The majority of CEOs are men. Women serving as CEOs are a rare sight. Men are often applauded for being assertive and giving orders. By giving orders, men take on a leadership role. Demonstrating leadership ability is a quality that employers often look for. On the other hand, women who are assertive and give orders are not well liked in the work place. The salary of men and women who do the exact same work differ. Women often make less than men even though they do the exact same thing. There are many gender stereotypes associated with certain jobs. Secretaries, nurses, and maids are associated with women. Corporate executives, lawyers, doctors, politicians, and construction workers are associated with men. Women will never have combat roles on the front line because they are not as strong and able as men in that role.
Those people who are most likely to suffer from poverty and who have difficulty realising their human rights are also those most likely to be excluded from education. In turn, people who cannot access quality education are also likely to continue to suffer from poverty and lack of ability to realise their human rights in the future, as will their children. Globally, poor, rural women, who have a mother with no education miss out on education themselves. Although there are regional differences in the degree to which women are marginalized from education, in almost all countries girls and women are more likely to be denied the right to education, and are more likely to be discriminated against within education. This discrimination ranges from gender stereotyping to degrading or violent treatment against girls in schools. There are many causes of women’s exclusion from and marginalisation within education. These include economic factors such as poverty, and socio-cultural factors such as the common tendency to view men as superior to women and consequently give preference to boys rather than girls in education. False discriminatory stereotypes of differences in the abilities of girls and boys affect girls’ access to education and are often transmitted through the school environment. Structural issues related to the school administrative process and education policy can also inhibit the rights of women to education.
Women’s participation in politics and government is limited. By July 2006, women accounted for just fewer than 17 per cent of parliamentarians worldwide. Ten countries have no women parliamentarians at all, and in more than 40 others, women account for less than 10 per cent of legislators. Gender parity in national legislatures will not be achieved until 2068.
The under-representation of women at the ministerial level and in local government is even more marked than in national legislatures. As of January 2005, women accounted for just over 14 per cent of government ministers worldwide. Nineteen governments had no women ministers at all, and among those governments that did include women, most had a token presence of around one to three women ministers. As of March 2006, only three countries – Chile, Spain and Sweden – had achieved gender parity in ministerial portfolios. At the local level, women account for less than 1 in 10 of the world’s mayors. Under McCain, many individuals did not vote for McCain because they believed a women to be incapable as president if McCain were incapable of running the country as president.
Even today, after advances in the social status of women, men and women are still not equal in the areas of employment, education, and politics. Women are still not equal in employment because the majority of CEOs are men only. False discriminatory stereotypes of differences in the abilities of girls and boys affect girls’ education. In the areas of politics, the role of women is at a bare minimum and barely present. There is still a long way to go for gender equality between men and women.
