the syllabus. After all, most students score similarly in General Studies Papers; it’s the score in the optional subject & essay that contributes significantly to the final selection.

“A sound strategy does not rely solely on the popular Opinion of toppers or famous YouTubers cum teachers.”

It requires understanding one’s ability, interest, and the relevance of the subject, not just for the exam but also for life in general. Hence, when selecting the best sociology teacher, one must consider the usefulness of  sociology optional coaching  in  General Studies, Essay, and Personality Test.

The choice of the optional subject should be based on objective criteria, such as the nature, scope, and size of the syllabus, uniformity and stability in the question pattern, relevance of the syllabic content in daily life in society, and the availability of study material and guidance. For example, choosing the  best sociology optional coaching  can ensure access to top-quality study materials and experienced teachers. Always remember, the approach of the UPSC optional subject differs from your academic studies of subjects. Therefore, before settling for  sociology optional , you need to analyze the syllabus, previous years’ pattern, subject requirements (be it ideal, visionary, numerical, conceptual theoretical), and your comfort level with the subject.

This decision marks a critical point in your  UPSC – CSE journey , potentially determining your success in a career in IAS/Civil Services. Therefore, it’s crucial to choose wisely, whether it’s the optional subject or the  best sociology optional teacher . Always base your decision on accurate facts, and never let your emotional biases guide your choices. After all, the search for the  best sociology optional coaching  is about finding the perfect fit for your unique academic needs and aspirations.

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Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Harvard University

  • Research Guides
  • Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
  • National History Day 2021-2022: Debate and Diplomacy
  • Women's Suffrage
  • A Woman's Place
  • Prison Reform and Abolition
  • Civil Rights and Racial Equality
  • Research Tips
  • Ask a Schlesinger Librarian

Images from Schlesinger Library

Woman speaking at a podium in front of large ERA banner.

Women's roles in society have been and continue to be a hotly debated topic. This page of the guide reflects a range of materials throughout history and into the modern day.

Materials in this guide are organized into the following categories:

Advice Literature and Etiquette Books

Domestic labor and home economics.

  • The Equal Rights Amendment

Women in Politics

Materials from this portion of the guide were found by searching  HOLLIS , Harvard's online library catalog, for various search terms such as "elected office," "domestic labor," "home economics," "equal rights amendment," "advice," and "etiquette," among others.

Researchers may also be interested in the Schlesinger Library's Equal Rights Amendment Research Guide , Elected Office Research Guide , Etiquette Research Guide , and Domestic Labor and Home Economics Research Guide .

  • About People Written by Kate Gannett Wells and published in 1885, this book contains chapters on individuality, the "transitional woman," and "caste in American society." About People is available online via Google Books.
  • Advice to Young Men: And (Incidentally) to Young Women This book by William Cobbett is fully entitled Advice to young men: and (incidentally) to young women, in the middle and higher ranks of life : in a series of letters, addressed to a youth, a bachelor, a lover, a husband, a citizen or a subject . Advice to Young Men is available online via Google Books.
  • Blue Book of Etiquette for Women Written by Mrs. Charles Harcourt and published in 1907, the Blue Book of Etiquette for Women is available online via Google Books.
  • The Book of Good Manners Written by Walter Cox Green and publised in 1922, The Book of Good Manners is available online via Google Books .
  • The Correct Thing in Good Society Written by Florence Howe Hall, this book was published in 1888. The Correct Thing is available online via Harvard's Mirador Viewer.
  • Encyclopedia of Etiquette This illustrated book was written by Emily Holt and published in 1902. The Encyclopedia of Etiquette is available online via Google Books.
  • Etiquette : an Answer to the Riddle When? Where? How? Written by Agnes H. Morton and published in 1899, Etiquette is available online via Google Books.
  • Galateo: or, A Treatise on Politeness and Delicacy of Manners This book is attributed to Monsignor Giovanni Della Cassa, and was published in 1811. Galateo is available online via Google Books.
  • Ginger-Snaps Published under the pseudonym Fanny Fern in 1870, this book contains vignettes of nineteenth century life, chiefly in New England, covering such topics as dinner parties, the bride's new house, mourning attire, choosing presents, female clerks, English notions about women, women as speakers, servants, hospitality, men and their clothes, travel, family life and children. Ginger-Snaps is available online via Google Books.
  • To Girls: A Budget of Letters This book was written by Heloise Edwina Hersey and published in 1902. To Girls is available online via Google Books.
  • Manners, Culture, and Dress of the Best American Society Written by Richard A. Wells and published in 1894, Manners, Culture, and Dress is available online via Harvard's Mirador Viewer.
  • A Manual of Politeness This book was published in 1837 in Philadelphia. Manual of Politeness is available online via Google Books.
  • Philosophy of Common Sense This book was written by Mathew Carey and published in 1838. Philosophy of Common Sense is available online via Harvard's Mirador Viewer.
  • Social Customs This book was written by Florence Howe Hall and published in 1911. Social Customs is available online via Google Books.
  • Social Ethics and Society Duties Written under the pseudonym Mrs. H. O. Ward, this book was published in 1892. Social Ethics is available online via Google Books.
  • The Social Mirror Published in 1888 and written by Rose E. Cleveland, this book contains chapters on entering society, the art of conversation, mothering and family government, and culture in the home. The Social Mirror is available online via Google Books.
  • A Treatise on the Education of Daughters This book is attributed to François de Salignac de La Mothe-Fénelon, and was published in 1821. The Treatise is available online via Google Books.
  • The Well-Dressed Woman This book was written by Helen Gilbert Ecob and published in 1892. The Well-Dressed Woman is available online via Cornell University Library's Digital Collections.
  • Black Women Oral History Project Under the auspices of the Schlesinger Library, the Black Women Oral History Project interviewed 72 African-American women between 1976 and 1981. The project sought a cross section of women who had made significant contributions to American society in the first half of the twentieth century. Many of these women spoke on the topic of domestic labor in their interviews, including Melnea Cass , Pleasant Harrison , Annie Nipson , and Esther Mae Scott . The collection consists of audio tapes and transcripts, all have which have been digitized and are available online through the Black Women Oral History Project finding aid , and searchable in Schlesinger Library's subject guide on the Black Women Oral History Project .
  • The Commercialization of the Home through Industrial Home Work The Commercialization of the Home through Industrial Home Work was published by the United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau in 1935. This resource contains statistical information and legislative reports. Commercialization of the Home is available online via Harvard's Mirador Viewer.
  • Guide to Literature of Home and Family Life Published in 1924, this bibliographic work was written by Annie Isabel Robertson, a home economics teacher at Hartford Public High School. Guide to Literature of Home and Family Life is available online via HathiTrust.
  • The Home, Its Work and Influence Written by noted author and speaker Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Home is a book about women and domesticity published in 1910. In it, Gilman advocates for women's economic independence as an avenue towards the improvement of marriage and domestic work. The Schlesinger Library holds two major Gilman manuscript collections: Papers of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1846-ca.1975 and Papers of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1860-1935. In addition to correspondence and diaries, these collections include copies of Gilman’s lectures and articles written on similar topics, including shared kitchens. Schlesinger Library has digitized all of this material which can be accessed in the Charlotte Perkins Gilman Digital Collection.
  • House Plans for Everybody This etiquette book was written by Samuel Burrage Reed and published in 1878. House Plans for Everybody is available online via Google Books.
  • Household Engineering: Scientific Management in the Home Written by Mrs. Christine Frederick and published for the first time in 1915 by the Home Economics Association, this book contains recommendations for the efficient home maker, including family financing and record-keeping, how to run a servantless household (or, alternatively, how to manage houseworkers), and methods of daily planning of housework. Household Engineering is available online through Harvard's Mirador Viewer.
  • Labor Laws Affecting Private Household Workers This short bulletin was published by the United States Department of Labor's Wage and Labor Standard Administration Women's Bureau in 1969. It contains statistics and analyses on wages (as well as payment and collection), hours of work, unemployment compensation, and social security. Online access to Labor Laws Affecting Private Household Workers is available via HathiTrust.
  • Progress in the Household Published in 1906 and written by Lucy Maynard Salmon, this etiquette book contains such chapters as "Put Yourself in His Place," "Education in the Household," and "The Relation of College Women to Domestic Science." Progress in the Household is available online via Google Books.
  • Women's Educational and Industrial Union The Women's Educational and Industrial Union was a non-profit social and educational agency founded in 1877 by Dr. Harriet Clisby with the goal of increasing "fellowship among women and to promote the best practical methods for securing their educational, industrial, and social advancement." This collection includes a manuscript history of the Union, printed material regarding the work and operation of various departments, and reports from the Appointment Bureau and Research Department. One item, the WEIU Bulletin's Vocation Series from 1911-1912, has been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Union's records. Although not digitized, related material can be found in the Additional Records of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.

Equal Rights Amendment

  • Toni Carabillo (1926-1997) and Judith Meuli (b. 1938) A feminist and long-time activist with the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Feminist Majority Foundation, Virginia A. "Toni" Carabillo joined NOW in 1966 and one year later helped found the California chapters. She served as president of the Los Angeles Chapter of NOW (1968-1970, 1980-1982), was a member of NOW’s national Board of Directors (1968-1977), served as a national Vice President (1971-1974), and chaired NOW’s National Advisory Committee (1975-1977). She was also the director (ca. 1980) of the NOW Equal Rights Amendment Countdown office in Los Angeles during the final ratification drive. Judith Kay Meuli, an activist in NOW since 1967, met Carabillo at a meeting of NOW in 1967. Carabillo was president of the newly founded Los Angeles NOW and needed someone to run for secretary; Meuli volunteered. They were soon in a political partnership – and relationship – that lasted from 1968 until Carabillo’s death in 1997. Some of the collection has been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Carabillo and Meuli Papers.
  • Betty Friedan (1921-2006) Feminist, activist, and author Betty Goldstein Friedan helped found the National Organization for Women and served as its first president (1966-1970). Her first book, The Feminine Mystique, was published in 1963. Afterward, Friedan quickly became a leading advocate for change in the status of women in the United States. Her subsequent books include It Changed My Life (1976), The Second Stage (1981), and The Fountain of Age (1993). Friedan advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment through her work with NOW and debated Phyllis Schlafly about the issue. Digitized files of her radio broadcasts, speeches, and lectures in the online finding aid for the Audio Collection of Betty Friedan , including recordings of her debate of the ERA with Phyllis Schlaffly.
  • National Organization for Women, Chapter Newsletter Collection This collection consists of NOW chapter newsletters from the United States and affiliates in France, Germany, and the Philippines. The newsletters, which vary greatly in length and substance, provide a window into social and political issues relevant to local groups of women across the country. Newsletter topics include information and positions on national, state, and local legislation (e.g., Equal Rights Amendment, reproductive rights, employment issues, etc.); upcoming events (demonstrations, rallies, fundraising activities, etc.); summaries of meetings and task force activities; lists of officers (and occasionally, numbers and names of members); coalitions with other groups; etc. Digital material from the collection is available in the online finding aid for the NOW Chapter Newsletter Collection.
  • Alice Paul (1885-1977) A Quaker, lawyer, and lifelong activist for women's rights, Alice Paul was appointed chair of the Congressional Committee of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1912. In June 1916, following a clash between advocates of a federal amendment and proponents of a state-by-state approach, Paul founded the National Woman's Party, its sole plank a resolution calling for immediate passage of the federal amendment guaranteeing the enfranchisement of women. After the ratification of the suffrage amendment in 1920, the NWP began a long battle to end all legal discrimination against women in the United States and to raise the legal, social, and economic status of women around the world. The Equal Rights Amendment, as written by Paul in 1923, was first introduced in Congress in December of that year. A vast amount of digital material is available in the online finding aid for the Papers of Alice Paul.
  • Politics of the Equal Rights Amendment Audiotapes This collection consists of 26 audiotaped interviews conducted by Janet K. Boles between January and May 1974 with state legislators and groups of supporters and opponents of the ERA in Texas, Illinois, and Georgia. Boles is the author of The Politics of the Equal Rights Amendment: Conflict and the Decision Process (1979), one of the first books to examine state ratification of the ERA. Audio files from the collection have been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Politics of the ERA Audiotape Collection.
  • Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) Rankin was a pacifist, feminist, and congresswoman representing Montana. She was the only member of Congress to vote against United States participation in both world wars. In the 1920s, she worked for the National Consumers' League and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and founded the Georgia Peace Society. She traveled extensively, especially in India, and worked for the Equal Rights Amendment. The collection contains correspondence, card files, financial papers, articles, speeches, pamphlets, leafless, and other materials. Digitized audio of interviews with Rankin is available in the online finding aid for the Papers of Jeannette Rankin.
  • Leila J. Rupp (b. 1950) and Verta A. Taylor Audiotapes Rupp and Taylor conducted interviews with women who played significant roles in the American women's rights movement as research for their book Survival in the Doldrums: The American Women's Rights Movement, 1945 to the 1960s . Each interviewee is asked to discuss when or if she became a feminist, the women's movement during the period from World War II through the early 1960s, and her relationship to the National Women's Party (NWP). Three audiotapes have been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Rupp and Taylor Interview Collection.
  • Doris Stevens (1888-1963) Doris Stevens (Oberlin, B.A., 1911) was active in organizations for the advancement of women both in the United States and internationally, in addition to being an author and composer. She was a suffrage organizer and a member of the National Woman's Party and the Lucy Stone League. She also served as chair of the Inter-American Commission of Women (1928-1939). In 1931 Stevens became the first woman member of the American Institute of International Law. A vast amount of material from the collection has been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Papers of Doris Stevens.
  • Julia Butler Hanson [in Interviews with Congresswomen by Katie Louchheim] Katie Louchheim was a government official and was active in the Democratic Party. The collection contains transcripts of oral history interviews conducted by Katie Louchheim with Congresswomen, and the digitized audiotape of her interview with Julia Butler Hansen , a member of the House of Representatives from Washington's third district, is available openly online.
  • Patsy Mink [in Papers of Peggy Lamson] The collection is made up of audiotapes and transcripts of interviews of congresswomen and women in government service, which Lamson conducted for her book Few Are Chosen (1968). The audio recording of Lamson's interview of Patsy Mink has been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Papers of Peggy Lamson.
  • National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) was formed in 1971 as a multiparty organization seeking to gain an equal voice and place for women in the political process at the local, state and national levels. The Caucus and its state affiliates support women candidates for elected and appointive offices and seek to ensure that women hold policy-making positions in all political parties. The collection documents the internal and external activities and the philosophy of the National Women's Political Caucus, particularly after 1977. Digital material is available in the online finding aid for the NWPC Audiotape Collection.
  • Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) A pacifist and feminist (University of Montana, B.A., 1902), Rankin was the first woman elected to congress, representing Montana for the 1917-1919 and 1941-1943 terms; she also was the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. participation in both world wars. The collection includes campaign materials, speeches, and correspondence with both government officials and constituents. Some material from the collection has been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Papers of Jeanette Rankin. There is related material in the Additional Papers of Jeanette Rankin.
  • Women in the Federal Government Oral History Project Under the auspices of the Schlesinger Library, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Women in Federal Government Oral History Project has interviewed 39 women in appointive and civil service positions in various departments and offices of the United States federal government. The collection consists of tapes and transcripts of the oral histories and supporting documentation. Topics covered include the interviewee's family background, education, choice and development of career and how it was affected by her sex, personal circumstances, memberships in organizations, awards, and her attitudes towards the Equal Rights Amendment and the women's movement. The audio of two interviews, those of Lucile Atcherson Curtis and Isabelle M. Kelley, has been digitized and made available in the online finding aid for the Interviews.
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Gender and employment: Recalibrating women's position in work, organizations, and society in times of COVID‐19

Chantal remery.

1 Utrecht University School of Economics, Utrecht the Netherlands

Richard J. Petts

2 Ball State University, Muncie Indiana, USA

Joop Schippers

3 Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, Utrecht University, Utrecht the Netherlands

Mara A. Yerkes

4 Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht the Netherlands

The COVID‐19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of women in the labor market and the unrecognized value of essential occupations such as care and education (Queisser et al.,  2020 ). In many countries across the world, people applauded care workers from their balconies in the spring of 2020 (Wikipedia,  2022 ), in essence clapping for the many women employed in the strongly feminized care sector. Similarly, workers in the strongly feminized educational sector have shown resilience in providing school‐age children with opportunities to continue education during COVID‐19‐induced lockdowns. At the same time, the pandemic highlights the continued undervaluation of women's work—both paid and unpaid—and appears to enhance the precarious nature of women's employment, in some cases causing women to lose their jobs at a rate faster than men (ILO,  2021 ). Indeed, the disproportionate effect of the early pandemic on women's employment (and mothers' employment in particular) has been well‐documented in other issues of Gender, Work & Organization (e.g., Collins et al.,  2021 ; Petts et al.,  2021 ; Yildirim & Eslen‐Ziya,  2021 ).

This special issue builds on previous work published in Gender, Work & Organization to explore the recalibration of women's position in work, organizations, and society due to the pandemic. We asked for papers addressing key questions such as: How has the COVID‐19 pandemic affected women's labor force participation? Are there any signs of diminishing occupational and/or vertical segregation resulting from the COVID‐19 pandemic? At the intersection of work and family, how has the COVID‐19 pandemic affected work‒family balance among working men and women? Are there signs of a redistribution of household and caring tasks, or has the pandemic exacerbated existing gender inequalities? At the organizational level, how do employers respond to the COVID‐19 pandemic? How have expectations regarding work changed, and can gendered patterns be identified? And at a societal level, why does female labor (both paid and unpaid) remain so undervalued? Has the COVID‐19 pandemic led to an increase in the value of some forms of female labor? To what extent will the COVID‐19 pandemic change gendered (power) relations in the labor market and organizations?

We wanted to attract papers focused on moving forward after the COVID‐19 crisis, centering around the long‐term gendered consequences of the pandemic. How and in what ways might women take the lead in shaping a more sustainable economy, based on a broader concept of welfare that goes beyond the traditional welfare concept, primarily focused on economic growth in terms of GDP? How might the COVID‐19 pandemic continue to change workplaces and organizations moving forward? Will such changes alter or reinforce the traditional gendered (power) structure of these institutions? What will happen to women's visibility if part of the work will be permanently done from home? To what extent will these changes intersect with broader gender inequality issues arising from technological advancements (e.g., telework)? Academically, how does the COVID‐19 pandemic extend or challenge our theoretical knowledge about gendered labor markets, gendered workplaces, and/or gendered distributions of paid work, care tasks, household tasks, and leisure? To what extent does the COVID‐19 pandemic challenge existing gender and/or feminist theories about women's position at home, in the workplace, and in society more broadly? Given that the pandemic has endured for over 2 years, it is likely to have long‐lasting effects on gendered dynamics within work, organizations, and families. As such, examining questions such as these are vital for gaining insight into the effects of the pandemic and identifying strategies for reducing gendered inequalities that the pandemic has exacerbated.

In response to our call for papers, we received an overwhelming 39 abstracts from all over the world in late September 2021. Most abstracts (17) were from academics located in Europe, eight were from other Western countries (i.e., U.S., Canada, and Australia) and 14 were from non‐Western countries, including Africa (2), Asia (10), and Central and South America (2). We selected 15 abstracts to be sent out for peer review (11 from Western, 4 from non‐Western countries), focusing on abstracts that combined theoretical and empirical contributions related to the questions listed above (or similar questions). Our aim was to give attention to short‐ and long‐term changes brought about by diverse global experiences with the COVID‐19 pandemic, with papers employing a broad variety of methodologies. We explicitly emphasized the need for a theoretical contribution, as a primary goal of this special issue is to contribute to theory advancement by relating findings from the COVID‐19 pandemic to existing theoretical knowledge about gendered labor markets, gendered workplaces, and/or the gendered distribution of paid work, care tasks, household tasks, and leisure. Following multiple rounds of blinded peer review, a total of six papers were selected for publication in this special issue. One paper focuses on the gendered impact of the pandemic in India, and five focus on European countries.

Although we aimed to provide a global overview of the gendered impacts of the pandemic, the papers in this special issue largely focus on the European context. The majority of papers from authors in the Global North may be attributed in part to the advantages of having (access to) a well‐established data collection infrastructure. Indeed, four of the six papers rely on quantitative analyses emerging from nationally representative panel datasets with such infrastructures. Many researchers also struggled and continue to struggle with care responsibilities heightened by the pandemic (Viglione,  2020 ). The disadvantages faced by researchers are unevenly distributed within countries (e.g., female academics are affected more than their male counterparts; Squazzoni et al.,  2021 ), and are also likely unevenly distributed across researchers from different countries, for example, due to cross‐country differences in vaccine and healthcare infrastructures (Stok et al.,  2021 ). Although we would have welcomed a broader global perspective for the special issue than the current focus largely on the European context, the six papers published in this issue each provide key insights into the effects of the first year of the pandemic on gendered dynamics within work, organizations, and families.

The pandemic is clearly affecting the division of unpaid work among parents in gendered ways (e.g., Hipp & Bünning,  2020 ; Hjálmsdóttir et al.,  2021 ; Petts et al.,  2021 ; Yerkes et al.,  2020 ; Zamberlan et al.,  2021 ). In many countries, fathers increased their share of childcare and/or housework early in the pandemic, yet mothers also increased their time spent in domestic tasks and continue to do more than fathers (Craig & Churchill,  2020 ; Petts et al.,  2021 ; Shafer et al.,  2020 ; Yerkes et al.,  2020 ). But what is driving these changes? In their article on the gendered consequences of the COVID‐19 lockdown on unpaid work for Swiss dual earner couples with children, Steinmetz, Vandecasteele, Lebert, Voorpostel and Lipps use high‐quality representative panel data to examine the change in time invested in housework and childcare before and during the pandemic. Using insights from the economics of the family, bargaining power and time availability theories, and the doing gender approach, they test theoretical assumptions regarding the mechanisms underlying these gender unequal patterns. Their results suggest that time availability matters. For the division of housework, only changes in the time availability of the partner are relevant. When the spouse changed to short‐time or remote work, the respondent's time investment in housework decreased significantly. In relation to childcare, the respondent's own time availability matters. In particular, parents who worked overtime did not increase their time spent on care work like other parents did. This is in line with other studies showing that employment in essential occupations (which often required an increase in working time) was accompanied by less time investment in unpaid care work (André et al.,  2021 ). These results are consistent with studies arguing that fathers' greater exposure to domestic tasks may have led them to take on a greater share of the domestic labor early in the pandemic (e.g., Shafer et al.,  2020 ), and Steinmetz, Vandecasteele, Lebert, Voorpostel, and Lipps extend these findings by demonstrating that such exposure may have been triggered by changes in time availability due to short‐time, remote or overtime working schemes. As such, this paper demonstrates that gender explanations alone are insufficient for explaining the impact of the pandemic on divisions of housework and childcare.

The pandemic is also having a significant impact on men and women's well‐being. In the second paper of this special issue, Vicari, Zoch, and Bächmann highlight important gender differences in the relationships between employment conditions, family responsibilities, and subjective well‐being. In their quantitative analysis of German panel data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and its supplementary COVID‐19 web survey (May–June 2020), they find that the pandemic had a negative effect on women's life satisfaction and men's work satisfaction in Germany. They consider multiple explanations for these gendered differences in the impact of the pandemic on well‐being, showing that changes in well‐being during the pandemic were closely associated with gendered expectations and opportunities. As men are expected to fulfill the provider role, involuntary changes to working hours and income led to declines in men's work satisfaction. In contrast, domestic burdens dramatically increased for women due to expectations that they are primarily responsible for the domestic sphere. Consequently, the decline in women's life satisfaction is driven by changes to their connection with caregiving responsibilities and social lives during the pandemic. These findings showing gendered variations in factors associated with changes in well‐being offer important theoretical avenues to explore further as we move forward from the pandemic.

The duration of the pandemic and the significant impact it is having on gender relations and gender inequalities within and outside the home has the potential to shape attitudes towards men and women's roles in society, the home, and the workplace. Vandecasteele, Ivanova, Sieben, and Reeskens use representative longitudinal panel data from the Dutch European Values Survey (EVS) to study whether the COVID‐19 pandemic led to changes in gender attitudes. They focus on the often‐studied measure of how a woman's full‐time employment is presumed to impact family life. They studied the change in attitudes between 2017 (prior to the pandemic) and May 2020 (during the first lockdown in the Netherlands). The analysis focuses on groups whose unpaid and paid work situation changed abruptly with the COVID‐19 pandemic, including parents with children in the household and groups who experienced a change in paid workload that clashes with traditional gender role expectations, namely women whose workload increased and men whose workload decreased or who stopped working. The authors find an overall shift towards more progressive gender attitudes, particularly among single men and women. In relation to the pandemic, they find that groups who faced an abrupt change in their paid and unpaid work routines that clashed with their previously held gender attitude adapted their gender attitudes in alignment with their new situation. For men who stopped working and women who started working more, their gender attitudes became more progressive, aligning with their changed work situation. Women living with a partner and children also saw a change toward more traditional gender role attitudes. As many women in coupled households experienced an increase in their traditional care tasks for children because of the closure of childcare facilities and schools, their attitudes became more aligned with a traditional division of work and care. Here, we see a clear detrimental effect of the lockdown measures on attitudes toward gender equality. Whether the changes in paid and unpaid work, and the ensuing changes in attitudes, are temporary or evidence of a longer‐term shift remains to be seen. Overall, this paper extends previous work on changes in gender attitudes during the pandemic (Rosenfeld & Tomiyama,  2021 ) by identifying some pandemic‐related factors that may have triggered these changes as well as demonstrating variations across family and work contexts.

The pandemic has also had a gendered impact on the location of work. To minimize the risk of infection, many employees around the globe were urged or even required to work from home. As the pandemic continues, work location and work location preferences are shifting (e.g., Yerkes et al.,  2021 ), with the potential for key differences between men and women (Ahrendt et al.,  2021 ). Evidence from Germany highlights these differences. Using four waves of a German national probability survey (HOPP) collected in the early stages of the pandemic (May–August 2021), and including retrospective data on the pre‐pandemic situation, Abendroth, Lott, Hipp, Müller, Sauermann, and Carstensen examine the extent to which the pandemic changed gender and parental‐status differences in working from home patterns. Their analyses reveal changes to gender and parental‐status differences in who worked from home before and during the pandemic. Before the pandemic, fathers were not more likely than mothers to work from home, but they were more likely than women without children and men without children to work from home. It appears that men without children worked from home more often than women without children, but they show that this difference is driven by job and workplace characteristics rather than gender. These gender and parental‐status differences in working from home shifted during the pandemic. Initially, working from home increased across all groups; differences between men and women and those with and without children decreased. By August 2020, when public life was almost back to normal in Germany, remote working decreased again, but not to pre‐pandemic levels. Moreover, pre‐pandemic gender and parental‐status‐specific patterns did not return. Similar shifts were found in relation to the number of hours worked from home. Although women who work from home typically do so for more hours than men, these gender differences decreased during the pandemic as the number of hours worked from home increased especially among men. In addition, analyses of reasons for not working from home (permission of supervisor/employer to work from home and stigmas surrounding work from home) showed a decrease in gender and parental‐status‐specific cultural barriers. These results provide some insight into how flexible workplace practices—which workers increasingly support—may help to reduce gender inequalities within workplaces moving forward after the pandemic.

As highlighted in the final two articles in this special issue, the disappearance of spatial and temporal boundaries for many workers also led to gendered boundary work practices while simultaneously highlighting blurred boundaries of work done in private and public spaces. Otonkorpi‐ Lehtoranta, Salin, Hakovirta, and Kaittila focus on this blurring of boundaries for parents, related not only to remote work recommendations but also to the closing of school premises and childcare centers. They examine gendered boundary work practices among Finnish parents during the COVID‐19 lockdown in spring 2020 using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Relying on a rich discussion of doing boundaries and gender theories in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic, their mixed‐methods analysis demonstrates that like families elsewhere, many Finnish families had to improvise during the lockdown. The exception was families where both parents worked outside the home, which was described by the authors as ‘business as usual’. In these cases, mothers and fathers did not have to renegotiate boundaries between work and home. In families where one partner worked outside the home, predominantly mothers shouldered the main responsibility of increased childcare and struggled to manage their work duties. These mothers felt they were ‘left alone’ to negotiate their own boundaries between caring for children and attempting to do paid work at the same time, without help from a partner. When both parents worked from home, the negotiation of physical space—particularly to ‘work in peace’ was gendered. Mothers felt that they had less access to quiet workspaces, resulting in paid work more often being interrupted by childcare. In short, many Finnish families experienced a highly gendered nature of boundary practices during the lockdown. The authors use these findings to emphasize the importance of relationships between families and public institutions such as schools and day cares, which can help improve future theorizing by accounting for the materially and socially situated negotiations of work‒family boundaries.

The discussion of boundaries continues in the final article of the special issue, which starts by considering the long‐standing dichotomy between the ‘private’ versus ‘public’ spheres of women's work questioned by feminist economists. As noted by the authors, feminist economists (e.g., Bettio & Plantenga,  2004 ; Woolley,  1993 ) and other feminist scholars (e.g., Crompton,  2006 ) have argued for a more nuanced understanding of marketable paid work and the unpaid work of household caregiving. Guha, Neti, and Lobo provide a vivid account of the blurred public private spaces using multiple in‐depth interviews with 23 women street food vendors (SFVs) in Bengaluru, India. They investigate these women's experiences before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic to understand how undertaking street food vending for one's livelihood interacts with the social dimensions of gender and the division of labor. This much‐needed non‐western look at the effects of the pandemic provides insights into how the lockdown affected women in a country where informal work is much more prevalent. The qualitative analysis undertaken by Guha, Neti, and Lobo starts by exploring the household labor dynamics in the context of paid and unpaid work of women prior to the pandemic. They explain how the women street food vendors capitalized on their existing skills of ‘cooking’ and were thereby able to gain agency and recognition for themselves within their households. The second part of the analysis shows the impact of the first wave of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, where the narratives of women street food vendors highlight the return of the dichotomy between private and public spheres. The pandemic made this public‒private boundary more pronounced for these women street food vendors, leading to a loss of control over the public sphere and their work being restricted only to the private sphere.

Collectively, the papers in this Gender, Work and Organization Special Issue provide valuable insight on the gendered consequences of the pandemic across a diverse set of contexts. Notably, a common theme throughout this special issue is that women—and mothers in particular—have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. As both Guha, Neti, and Lobo, and Otonkorpi‐ Lehtoranta, Salin, Hakovirta, and Kaittila observe, the boundaries between work and family life not only became more blurred, but women disproportionately had to focus their time on family and caregiving at the expense of paid labor force participation. Unsurprisingly, as Vicari, Zoch, and Bächmann uncover, the increased caregiving responsibility that fell on mothers, and the corresponding loneliness that results from a focus on caregiving (particularly during periods of lockdown), resulted in lower well‐being among women. In addition to changes in work‒family balance, Vandecasteele, Ivanova, Sieben, and Reeskens show that adults aligned their gender attitudes to match these changing conditions. For some groups, more gender egalitarian attitudes developed. But for women taking on increased caregiving burdens, attitudes became more traditional. In short, for many women, the pandemic has led to an increase in caregiving burdens and a decrease in paid work opportunities, aligned with a noticeable shift in attitudes supporting these new gendered work‒family arrangements. As such, although care work became much more visible during the pandemic in many ways, this increased awareness does not appear to have translated into a greater valuing of care work.

Despite these numerous concerns, research from the papers included in this special issue does provide some glimpses of improvements in gender equality. The shift towards more gender egalitarian attitudes among women who worked more and men who worked less during the pandemic suggests shifting work‒family behavior during the pandemic could have a long‐lasting impact. Moreover, as Abendroth, Lott, Hipp, Müller, Sauermann, and Carstensen discuss, the pandemic has reduced barriers to working from home. Flexible work arrangements are a commonly cited strategy to help workers better balance work and care responsibilities. With gender differences in teleworking decreasing in some countries, the potential negative consequences of women's overrepresentation in telework (e.g., decreased access to informal networks, not conforming to presenteeism ideals) could be mitigated (e.g., Ibarra et al.,  2020 ). Steinmetz, Vandecasteele, Lebert, Voorpostel, and Lipps also demonstrate that changes in time availability largely explained changes in unpaid work. Taken together with the decline in the gendered effect of teleworking, continued gender equal access to and use of flexible work arrangements in a post‐pandemic society may reduce time pressures on both women and men and perhaps help to facilitate a more equitable division of labor. Indeed, there is evidence that flexible work practices are associated with greater time spent in housework and childcare among fathers and provide opportunities for women to better balance work and family life (Chung et al.,  2021 ). But, as Abendroth, Lott, Hipp, Müller, Sauermann, and Carstensen acknowledge, such long‐term changes to gender inequality are likely only possible if organizations and the broader culture embrace and provide equal opportunities for flexible work once the pandemic ends.

The impact of the pandemic for gender equality in work, at home, in organizations, and in society, is complex. How gender matters differs not only along gender lines, but also according to individuals' pre‐pandemic socio‐economic status and their embeddedness in various institutional and organizational contexts. Whether someone was working as a nurse in an Italian hospital, as a police officer on the streets of New York, as a street food vendor in India, or as a university professor in Germany likely shapes individuals' gendered experiences of the pandemic, and future studies will need to elaborate on such intersectional dimensions. In addition, scholars are only beginning to fully unpack both the short‐ and long‐term gendered effects of the pandemic. At the time of writing, evidence seems to suggest that improvements in gender equality may be short‐lived (e.g., Remery et al.,  2021 ; Rodríguez Sánchez et al.,  2021 ), but this is certainly an area in need of ongoing research.

The papers in this special issue provide valuable insights, yet there is still much more work to be done. For example, one notable perspective missing from this special issue is that of organizations. Will organizations embrace more flexible forms of work moving forward, and will such arrangements be equitable such that workers who work remotely and those present in workplaces will be provided the same opportunities? Will such decisions be guided by workers' interests and their opportunities to perform their job in the best possible way, arguments related to a better fit of work and private life, the need to reduce CO 2 ‐emissions from commuting, or something else? The guiding principles chosen to structure longer‐term changes to the organization of work can have important implications for gender equality. Another perspective requiring further elaboration is how gendered experiences have varied across country contexts, particularly in regards to low‐income countries and countries in the Global South. Differences in economies and access to vaccines likely create very different lived pandemic experiences that need to be considered. One thing is clear: the pandemic has had wide‐reaching effects on all aspects of society, such as education, healthcare, the labor market, and the economy, but also social relations. Our primary aim for this special issue was to advance knowledge on how the pandemic has affected gendered dynamics within work, organizations, and societies, and we hope that the papers contained in this issue advance gender theories and spur future research on these topics.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Biographies

Chantal Remery works as assistant professor at Utrecht University School of Economics. Her research is in the field of gender and employment, covering issues such as reconciliation of work and private life, flexibility, and the position of women in (family) businesses. She participates in CoGIS‐NL, which studies the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on gender inequalities. She has co‐authored several European comparative studies on gender and employment for the European Commission. Her research has been published in a.o. International Small Business Journal, Journal of European Social Policy, PloS one, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, and Work, Employment and Society.

Richard J. Petts is a Professor of Sociology at Ball State University. His research focuses on family inequalities, with a specific emphasis on parental leave, father involvement, and workplace flexibility as policies and practices that can reduce gender inequality, promote greater work‐family balance, and improve family well‐being. He is a member of the International Network on Leave Policies & Research and Co‐Editor of the journal Community, Work & Family , and recent research has been published in Social Forces, Journal of Marriage and Family, Social Science Research, and Journal of Social Policy .

Joop Schippers is full professor of Labour Economics at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance of Utrecht University. He is one of the coordinators of the multidisciplinary platform Future of Work, where a number of experts on work and organisations of Utrecht University cooperates on major scientific and societal issues concerning the labour market. His main focus is on gender and age inequality, human capital, lifelong learning, self‐employment and other dimensions of labour market flexibility. His expertise is often asked for by newspapers, radio and television. He is active on Twitter as @joopschippers.

Mara A. Yerkes is Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Social Science at the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science at Utrecht University. She is the principal investigator of the European Research Council (ERC) project CAPABLE on gender inequalities in work‐life balance and the CoGIS‐NL project, a longitudinal study of gender inequalities during the COVID‐19 pandemic. She is also currently co‐chair of the European Social Policy Analysis Network (ESPAnet) and co‐PI on the Cluster project CoPE: COVID‐19 Policies for Gender Equality. Her research centres on comparative social policy and social inequalities, particularly around work, care, communities and families.

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Progress for women in the workplace stagnating in four key areas, global study reveals

Around 60% of women do not feel able to switch off from their work.

Around 60% of women do not feel able to switch off from their work. Image:  Getty Images

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  • A new report looking at women's experiences in the workplace across ten countries suggests there is cause for concern.
  • Mental health, unbalanced domestic responsibilities and non-inclusive behaviours are current red flags.
  • More organizations must graduate to becoming 'Gender Equality Leaders'.

Despite much talk about the importance of gender equality in the workplace, many women are facing mounting pressures at work and in their personal lives, according to Deloitte’s Women @ Work 2024: A Global Outlook annual report , the fourth in the series.

The report gathers insights from 5,000 women in 10 countries about their views and experiences in the workplace and examines the societal factors that may be impacting their careers.

Across the countries surveyed (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States), a clear trend emerges: Despite widespread cultural and contextual differences, many women around the world are experiencing similar challenges in and out of the workplace. At best, workplace progress when it comes to gender equality appears to be stagnating.

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1. stress and long working hours take a toll on mental health.

Half of women say their stress levels are higher than they were a year ago, and a similar number say they’re concerned or very concerned about their mental health. Mental health is among the top concerns for women globally, with an average of 48% of women citing this as their top concern, falling only behind their financial security (51%) and women’s rights (50%). Around half of women do not believe that their employer provides adequate support for their mental health at work.

Amid a number of potential factors behind this concerning picture on mental health is an inability to disconnect from work. Around 60% of women do not feel able to switch off from their work, a trend that holds true across countries. While half of women who typically just work their contracted hours describe their mental health as good, this declines to just 23% for those who regularly work extra hours.

2. Household responsibilities affect women’s careers

Women are feeling the weight of misbalanced caregiving and domestic responsibilities. Notably, 50% of women globally who live with a partner and have children say they take the most responsibility for childcare – up from 46% in 2023, with only 12% saying this falls to their partner. This year also saw a concerning increase in women taking the greatest responsibility for caring for another adult: 57% said they are primarily responsible for this, while only 6% say this falls to their partner. This imbalance continues even for those women who are the primary household earners.

The result of this disproportionate allocation of responsibilities not only makes it more challenging for women professionally but also potentially creates a vicious cycle reinforcing the gender pay gap. Only 27% of women who bear the most significant responsibility at home say they can disconnect from their personal lives and focus on their careers. And many women are prioritizing their partners’ careers over their own, mainly because their partner earns more.

Meanwhile, fewer than half of women feel supported by their employers in balancing their work responsibilities with commitments outside work. Nearly all women (95%) believe that requesting or taking advantage of flexible work opportunities will negatively affect their chances of promotion. Notably, a lack of flexible working hours is among the top reasons women have changed jobs over the past year.

3. Many women experience threats and non-inclusive behaviours at work

Nearly half of the women say they are worried about their personal safety at work or when commuting or travelling for work. Once again, while there are varying degrees of concern among respondents in the countries surveyed, the trend is largely consistent across markets.

These concerns may be founded on actual incidents: One in 10 women who are concerned about their personal safety say they have been harassed while commuting or travelling for work; 16% deal with customers or clients who have harassed them or behaved in a way that has made them feel uncomfortable. Nearly one in 10 have been harassed by a colleague, and a quarter of women say that people in senior positions have made inappropriate comments or actions towards them.

More than four in 10 (43%) survey respondents report having experienced either micro-aggressions or harassment (or both) at work in the past 12 months. Despite this, only one in 10 women think they can make a complaint to their employer about non-inclusive behaviours without affecting their career.

4. More 'Gender Equality Leaders' are needed

As with previous years, our research found a small number of women who work for organizations that enable inclusion, support work/life balance and focus on meaningful career development – we refer to these organizations as the Gender Equality Leaders.

Women who work for these organizations report higher levels of loyalty toward their employer and productivity, feel safer, are more comfortable talking about their mental health at work, and can work flexibly without damaging their careers. However, Gender Equality Leaders remain few and far between: Only 6% of women across all countries surveyed work for these organizations—only a one percentage point increase over last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic and recent social and political unrest have created a profound sense of urgency for companies to actively work to tackle inequity.

The Forum's work on Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Social Justice is driven by the New Economy and Society Platform, which is focused on building prosperous, inclusive and just economies and societies. In addition to its work on economic growth, revival and transformation, work, wages and job creation, and education, skills and learning, the Platform takes an integrated and holistic approach to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice, and aims to tackle exclusion, bias and discrimination related to race, gender, ability, sexual orientation and all other forms of human diversity.

women's position in society essay

The Platform produces data, standards and insights, such as the Global Gender Gap Report and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 Toolkit , and drives or supports action initiatives, such as Partnering for Racial Justice in Business , The Valuable 500 – Closing the Disability Inclusion Gap , Hardwiring Gender Parity in the Future of Work , Closing the Gender Gap Country Accelerators , the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality , the Community of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers and the Global Future Council on Equity and Social Justice .

The data from this year’s survey provides insight into the challenges that women face both within and outside the workplace—and it provides data-driven insight into solutions. These can include recognizing the importance of normalizing conversations around mental health in the workplace, understanding and addressing the causes of workplace stress, embedding family-friendly policies and enabling work/life balance, understanding and addressing women’s workplace safety concerns, or addressing non-inclusive behaviours and enabling women to feel able to speak up without concern.

It is clear that now is the time to act if we are to see meaningful and sustained change.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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