Indigenous Women in Canada Paper Example

Introduction

Despite the modern political situation in the world, indigenous women in the local communities in Canada faced several problems. The issues stemmed from the results and circumstances of the colonial history which place women at the periphery of almost all the affairs, and this was compounded by the fact that Europe adopted a patriarchal system on indigenous communities. Undeniably, another essential factor that needs to be mentioned is the fact that Canada also came up with an Act that led to the sub-division of women into some categories. This was legally approved and therefore had a strong legal backing. This statutory provision served to broaden the already existing distinctions between women nationally. The indigenous women in the communities were more disadvantaged by this move (Fitzgerald, 2006). The paper, therefore, seeks to investigate the extent to which the status of these indigenous women has contributed towards their education, employment levels as well as economic success in Canada.

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As pointed above, indigenous women in Canada frequently experienced severe challenges and other forms of discrimination that served to demean their social status as women. These injustices were most levelled explicitly on the lower class of women in the Canadian societies. As a result, they have been observed as being double burdened because they are women and at the same time because they are an indigenous group who are believed to know nothing.

a. Education

It is true that education is one of the most critical aspects of human living and a significant determinant of social, economic, and even social being of an individual. Advanced education opens up people's minds and makes them have better, quality, and a well-paying profession hence reduced unemployment. This will help to improve their living standards as these women will be able to earn income which will intern help change their lives (Fitzgerald, 2006). According to a research that of the study revealed the expected outcomes regarding the education level of indigenous women when compared with non-indigenous women in Canada.

According to the study that was conducted by the Strategic Research Directorate in collaboration with the gender issues Department, it was realized in the year 2006, a paltry 36 % of the total number of indigenous women in Canada have at least a degree, diploma or post-high school certificate. In comparison with that of the non-indigenous women that stood at about 57% which were found to have postsecondary and degree certificates. This was a relatively large gap hence signaling the discrimination and distinction that existed between indigenous and non-indigenous women (Kuokkanen, 2008). From the study, it was revealed that only 7% of indigenous women had a degree certificate as compared to 19% of the non-indigenous women in the Canadian communities.

It should be stated that even though it is observed that indigenous women have a lower percentage of educational attainment as compared to that of non-indigenous women, it is attributed to the fact that the indigenous women have very diverging pathways through which they acquire their education. It should be admitted that while most of the indigenous women do not have a high school diploma, they return later in the years to complete their studies late in their twenties. The delayed pathways in attaining the education are also due to the reason that most of the indigenous postsecondary students are aged, and therefore they are more they are more likely to have children as compared to the non-indigenous students.

Given the above, the conditions that people live regarding their status is a significant determinant of the level of education that they will have. In considering the status of the indigenous women in the Canadian communities, the overall conditions that they were exposed to did not give room for them to be regarded as an elite class that could also receive the education. As I have stated above, education is the central pillar of all the economic activities because when people receive quality and relevant education in various fields, these women will be able to acquire various skills and knowledge which they can be able to apply in different fields of production. The inferior status of indigenous women in the communities barred them from attaining quality education as compared to the advantaged non-indigenous women (Green, 2007). As a result of this factor, they were unable to get into the education system as most of these indigenous women were not able to pay for the education requirements as well as the existing high levels of discrimination. Only a few percentages of this group were able to acquire education as observed from the study above. It is education that helps people to gain skills that they can confidently apply in employment opportunities thereby helping to spur the economic success of any country. In Canada, indigenous women contributed less to this since very few obtained education as illustrated in the research. Indigenous women were viewed as inferior and discriminated against and seen as not fit to receive the education. This was compounded by cultural beliefs that restricted education boundaries on women (Suzack et al., 2010).

b. Employment

Indigenous women face myriad of challenges in Canada. It has been observed that indigenous women living in the communities make less money, they work in low-level jobs and they are also less likely to find appropriate employment opportunity as compared to their non-indigenous women counterparts and men. In any case, they are only subjected to work in occupational categories which are remarkably lower. This is attributed to the secondary levels of education that they are exposed to as discussed above.

It should be noted that by 2006, just 51% of indigenous women were in the field of employment, which is slightly over the total number of indigenous women. When compared to the number of non-indigenous women which stood at 58%, it shows a somewhat lower amount of indigenous women in the employment (Suzack et al., 2010). In further making the comparison, between the existing groups of women, the study revealed that only a few indigenous women were in the highest and lowest categories of employment. When compared to non-indigenous women, just a minor percentage of indigenous women were found in the highest occupational category and equally, a more significant proportion were in the lower level jobs.

Because of the incomes that indigenous women earned from such limited occupational opportunities, it was realized that indigenous women make less than the amounts received by the non-indigenous women. Admittedly, it is true that disparity existed in almost all over the world, but the one that indigenous women in Canada were trapped into was excess. The magnitude of work dictates the incomes performed considering the skills that one has. Because most of the indigenous women did not have proper education, they performed menial jobs that did not require the application of advanced skills and knowledge (O'Faircheallaigh, 2013). This is the main reason poor pay and therefore low-income levels. This leads to them unable to sustain their needs hence exposed to poor living conditions. To confirm this claim, the study carried out revealed that the average income per year of an indigenous woman was at 77% of the income which was slightly lower than that of non-indigenous women whose annual average income was a little bit higher.

From the above, it was realized too, that several indigenous women were most likely trapped living below the established low income cut off because their incomes were very low. As a result of this factor, most of them are therefore not able to afford even basic needs like food and water hence exposing themselves to low and poor living standards.

Equally, another aspect that should be considered while talking about the status of indigenous women and employment is that as a result of missing out from good occupational opportunities due to inadequate education levels, they became more dependent on the help concerning revenue from the government. As I have stated above, it is to link education and employment because a strong relationship exists between the two variables (Green, 2007). While comparing education level and employment status of indigenous and non-indigenous women, it is true that employment rate of indigenous women with at least high school diploma or its equivalent was 59% which was double that of indigenous women without high school diploma.

It should, however, be noted that some of the existing factors that lead to only a few indigenous women getting involved are, for example, that limit their commitment in the labor force as well as their earning potential. To help succeed in this move, it is advisable that indigenous women should be exposed to at least complete high school so that they can be able to assist in the advancement of economic level. This will lead to massive success in the formal sector and the overall economy at large.

c. The economic success of Canada.

This section investigates how the status of indigenous women affects their ability and contribution in the economic success of Canada. It is worth mentioning that the success of original hinges on whether or not such people are engaged in any productive activity in the country that further also depends on the education level. It cannot be denied that over the years and given the opportunity, women have and can play a very vital role in the economic development of Canada. In light of the above arguments, it is true to admit that indigenous women in the communities in Canada have not been accorded the right opportunity to show their full capability concerning their input in advanced economic success. However, the discrimination meted on the indigenous women regarding gender disparity has been a great concern that has led to dwindling economic growth just because they ignored from participating in the economic mainstream like participation in the commercial production activities (Kuokkanen, 2008). It had been suggested that if most countries across the world could have reduced the gender gap earlier enough, they would currently be producing double the per capita income. This is the case facing Canada.

It is true that the only significant way through which gender affect economic growth is by trying to influence labor productivity as well as the allocative efficiency of its resources. To fully exploit these resources, women must also are integrated into the production process (O'Faircheallaigh, 2013). This can be done by, for example, coming up with measures that can help women to aggressively participate in agricultural production like making it possible for women to access productive farming input just like the male counterparts would help promote agricultural production hence fostering economic development.

It should also be noted that by identifying these indigenous women as those who can be reliable, that they can also increase production and the fact that they can provide cheap labor force make them be the best group that can be preferred to offer required workforce in both textile and other transformational industries. Another reason that can make the status of indigenous women be relied on to help in the economic development process is that by ensuring equality of all the women and by solving their educational problems, these women will be able to help Canada to achieve its dream economic success (Fitzgerald, 2006). The idea that women are good at handling finances including being better at paying back the loans has led to them being targeted in most microfinance programs.

By recognizing these women as suitable distributors of goods and services within the economy has made them the ce...