Gender And Gender-Conflict Theory

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Introduction Since 1900, the share of women in the U.S. labor force has tripled, and it continues to rise (Macionis, 2015). However, according to a study by Koch, Konigorski, and Sieverding (2014), when placed in a job interview situation, women who interact with subtly sexist men tend to perform worse on areas in which women are negatively stereotyped, such as math. This may make is difficult for women to enter professions which are dominated by men, including engineering or corporate management. The theory that will be explored in this paper is conflict theory, specifically gender-conflict theory.
Current Trends in the Data Koch et al. (2014) worked with 99 German students of the University of Heidelberg and found that stereotype threat …show more content…

These men were not overtly sexist, which showed that “even subtly sexist behavior may trigger social identity threat in women” (Logel et al., 2009, p. 1090). These studies may suggest that in male-dominated fields there are typically unwelcoming environments for women. Male-dominated fields include such prestigious professions such as engineering, building trades, architecture, lawyers, physicians, and corporate managers (Macionis, 2015). This may result in inequality between men and women as women face the additional challenges of sexism and stereotype threat to succeed in professions in which men …show more content…

Feminists fight for equality and, therefore, demand that they are treated fairly. They may call out others for being sexist, which may result in the person who was called out forming an aversion to the feminist. Even so, feminism slowly but surely brings about change, which is evident in the previously mentioned fact that the women workforce in the U.S. has grown considerably in the past 100 years. Thus, the social conflict theory holds completely true.
Social Responsibility The entirety of society holds some form of responsibility in overcoming the inequality women face in male-dominated domains. It is the responsibility of everybody, but especially those who are already successful in such professions, to remain neutral and avoid sexism when speaking to women peers or subordinates. In addition to this, each individual must make a decision about whether or not to practice feminism or consider themselves a feminist. If a majority of people fight for equality for women in the workforce, there may be a result that consists of an increase of women in more prestigious fields. This can be a very positive thing for society because it allows for new ideas and perspectives in those professions, which can create progress. Overall, society can benefit from

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