The first step toward equality comes from society and from within the work place.

With more women entering male dominated fields, the gap between the genders is gradually narrowing. However, we’re not out of the woods quite yet.

Women are kept as social prisoners, tucked away within the domestic sphere when they’d rather be fulfilling their career ambitions. It’s simply no way to live. While I offer no criticism to women who want and choose to stay at home, the individuals who want to work should be given the opportunity to do so, regardless of whether or not a field is predominantly male.

When women venture into the working world, they most certainly carry the weight of discrimination. This is particularly true in science based fields. Male scientists are more likely to be offered laboratory manager positions than women of equal capability – and with higher pay, according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America.

Discrimination is not exclusive to science based fields, though. Although women make up nearly half the workforce and account for more college degrees than men, they still earn 23 percent less than men in almost every occupation, according to the Institute of Women’s Policy Research.

Aside from the pay difference, women, especially mothers, find it more difficult to remain in the workforce overall. Over the last 10 years, the incidence of caregiver discrimination charges has increased by 35 percent, according to the United States Census Bureau.

The obvious discrepancy between men and women of indistinguishable aptitude suggests social discrimination, one deeply rooted within the patriarchal culture. The notion that women should only play the role as the caregiver promotes a sense of segregation and disregards the talents of nearly half the population.

By denying women equal opportunity in the workforce, employers silence individuals who may be the perfect innovators, thinkers and performers. An environment that encourages discrimination suffers and there’s simply no need for companies to engage in this sort of self-crippling behavior.

They say men and women are equal, but different. If this is the case, the workplace should be more accommodating to women and caregivers. If women have different gifts to bring to the table, then why not integrate them into the working world?

Employers should look at prospective employees not as a man or woman, but rather as an individual with a unique set of talents.

The gender bias in the workforce has been a long standing issue, and time has proven that neither gender is superior to the other in terms of innovative ability. Both genders are just as likely to produce groundbreaking ideas.

When society as a whole closes the wage gap and ends gender-based discrimination, we learn to embrace the talents and abilities of one another as people rather than categories. The individual strengths of one person make up for another’s weaknesses.

As a team, men and women can reach their full potential within the workforce. 

-Michelle Chan is a sophomore animal science major from Phoenix, Ariz. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.