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Write and present your final copy

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Proof read and spellcheck

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Make changes to your writing

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Use your ideas to make a rough draft

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Finding ideas, brainstormiing, and free writing

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Susanné Bergsten Park Senior Coordinator, Women’s Rights Division

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Despite great strides made by the international women’s rights movement over many years, women and girls around the world are still married as children or trafficked into forced labor and sex slavery. They are refused access to education and political participation, and some are trapped in conflicts…

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A look back at history shows that women have made great strides in the fight for equality, including women's suffrage and inroads in equal opportunity in the workplace and education.

Despite the tremendous progress made in the struggle for gender equality, women still face violence, discrimination, and institutional barriers to equal participation in society.

Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, the ACLU Women's Rights Project pushes for change and systemic reform in institutions that perpetuate discrimination against women, focusing its work in the areas of employment, violence against women, and education.

In the employment realm, laws and workplace policies that exclude women from certain job sectors and allow them to be forced out of the workplace when they become pregnant or return to work after having a baby cause persistent disparities in women's income, wealth, and economic security.

Survivors of gender-based violence face discrimination when police, schools, landlords, and other institutions fail to adequately address and prevent violence and also when laws and policies penalize them, impeding the ability of women and girls to live safely and with dignity.

In the education sector, many public schools have introduced programs based on unfounded stereotypes about the learning abilities and preferences of boys and girls, limiting equal educational opportunities for all.

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Women's Rights | American Civil Liberties Union

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Today, gender bias continues to create huge barriers for many women. Ongoing struggles include ensuring equal economic opportunities, educational equity, and an end to gender-based violence.

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21 Facts About Gender Inequality You Need To Know Now

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Do you feel that? That's the cultural shift that's happening because women are creating modern-day movements towards real change now. At MAKERS, we are committed to highlighting the changeMAKERS who are leading the charge towards ending sexual harassment across all industries, providing resources...

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Such inequality is hardly unique to the United States, however. In the following Q&A, Mary Brinton-sociology professor at Harvard University-answered a few questions about how the United States compares to other postindustrial countries on gender inequality, as well as how gender equality can help solve declining birth rates.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE TODAY?

It is important to incorporate men into the theoretical framework. Let's talk about how workplaces need to adapt to the "whole person," both women and men.

There is not a problem with female achievement. Women have caught up with men in terms of education. In fact, in the United States and a number of other countries, women now actually surpass men in educational achievement.

The problem arises when young adults try to balance work and family, and women end up carrying nearly all of the caregiving responsibilities.

If women put many more hours into these household activities than men, this greatly disadvantages women in the workplace. It is unrealistic to expect gender equality if workplaces demand that women be available all the time.

YOUR RESEARCH FOCUSES ON DECLINING FERTILITY RATES IN POSTINDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES. HOW DO FERTILITY RATES CONNECT WITH GENDER EQUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE?

A fertility rate-meaning birth rate-of 2.1 is necessary for a country to naturally replace its population. Since the 1980s, fertility rates have steadily declined around the world. In the United States, the fertility rate is 1.9. In Southern Europe and East Asia, rates are now below 1.3.

In Japan, for example, entrenched attitudes about women in the workforce and as mothers are likely contributing to the low birth rate. The cultural emphasis on being the ideal mother, along with a corporate culture that demands long work hours, makes motherhood very difficult for women with careers.

It's interesting to note that the countries with high female labor force participation rates tend to have higher birth rates. The postindustrial countries that have made it possible for women (and men) to balance work and family typically have replacement-level birth rates. Increased gender equality-both in the workplace and at home-is an important part of the solution to declining birth rates.

IN YOUR RESEARCH ON JAPAN, YOU DESCRIBE A "DEMOGRAPHIC TIME BOMB." WHAT IS THIS?

Japanese women are getting more education and want to have a career. But within the home, gender equality is not on pace with workforce equality. Woman end up doing a "second shift" of housework and childcare when they return home from work. The result is that many women are waiting longer to get into a partnership. They are choosing, instead, to focus on their career. And when they do get married, they have fewer children.

Japan's population is projected to drop by one-sixth by 2020, and by 2025, 40 percent of the population will be 65 years of age or older. This means skyrocketing health care and pension costs as the population ages. The reduced number of young, homegrown workers entering the workforce and paying into the pension systems could undermine Japan's economy.

WHAT CAN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES DO TO INCREASE GENDER EQUALITY?

Gender stereotypes are hard to break and, like it or not, we are all prone to engaging in stereotyping at one time or another. It's important to study our biases and quantify inequality, such as the work conducted here at Harvard, so that we can understand how to effect change.

In both Japan and the United States, public policy is an important part of increasing gender equality in the workplace and at home, but not all of it.

As a society, we need to continue to encourage people to go beyond stereotypes and recognize the contributions that each individual, male or female, can make to the workplace and to relationships at home.

Related Courses

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Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace

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Such inequality is hardly unique to the United States, however. In the following Q&A, Mary Brinton-sociology professor at Harvard University-answered a few questions about how the United States compares to other postindustrial countries on gender inequality, as well as how gender equality can help solve declining birth rates.

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Different Stages Of The Writing Process (1)