Priorities who decides them? Women?
It’s been 103 years since women were first awarded the vote but how far have women come to actually achieving gender equality in politics? Fights for gender equality date back hundreds of years, the suffragettes brought the first wave of feminism and took a stand to get a woman’s place at the decision-making table. But are women at this table or are they still in the waiting room?
The first wave of feminism brought by the Suffragette movement was driven by the need for female political engagement. This movement has had a chain reaction for creating real systematic change for gender equality, but these women have often been romanticised by modern-day viewpoints. In 2018 a statue of suffragette Millicent Fawcett was erected in Parliament Square, making her the first female figure to be remembered in Parliament Square. Shockingly this statue is part of the 2.7% of statues in the U.K. that depict women (Topping, 2018). The Suffragettes’ fight for gender equality was long and violent. Over a decade the Suffragettes clashed with police many times, one example of this in 1910 was in Parliament Square, a place now honouring the movement. This long fight was a historic moment for elevating women into the political discussion. This may not seem like ancient history but how many systemic changes have actually followed a century after?
Women across the U.K. have the right to vote but are still widely underrepresented in important decision-making roles. Currently, women only make up 34% of MPs (whilst a record high) and 27% of Cabinet Ministers (Uberoi, et al., 2020). To further this only 4% of MPs identify as BAME females (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic), and only 2 female MPs identify as disabled (Topping, 2018). This exemplifies how women are being widely underrepresented within British politics. This pattern can be reflected across the country as only 36% of Local Authority Councillors are women (Uberoi, et al., 2020). As women make up half the British population there is clearly a glass ceiling preventing gender equality at decision-making tables. Without equal representation at a higher level, women’s issues cannot be addressed correctly, and this leads to sexism within legislation. This is mirrored across the world as out of 195 only 23 countries have female Leaders (Uberoi, et al., 2020). Globally inherent sexism is blocking female political engagement. To visualise this below are some images comparing original political moments to the same image but without males.
This can also be visible within high-level positions outside of politics in the U.K.. Women only make up 6% of FTSE Chief Executives (there are no BAME women), 17% of Supreme Court Judges, 26% of University Vice-Chancellors and 33% of Primary School Head Teachers despite the fact that 82.4% of Primary School Teachers are female (Topping, 2018). Why are these women getting capped at a certain level? Does this inherent sexism relate back as far as education?
Over the past few decades, women attending university has become a norm, and in the past few years more women are attending university than men. On average across the U.K. women are 35% more likely to be enrolled at a university than their male counterparts (Ratcliffe, 2013). Therefore, if women are more commonly university students it would make sense that graduates from top universities are female, but this isn’t the case. 55.9% of the most recent Oxford graduates are male (University of Oxford, 2021). This then indicates that a disproportionate number of males are studying and graduating from top universities like Oxford, meaning that their achievements are not based on merit but rather favoured by their gender. Many social theories try to explain why females are achieving higher grades, such as Wallis’ Counter School Culture and Becker’s theory of the Ideal Student but none of these theories account for the fact that males are still achieving more, despite grades suggesting the opposite.
These invisible hurdles also block some female role models influencing the next generation. Throughout history, the main people fighting gender inequalities have been women. But if it is difficult for women to get into that position of power it can be hard to create strong influences for girls all over the world. A great example of this is Michelle Obama. She is a highly influential female role model who inspires and empowers young girls. But without being elevated by her husband’s power, arguably she would not have the platform she has today. This strong powerful woman has many achievements of her own but has needed a male to break that glass ceiling to get her to where she is now.
Below is a video from the Obama Foundation and is a wonderful example of how Michelle Obama is empowering and inspiring on her own but utilises her husband’s influence to create a platform for change.
These statistics throughout politics, business and education paint a picture that gender inequality follows women through life. There is no clear causation other than societal sexism. A glass ceiling is blocking women from being a part of the decision-making table. Without a fair fight, women are never going to able to fully address systematic inequalities and create large scale change.
Bibliography
Alexandra Topping (2018) Britain needs gender equality quotas now, Fawcett society says. The Guardian (London). Apr 23, Available at https://search.proquest.com/docview/2029246904.
British Library (2018) Women’s Suffrage Timeline. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/womens-suffrage-timeline.
Crawford, E. (2018) The black and Asian women who fought for a vote.
Klimas, M. (2015) What Happens When You Remove Men from Politics.
Welcome to the Global Girls Alliance (2018) Directed by Obama Foundation. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-nIJDHWBkI
Ratcliffe, R. (2013) The Gender Gap at Universities: Where are all the Men? Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/datablog/2013/jan/29/how-many-men-and-women-are-studying-at-my-university.
The Office for National Statistics (2020) Gender pay gap in the UK: 2020.
Uberoi, E., Watson, C. and Kirk-Wade, E. (2020) Women in Parliament
and Government. Available at: https://moodle.roehampton.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/1806038/mod_resource/content/1/Women%20in%20parliament.pdf.
University of Oxford (2021) Student Numbers. Available at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures/student-numbers.