Gender Imbalance: Examining US Perspectives - Essay Sample

Introduction

Gender imbalance is regarded as a significant social issue existential in the contemporary world. The male gender has, for a long time, been placed at the center of gender-based problems. The mushrooming of women's movements inform the seriousness of gender imbalance in the global arena. This paper aims at analyzing gender imbalance in the United States of America. Gender inequality can be viewed in terms of male and female gender's participation in education and employment spaces (Richard.I, Lisa & Daniel, 2014). Conflicting arguments will be pursued, analyzed, and a synthesized conclusion reached. Depending on one's stance, gender inequality in the United States of American is skewed either towards the male or female gender. Traditional data indicate that the male generation was favored more than their female counterparts, particularly in education and in the employment sector. Recent studies, however, suggest that the narrative is slowly changing, although notably, the female gender still is, not content with the current state. Notwithstanding, women are showing up in more significant numbers lately in education and professional jobs. Gender inequality is, therefore, a multivariate abstract, conclusions on gender inequalities are tied to the sector of analysis, time, and society under scrutiny. The United States society illuminates instances of gender inequalities swayed towards either gender.

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Masculinity and Education in The United States of America

A common supposition in American society holds that boys fare better than their female colleagues. A more specified premise is centered on the performance of the two genders in scientific and technical courses drawn against languages and art specialties. Men are deemed to be better performers in mathematics and the sciences of the two genders. The above-mentioned narrative has historically influenced college specialties pertinent to various gender attributions, persistently, despite woman power advocacies and more women graduating from colleges, fewer women than men are noted to engage in science and technical courses. Skepticism displayed in the choice of scientific courses despite a significant increase in women graduates is indicative of a normalized notion concerning gender and education; it is a gender issue in the education system (Richard.I, Lisa & Daniel, 2014). According to a study conducted by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), in a sturdy undertaken through 1990 to 2015, the male gender was noted to lag behind the female gender in language and artistic subjects.

Conversely, the argument claiming men are better in scientific courses was shunned by the diminishing margin of performance between the two genders. Men were realized to have a negligible in fourth grade before the difference thinning in the eighth grade, then the gap later widens again in the high school stage. Despite the two claims seemingly holding waters arbitrarily, it is worth noting that the female gender is gaining substantial ground against former male-centered attributions. Traditionally, especially in the old days, men graduated at an almost guaranteed rate compared to women. Cohorts born before the 1950s can attest to the fact that men graduated at a rate higher than females (Richard.I, Lisa & Daniel, 2014). During the Vietnam war, more men were recruited in the army, created a destabilization in school representation. The lead experienced before the mid-1950s changed, with the gap falling significantly; rates of graduation were noted to be almost equal for both genders. Recent results indicate that females have replaced the former narrative that claimed men graduated in more significant numbers compared to their female counterparts.

Insofar as the education system is concerned, the male gender seemingly negligibly leads the female gender. Significant changes are, however, notable in the education system, indicating that the male gender is not a unique gender pedigree pertinent to enrolment and performance in mathematics and science subjects (Richard.I, Lisa & Daniel, 2014). With the number of women enrolling and graduating from collages surpassing that of the male gender, it is worth noting that gender inequality as a premise coined from society in favor of the male gender is experiencing a paradigm shift. From a global perspective, men are deemed more favored by existential societal systems. A closer focus on changing patterns in the education system, as well as the employment sector, however, indicates that favor is significantly changing in men's disfavor, informed by more female graduates and more female employees mushrooming in the teaching profession as it will be discovered later in the write-up.

In as far as teaching is concerned, the service delivery profession is significantly growing. Both student's and teacher's numbers are ballooning, leading to an unprecedented change in gender inequality issues. Recent studies indicate that teacher numbers are growing faster than those of students. In the period between 1987 and 2012, student enrollment data in public, private, and chartered institutions experienced a 19.4 percentage increase, while at the same time, the number of teachers enrolled within the same time-space was 46.4; more than two times that of student increase (Melissa, Kearney & Katharine, 2018). The figure below shows changes in students versus teachers' numbers between 1987 and 2012.

Another notable trend is that the old generation teachers are being phased off. The age bracket of contemporary teachers is becoming more skewed towards younger generations. This is an indication that a new generation of the profession is being ushered in, as shown below:

With the information that a new group of teaching staff is being introduced in the education sector, it is worthwhile noting that the increase as mentioned above mainly features women; from 1980 through 2012, the female gender percentage of teaching staff changed from 66.9 to 76.1 (Melissa, Kearney & Katharine, 2018). Notwithstanding that the number of male teachers similarly experienced a 22-percentage increase in the mentioned period. The female gender, however, edged in terms of increases in overall professional numbers. An expansion in the teaching profession is deemed to be one of the significant reasons; the female gender has experienced favor in matters concerning teaching; leadership careers have added another dimension argued to have contributed towards the growing number of female teachers. The proportion of women entering the paid workforce is claimed to be another factor that has fueled the significant number of female teachers.

Synthesis

Based on happenings in the education system, both on the student and teacher's side, it is inappropriate for one to conclude that men are more favored than females. Yes, some signs indicate that the male gender has previously outperformed the female gender on some matters, but this is not substantial evidence enough that men are more favored at the expense of the female gender. The advancement of men's superiority over women in education matters has consistently been put to the test by the constant thinning of performance in science-related subjects. A turn of events experienced in the number of enrolled and graduating students from colleges further denotes that future arguments pertinent to men outperforming females in science and mathematics are subject to change. Changes in the teaching profession, a profession formerly occupied by men, is an indication that the female gender is significantly turning favor towards itself. Despite most gender-based issues being centered on men, the resent, existential paradigm shifts experienced in the education system indicates that the female gender may soon become the epicenter of gender issues. In the future, the male gender may be forced to refocus on matters of equality in the education sector. Balance may, therefore, never be achieved by pursuing neutrality in the form of equality, which is difficult to guarantee. Instead of targeting to improve one gender disdaining the other, programs aimed at making a neutral ground in matters of gender should seek equal inclusion systems.Conclusion

Gender imbalance is deemed a major social issue globally, more so in the United States of America. Formerly, men were known to dominate key areas of the education system both as students or in the teaching profession. The narrative that men are better performers compared to women in science and mathematics is progressively thinning as time goes by. The increasing number of female educators is further skewing gender inequality towards women. Thus, gender inequality is shifting hands. Surprisingly, gender inequality is still considered a male superiority thing. On a global perspective, however, partially solidifies the stance that claims men are a better prodigy in matters of education compared to their female counterparts. The argument that assumes men to be a standard of measurement for issues of gender inequality is significantly changing, shifting focus from the male gender to the female one. With the look of things, gender equality may be an effort in disguise, which seems to only shift weight from one side of gender to another.

References

Melissa S., Kearney & Katharine G.A. (2018). Employment: State of The Union Pathways, a magazine on poverty, inequality, and social policy. https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways_SOTU_2018.pdf

Richard.I, Lisa. M & Daniel.S. (2014, April). Consortium for policy research in education report: The transformation of the teaching force. http://cpre.org/sites/default/files/workingpapers/1506_7trendsapril2014.pdf