Get Inspired, Be Empowered › Forums › Employment Opportunities › Do gender stereotypes play a role in the professions we choose?
-
June 16, 2021 at 10:42 pm #32501June 17, 2021 at 1:24 pm #32538
Do gender stereotypes play a role in the professions we choose?
As we all know, gender stereotypes in our society are mostly misogynistic. Also, these very misogynistic stereotypes have affected all spheres of living for the women population, most importantly, their progress and development has become stunted. A very important aspect of development and advancement for women is their career or profession. Work choices or choice of profession for women is something that is largely dependent on stereotypes. Support from family and colleagues are really looked for and searched while picking up a career option, which if lacks, the candidate is forced to drop the idea.
A large population of young women shifts to Bombay, the city of dreams after completing their graduation in search of a job in the entertainment industry. There are two main reasons why these women return empty-handed to their home-towns, firstly because families do not support this line of career as they do not want their girls to be actresses or models. In our society modeling or acting is respected only as far as we talk about the well-established stars, not beginners or struggling actors. Another reason is the high level of competition and the demands of the entertainment industry from the female candidates. It is not easy to meet their needs and demands. Our entertainment industry has restricted women to merely zero-figure, fair, beautiful, clear-skinned women mostly.
Women are usually expected to take up careers that help in their household life, for example teaching related professions. The society thinks handling children in school will prepare them to raise their own children in their personal life. Also, women are mistaken for taking up jobs that don’t require physical fitness, mental fitness, strategy, exertion, etc. It is the society that limits them to certain jobs. It makes it very difficult for us all to make decisions and finalize the job that one should take up or look forward to.
Women are capable enough to work in the household, as well as outside of it. Women are capable enough to be sportspersons as well as psychologists, social workers as well as defense service officers, government officials as well as doctors, politicians as well as homemakers. It is their choice to make, not the society’s but the decision they take up is indirectly affected by the stereotypes made by the society, as their families follow them, as well as the people around them.
A woman myself,
Shubhangini ShaktawatJune 17, 2021 at 11:11 pm #32560Yes, that’s the very true thing. We say jobs are male dominated and the reason behind this is the stereotypes of the world in the education sector. The field is generalised and this is some demotivation for women if they want to jump in any particular field. We see how women have proven to be successful in each and every field yet they face challenges everywhere.
The problem is women are always said to not need quality resources and facilities. According to the society, giving women food ,shelter and clothing is already enough for her. But they don’t realise we need an identity and we do have our own passion but according to them a daughter must be educated for the sake of the ongoing demands of boys to have an educated wife.
Even if any families encourage jobs there are limitations because we know people saying that the jobs which have tables and chairs are suitable for girls. According to them physical labour is not for girls and also the classic reason that too much physical activities will break hymen for girls .
We also see how girls are always belittled in jobs and universities. We often forget that capabilities are not gender based. Even though there is a difference in physical strength, we cannot forget that today girls are active in sports like kabaddi , wrestling, archery and so on. It is really sad that most of the girls need to give up on their dreams because of these views. Also the cost for high end courses is too much so girls who are already facing financial issues could not do it because most families don’t believe in investing in a girl’s education but saving money for marriage and dowry. Basically gender stereotypes have affected the right of choice of education a lot for women.June 18, 2021 at 11:45 pm #32608Yes, it’s a practical form of the patriarchy going on in every minute and there’s not much human who are not upholding it. Maybe we do consider some theories to support feminism and fight against patriarchy, but we too are somehow organised by patriarchy itself.
In the case of choosing job, maybe yes we’re struggling against the whole society, to achieve what we once dreamt but is it truly a decision made only by ourselves?
Cause whatever rebellion we come for, it’s the same society where we brought up. Yes we have dreamt but our dreams are also affected by the patriarchy itself.
First, for all those girls who started and inspired by someone from their family or someone else from outside, whether it’s men or women, how can they be sure that their idol is not upholding the patriarchy?
Even if we think as a child he/she doesn’t have a fur knowledge about those social issues, they accept and think what they are being taught without any discrimination. But as we know we’re always taught in the basis of these social norms. Then how can we claim our thoughts or dreams are not upholding that same patriarchy?
Most of us initially go for a choice, already made or expected from us by our family. Maybe without a single thought, we’re accepting it as we know being independent is really an important issue in our lives and for women empowerment too. But we never give it a thought if it’s too are just a support system of those long held patriarchy or not.
In our own family, we’ve been taught that jobs are decided too in the basis of gender. What a girl should do and what her future should look like, is already preassumed. And in future most of us accept that decision, knowing that parents are thinking for our best, willingly or unwillingly. This is where lies the norms of patriarchy. And the main problem with us, that we’re always afraid of experiencing tragedy. It’s an advice for all the girls, explore yourselves, gather experience and then decide what you actually want to do. Because your job is going to be with you for most of your life. So never choose anything just because it’s said.June 19, 2021 at 2:51 pm #32618DO GENDER STEREOTYPES PLAY A ROLE IN THE PROFESSION WE CHOOSE?
Yes, Gender stereotypes play a role in choosing a profession. Genders are being suggested to choose a profession accordingly and work and study in a field, not only but at times this becomes a forceful thing for any gender to accept that profession according to gender.
Women are told to opt for a field of professions like teaching, nursing, or homemaker and men in engineering, doctor or businessmen but have they really prescribed profession according to genders? There are no such things as men’s and women’s jobs or occupations or professions. In fact, females are also entrepreneurs and males are also teachers. Anyone can choose a profession in which they want to excel because professions are not attached to any rules and genders are also not deciding factor for doing anything.
Society is patriarchal moreover and they keep on judging all genders. We have women as sports players and also as IAS and men as chefs and fashion designers so we should not bring any type of gender stereotypes in things where it doesn’t at all matter. And mostly family and society should stop teaching children in the early ages that ‘this thing is for boys and that is for a girl’ because what is taught as base become a pillar and if from early ages these things are burdened on child’s mind slowly it becomes practice for them to accepting without thinking of their own choices and interest. Society should stop practicing these things because it’s everyone right to do what they want professionally and personally.June 19, 2021 at 10:04 pm #32649The gender stereotypes play a role in the professions we choose is a common now a days . Globally in every country women get paid less as comparing to man .
The global ratio of women and man work is around 48 percent is women and around 75 percent is man . it’s true that globally women like to choose different occupation compare to man , women more likely to work part time job but part time job pay less than normal work , there are mother’s who choose part time work because they want to spend more time with their children’s and at night to do work.
In india if a women want a work of home maid so many family first see her cast like they see if she is have higher cast & all…
Gender stereotypes is decreasing as we compare to last 50 years , if a women want to play cricket around 1960 they were not allow to play for their country because of stereotypes against women’s but after 1973 finally india official started women’s cricket , it’s just a example but their are many field where women or man is not allow or they didn’t get support.
There so many stereotypes associated and some of them are good and some of them are bad , while in some job consumers also harassment job workers , they give racist feedback to workers on their skin colour , gender and so on.. , different between leaderships characteristics and gender characteristic caress or be strategic that’s not a gender you know specific characteristics it is a leadership characteristics , there is there’s all kind of studies around the biases of women and likability , there is an expectation that women are likable and you can’t even get bonus point for being likable but man there’s is not expectations they’re likable and they get bonus points for being likable so women get a disproportionate. This how gender stereotypes play role towards the professions we choose.June 21, 2021 at 12:22 pm #32674Nowadays, the majority of the women population face problems in finding their way in our advanced society. This is because they are not given opportunities to pursue and develop their skills and talent. De jure and de facto, gender stereotypes influence the professions women choose thus furthering their “correction” in favor of men. The unjustified privileges of men in all aspects of work and living also make it harder for women to be successful. Gender stereotypes do indeed play an important role in professional choices, however, it is difficult to determine to what extent these stereotypes indeed influence woman’s progress and choice of profession. In our daily interactions, we have the chance to observe how much men and women are different not only in physical terms but also in the way they think and act. We usually compliment a woman for her beauty, whereas we compliment a man for his ability, skill, or talent.
A woman’s profession can be affected by gender stereotypes in several ways. For instance, if she does not show adequate proficiency in her job, she may be looked down upon and may even be considered less of a person. This is the reason why many women become homemakers or housewives, instead of developing careers; they give up on their advancement in life and submit to gender stereotypes. Legitimate science says that women in our society have been subjected to a lot of stereotypes. This so-called gender and sexual stereotype do not only affect their personal lives, but they also influence the roles these women play and several career choices they make in their lives.
We know that male been a leader and in charge, the role is considered to be more socially acceptable. Women feel as they are being called upon only to do the menial jobs. It also hinders their professional growth and development. `The professional choices for women is a topic of great interest in today’s time. In the past, many centuries ago, women were confined to domestic work and the workforce was occupied by men only. With time, society has seen a change in this perspective with more women marching towards professional careers than before. The major hurdles in the way of women to take up any profession or job are their parents and society which goes on to make the decision-making process easier for the males. Of course, women are affected by this, as they are meant to do household work rather than do a job.
There is hardly any field, which a woman cannot enter. After all, women are not the weaker gender by birth. It is just that their choices have been restricted to some extent only because of society’s stereotypical and gender-biased mindset. And it has been changing at a rapid pace since about the last few decades with more and more women. Society has different sets of expectations for men and women and forces them to identify themselves into stereotyped roles. We are a part of this society, so when these stereotypes appear as influencing the decisions we take up, they do have an impact on Women.
June 21, 2021 at 8:15 pm #32692The criteria that leads everyone to decide their career contains a self-ability assessment, interests and your short or long term goals. Gender biasness doesn’t fit into the list, but still gender stereotypes created by the society come into the way when someone strives to choose his/her profession.
Indian society has divided careers and professions into a great gender divide creating discrimination along the society.
A girl and a boy is shortlisted with a few professions he/she could persue. Girls are expected to choose a profession like teacher, makeup artist, psychologist, model, baker, cook etc. Whereas men are expected to pick up a career like software developer, athlete, financial analyst, driver, technician, policeman etc. People do not expect women to pick up a profession they’ve listed up for men and vice versa.
Even after everything, in today’s world women have been breaking these stereotypes and growing forward towards what they actually want to be. We’ve been seeing a lot of women drivers, engineering, coders and also a lot of men cooks, makeup artists, teachers etc. The world is evolving into a better place by trying to create a place equal for all the genders. Breaking the gender stereotypes is leading towards a better society for the future generation.February 26, 2022 at 10:28 pm #34310Gender stereotypes have been ruling the society since time immemorial. There has been a set norm as to what is suitable for a person according to the gender they fall in.
Hence, the statement mentioned above is absolutely correct. Professions as we speak shape the very personality of a person, professionalism doesn’t discriminate between genders then why does our society?
There are people around us with a mindset which believes that females should pursue a carrier that requires set comfortable hours of working. But that isn’t the case anymore women in present day society are willing to step outside their comfort zone and are achieving equavalent to men, acquiring higher positions in Corporate Sector and what not.
But there are still instances where the right to choose a particular profession is greatly affected by the stereotypes prevailing in our society. But even when they pursue a particular career it has been seen that they are often paid less than their male counterparts. Women have been confined to limited career options including teaching, nursing, etc a nine to five job is considered desirable for women.
But leaving behind all the critisism and discrimination women today are significantly achieving success and there are careers breaking these stereotypes.March 1, 2022 at 10:12 pm #34323Gender stereotypes have existed in our society since the time unknown and they continue to flourish even in today’s modern world—which is shameful, to say the least. These gender stereotypes can be about anything and everything, and the worst part is, they influence the young minds as well. That makes one wonder, do gender stereotypes play a role in the kind of professions we choose?
The answer is certainly yes. Whether we want to believe it or not, accept it or not, we are constantly influenced by the kind of expectations the society places on us. And the society likes to indulge in gender stereotypes the most. From making comments like “Boys should be engineers, and girls should be doctors” to constant irrelevant nagging disguised as advice like “girls should do a job that gives them more time to spend at home and take care of their family”—the society never stops itself from throwing unsolicited opinions.
So yes, whether we realise it or not, there is a constant pressure on us to choose a profession that has the potential of somehow making us socially acceptable. This definitely makes it apparent that choosing a profession in such a society has not really been a “choice” but rather just a series of decisions based on expectations we are constantly put through.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.