Officers’ Opinions About Gender Inequality in the Financial Sector and Their Advice to 4th-Year Female Students at Epd

OFFICERS’ OPINIONS ABOUT GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR AND THEIR ADVICE TO 4TH-YEAR FEMALE STUDENTS AT ENGLISH PEDAGOGICAL DEPARTMENT (EPD), ULIS, VNU

LITERATURE REVIEW I. Definitions of the terms 1. Gender 2. Gender vs. sex 3. Gender equality a. Gender equality b. Gender inequality 4. Types of gender inequality 5. Aspects revealing gender inequality in employment II. Real situation about gender equality 1. Gender inequality in employment 2. Gender inequality in the financial sector III. Causes of gender inequality IV. Impacts of gender inequality V. Solutions to improve gender inequality VI. Advice to new graduates from universities on confronting gender inequality in the financial sector
OFFICERS’ OPINIONS ABOUT GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR AND THEIR ADVICE TO 4TH-YEAR FEMALE STUDENTS AT ENGLISH PEDAGOGICAL DEPARTMENT (EPD), ULIS, VNU

LITERATURE REVIEW I. Definitions of the terms For the convenience of clarity, the key terms used in the current study will be defined as follows. 1. Gender
At its simplest, gender is defined as “the social dimension of being male or female”. In other words, gender or gender identity is the sense of being male or female, which most children acquire by the age of three. (Badz27, 2006)[1] 2. Gender vs. sex
Some people may have misunderstandings about gender equality because they are not really able to distinguish between “gender” and “sex”. To thoroughly examine the gender equality or gender inequality, one needs to clarify these TWO terms. In helping to lay the foundation for a clear paper, the researchers reveal the distinction between “gender” and “sex”. Based on Eitzen’s ideas, gender refers to the social identity of men and women. It cannot be understood at the level of individual while sex refers to one's biological identity (Eitzen, 2000). 3. Gender equality a. Gender equality
UNICEF defines gender equality as "leveling the playing field for girls and women by ensuring that all children have equal opportunity to develop their talents."[2]
"A social order in which women and men share the same opportunities and the same constraints on full participation in both the economic and the domestic realm." [3] (Bailyn, 2006). b. Gender inequality
Gender inequality refers to the ranking of the sexes in such a way that women are unequal in power, resources, prestige, or presumed worth. At the same time, both women and men are denied the full range of human and social possibilities. (Eitzen, 2000)
Gender Inequalities refers to the obvious or hidden disparities among individuals based on the performance of gender. This problem in simple term is known as Gender Bias which in simple terms means the gender stratification or making difference between a girl and a boy i.e. a male or a female. (Anand, 2008) 4. Types Of Gender Inequalities
There are many kinds of gender inequality or gender disparity which are as follows:
1. Natality inequality: In this type of inequality a preference is given for boys over girls that many male-dominated societies have, gender inequality can manifest itself in the form of the parents wanting the newborn to be a boy rather than a girl. There was a time when this could be no more than a wish (a daydream or a nightmare, depending on one's perspective), but with the availability of modern techniques to determine the gender of the foetus, sex-selective abortion has become common in many countries. It is particularly prevalent in East Asia, in China and South Korea in particular, but also in Singapore and Taiwan, and it is beginning to emerge as a statistically significant phenomenon in India and South Asia as well.
2. Professional or Employment inequality: In terms of employment as well as promotion in work and occupation, women often face greater handicap than men. A country like Japan and India may be quite egalitarian in matters of demography or basic facilities, and even, to a great extent, in higher education, and yet progress to elevated levels of employment and occupation seems to be much more problematic for women than for men. The example of employment inequality can be explained by saying that men get priority in seeking job than women.
3. Ownership inequality: In many societies the ownership of property can also be very unequal. Even basic assets such as homes and land may be very asymmetrically shared. The absence of claims to property can not only reduce the voice of women, but also make it harder for women to enter and flourish in commercial, economic and even some social activities. This type of inequality has existed in most parts of the world, though there are also local variations. For example, even though traditional property rights have favoured men in the bulk of India.
4. Household inequality: There are often enough, basic inequalities in gender relations within the family or the household, which can take many different forms. Even in cases in which there are no overt signs of anti-female bias in, say, survival or son-preference or education, or even in promotion to higher executive positions, the family arrangements can be quite unequal in terms of sharing the burden of housework and child care. It is, for example, quite common in many societies to take it for granted that while men will naturally work outside the home, women could do it if and only if they could combine it with various inescapable and unequally shared household duties. This is sometimes called "division of labour," though women could be forgiven for seeing it as "accumulation of labour." The reach of this inequality includes not only unequal relations within the family, but also derivative inequalities in employment and recognition in the outside world. Also, the established fixity of this type of "division" or "accumulation" of labour can also have far-reaching effects on the knowledge and understanding of different types of work in professional circles.
5. Special opportunity inequality: Even when there is relatively little difference in basic facilities including schooling, the opportunities of higher education may be far fewer for young women than for young men. Indeed, gender bias in higher education and professional training can be observed even in some of the richest countries in the world, in India too. Sometimes this type of division has been based on the superficially innocuous idea that the respective "provinces" of men and women are just different.
(Anand, 2008)
Due to the time’s constraints, the researchers cannot fully investigate all types of gender inequality. This research paper just focuses on exploiting the gender bias in employment (the 2nd type). More specifically, the gender inequality in the financial sector will be critically analyzed for a better look at this complex issue. 5. Aspects revealing gender inequality in employment
Different aspects of gender inequality have been discussed so far in different researches. Most of the researches mention some certain aspects but they may have different ways of categorizing those. In the light of those categories, the researchers would like to find out an appropriate one for the research paper.

According to UNFPA (2005), gender inequality in the labour market is manifested by: • Occupational segregation • Gender-based wage gaps • Women's disproportionate representation in informal employment, unpaid work and higher unemployment rates

Meanwhile, Nicole Schwab and Aniela Unguresan (2010) has proposed some aspects showing gender inequality including pay for equivalent work, recruitment and promotion, training and mentoring, work-life balance, and company culture.

[4]In employment, gender inequity is expressed in some aspects as follow: • Opportunities and freedom to choose jobs • Promotion, working security, welfares and means of working • Training and knowledge enhancing • Salaries, incomes and evaluation • Social insurance • Especially rights for health protection and working security including functions of giving birth and rearing children

Those categories are systematically defined; however, each category is quite large with so many items. To be appropriate for the aims of this research paper, some certain aspects showing the striking gender inequity are adopted, including (1) job searching process, (2) pay gap, (3) opportunities for promotion and career progression and (4) work-life balance. (1) The first and most obvious issue is the job searching process. In the competition for employment, students, especially female students, often encounter job discrimination. Survey data show that about 70% of female university students think that there is gender inequality in the job search process. Which ranked in the discrimination, the government agencies at the top, followed by public institutions, the third is the state-owned enterprises.” In addition, Dongguan company responsible Lee explained: "This is not discrimination against women. We ask salesman can travel year round in the field, ability to get hard-working down. If you move a woman, we have to consider her safety." (2006)[5] (2) The second aspect is the pay gap. On average, men earn higher pay for the same position than women, while they both possess comparable education and qualifications. In 2002 women earned 78 cents for every $1 men earned. Additionally, female concentrated occupations on average earn less pay than male concentrated fields. According to the statistics in “Gender in(equality) in the labour market: an overview of global trends and developments”, ITUC, 2008, the gender pay gap is 22.4% and widens with age. “The median pay gap for full-time employees for all countries in the sample stands at 28% in favour of men.” (Melis - Warberg, 2009) (3) The third aspect is the opportunities for promotion and career progression. Promotion discrimination is yet another issue besetting women in the workforce. Women experience a cap in how far they can ascend in a company or are more likely to be hired into a dead end position such as a secretary. Men experience the opposite. They get promoted without intention of being promoted. “For those countries with the highest proportions of workers who have been promoted, the range is between 30% and 40%. In all cases; however, more men than women have received a promotion.” (Melis - Warberg, 2009). “Some believe that certain positions in business sectors are never meant and designed for women. There are boundaries that limit the rise of women. This idea in business sectors does nothing but hinders promotion and fair treatment. Business seems to be more supportive of men than of women” (2010)[6] (4) The fourth aspect is the work-life balance. While men can focus on their profession, women; on the other hand, have many other things to worry about, for example, households and childcare which affects clearly their careers. “Women earn less money on average and expect much more often to leave their job for family reasons.” (Policy Paper on Gender Equality, 2001) In addition, businesswomen have to face pregnancy, childbirth and other issues. People think that “employers should stand by their female staff when they have children, that maternity leave and maternity pay should be just as much of a given as our right to a pension.” (Boycott, 2008) However, British MEP Godfrey Bloom blustered that “no self-respecting small businessman […] would ever employ a lady of childbearing age.” “It is understood that female employees have fertility problems, can not travel alone, can not go out drinking with the boss, etc., which may lead to the recruitment of son preference.” (2006)[7]

II. Real situation about gender equality 1. Gender inequality in employment 2. Gender inequality in the financial sector III. Causes of gender inequality The study also argued there is a “psychological barrier” hindering women’s employment that has been produced by the structuring of the country’s workforce. Given the country’s chronic unemployment, these barriers mean men are preferred for the few available job opportunities. “The primary reason is that men are still perceived as the head of and provider for households,” according to the report.[8]
What Causes Gender Inequality?
To explain gender inequality, sociologists turn to the surrounding systems that affect all human behavior. Most theories highlight the institutional structures that assign women and men different positions, different roles, and consequently different behaviors.
A. Materialist Theories
The most compelling explanations of gender inequality are materialist theories that use cross-cultural data on the status of women and men. Materialist theories explain gender inequality as an outcome of how women and men are tied to the economic structure of society. Such theories stress control and distribution of valued resources as crucial facts in producing stratification.
They point out that women's roles of mother and wife, although vital to the well-being of society, are devalued and also deny women access to highly valued public resources. They point out that gender stratification is greater where women's work is directed inward to the family and men's work is directed outward to trade and the marketplace (Eitzen, 2000:251).
When women do enter the labor markets, they often are concentrated in lower-paying jobs. Women also enter the labor market later than men and often have to leave periodically because of child care responsibilities. Historically, women have had lower levels of education than men, but recently this trend seems to have begun to reverse.
B. The Division Between Domestic and Public Work
The division between domestic and public spheres of activity is particularly constraining to women and advantageous to men. 1. The domestic and public spheres of activity are associated with different amounts of property, power, and prestige. 2. Women's reproductive roles and their responsibilities for domestic labor limit their association with the resources that are highly valued. 3. Men are freed from domestic responsibilities. Their economic obligations in the public sphere assure them of control of highly valued resources and give rise to male privilege (Eitzen, 2000:251).

IV. Impacts of gender inequality V. Measures to solve gender inequality. Gender inequality is really a hush-hush topic that needs help from every individuals and organizations to solve. 1. Government - A clear cut administrative should be made available at the district level for monitoring and reviewing the incidence of inequality against women. - Enact Gender Equality Law to protect women’s rights. It should be codified in a formal law on gender equality with the specific responsibilities of government agencies. (Nguyen, 2010) 2. Society - The organizations should have the priority projects, investment for women entrepreneurs, funds with incentives to reduce businesswomen’s difficulties, so women have more opportunities to take part in economic activities, contributing to poverty reduction and increasing the number of businesswomen. (Pham, 2010) - Held workshops on gender equality for staff and workers in companies. - Provide training and skills development for women (…) as well as steps to built confidence and a sense of ability and independence. (UNDP, 2010) - Educate and raise awareness of gender equality among people. “Gender equality can be best started at home (…) If it can be prevented at home, then inequality in the workplace and anywhere in society can be prevented. Education and cultural awareness is the only key to promoting gender equality and ending gender inequality in the workplace especially among women.” (2010) - Have efficient systems of complaint and appeal in order to fight encountered gender-based discrimination. (2010) 3. Businesswomen - To become equal to men, women have to overcome their difficulties themselves, and serve their roles as wives, mothers and employees well. (Pham, 2010) - Have knowledge of gender equality and laws to protect their rights. - Develop professional skills, especially financial management skills. (Pham, 2010)

VI. Advice to new female graduates from universities on confronting gender inequality in the financial sector - Have basic knowledge of gender equality to prepare themselves for the new working environment to avoid unfair treatment. - Think carefully when choosing job. Avoid “unusual” fields for each gender. For example, a woman who applies for an engineering programme in front of a male interview team of professors, and has to explain why she wants to become an engineer will face as many stereotypes as a man who applies for a kindergarten teacher’s programme in front of mostly female kindergarten teachers. (Policy Paper on Gender Equality, 2001) - Develop professional skills, especially financial management skills. (Pham, 2010) - Learn to work independently and effectively to prove abilities. (Nguyen, 2010) - Raise their voice in defence of reason when encountering job discrimination. (2010)[9]
Conclusion
“Fight for gender equality is not a fight against men. It is a fight against traditions that have chained them – a fight against attitudes that are ingrained in the society – it is a fight against system – a fight against proverbial laxshman Rekha which is different for men and different for women. The society must rise to the occasion. It must recognize & accept fact that men and women are equal partners in life. They are individual who have their own identity”.
(Anand, 2008)

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[1] http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=30048
[2] http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/presskit/factsheets/facts_gender.htm
[3] Bailyn, (2006). Breaking the mold: Redesigning work for productive and satisfying lives. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.
[4] http://ubphunu-ncfaw.gov.vn/upload_news/files/Longghepgioi.ppt
[5] http://www.tekbar.net/system-integration/female-college-students-seeking-jobs-near-qi-cheng.html

[6] http://www.genderequalityinbusiness.com/
[7] http://www.tekbar.net/system-integration/female-college-students-seeking-jobs-near-qi-cheng.html

[8] http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=greater-vision-policies-needed-to-create-level-playing-field-for-women-2010-02-21
[9] http://www.tekbar.net/system-integration/female-college-students-seeking-jobs-near-qi-cheng.html