In equal societies, women and men are becoming more unequal

In the Philippines, Russia and Thailand, women are six to seven times more likely to study physics than women in Japan, Canada or Germany. Here scientists work on a crab cavity at CERN, the big European centre for particle physics. CERN / PNG

It is somewhat unsettling and a real surprise that currently equality is accentuating the differences between men and women. And it is that more and more are the studies and investigations that are carried out with respect to almost any subject. And in a matter of genres, this is not an exception. Being that researchers are discovering that, in equal societies, women and men are becoming more unequal. Both in their lifestyles and in their career options.

There are those who support more daycare centers subsidized by the government for young children of millennial parents with problems in Canada. Despite this, should Prime Minister Justin Trudeau increase parental benefits for dads and moms, Canadians should prepare for a big surprise. The cultural consequence of increased financial aid for parents is probably not what people expect in relation to gender norms, especially in the United States and Canada. It should be noted that the main social benefit behind the idea of subsidizing daycare is to give more couples the opportunity to be more equal, at home and in the workplace.

And is that according to various studies, egalitarian policies in rich countries are leading women and men to adopt more traditional gender roles.

Expert in the subject

One of the thinkers who first noticed this unexpected development of gender is the Canadian psychologist Susan Pinker, who is the author of The Sexual Paradox: Extreme Men, Gifted Women, and the Real Gender Gap.

In her book, you can see how, despite the fact that women constitute a large majority in higher education in the West, men still outnumber women. Both in business, physical sciences, law, engineering, and politics.

According to Pinker, “Although they are strong at the entrance gates, many women are deserting as they advance, and it is not just a small cohort of thirty-something privileged white mothers, but women of different backgrounds and different ages”, added this, “Women are 2.8 times more likely than men to drop out of science and engineering careers for other occupations and 13 times more likely to leave the workforce altogether, even when marriage and young children are not relevant”.

Source: Douglas Todd | The Vancouver Sun