Women not only got equal legal rights with men, but on average, they also have equal or higher educational qualifications and leadership skills.

In the executive suites, however, they are underrepresented in comparison to their male counterparts.

What keeps them from climbing?

While the discrimination against women in the education system has disappeared (more women than men today achieve a university degree worldwide), it lives on in the world of work. In industrial society, a special form of gender-specific division of labor had emerged – in the workplace, in public life, and privacy.

Between women and men, there were typical differences in social living conditions and social role requirements, which were also reflected in gender-specific socialization processes on the personality, attitudes, motivations, and behaviors.

Definition of Discrimination

Discrimination in a social sense occurs when one person or group of persons is characterized by another by social or group-specific negatively assessed characteristics. People are treated differently. One consequence of social discrimination is often economic discrimination. (Cvitkovich, 2012, p. 8) Economic discrimination occurs when the consideration is not solely performance-based, but the non-changeable personal characteristics that are irrelevant to that achievement. The characteristics include, for example, gender. (Kreimer, 2009, p. 9)

3. Types of discrimination

Labor market discrimination

There is talk of labor market discrimination when two equally well-qualified individuals are treated differently in the labor market because of features that are immaterial to productivity. (Kapphan, 1994, p. 40 f.) • 1 Labor market discrimination is subdivided into recruitment, employment, promotion, and pay discrimination (Kapphan, 1994, p. 40 f.).

Setting discrimination: 

If women have poorer recruitment opportunities or are systematically referred to lower-value jobs, this is called employment discrimination (Kapphan, 1994, p. 40 f.)

Employment discrimination:

Employment discrimination occurs when women are treated worse than other groups despite having the same skills as their own. (Kapphan, 1994, p. 40 f.)

Rise discrimination:

Ascent discrimination refers to the poorer access of women to further education opportunities and the lower opportunities for advancement despite equal or equivalent qualifications. (Kapphan, 1994, p. 40 f.)

Wage discrimination:

Wage discrimination against women exists when women are paid worse than equally qualified men solely because of their gender. In wage discrimination, a distinction is made between direct and indirect discrimination. (Kapphan, 1994, p. 40 f.)

Germany and Mexico in Comparison

 

The share of women on the boards of the largest financial organizations in the year 2016

Women not only have equal legal rights with men, but on average, they also have equal or higher educational qualifications, qualifications, and leadership skills. In the executive suites, however, they are underrepresented in comparison to their male counterparts.

Facts about Germany and Mexico

Analysis about Germany

The proportion of 24 – 35-year olds with a university degree:

Men: 28%

Women: 30%

On average men are getting 21,00€/ hour and women 16,59€ /hour (the difference is about 21%). (2018, statistisches Bundesamt)

Analysis about Mexico

Mexico scored 0.5 in the Gender pay gap, this means that on average, women’s income in Mexico was estimated to be 50% lower than men´s.  (2018, Statista)

In 2018 women in Mexico were asked what where the main issues that women and girls were facing in Mexico:
48% of Sexual harassment

22% gender stereotyping

14% Equal pay
14% Unpaid work

10% Access to education

(2018, Statesman)

Conclusion

There is no difference between women and men when it comes to university degrees, and the proportion of women and men who could work is equally high. However, the education and skills of women are not fully utilized. Only just under 70 percent of all women are currently in employment. Although this is a good ten percent more than in 2008, the employment rate is still eight percent lower than that of men. In addition, almost 37 percent of working women, including many mothers, work part-time.

We think that one possible solution to this problem could be to give women with children more social support in the form of e.g. to offer daycare.

Sources: https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/ImFokus/VerdiensteArbeitkosten/ Verdienstunterschiede2018.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/806368/latin-america-gender-pay-gap-index/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/814664/issues-facing-women-girls-mexico/https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesamtwirtschaftUmwelt/

Earnings Labor costs/ earnings Differences in earnings/ tables/ gross monthly earnings. html https://wenr.wes.org/2016/08/education-in-mexico Kapphan, 1994, p. 40 f.