why do we avoid gender discrimination persuasive essay

5 Powerful Essays Advocating for Gender Equality

Gender equality – which becomes reality when all genders are treated fairly and allowed equal opportunities –  is a complicated human rights issue for every country in the world. Recent statistics are sobering. According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 108 years to achieve gender parity . The biggest gaps are found in political empowerment and economics. Also, there are currently just six countries that give women and men equal legal work rights. Generally, women are only given ¾ of the rights given to men. To learn more about how gender equality is measured, how it affects both women and men, and what can be done, here are five essays making a fair point.

Take a free course on Gender Equality offered by top universities!

“Countries With Less Gender Equity Have More Women In STEM — Huh?” – Adam Mastroianni and Dakota McCoy

This essay from two Harvard PhD candidates (Mastroianni in psychology and McCoy in biology) takes a closer look at a recent study that showed that in countries with lower gender equity, more women are in STEM. The study’s researchers suggested that this is because women are actually especially interested in STEM fields, and because they are given more choice in Western countries, they go with different careers. Mastroianni and McCoy disagree.

They argue the research actually shows that cultural attitudes and discrimination are impacting women’s interests, and that bias and discrimination is present even in countries with better gender equality. The problem may lie in the Gender Gap Index (GGI), which tracks factors like wage disparity and government representation. To learn why there’s more women in STEM from countries with less gender equality, a more nuanced and complex approach is needed.

“Men’s health is better, too, in countries with more gender equality” – Liz Plank

When it comes to discussions about gender equality, it isn’t uncommon for someone in the room to say, “What about the men?” Achieving gender equality has been difficult because of the underlying belief that giving women more rights and freedom somehow takes rights away from men. The reality, however, is that gender equality is good for everyone. In Liz Plank’s essay, which is an adaption from her book For the Love of Men: A Vision for Mindful Masculinity, she explores how in Iceland, the #1 ranked country for gender equality, men live longer. Plank lays out the research for why this is, revealing that men who hold “traditional” ideas about masculinity are more likely to die by suicide and suffer worse health. Anxiety about being the only financial provider plays a big role in this, so in countries where women are allowed education and equal earning power, men don’t shoulder the burden alone.

Liz Plank is an author and award-winning journalist with Vox, where she works as a senior producer and political correspondent. In 2015, Forbes named her one of their “30 Under 30” in the Media category. She’s focused on feminist issues throughout her career.

“China’s #MeToo Moment” –  Jiayang Fan

Some of the most visible examples of gender inequality and discrimination comes from “Me Too” stories. Women are coming forward in huge numbers relating how they’ve been harassed and abused by men who have power over them. Most of the time, established systems protect these men from accountability. In this article from Jiayang Fan, a New Yorker staff writer, we get a look at what’s happening in China.

The essay opens with a story from a PhD student inspired by the United States’ Me Too movement to open up about her experience with an academic adviser. Her story led to more accusations against the adviser, and he was eventually dismissed. This is a rare victory, because as Fan says, China employs a more rigid system of patriarchy and hierarchy. There aren’t clear definitions or laws surrounding sexual harassment. Activists are charting unfamiliar territory, which this essay explores.

“Men built this system. No wonder gender equality remains as far off as ever.” – Ellie Mae O’Hagan

Freelance journalist Ellie Mae O’Hagan (whose book The New Normal is scheduled for a May 2020 release) is discouraged that gender equality is so many years away. She argues that it’s because the global system of power at its core is broken.  Even when women are in power, which is proportionally rare on a global scale, they deal with a system built by the patriarchy. O’Hagan’s essay lays out ideas for how to fix what’s fundamentally flawed, so gender equality can become a reality.

Ideas include investing in welfare; reducing gender-based violence (which is mostly men committing violence against women); and strengthening trade unions and improving work conditions. With a system that’s not designed to put women down, the world can finally achieve gender equality.

“Invisibility of Race in Gender Pay Gap Discussions” – Bonnie Chu

The gender pay gap has been a pressing issue for many years in the United States, but most discussions miss the factor of race. In this concise essay, Senior Contributor Bonnie Chu examines the reality, writing that within the gender pay gap, there’s other gaps when it comes to black, Native American, and Latina women. Asian-American women, on the other hand, are paid 85 cents for every dollar. This data is extremely important and should be present in discussions about the gender pay gap. It reminds us that when it comes to gender equality, there’s other factors at play, like racism.

Bonnie Chu is a gender equality advocate and a Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur. She’s the founder and CEO of Lensational, which empowers women through photography, and the Managing Director of The Social Investment Consultancy.

You may also like

15 Examples of Gender Inequality in Everyday Life

11 Approaches to Alleviate World Hunger 

15 Facts About Malala Yousafzai

12 Ways Poverty Affects Society

15 Great Charities to Donate to in 2024

15 Quotes Exposing Injustice in Society

14 Trusted Charities Helping Civilians in Palestine

The Great Migration: History, Causes and Facts

Social Change 101: Meaning, Examples, Learning Opportunities

Rosa Parks: Biography, Quotes, Impact

Top 20 Issues Women Are Facing Today

Top 20 Issues Children Are Facing Today

About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Gender Inequality Essay

500+ words essay on gender inequality.

For many years, the dominant gender has been men while women were the minority. It was mostly because men earned the money and women looked after the house and children. Similarly, they didn’t have any rights as well. However, as time passed by, things started changing slowly. Nonetheless, they are far from perfect. Gender inequality remains a serious issue in today’s time. Thus, this gender inequality essay will highlight its impact and how we can fight against it.

  About Gender Inequality Essay

Gender inequality refers to the unequal and biased treatment of individuals on the basis of their gender. This inequality happens because of socially constructed gender roles. It happens when an individual of a specific gender is given different or disadvantageous treatment in comparison to a person of the other gender in the same circumstance.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Impact of Gender Inequality

The biggest problem we’re facing is that a lot of people still see gender inequality as a women’s issue. However, by gender, we refer to all genders including male, female, transgender and others.

When we empower all genders especially the marginalized ones, they can lead their lives freely. Moreover, gender inequality results in not letting people speak their minds. Ultimately, it hampers their future and compromises it.

History is proof that fighting gender inequality has resulted in stable and safe societies. Due to gender inequality, we have a gender pay gap. Similarly, it also exposes certain genders to violence and discrimination.

In addition, they also get objectified and receive socioeconomic inequality. All of this ultimately results in severe anxiety, depression and even low self-esteem. Therefore, we must all recognize that gender inequality harms genders of all kinds. We must work collectively to stop these long-lasting consequences and this gender inequality essay will tell you how.

How to Fight Gender Inequality

Gender inequality is an old-age issue that won’t resolve within a few days. Similarly, achieving the goal of equality is also not going to be an easy one. We must start by breaking it down and allow it time to go away.

Firstly, we must focus on eradicating this problem through education. In other words, we must teach our young ones to counter gender stereotypes from their childhood.

Similarly, it is essential to ensure that they hold on to the very same beliefs till they turn old. We must show them how sports are not gender-biased.

Further, we must promote equality in the fields of labour. For instance, some people believe that women cannot do certain jobs like men. However, that is not the case. We can also get celebrities on board to promote and implant the idea of equality in people’s brains.

All in all, humanity needs men and women to continue. Thus, inequality will get us nowhere. To conclude the gender inequality essay, we need to get rid of the old-age traditions and mentality. We must teach everyone, especially the boys all about equality and respect. It requires quite a lot of work but it is possible. We can work together and achieve equal respect and opportunities for all genders alike.

FAQ of Gender Inequality Essay

Question 1: What is gender inequality?

Answer 1: Gender inequality refers to the unequal and biased treatment of individuals on the basis of their gender. This inequality happens because of socially constructed gender roles. It happens when an individual of a specific gender is given different or disadvantageous treatment in comparison to a person of the other gender in the same circumstance.

Question 2: How does gender inequality impact us?

Answer 2:  The gender inequality essay tells us that gender inequality impacts us badly. It takes away opportunities from deserving people. Moreover, it results in discriminatory behaviour towards people of a certain gender. Finally, it also puts people of a certain gender in dangerous situations.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

Essay on Gender Discrimination

• Updated on  
• Jul 14, 2022

One of the challenges present in today’s society is gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is when someone is treated unequally based on their gender. Gender discrimination is not just present in the workplace but in schools, colleges and communities as well. As per the Civil Rights Act of 1964,  gender discrimination is illegal in India. This is also an important and common essay topic in schools and competitive exams such as IELTS , TOEFL , SAT , UPSC , etc. Let’s explore some samples of essay on gender discrimination and tips for writing an impactful essay.

Tips for Writing an Impactful Essay

If you want to write a scoring and deep impact essay, here are some tips for writing a perfect informative essay:

• The most important and first step is to write an introduction and background information about and related to the topic
• Then you are also required to use the formal style of writing and avoid using slang language
• To make an essay more impactful, write dates, quotations, and names to provide a better understanding
• You can use jargon wherever it is necessary as it sometimes makes an essay complicated
• To make an essay more creative, you can also add information in bulleted points wherever possible
• Always remember to add a conclusion where you need to summarise crucial points
• Once you are done read through the lines and check spelling and grammar mistakes before submission

Essay on Gender Discrimination in 200 Words

One of the important aspects of a democratic society is the elimination of gender discrimination. The root cause of this vigorous disease is the stereotypical society itself. When a child is born, the discrimination begins; if the child is male, he is given a car, bat and ball with blue, and red colour clothes, whereas when a child is female, she is given barbie dolls with pink clothes. We all are raised with a mentality that boys are good at sports and messy, but girls are not good at sports and are well organised. This discriminatory mentality has a deeper impact when girls are told not to work while boys are allowed to do much work. This categorising males and females into different categories discriminating based on gender are known as gender discrimination. Further, this discriminatory behaviour in society leads to hatred, injustice and much more. This gender discrimination is evident in every woman’s life at the workplace, in educational institutions, in sports, etc., where young girls and women are deprived of their rights and undervalued. This major issue prevailing in society can be solved only by providing equality to women and giving them all rights as given to men.

Essay on Gender Discrimination in 300 Words 

Gender Discrimination, as the term signifies, is discrimination or discriminatory behaviour based on gender. The stereotypical mindset of people in the past has led to the discrimination that women face today. According to Kahle Wolfe, in 2015, women earned 83% of the income paid to men by working the same hours. Almost all women are not only discriminated against based on their salaries but also on their looks.

Further, most women are allowed to follow a certain dress code depending upon the work field and the dress women wear also decides their future career.

This dominant male society teaches males that women are weak and innocent. Thus women are mostly victims and are targeted in crimes. For example, In a large portion of the globe, women are blamed for rapes despite being victims because of their clothes. This society also portrays women as weaker and not eligible enough to take a stand for themselves, leading to the major destruction of women’s personalities as men are taught to let women down. This mindset of people nowadays is a major social justice issue leading to gender discrimination in society.

Further, gender-based discrimination is evident across the globe in a plethora of things, including sports, education, health and law. Every 1 out of 3 women in the world is abused in various forms at some point in their lives by men. This social evil is present in most parts of the world; in India, women are burnt to death if they are incapable of affording financial requirements; in Egypt, women are killed by society if they are sensed doing something unclean in or out of their families, whereas in South Africa baby girls are abandoned or killed as they are considered as burden for the family. Thus gender discrimination can be only eliminated from society by educating people about giving equal rights and respect to every gender.

Top Universities for Gender Studies Abroad

UK, Canada and USA are the top three countries to study gender studies abroad. Here’s the list of top universities you can consider if you planning to pursue gender studies course abroad: 

We hope this blog has helped you in structuring a terrific essay on gender discrimination. Planning to ace your IELTS, get expert tips from coaches at Leverage Live by Leverage Edu .

Sonal is a creative, enthusiastic writer and editor who has worked extensively for the Study Abroad domain. She splits her time between shooting fun insta reels and learning new tools for content marketing. If she is missing from her desk, you can find her with a group of people cracking silly jokes or petting neighbourhood dogs.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

Leaving already?

8 Universities with higher ROI than IITs and IIMs

Grab this one-time opportunity to download this ebook

Connect With Us

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

September 2024

January 2025

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

A RESOURCE CREATED BY:

How Gender-Role Salience Influences Attitude Strength and Persuasive Message Processing

When women are exposed to female gender role information, the strength of their attitudes is reduced and they are more susceptible to persuasion. however, when men and women are exposed to male gender role information, they process messages more thoughtfully..

Cite this Article

Eaton, Asia A., et al. "How Gender-Role Salience Influences Attitude Strength and Persuasive Message Processing." Psychology of Women Quarterly , vol. 41, no. 2, 2017, pp. 223-239. DOI: 10.1177/0361684317696257.

Eaton, A.A., Visser, P.S., & Burns, V. (2017). How gender-role salience influences attitude strength and persuasive message processing. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 41 (2), 223-239. DOI: 10.1177/0361684317696257.

Eaton, Asia A., Penny S. Visser, and Vicki Burns. 2017. "How Gender-Role Salience Influences Attitude Strength and Persuasive Message Processing." Psychology of Women Quarterly 41 (2): 223-239. DOI: 10.1177/0361684317696257.

Asia A. Eaton

Penny s. visser, vicki burns.

• Introduction
• Methodology

There are common stereotypes that women are “wavering,” “naïve,” and “easily influenced,” whereas men are “intelligent,” “rational,” “consistent,” and “stubborn.” Such traits are part of broader generalizations that women are more susceptible to persuasion than men. Although such stereotypes are widespread, research about gender differences in persuadability has produced conflicting results. In order to make sense of these unclear research findings, scholars have conducted meta-analyses of various studies on the topic of persuadability, finding that women may appear more susceptible to persuasion than men—although the extent of these effects remains ambiguous.

In addition, there is a growing field of research that looks at how being exposed to information about a certain social group—also known as “priming”—can affect the thoughts and behaviors of the people who are “primed.” Studies show that this effect can occur even when people are primed with information about a social category that they don’t belong to. For instance, university students who are primed with stereotypes of professors do better on general knowledge tests than university students primed with stereotypes of “cleaning ladies.”

This study investigates whether being primed with information about female and male gender roles affects how susceptible people are to persuasion with regard to their attitudes on public transportation discounts, changes in university curricula, and capital punishment within the context of three experiments performed on women and men in the US Midwest.

When women were exposed to priming female gender role information (including words such as “she,” “skirt,” “lipstick,” “flower,” “jewerly”), the strength of their self-reported attitude-relevant knowledge, certainty, and importance was reduced and ambivalence toward a topic was increased. Furthermore, women primed with the female gender role were more susceptible to persuasive arguments on capital punishment, and demonstrated less differentiation between strong and weak arguments, indicating the stereotype of female persuadability reduced their cognitive ability to distinguish among these arguments. However, when women and men were exposed to male gender role information, they processed messages more thoughtfully and changed their attitudes more in response to a strong argument about capital punishment compared to a weak one.

• Study 1 revealed that when the female gender role was made salient, women demonstrated weaker attitudes, which tended to be more susceptible to change.
• Study 2 found that reminders of the female role led women to demonstrate reduced cognitive processing of persuasive messages.
• In Study 3, women and men responded to gender-role salience with assimiliative behavior: female gender role primes caused both women and men to process persuasive messages less carefully, and male gender role primes led both women and men to process messages thoughtfully.

These results have important implications for daily life, where it is difficult to eliminate reminders about gender roles. The study suggests that women and men should be vigilant about carefully processing the information they receive, so as not to be unintentionally susceptible to persuasion. The authors recommend researchers be wary of inadvertent gender salience in the research context, as reminders of any social identity, role, or category stereotypically associated with high or low levels of thoughtfulness or persuadability may automatically influence cognitive processing and attitude strength.

In this study, researchers conducted three experiments to assess the impact of receiving gender role information on the ability of women and men to be persuaded in their attitudes.

In the first study, they asked 50 college-aged women from the Midwestern United States to participate in a “vigilance task,” during which they were asked to stare at a crosshair that appeared on a screen and to use keyboard responses to identify whether a “flash” appeared on the right or left of the crosshair. Based on random assignment, the “flashes” were words that conveyed either female gender role information, such as “she” and “skirt,” or gender-neutral information, such as “carpet” and “glue.” This process is referred to as unconscious priming, as the words were shown for 80 ms followed by a masking image shown for 80 ms. The specific words that appeared for each participant were randomly sampled from a standard list used for the entire experiment. Immediately after priming, participants’ attitudes toward two campus issues – transit authority discounts for university students and changes to the university’s core curriculum – were assessed. They were also asked to rate the strength of these attitudes, based on how knowledgeable they considered themselves to be on each issue (attitude-relevant knowledge), how certain they were about their opinions on each issue (attitude certainty), how important each issue was to them (attitude importance), and how conflicted they felt about each issue (attitude ambivalence) on a 5-point Likert scale. At the end of this trial, participants were asked a series of “suspicion check” questions to verify whether or not they had guessed the true intention of the experiments. (No participants guessed the study’s hypothesis or purpose.)

In the second study, 104 female adults from a large city in the Midwestern United States were recruited from public locations such as restaurants, bowling alleys, and fast food courts. They were first assessed on their existing attitudes towards the death penalty on a 7-point scale (strongly opposed to strongly in favor). These questions were embedded in a series of other questions they were asked about their opinions towards tax cuts, immigration, free trade, etc. In order to “prime” the participants, the researchers asked them to unscramble a series of words to form a coherent sentence. Based on random assignment, the sentences either contained information related to the female gender role, such as “her woman lipstick kept the in purse her,” or were gender neutral, such as “banana breakfast had pancakes for they.” Participants were then given strongly and weakly persuasive arguments about the death penalty, and asked to rate how strongly persuasive the arguments were on a 5-point scale. (A suspicion check was also administered, and none of the participants guessed the intention of the study.)

In the third study, 185 women and men, recruited from the psychology subject pool at a Southeastern Hispanic-serving institution and who were either in favor of the death penalty or neutral to it, were randomly given information that either was gender-neutral or primed them about the female gender role or the male gender role. Participants first reported their attitudes toward a variety of social and political issues, including their attitudes toward capital punishment, on a 7-point scale. As in the previous study, participants were then shown weak and strong arguments for the death penalty and asked to assess the strength of the arguments and their attitude toward capital punishment.

One limitation of the study is that it focused on participant opinions relating to the specific issue of the death penalty. If the results were to be more broadly generalized, the experiments should also be replicated using other gender-neutral issues.

• Top of Page
• Authors & Citations
• Related Studies

Related GAP Studies

Redesigning résumés reduces discrimination against female jobseekers with child-related employment gaps and overall improves hireability of applicants with and without employment gaps. , reducing discrimination against job seekers with and without employment gaps.

Employment opportunities for refugees significantly boosted their psychological well being. For women refugees, it also increased their perceptions of household power and intolerance for intimate partner violence.

The psychosocial value of employment: evidence from a refugee camp.

• Share full article

Advertisement

This Is How Everyday Sexism Could Stop You From Getting That Promotion

By Jessica Nordell and Yaryna Serkez Oct. 14, 2021

By Jessica Nordell Graphics by Yaryna Serkez

Jessica Nordell is a science and culture journalist. Yaryna Serkez is a writer and a graphics editor for Opinion.

When the computer scientist and mathematician Lenore Blum announced her resignation from Carnegie Mellon University in 2018, the community was jolted. A distinguished professor, she’d helped found the Association for Women in Mathematics, and made seminal contributions to the field. But she said she found herself steadily marginalized from a center she’d help create — blocked from important decisions, dismissed and ignored. She explained at the time : “Subtle biases and microaggressions pile up, few of which on their own rise to the level of ‘let’s take action,’ but are insidious nonetheless.”

It’s an experience many women can relate to. But how much does everyday sexism at work matter? Most would agree that outright discrimination when it comes to hiring and advancement is a bad thing, but what about the small indignities that women experience day after day? The expectation that they be unfailingly helpful ; the golf rounds and networking opportunities they’re not invited to ; the siphoning off of credit for their work by others; unfair performance reviews that penalize them for the same behavior that’s applauded in men; the “ manterrupting ”?

When I was researching my book “The End of Bias: A Beginning” I wanted to understand the collective impact of these less visible forms of bias, but data were hard to come by. Bias doesn’t happen once or twice; it happens day after day, week after week. To explore the aggregate impact of routine gender bias over time, I teamed up with Kenny Joseph, a computer science professor at the University at Buffalo, and a graduate student there, Yuhao Du, to create a computer simulation of a workplace. We call our simulated workplace “NormCorp.” Here’s how it works.

NormCorp is a simple company. Employees do projects, either alone or in pairs. These succeed or fail, which affects a score we call “promotability.” Twice a year, employees go through performance reviews, and the top scorers at each level are promoted to the next level.

NormCorp employees are affected by the kinds of gender bias that are endemic in the workplace. Women’s successful solo projects are valued slightly less than men’s , and their successful joint projects with men accrue them less credit . They are also penalized slightly more when they fail . Occasional “stretch” projects have outsize rewards, but as in the real world, women’s potential is underrecognized compared with men’s, so they must have a greater record of past successes to be assigned these projects. A fraction of women point out the unfairness and are then penalized for the perception that they are “self-promoting.” And as the proportion of women decreases, those that are left face more stereotyping .

We simulated 10 years of promotion cycles happening at NormCorp based on these rules, and here is how women’s representation changed over time.

Simulation of Normcorp promotions over 10 years, with female performance undervalued by 3 percent

Simulation results over time

These biases have all been demonstrated across various professional fields. One working paper study of over 500,000 physician referrals showed that women surgeons receive fewer referrals after successful outcomes than male surgeons. Women economists are less likely to receive tenure the more they co-author papers with men. An analysis at a large company found that women’s, as well as minority men’s, performance was effectively “discounted” compared with that of white men.

And women are penalized for straying from “feminine” personality traits. An analysis of real-world workplace performance evaluations found that more than three-quarters of women’s critical evaluations contained negative comments about their personalities, compared with 2 percent of men’s. If a woman whose contributions are overlooked speaks up, she may be labeled a self-promoter, and consequently face further obstacles to success . She may also become less motivated and committed to the organization . The American Bar Association found that 70 percent of women lawyers of color considered leaving or had left the legal profession entirely, citing being undervalued at work and facing barriers to advancement.

Our model does not take into account women, such as Lenore Blum, who quit their jobs after experiencing an unmanageable amount of bias. But it visualizes how these penalties add up over time for women who stay, so that by the time you reach more senior levels of management, there are fewer women left to promote. These factors not only prevent women from reaching the top ranks in their company but for those who do, it also makes the career path longer and more demanding.

Small change, big difference

Even a tiny increase in the amount of gender bias could lead to dramatic underrepresentation of women in leadership roles over time..

Women’s performance is valued 3 percent less

Women’s performance is valued 5 percent less

Half as many women at level 7 and

only 2 percent of women at C-suite.

Half as many women at level 7 and only 2 percent of women at C-suite.

Women’s performance is valued 3% less

Women’s performance is valued 5% less

When we dig into the trajectory of individual people in our simulation, stories begin to emerge. With just 3 percent bias, one employee — let’s call her Jenelle — starts in an entry-level position, and makes it to the executive level, but it takes her 17 performance review cycles (eight and a half years) to get there, and she needs 208 successful projects to make it. “William” starts at the same level but he gets to executive level much faster — after only eight performance reviews and half Jenelle’s successes at the time she becomes an executive.

Our model shows how large organizational disparities can emerge from many small, even unintentional biases happening frequently over a long period of time. Laws are often designed to address large events that happen infrequently and can be easily attributed to a single actor—for example, overt sexual harassment by a manager — or “pattern and practice” problems, such as discriminatory policies. But women’s progress is hindered even without one egregious incident, or an official policy that is discriminatory.

Women’s path to success might be longer and more demanding

Career paths for employees that reached level 7 by the end of the simulation..

successful projects

“William”

started at the entry-level and reached level 7 in 4 years.

It took “Jenelle”

8.5 years to get

to the same level.

Entry level

1 year of promotions

started at the entry-

level and reached level 7 in 4 years.

8.5 years to get to the same level.

It took “Jenelle” 8.5 years to get to the same level.

Gender bias takes on different dimensions depending on other intersecting aspects of a person’s identity, such as race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and more. Another American Bar Association study found that white women and men of color face similar hurdles to being seen as competent, but women of color face more than either group.

Backlash, too, plays out differently for women of different racial groups, points out Erika Hall, an Emory University management professor. A survey of hundreds of women scientists she helped conduct found that Asian American women reported the highest amount of backlash for self-promotion and assertive behavior. An experimental study by the social psychologist Robert Livingston and colleagues, meanwhile, found that white women are more penalized for demonstrating dominant behavior than Black women. Our model does not account for the important variations in bias that women of different races experience.

So what’s to be done? Diversity trainings are common in companies, educational institutions and health care settings, but these may not have much effect when it comes to employees’ career advancement. The sociologists Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev found that after mandatory diversity trainings, the likelihood that women and men of color became managers either stayed the same or decreased , possibly because of backlash. Some anti-bias trainings have been shown to change behavior, but any approach needs to be evaluated, as psychologist Betsy Levy Paluck has said, “on the level of rigorous testing of medical interventions.”

We also explored a paradox. Research shows that in many fields, a greater proportion of men correlates with more bias against women . At the same time, in fields or organizations where women make up the majority, men can still experience a “glass escalator,” being fast-tracked to senior leadership roles. School superintendents, who work in the women-dominated field of education but are more likely to be men, are one example. To make sense of this, we conceptualized bias at work as a combination of both organizational biases that can be influenced by organizational makeup and larger societal biases.

What we found was that if societal biases are strong compared with those in the organization, a powerful but brief intervention may have only a short-term impact. In our simulation, we tested this by introducing quotas — requiring that the majority of promotions go to women — in the context of low, moderate, or no societal bias. We made the quotas time-limited, as real world efforts to combat bias often take the form of short-term interventions.

Our quotas changed the number of women at upper levels of the corporate hierarchy in the short term, and in turn decreased the gender biases against women rising through the company ranks. But when societal biases were still a persistent force, disparities eventually returned, and the impact of the intervention was short-lived.

Quotas may not be enough

In the presence of societal biases, the effect of a short-term program of quotas disappears over time..

Societal bias has moderate effect

100% of executives

Quotas are introduced. 70% of all promotions go to women.

Majority of executives are men

YEARS OF PROMOTIONS

Societal bias has no effect

Equal representation

representation

What works? Having managers directly mentor and sponsor women improves their chance to rise. Insisting on fair, transparent and objective criteria for promotions and assignments is essential, so that decisions are not ambiguous and subjective, and goal posts aren’t shifting and unwritten. But the effect of standardizing criteria, too, can be limited, because decision-makers can always override these decisions and choose their favored candidates.

Ultimately, I found in my research for the book, the mindset of leaders plays an enormous role. Interventions make a difference, but only if leaders commit to them. One law firm I profiled achieved 50 percent women equity partners through a series of dramatic moves, from overhauling and standardizing promotion criteria, to active sponsorship of women, to a zero-tolerance policy for biased behavior. In this case, the chief executive understood that bias was blocking the company from capturing all the available talent. Leaders who believe that the elimination of bias is essential to the functioning of the organization are more likely to take the kind of active, aggressive, and long-term steps needed to root out bias wherever it may creep into decision making.

It is time for action to end violence against women: a speech by Lakshmi Puri at the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly

Date: Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Speech by Acting Head of UN Women Lakshmi Puri on Ending Violence against Women and Children at the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly on 18 June 2013, in Brussels

Good morning.

Honourable Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly Ms. Joyce Laboso (congratulations on this new important role) and Mr. Louis Michel, Honourable Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thank you for inviting me to address you at this ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on a matter that concerns all of us, all 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations and 27 European Union Member States represented in this forum, and ALL nations of the world.

It is one of the most pervasive violations of human rights in the world, one of the least prosecuted crimes, and one of the greatest threats to lasting peace and development.

I am talking about violence against women and children. I am honoured to be here, at your request, to address this urgent matter as you join together to advance human rights, democracy and the common values of humanity.

We all know that we have to do much more to respond to the cries for justice of women and children who have suffered violence. We have to do much more to end these horrible abuses and the impunity that allows these human rights violations to continue.

When we started UN Women two-and-a-half years ago, we made ending violence against women and girls one of our top priorities.

I think we can all agree that the time for complacency is long gone, has passed and belongs to another era. The silence on violence against women and children has been broken and now. Now is the time for stronger action.

It is time for action when up to 70 per cent of women in some countries face physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.

When one in three girls in developing countries is likely to be married as a child bride; when some 140 million girls and women have suffered female genital mutilation; when millions of women and girls are trafficked in modern-day slavery; and when women’s bodies are a battleground and rape is used as a tactic of war – it is time for action.

This violence against women and children has tremendous costs to communities, nations and societies—for public well-being, health and safety, and for school achievement, productivity, law enforcement, and public programmes and budgets.

If left unaddressed, these human rights violations pose serious consequences for current and future generations and for efforts to ensure peace and security, to reduce poverty and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the next generation of development goals we are discussing .

The effects of violence can remain with women and children for a lifetime, and can pass from one generation to another. Studies show that children who have witnessed, or been subjected to, violence are more likely to become victims or abusers themselves.

Violence against women and girls is an extreme manifestation of gender inequality and systemic gender-based discrimination. The right of women and children to live free of violence depends on the protection of their human rights and a strong chain of justice.

Countries that enact and enforce laws on violence against women have less gender-based violence. Today 160 countries have laws to address violence against women. However, in too many cases enforcement is lacking.

For an effective response to this violence, different sectors in society must work together.

A rape survivor must have rapid access to a health clinic that can administer emergency medical care, including treatment to prevent HIV and unintended pregnancies and counseling.

A woman who is beaten by her husband must have someplace to go with her children to enjoy safety, sanity and shelter.

A victim of violence must have confidence that when she files a police report, she will receive justice and the perpetrator will be punished.

And an adolescent boy in school who learns about health and sexuality must be taught that coercion, violence and discrimination against girls are unacceptable.

As the Acting Head of UN Women, I have the opportunity to meet with representatives from around the world, with government officials, civil society groups and members of the business community.

I can tell you that momentum is gathering, awareness is rising and I truly believe that long-standing indifference to violence against women and children is declining.

A recent study published in the American Sociological Review finds that transformation in attitudes are happening around the world.

The study looked at women’s attitudes about intimate partner violence in 26 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. It found that during the first decade of the 2000s, in almost every one of these countries, women became more likely to reject intimate partner violence.

The surveys found growing female rejection of domestic violence in 23 of the 26 countries. It found that “women with greater access to global cultural scripts through urban living, education, or access to media were more likely to reject intimate partner violence.”

The study’s author concludes that domestic violence is increasingly viewed as unacceptable due to changes in global attitudes. Yet even with this rising rejection, in nearly half of the countries, 12 of the 26 – more than half of women surveyed – still believe that domestic violence is justified. So even though attitudes are changing, we still have a long way to go to achieve the changes in attitudes that are necessary to end violence against women and children.

I witnessed this myself at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women at United Nations Headquarters in New York this past March. The agreement reached at the Commission on preventing and ending violence against women and girls was hard-won and tensions ran high throughout the final week of the session.

There were many times when it was unclear whether the Commission would end in deadlock, as it did 10 years before on the same theme, or if Member States were going to decide on a groundbreaking agreement.

In the end, thanks to the tireless work of civil society advocates and negotiations into the wee hours of Government delegates and UN Women colleagues, agreement was reached on a historic document that embraces the call of women around the world to break the cycle of violence and to protect the rights of women and girls.

The landmark agreement provides an action plan for Governments. It breaks this down into the four P’s: Protection of human rights, Prosecution of offenders, Prevention of violence, and Provision of Services to survivors.

Protecting human rights

When it comes to protecting rights, Governments are called on to review national legislation, practices and customs and abolish those that discriminate against women. Laws, policies and programmes that explicitly prohibit and punish violence must be put into place, in line with international agreements, and you as Members of Parliament can play a key role.

Based on findings from UN Women’s 2011-2012 Progress of the World’s Women report «In Pursuit of Justice », out of all the ACP countries, 37 have legislation against domestic violence, 34 have legislation against sexual harassment, and just nine have legislation against marital rape.

Providing services When it comes to providing services, the agreement calls for strong action to improve the quality and accessibility of services so that women have prompt access to services regardless of their location, race, age or income.

These include: health-care services including post-rape care, emergency contraception and abortion where legal; immediate and effective police responses, psychological support and counselling; legal advice and protection orders; shelter, telephone hotlines, and social assistance.

Responses must be timely and efficient to end a culture of hopelessness and impunity and foster a culture of justice and support. In almost all of the ACP countries comprehensive multisectoral services need to be put in place and made accessible to all.

Prosecuting offenders

When it comes to the prosecution of offenders, we know that ending impunity means that laws must be enforced.

Women must have access to the police to file a criminal report and receive legal advice and protection orders. The response to violence must be immediate, coordinated and effective so that crimes are punished and justice is secured. This is true for times of peace and conflict. There can be no lasting peace when women suffer sexual violence.

Courts and the justice system must be accessible and responsive to criminal and civil matters relating to violence against women. Women must be informed of their legal rights and supported to navigate the legal system.

And for this, we need more women police officers, prosecutors and judges, because we know that women serving on the frontlines of justice strengthen justice for women and children.

Preventing violence against women

When it comes to preventing violence, we must address the root causes of gender inequality and discrimination.

Evidence shows that where the “gender gap” is greater—in the status of women’s health, participation in the economy, education levels, and representation in politics— women are more likely to be subjected to violence. Especially important is economic empowerment as a prevention strategy

This means that we need to take a long-term, systemic and comprehensive approach that recognizes and protects women’s and children’s full and equal human rights.

We must promote a culture of equality between men and women through institutional and legal reform, education, awareness-raising and the full engagement of men and boys.

Honourable MPs,

Ending violence against women is one of UN Women’s key priorities and a critical part of UN Women’s mission to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Having said that, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about UN Women’s role in ending violence against women and some of our achievements.

A top priority right now is working with countries to implement the recent agreement from the Commission on the Status of Women.

I am very pleased that UN Women and the EU have agreed to work on this together. We hope, with your support, to collaborate with more regional and cross-regional bodies and groupings such as the African Union, the Latin American and Caribbean States and the Pacific Forum to follow up on the agreement from the Commission on the Status of Women to end violence against women and girls.

Today UN Women is working in 85 countries, including in many ACP countries, to prevent violence in the first place, to end impunity for these crimes, to increase access to justice and to expand essential services to survivors.

Through our global, regional and national programmes, we support the development of laws, national action plans and policies, and training programmes. We provide funding to NGOs and civil society, contribute to advocacy and awareness-raising efforts, and support local initiatives.

We work together with UNICEF and UN Habitat on the Safe Cities programme to promote the safety of women and girls in public spaces. We now work in over 20 cities around the world, and this number continues to rise. Let me share with you a few exciting examples.

In Kigali, Rwanda, a Safe City Campaign was launched by the mayor’s office and other partners. The city is advocating for reforms to an existing law on gender-based violence to include measures on sexual harassment and violence in public spaces.

In Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, bylaws on local markets now include articles which address women’s safety. Women vendors are returning to the markets following the first phase of physical and social infrastructure improvements, and a focused awareness campaign is underway on sexual harassment and sexual violence.

UN Women also administers the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. This is a leading global fund exclusively dedicated to addressing violence against women and girls. To date, the UN Trust Fund has delivered more than USD 86 million to 351 initiatives in 128 countries and territories, often directly to women’s organizations. The results have demonstrated many good practices that can, and should be, expanded.

Another global programme administered by UN Women is the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign to End Violence against Women. Through strong advocacy, the campaign is mobilizing communities across the globe.

In Africa, the UNiTE Campaign organized the Kilimanjaro Climb hosted by Tanzania under the auspices of the President. This raised awareness of violence against women to the highest levels resulting in strengthened national commitments throughout Africa.

In the Pacific Region, the campaign succeeded in securing the “Pacific Members of Parliament UNiTE statement” – the first of its kind in the region, tabled at the Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting in the Cook Islands.

In the Caribbean, 15 high-profile local artists produced a series of creative materials as part of the “Caribbean Artists, united to end violence against women” initiative, developed in the framework of the UNiTE Campaign. These materials were officially presented by the Secretary-General of CARICOM, Irwin LaRocque, last year during the gathering of CARICOM Heads of Government. This has contributed to give high visibility and strategically position the issue of violence against women in the region.

And UN Women’s COMMIT initiative has garnered new commitments by 58 Governments to prevent and end violence against women and girls. I applaud the ACP and EU member countries, and the European Union itself, for making commitments and encourage other countries to join them.

We must work together to seize the moment and move quickly so that the momentum is not lost. UN Women stands ready to assist Member States with other UN partners. We have already identified the key priorities and strategies we will be focusing:

First, Getting the Evidence: Data on Violence against Women Despite some progress in this area, there is still an urgent need to strengthen the evidence base as many countries still lack reliable and meaningful data. Actually, earlier this morning the European Women’s Lobby Centre on Violence against Women presented the findings from the 2013 Barometer focusing on rape in the EU.

In cooperation with our UN partners, we plan to build capacity in regions and countries to increase skills in data collection, analysis, dissemination and use, using the UN Statistical Commission Guidelines for obtaining data for the nine core indicators for violence against women.

Second, Strengthening Multi-sectoral Services for Survivors To this end, UN Women is working to devise globally agreed standards and guidelines on the essential services and responses that are required to meet the immediate and mid-term safety, health, and other needs of women and girls subjected to violence. I am very pleased that we are now working in partnership with UNFPA and other UN agencies to deliver this initiative.

Third, Preventing Violence against Women and Girls To this end, we will advocate for and work towards a shared understanding at the global level about what works, and provide guidance to States and other stakeholders on how to develop an holistic framework to prevent violence against women and girls; including by working systematically and consistently with male leaders and men and boys at all levels and by further strengthening women’s economic and political participation.

Fourth, Strengthening Partnerships We will continue to engage civil society and the private sector in ending violence against women and girls, working with survivors to empower them, making sure their experiences are taken into consideration in the development of responses; and working with those women and girls who suffer multiple and intersecting forms of violence who are particularly vulnerable.

Fifth and finally, we will continue to improve the knowledge base for ending violence against women by developing additional modules and updating our virtual knowledge centre.

Honourable Members of Parliament,

I would now like to take a brief moment to discuss the post-2015 development agenda, especially its role in addressing the issue of violence against women. I also had the occasion to deliver a video statement on this in your Women’s Forum which took place past Saturday and which concentrated on the post-2015 framework. I applaud the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly for regularly organizing such a Women’s Forum and strengthening this network.

UN Women is calling for a stand-alone goal on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment and separately and concurrently gender equality mainstreamed across all goals. This is needed to address the structural foundations of gender-based inequality. To this effect, we are calling for the new framework to tackle three core areas: safety, access and voice, so women can live free of violence, enjoy equal access of opportunities and resources; and exercise their voice in leadership and participation.

In developing the post-2015 agenda and the 11th European Development Fund, we seek your support to ensure a strong focus on gender equality, women’s rights and empowerment and ending violence.

I thank you. All of us at UN Women look forward to strengthened collaboration with you and your countries through this forum to end violence against women and children.

• ‘One Woman’ – The UN Women song
• UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous
• Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships
• Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination and Programme Results
• Guiding documents
• Report wrongdoing
• Programme implementation
• Career opportunities
• Application and recruitment process
• Meet our people
• Internship programme
• Procurement principles
• Gender-responsive procurement
• Doing business with UN Women
• How to become a UN Women vendor
• Contract templates and general conditions of contract
• Vendor protest procedure
• Facts and Figures
• Global norms and standards
• Women’s movements
• Parliaments and local governance
• Constitutions and legal reform
• Preguntas frecuentes
• Global Norms and Standards
• Macroeconomic policies and social protection
• Sustainable Development and Climate Change
• Rural women
• Employment and migration
• Facts and figures
• Creating safe public spaces
• Spotlight Initiative
• Essential services
• Focusing on prevention
• Research and data
• Other areas of work
• UNiTE campaign
• Conflict prevention and resolution
• Building and sustaining peace
• Young women in peace and security
• Rule of law: Justice and security
• Women, peace, and security in the work of the UN Security Council
• Preventing violent extremism and countering terrorism
• Planning and monitoring
• Humanitarian coordination
• Crisis response and recovery
• Disaster risk reduction
• Inclusive National Planning
• Public Sector Reform
• Tracking Investments
• Strengthening young women's leadership
• Economic empowerment and skills development for young women
• Action on ending violence against young women and girls
• Engaging boys and young men in gender equality
• Sustainable development agenda
• Leadership and Participation
• National Planning
• Violence against Women
• Access to Justice
• Regional and country offices
• Regional and Country Offices
• Liaison offices
• UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change
• Commission on the Status of Women
• Economic and Social Council
• General Assembly
• Security Council
• High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
• Human Rights Council
• Climate change and the environment
• Other Intergovernmental Processes
• World Conferences on Women
• Global Coordination
• Regional and country coordination
• Promoting UN accountability
• Gender Mainstreaming
• Coordination resources
• System-wide strategy
• Focal Point for Women and Gender Focal Points
• Entity-specific implementation plans on gender parity
• Laws and policies
• Strategies and tools
• Reports and monitoring
• Training Centre services
• Publications
• Government partners
• National mechanisms
• Civil Society Advisory Groups
• Benefits of partnering with UN Women
• Business and philanthropic partners
• Goodwill Ambassadors
• National Committees
• UN Women Media Compact
• UN Women Alumni Association
• Editorial series
• Media contacts
• Annual report
• Progress of the world’s women
• SDG monitoring report
• World survey on the role of women in development
• Reprint permissions
• Secretariat
• 2023 sessions and other meetings
• 2022 sessions and other meetings
• 2021 sessions and other meetings
• 2020 sessions and other meetings
• 2019 sessions and other meetings
• 2018 sessions and other meetings
• 2017 sessions and other meetings
• 2016 sessions and other meetings
• 2015 sessions and other meetings
• Compendiums of decisions
• Reports of sessions
• Key Documents
• Brief history
• CSW snapshot
• Preparations
• Official Documents
• Official Meetings
• Side Events
• Session Outcomes
• CSW65 (2021)
• CSW64 / Beijing+25 (2020)
• CSW63 (2019)
• CSW62 (2018)
• CSW61 (2017)
• Member States
• Eligibility
• Registration
• Opportunities for NGOs to address the Commission
• Communications procedure
• Grant making
• Accompaniment and growth
• Results and impact
• Knowledge and learning
• Social innovation
• UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women
• About Generation Equality
• Generation Equality Forum
• Action packs

Unveiling the Power of Words Crafting a Persuasive Essay on Gender Equality

Written by: shaun marsh, published on: april 3rd, 2023, introduction.

In today's society, the pursuit of gender equality remains a crucial and pressing matter. As an aspiring writer, you have the power to raise awareness, provoke thought, and ignite change through the medium of the written word. Composing a powerful essay on gender equality enables you to lend your voice to this vital discourse, inspiring readers to question societal norms and advocate for a more equitable future. In this blog, we will guide you through the process of crafting a compelling essay on gender equality that will captivate readers and promote meaningful dialogue.

I. Understanding Gender Equality

Before delving into writing, it is essential to grasp the fundamental concept of gender equality. Gender equality aims to establish equal rights, opportunities, and treatment for people of all genders. It recognizes that both men and women, as well as individuals who identify beyond the traditional gender binary, should enjoy the same social, political, and economic rights. To effectively communicate your message, it is crucial to conduct thorough research, explore various perspectives, and critically analyze the underlying issues.

II. Developing a Strong Thesis Statement

A thesis statement serves as the foundation of your essay. It encapsulates the main argument you aim to make and guides the entire composition. When formulating your thesis statement on gender equality, ensure it is clear, concise, and thought-provoking. For example, "Achieving gender equality is not just a women's issue but a human rights imperative that requires dismantling patriarchal structures and promoting inclusivity in all spheres of society."

III. Supporting Arguments with Evidence

To lend credibility to your essay, employ a range of compelling evidence. Utilize statistics, research findings , real-life examples, and expert opinions to substantiate your claims. Incorporate personal narratives or case studies to evoke empathy and foster a deeper connection with your readers. By presenting a well-rounded perspective supported by reliable sources, you can effectively convey the urgency and significance of gender equality.

IV. Engaging Introduction and Captivating Body Paragraphs

Crafting an engaging introduction is crucial to hooking your readers' attention from the beginning. Begin with a captivating anecdote, a powerful quote, or a startling statistic to create an emotional impact and establish the relevance of the topic. Introduce the key issues surrounding gender equality and its implications for individuals and society. Each body paragraph should focus on a unique idea or argument, supported by evidence. Dedicate paragraphs to discussing specific aspects of gender inequality, such as the gender pay gap, underrepresentation of women in leadership roles, or harmful gender stereotypes. Use data and examples to highlight the extent and impact of these inequalities, making it clear why they require urgent attention. Transition smoothly between paragraphs, ensuring a logical flow of thoughts. Consider using subheadings to clearly indicate the different dimensions of gender inequality you are addressing. Encourage critical thinking by presenting counterarguments and refuting them with persuasive reasoning and evidence. This approach showcases your ability to anticipate opposing viewpoints and effectively counter them, further strengthening your essay's persuasiveness.

V. Utilizing Language and Style

The language and style you employ in your essay significantly impact its effectiveness. Aim for clarity, conciseness, and coherence in your writing. Use inclusive language, avoiding gender biases, and consider the diverse experiences of individuals across the gender spectrum. This demonstrates your sensitivity to the multifaceted nature of gender identity and ensures that all readers feel included and represented. Employ persuasive techniques, such as rhetorical questions, vivid imagery, and powerful metaphors, to evoke emotions and provoke thought. For instance, you could paint a vivid picture of a world where gender equality is fully realized, illustrating the positive impact it would have on individuals' lives and society as a whole. By engaging your readers' imagination, you can inspire them to envision a better future and motivate them to take action. Strike a balance between intellectual rigor and emotional appeal, creating a compelling and relatable narrative. Personalize the issues by sharing stories of individuals who have faced gender-based discrimination and inequality, showcasing their resilience and strength in the face of adversity. By highlighting the human aspect of gender inequality, you can foster empathy and encourage readers to challenge existing norms and advocate for change.

VI. Inspiring Action and Providing Solutions

An impactful essay on gender equality should motivate readers to take action. Conclude your essay by highlighting the importance of individual and collective efforts to effect change. Emphasize the role of education in promoting gender equality and encourage readers to educate themselves and others about the issue. Propose practical solutions, such as advocating for equal opportunities in education and employment, challenging gender stereotypes, and supporting initiatives that promote inclusivity. Additionally, encourage readers to engage in open dialogue, promote awareness, and actively contribute to creating a more egalitarian society. Highlight the significance of male allies and the importance of dismantling patriarchal structures. By uniting people across genders, you can foster a sense of shared responsibility and reinforce the notion that gender equality benefits everyone.

VII. Inspiring Action and Providing Solutions

An impactful essay on gender equality should motivate readers to take action. Conclude your essay by highlighting the importance of individual and collective efforts to effect change. Propose practical solutions, such as advocating for equal opportunities in education and employment, challenging gender stereotypes, and supporting initiatives that promote inclusivity. Encourage readers to engage in open dialogue, promote awareness, and actively contribute to creating a more egalitarian society.

Writing a powerful essay on gender equality allows you to become a catalyst for change. By understanding the nuances of the topic, developing a strong thesis, supporting arguments with evidence, and utilizing persuasive language, you can create an essay that inspires and informs. Remember, your words have the power to challenge societal norms, foster empathy, and shape a more equitable future. Embrace this opportunity to make a difference and let your essay be a clarion call for gender equality.

Related Article

Unveiling the Power of Deep Learning A Revolutionary Breakthrough

Basic understanding of classification essay

The Pros and Cons of Free Paper Writing Services

How to ace persuasive speech outline

How to write a 1000 word essay

Get expert help

Welcome to Bot Writing AI

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Discrimination and Prejudice — Gender Discrimination

Essays on Gender Discrimination

Gender discrimination is a pervasive issue that affects individuals in various aspects of their lives. As such, it is a crucial topic for discussion in academic settings. When selecting a gender discrimination essay topic, it is important to consider the significance of the issue and the potential impact of the chosen topic. This article will provide advice on choosing a topic and offer a comprehensive list of recommended essay topics, categorized for ease of selection.

Gender discrimination is a social injustice that has far-reaching implications for individuals, communities, and societies as a whole. By addressing this topic in essays, students can raise awareness, provoke critical thinking, and contribute to the ongoing dialogue about gender equality and human rights. Moreover, exploring gender discrimination in essays can help students develop a deeper understanding of its complexities and challenges, ultimately fostering empathy and advocacy for positive change.

When choosing a gender discrimination essay topic, it is essential to consider personal interests, relevance, and the potential for in-depth exploration. Students may also want to consider the specific aspects of gender discrimination they wish to focus on, such as workplace inequality, gender-based violence, stereotypes, or LGBTQ+ rights. Additionally, it may be beneficial to select a topic that aligns with current events, social movements, or areas of academic interest.

Some Gender Discrimination Essay Topics

If you are looking for gender discrimination essay topics, you have come to the right place. Here is a list of over 15 different topics that you can use for your essay. These topics are structured by categories to make it easier for you to find the perfect one for your assignment.

Workplace Inequality

• The gender pay gap: Causes, consequences, and solutions
• Glass ceiling effect: Barriers to women's career advancement
• Gender discrimination in hiring and promotion practices

Gender-Based Violence

• Domestic violence and its impact on women and children
• Sexual harassment in the workplace: Legal and ethical considerations
• Human trafficking and exploitation of women and girls

Stereotypes and Media Representation

• Portrayal of gender roles in advertising and popular culture
• The influence of social media on gender stereotypes
• The role of media in perpetuating harmful gender norms

LGBTQ+ Rights

• Challenges faced by transgender individuals in healthcare and legal systems
• Discrimination against LGBTQ+ youth in educational settings
• Intersectionality and the experiences of LGBTQ+ people of color

Legal and Policy Perspectives

• Impact of gender discrimination laws on social change
• The role of international organizations in addressing gender inequality
• Legal strategies for combating gender-based discrimination

Global Perspectives

• Gender discrimination in developing countries: Challenges and opportunities
• Intersectional analysis of gender inequality in different cultural contexts
• Women's rights movements and activism on a global scale

By exploring these diverse gender discrimination essay topics, students can delve into critical issues, engage in meaningful research, and contribute to the advancement of gender equality. With careful consideration and thoughtful selection, students have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact through their essays.

Gender Discrimination in Uniformed Organizations Worldwide

The court case of thelma white, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

Combating Gender-based Violence

Gender discrimination in language use between men and women in society, gender conflict in society, gender inequality and women in the workplace, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Gender Discrimination in Society and Its Possible Solutions

Gender discrimination and the fight for equal rights, gender inequality: causes and solutions, gender discrimination against women in universities, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

The Issue of Gender Equality in Workplace

Gender inequality in football, the impact of gender on income inequality, gender based discrimination, modern examples of discrimination and possible solutions, the effects of gender inequality on society and the economy, women's rights and roles of women in society, the major gender equality debates, positive and negative sides of feminism, gender equality and income level, gender prejudice and discrimination in workplace, the issue of discrimination in workplace at nike, gender roles and discrimination in woman at point zero, the issue of women mistreatment in woman at point zero and a doll’s house, oppression of women in the 21st century, a look at the racial prejudice women experience at their jobs, discrimination and how it relates to management, gender and race based discrimination in australia in 1901-1914, theoretical overview of eve teasing, reflection of gender inequality in different spheres, relevant topics.

• Racial Profiling
• Discrimination
• Islamophobia
• Hate Speech
• Cultural Diversity
• Peer Pressure

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

The Discrimination of Women in Society

This essay will discuss the various forms of discrimination faced by women in society. It will explore historical and contemporary issues, including gender-based violence, workplace inequality, and societal stereotypes. The piece will also consider the progress made in gender equality and the ongoing challenges women face in achieving equal rights and opportunities. Additionally, PapersOwl presents more free essays samples linked to Discrimination.

How it works

The unequal treatment of individuals based on their gender is a deeply rooted problem in most societies, even our own. Discrimination of women in health, education, and politics has consequences for the development of their lives and their freedom of choice. A country’s culture directly impact how gender equality is exercised as a basic human right.

The first step to finding suggestion and solutions for this global problem, is understanding what it is: “Gender equality is, first and foremost, a human right.

Women are entitled to live in dignity and in freedom from want and from fear. Empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty. Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities and to improved prospects for the next generation.” United Nations Population Fund, para. 2

Globally, the discrimination of women is caused by several issues. Not all of these issues are present in all areas, however, these are the basic reasons why global gender inequality exists. Limited access to resources, education, and basic healthcare, long determined and sustained gender preconceptions and widespread gender-based violence are the foundations of this seemingly insurmountable problem. What is sobering, is that The World Economic Forum’s ninth Global Gender Gap Report estimates that the world will not eliminate the gender gap until 2095 — that’s another 81 years.4

So, what is standing in our way? Let’s look at each of our barriers independently. Women’s access to, and use of, natural resources is likely to differ from that of men’s, as a result of gender division. Women often have customary access to agricultural land for food and to forests for foraging and fuel collection. However, women rarely have any legal tenure. Attitudes towards land tenure for women can restrict women’s opportunities to make decisions about the use of land and resources.5

Access to education is also an obstacle. Large gender gaps exist in access, learning achievement and continuation in education in many settings, most often at the expense of girls. Poverty, geographical isolation, minority status, disability, early marriage and pregnancy, gender-based violence, and traditional attitudes about the status and role of women, are among the many obstacles that stand in the way of women and girls fully exercising their right to participate in, complete and benefit from education.7 Study after study shows that educating girls would be an incredibly effective way to raise economic productivity, lower infant and maternal mortality, improve nutrition and promote health.

Significant inequities in access to health care services and overall health status persist for women, especially in the area of reproductive health. Today, at least half of the world’s people lack access to essential health because they are not available or are financially out of reach. A disproportionate number of these people are women and girls. This is unacceptable. A woman should not have to choose whether to purchase food or pay for a health visit.8

A gender stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about attributes, or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are or should be performed by men and women. Gender stereotypes can be both positive and negative for example, “women are nurturing” or “women are weak”. Gender stereotyping is wrongful when it results in a violation or violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. An example of this is the failure to criminalize marital rape based on the stereotype of women as the sexual property of men. Another example is the failure of the justice system to hold perpetrator of sexual violence accountable based on stereotypical views about women’s appropriate sexual behavior.9

Violence against women and girls is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality. Estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that about 1 in 3 (35 percent) of women and girls worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Violence against women is not only a cause of gender inequality, it is a consequence of it. In many places, gender-based violence is reinforced by discriminatory laws and exclusionary social norms that undermine women and girl’s opportunities for education, income and independence. 10

Everything we have learned over the past decade shows that when women are empowered—through economic opportunity, health care and education—the benefits go far beyond the individual. Families, communities and nations are better off. Population growth slows, economic growth is stronger, and countries have more capacity, as well as more room to make choices which favor sustainability.6 So, if that is true, why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?

The answer is, they are. There are several government and non-government agencies that have made global gender equality a priority. Organizations That Address Gender Equality While most countries recognize that equal rights should exist between men and women, this is often not the case. Many have produced regulations intended to fight discrimination and programs granting women access to health, education and economic rights such as land ownership. But these regulations don’t seem to solve the problem. We need compassionate organizations to fix the gap concerning gender equality.11

InterAction: Since 1992, InterAction, through its Commission on the Advancement of Women, has worked to advance female empowerment and gender equality in the policy and practice of InterAction members and other agencies. ProMundo: Promundo is a global leader in promoting gender justice and preventing violence by engaging men and boys in partnership with women and girls. CARE: CARE’s commitment to women’s empowerment and gender equality is based on decades of expertise in dozens of countries and in every development sector. We see gender as a cross-cutting issue that we address in every program to make an equal world free of poverty. Sonke Gender Justice: Sonke’s vision is a world in which men, women and children can enjoy equitable, healthy and happy relationships that contribute to the development of just and democratic societies. They work across Africa to strengthen government, civil society and citizen capacity to promote gender equality. International Planned Parenthood: IPPF pushes for legal and policy reforms which combat female genital mutilation (FGM), early forced marriage and other forms of gender discrimination.

Centre for Health and Social Justice: CHSJ is a resource organization on issues of men, masculinity and gender, health rights of marginalized communities and reproductive and sexual health and rights. White Ribbon: White Ribbon is the world’s largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, promote gender equity, healthy relationships and a new vision of masculinity. UN Women: UN Women, among other issues, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, empowerment of women and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. National Organization for Women: The National Organization for Women Foundation (“NOW Foundation”) is an organization devoted to achieving full equality for women through education and litigation. The Foundation focuses on a broad range of women’s rights issues, including economic justice, pay equity, racial discrimination and women’s health and body image. And, World Health Organization: The Global Gender, Equity and Human Rights team, comprised of staff across all six regions as well as in some WHO country offices, oversees the integration of gender, equity and human rights into healthcare programs and policies across the different program areas that make up the World Health Organization.

Each and every one of these organizations are doing their par to chip away at an issue that seems daunting, if not all together impossible. However, for the focus of this paper, we are going to be looking at Equality Now. Since 1992, this international network of lawyers, activists and supporters have held governments responsible for ending legal inequality, sex trafficking, sexual violence & harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation and child marriage. The basic premise of this organization is that social change often begins with legal change. They help advance women’s and girls’ rights, because when women and girls, men and boys are treated equally, “everyone wins.”12 Their mission statemen states, “Every day, women and girls around the world face violence and discrimination. Sexual exploitation, harmful cultural practices and systemic inequalities violate their human rights and prevent them from reaching their potential. This kind of inequality is bad for everyone, not just for women: research shows that where women and girls are treated unfairly, there is more societal conflict and less economic stability. It is our intention to achieve legal and systemic change that addresses violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. A country’s laws set the tone for how it treats its people, and how its people treat each other. When women and girls have fewer rights than men and boys, violence and discrimination are legitimized and ignored. That’s why we use a unique combination of legal advocacy, regional partnership-building and community mobilization to encourage governments to adopt, improve and enforce laws that protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world.

One of the many initiatives of this organization is the elimination of what they call Harmful Practices. Harmful Practices is an all-encompassing term used by the United Nations to categorize forms of violence or ritual discrimination, primarily committed against girls and women, that have become culturally normalized. There is no comprehensive list of harmful practices, however some of the most common include: Female genital mutilation, child and forced marriage, bride kidnapping and polygamy. These practices represent a denial of the dignity and integrity of the individual and a violation of human rights.

Harmful practices have the following characteristics: They constitute a denial of the dignity of the individual and violate human rights and fundamental freedoms of women as recognized under international law. They constitute discrimination against women and are harmful because they result in violence, negative physical, psychological, economic or social harm. They are traditional, emerging or re-emerging practices that are kept in place through social norms that perpetuate male dominance. They are imposed on women by families, community members or society at large, regardless of whether the victim provides or is able to provide full, free and informed consent.

There are provisions under national, regional and international law that prohibit harmful practices and oblige states to take measures to eliminate both harmful practices and their root causes. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) requires states take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.13

The Maputo Protocol starts off by defining harmful practices as ‘all behavior, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women and girls, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity’. Article 2(2) of the Maputo Protocol requires states to ‘modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of women and men … with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices …12

Another initiative of Equality Now is their efforts to fight against gender-based violence, a subject we dealt with pretty heavily in this class. When women and girls can live free from the threat of sexual violence, they can live healthier lives. When communities are safer for women and girls, they are safer and more prosperous for everyone. Equality Now’s work to end sexual violence can positively impact not only the woman or girl – but also her entire community. 12 Overwhelmingly committed by men against women, sexual violence can take many forms, including rape, domestic violence and harassment and objectification. Violence against women and girls is rooted in inequality. Around the world, rape and sexual abuse are everyday violent occurrences — affecting close to a billion women and girls over their lifetimes. However, despite the pervasiveness of these crimes, laws are insufficient, inconsistent, not systematically enforced and, sometimes, promote violence. The work of Equality Now is to advance global gender equality supports their efforts to get justice for survivors and victims of sexual violence – with the ultimate goal of preventing violence altogether. Equality Now uses the law to end violence against women and girls by advocating for strong laws and policies to protect women and girls from sexual violence, making sure that the justice system works, with proper investigation, prosecution and punishment of offenders, pushing for legal procedures that support survivors and prevent re-victimization and working with partners to bring specific cases to national, regional and international courts to underscore the global nature of this human rights abuse.

The last, and probably most important work being done by Equality Now, is their work toward achieving legal equality. They believe that legal equality is the first step to gender equality. A country’s laws set the tone for how it treats its people, and how its people treat each other. When women and girls have fewer rights than men and boys, violence and discrimination are legitimized and ignored. Equal treatment under the law is fundamental to creating a happier, fairer, more prosperous world for everyone. 12 Equality Now, uses a unique combination of legal advocacy, regional partnership-building and community mobilizations to encourage governments to adopt, improve and enforce laws that protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world. This involves urging governments and policymakers to enact and enforce laws that promote equal rights for women and girls, holding governments accountable to international human rights standards, making the justice system works for women and girls and elevating cases to national, regional and international courts and bodies, inspiring people around the world to fight for equality.

The reason Equality Now is able to make any strides at all is the fact that many areas of the world have adopted, and attempted to put into practice, several initiatives to legally mandate equality. International human rights law is the set of rules and minimum standards that governs relations between nations and sets standards for how a State treats its people. It guarantees equal rights, protections and access to justice for women and girls.12 For example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations in 1966, states that “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law.” (Article 26). There is also the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was adopted in 1979, has been ratified by more than 50 countries in the world. And, although the United States has not ratified the resolution, over 40 cities and local governments have adopted CEDAW ordinances. This treaty, sometimes described as the “bill of rights” for women, was the first to address women’s rights as human rights.

Because of the existence of these mandates and others like them, Equality Now can use their powers to enforce action. Each country’s government sets laws that apply to individuals within its borders. Since these national laws have the most direct effect on individuals, it is critical that they meet international standards. By advocating for stronger national laws that follow regional and international standards, we continue to create a fairer world for women and girls.12 Regional laws often match international laws and are sometimes tailored to specific issues in that region. Equality Now uses regional and international human rights law to hold governments accountable for their promises and to bring local issues to the attention of human rights bodies.

At the moment, Equality Now has urgent issues pending. Some of the most important of these are Sudan Uprising; Let us not forget the women; Make Equality A Reality for All Muslim Women; and even United States: End Sexual Harassment in the Workplace! Their website, located at https://www.equalitynow.org, gives detailed summaries of their initiatives, invitations to donate or join letter writing campaigns, as well as thoughtful stories and personal experiences.

Equality Now is composed of 35 staff members, led by the Global Executive Director. Each of Equality Now’s regional offices—Africa, the Americas, and Europe—is led by a regional director. The staff collectively has a strong background is human rights law, legal advocacy, and international and regional frameworks. The global Board of Directors consists of individuals with diverse expertise and geographic perspectives. Board member skills and areas of knowledge include international policy and women’s and human rights; finance, organizational management and strategic planning; and communications, marketing and fundraising.12 Their combined expertise has brought about some substantial, albeit slow, change.

In 2015, in nations across the globe, Equality Now helped protect hundreds of thousands of girls through a multitude of ways. After working with international organizations to promote ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). In countries like Somalia and Egypt, it was made illegal. In the United States, Equality Now supported the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, strengthening Federal trafficking laws and further crippling the sex tourism industry. And, in a precedent-setting decision, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights officially informed us that it had ruled in their favor in the case of “Makeda,” who was abducted, raped and forced into marriage in Ethiopia at age 13. This case, which started in 2002, was one of their first and longest-running campaigns under their Adolescent Girls’ Legal Defense Fund.

Globally, no country has fully attained gender equality. Scandinavian countries like Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden lead the world in their progress toward closing the gender gap. In these countries, there is relatively equitable distribution of available income, resources, and opportunities for men and women. The greatest gender gaps are identified primarily in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. However, a number of countries in these regions, including Lesotho, South Africa, and Sri Lanka outrank the United States in gender equality.14

So, if you are a girl, you can stay in school, help empower your female classmates to do the same and fight for your right to access sexual and reproductive health services. If you are a woman, you can address unconscious biases and implicit associations that form an unintended and often an invisible barrier to equal opportunity. If you are a man or a boy, you can work alongside women and girls to achieve gender equality and embrace healthy, respectful relationships. You can fund education campaigns to curb cultural practices like female genital mutilation and change harmful laws that limit the rights of women and girls and prevent them from achieving their full potential. 1″

Cite this page

The Discrimination of Women in Society. (2021, Apr 10). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-discrimination-of-women-in-society/

"The Discrimination of Women in Society." PapersOwl.com , 10 Apr 2021, https://papersowl.com/examples/the-discrimination-of-women-in-society/

PapersOwl.com. (2021). The Discrimination of Women in Society . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-discrimination-of-women-in-society/ [Accessed: 26 Apr. 2024]

"The Discrimination of Women in Society." PapersOwl.com, Apr 10, 2021. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-discrimination-of-women-in-society/

"The Discrimination of Women in Society," PapersOwl.com , 10-Apr-2021. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-discrimination-of-women-in-society/. [Accessed: 26-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2021). The Discrimination of Women in Society . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-discrimination-of-women-in-society/ [Accessed: 26-Apr-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Front Psychol

Can Gender-Fair Language Reduce Gender Stereotyping and Discrimination?

Gender-fair language (GFL) aims at reducing gender stereotyping and discrimination. Two principle strategies have been employed to make languages gender-fair and to treat women and men symmetrically: neutralization and feminization. Neutralization is achieved, for example, by replacing male-masculine forms ( policeman ) with gender-unmarked forms ( police officer ), whereas feminization relies on the use of feminine forms to make female referents visible (i.e., the applicant… he or she instead of the applicant… he ). By integrating research on (1) language structures, (2) language policies, and (3) individual language behavior, we provide a critical review of how GFL contributes to the reduction of gender stereotyping and discrimination. Our review provides a basis for future research and for scientifically based policy-making.

Linguistic gender asymmetries are ubiquitous, as documented in the contributions in Hellinger and Bußmann (2001 2002, 2003 ), which analyze 30 languages (e.g., Arabic, Chinese, English, Finnish, Hindi, Turkish, Swahili) from various language families. An almost universal and fundamental asymmetry lies in the use of masculine generics . In English, for example, generic he can be used when gender is irrelevant (e.g., the user… he ) and in German, masculine role nouns serve as labels for mixed gender groups (e.g., einige Lehrer , masc.pl ‘several teachers’ for a group of male and female teachers). Thus, masculine forms not only designate men but also mixed-gender groups or referents whose gender is unknown or unspecified (see Stahlberg et al., 2007 ). Feminine forms, on the other hand, do not function generically but refer to women only ( Hellinger and Bußmann, 2001 ).

That masculine forms are used to represent all human beings is in accord with the traditional gender hierarchy, which grants men more power and higher social status than women ( Ridgeway and Correll, 2004 ). A large-scale content analysis of 800,000 Reuters news messages (published in English between 1996 and 1997) found that the pronoun he was more frequent than she in the news and also appeared in more positive contexts ( Gustafsson Sendén et al., 2014 ). The interrelation of language and the gender hierarchy has also been documented in a study which analyzed the ratio of male to female pronouns (e.g., he/she , his/hers ) in written texts (full texts of about 1.2 million U.S. books, years 1900–2008; from the Google Books database; Twenge et al., 2012 ). This ratio was found to reflect the status of women in the United States during the 20th century. When women’s status was high (as indicated by educational attainment, labor force participation, etc.), the proportion of female pronouns was higher; when women’s status was low, female pronouns were less frequent.

Gender-fair language (GFL) 1 was introduced as a response to this structural asymmetry and as part of a broader attempt to reduce stereotyping and discrimination in language (see Fairclough, 2003 ; Maass et al., 2013 , for the political correctness debate). GFL aims to abolish asymmetries in referring to and addressing women and men, for example, by replacing masculine forms ( policeman ) with gender-unmarked forms ( police officer ), or by using both masculine and feminine forms (i.e., the applicant… he or she instead of the applicant… he ).

In this paper, we review theoretical and empirical work on the role of GFL in sustaining or reducing gender stereotyping and social discrimination, as a follow-up on a comprehensive research program (the Marie Curie Initial Training Network - Language, Cognition, and Gender, ITN LCG , http://www.itn-lcg.psy.unibe.ch/content/index_eng.html ). In this framework, we survey research on (1) language structures, (2) language policies, and (3) individual language behavior in order to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of GFL and to identify boundary conditions and obstacles for its implementation. Our aim is to critically discuss and integrate research findings to answer the question of whether and under what circumstances GFL contributes to the reduction of gender stereotyping and discrimination. Hopefully, this review will provide a useful basis for future research and for scientifically based policy-making.

Language Structures

Although gender asymmetries exist in most, if not all, languages, they may be more or less conspicuous, depending on the structure of the language. Three types of languages can be distinguished: grammatical gender languages, natural gender languages, and genderless languages (see Stahlberg et al., 2007 ). Table ​ Table1 1 gives an overview of this typology, describing the main characteristics of the different types with regard to gender and gender asymmetries as well as preferred strategies of linguistic gender-fairness. German, French, and Czech, for example, are grammatical gender languages . In these languages, every noun has a grammatical gender and the gender of personal nouns tends to express the gender of the referent. In natural gender languages (English or Swedish) 2 personal nouns tend to be gender-neutral (e.g., neighbor ) and referential gender is expressed pronominally (e.g., he/she ). In genderless languages such as Finnish or Turkish neither personal nouns nor pronouns signal gender. Here, gender is only expressed through attributes such as ‘male/female [teacher]’ or in lexical gender words such as ‘woman’ or ‘father.’ Consequently, gender and linguistic gender asymmetries are much more visible in grammatical gender languages than in natural gender languages or genderless languages ( Hellinger and Bußmann, 2001 ).

Overview of language types regarding expression of gender and gender asymmetries.

The way gender is encoded in a language may be associated with societal gender equality ( Stahlberg et al., 2007 ). This assumption was tested empirically for 111 countries with different language systems, controlling for geographic, religious, political, and developmental differences ( Prewitt-Freilino et al., 2012 ). In this research, the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum was used to determine gender equality (GGI; Hausmann et al., 2009 ). Countries with grammatical gender languages were found to reach lower levels of social gender equality than countries with natural gender languages or genderless languages. This suggests that a higher visibility of gender asymmetries is accompanied by societal gender inequalities. A survey on sexist attitudes yielded additional evidence for this relationship ( Wasserman and Weseley, 2009 ): respondents (native speakers of English as well as bilinguals) exhibited more sexist attitudes when the survey was conducted in a grammatical gender language (Spanish or French) than in a natural gender language (English). These findings document that, from the perspective of gender-fairness or gender equality, grammatical gender languages present a particularly complex and difficult case.

Research has consistently revealed that masculine generics evoke a male bias in mental representations and make readers or listeners think more of male than female exemplars of a person category ( Stahlberg et al., 2007 ). Effects of linguistic forms on mental representations were measured with the help of various experimental methodologies, for instance, (1) completing sentences with different pronouns and nouns (e.g., he , she , he/she , the lawyer , the client ; Jacobson and Insko, 1985 ), (2) writing stories about fictitious people following an introductory sentence in the masculine or in gender-fair wording ( Heise, 2000 ), (3) naming female or male representatives (e.g., favorite musician) in response to either masculine nouns or combinations of feminine and masculine forms ( Stahlberg et al., 2001 ), (4) estimating the proportion of women and men in certain roles (e.g., participants at a congress of nutritionists versus geophysicists; Braun et al., 1998 ), (5) measuring reading time as an indicator of fit between sentences about social groups denoted by nouns with different grammatical gender and sentences that contained a reference to the social group that qualified the group members as female, male, or neither one ( Irmen and Roßberg, 2004 ), or (6) measuring reaction times when classifying gender-related (e.g., she , he ) or neutral pronouns (e.g., it , me ) as female or male after perceiving gender-related (e.g., mother , father , nurse , doctor ) or gender-neutral primes (e.g., parent , student ; Banaji and Hardin, 1996 ). The masculine bias in language has been observed in English (e.g., Crawford and English, 1984 ; Hamilton, 1988 ; Gastil, 1990 ; Ng, 1990 ), French (e.g., Chatard et al., 2005 ; Gabriel et al., 2008 ), German (e.g., Heise, 2000 ; Stahlberg et al., 2001 ; Braun et al., 2005 ; Irmen, 2007 ), Italian (e.g., Cacciari and Padovani, 2007 ), Polish (e.g., Bojarska, 2011 ), and Spanish ( Carreiras et al., 1996 ). In a study with German and Belgian school children, the grammatical form of job titles was found to influence the children’s perceptions of typically male jobs: when occupations were presented in the masculine (e.g., German Ingenieure , masc.pl ‘engineers’) the mental accessibility of female jobholders was lower than with feminine-masculine word pairs (e.g., Ingenieurinnen und Ingenieure , fem.pl and masc.pl ‘[female and male] engineers’; Vervecken et al., 2013 ). In another study, adult speakers as well envisaged more men in an occupation when job advertisements included more masculine than feminine forms ( Gaucher et al., 2011 ). In all, both the range of methods as well as the number of languages for which the male bias of masculine generics has been documented attests to the validity of the finding.

In general, different strategies can be used to make language gender-fair and avoid detrimental effects of masculine generics: neutralization, feminization and a combination of the two. Which strategy is the appropriate one depends on the type of language concerned (grammatical gender language, natural gender language, or genderless language, Bußmann and Hellinger, 2003 ).

In the framework of neutralization gender-marked terms are replaced by gender-indefinite nouns (English policeman by police officer ). In grammatical gender languages, gender-differentiated forms are replaced, for instance, by epicenes (i.e., forms with invariant grammatical gender which refer to female as well as male persons; e.g., German Staatsoberhaupt , neut. ‘head of state’ or Fachkraft , fem. ‘expert’ in German). Neutralization has been recommended especially for natural gender languages (e.g., Hellinger and Bußmann, 2003 ; for English; Norwegian; Danish) and genderless languages (e.g., Engelberg, 2002 , for Finnish), as it is fairly easy to avoid gender markings in these languages. Thus, neither generic he nor the combination he/she , but “singular they is the dominant epicene pronoun in modern written British English. However, despite its use, singular they has never been endorsed by institutions of the English language, such as major dictionaries and style guides (although many style guides now reject generic he… )” ( Paterson, 2014 , p. 2). Recently, a gender-neutral third person pronoun was invented in Swedish: hen. This neologism first appeared in 2012 in a children’s book where it served as an alternative to the gender-marked pronouns ‘she’ (hon) and ‘he’ (han; Gustafsson Sendén et al., 2015 ).

In contrast, feminization is based on the explicit inclusion of women. Thus, masculine generics are replaced by feminine-masculine word pairs (e.g., German Elektrikerinnen und Elektriker ‘[female and male] electricians’; Polish nauczycielki i nauczyciele ‘[female and male] teachers’) or abbreviated forms with slashes (e.g., German Elektriker/in ; Polish nauczyciel/ka ) or brackets (e.g., Elektriker[in] ; nauczyciel[ka] ). Feminization has been recommended for grammatical gender languages such as German, Spanish, Czech, and Italian ( Hellinger and Bußmann, 2003 ; Moser et al., 2011 ), usually in combination with neutralizing in order to avoid overly complex sentence structures.

However, feminization is not always advantageous for women. The Italian feminine suffix - essa , for example, has a slightly derogatory connotation (e.g., Marcato and Thüne, 2002 ). Accordingly, a woman introduced as professoressa ‘female professor’ was perceived as less persuasive than a man or than a woman referred to with the masculine form professore ( Mucchi-Faina, 2005 ). Masculine terms used in reference to a female jobholder were associated with higher status than feminine job titles with - essa ( Merkel et al., 2012 ). Another example is the German (originally French) suffix- euse or - öse. Feminine terms such as Masseuse ‘(female) masseur’ and Frisöse ‘(female) hair dresser’ evoke sexual or frivolous associations, so that the neutral suffix -in is usually preferred, as in Ingenieur-in ‘female engineer,’ or Spediteur-in ‘female forwarding agent.’ Especially in Slavic languages feminine job titles tend to be associated with lesser status, with rural speech, or with the meaning ‘wife of…’ rather than ‘female job holder’ (for Russian: Doleschal and Schmid, 2001 ; for Serbian: Hentschel, 2003 ; for Polish: Koniuszaniec and Blaszkowa, 2003 ). There are also asymmetries in meaning between feminine and masculine forms, as with Polish sekretarka ‘female secretary,’ which designates a personal assistant, whereas the masculine sekretarz refers also to a high governmental function. In Polish, the feminine suffix - ka not only derives feminine occupational terms (such as nauczyciel-ka ‘female teacher’ from masculine nauczyciel ‘teacher’) but also words for inanimate objects such as marynar-ka ‘jacket’ from masculine marynarz ‘sailor.’ Problems of this kind can limit the possibilities of feminization in some languages. Where feminization faces such structural problems, its use is less widespread and may have negative effects (Italian: Mucchi-Faina, 2005 ; Polish: Formanowicz et al., 2013 , 2015 ). But where feminine suffixes are productive feminization can became a linguistic norm and can be evaluated positively (German: Vervecken and Hannover, 2012 ).

The focus of early research on GFL was mostly on the masculine bias associated with masculine generics. But although these findings suggest that linguistic asymmetries may have farther-reaching consequences, this line of research has made no further progress until recently. The latest findings are more comprehensive and indicate how linguistic asymmetries may facilitate (unintended) forms of social discrimination ( Mucchi-Faina, 2005 ; Stahlberg et al., 2007 ). For example, adult women were reluctant to apply to gender-biased job advertisements (e.g., English job titles ending in - man ) and were more interested in the same job when the advertisement had an unbiased form ( Bem and Bem, 1973 ). Also, the likelihood of naming women as possible candidates for the office of chancellor in Germany was found to depend on the grammatical gender of the word ‘chancellor’ in the question ( Stahlberg and Sczesny, 2001 ). When the masculine generic ( Kanzler ) was used, fewer respondents suggested female politicians compared to a combination of masculine and feminine form ( Kanzler oder Kanzlerin ‘[male or female] chancellor’). Moreover, self-evaluation and evaluations by others were found to be influenced by linguistic forms. Thus, girls assumed women to be less successful in typically male occupations when the jobs were described with masculine rather than gender-fair forms, and they were also less interested in these occupations (see also Chatard et al., 2005 ; Vervecken et al., 2013 ). Using feminine-masculine word pairs rather than masculine forms for traditionally male occupations boosted children’s self-efficacy ( Vervecken and Hannover, 2015 ). Furthermore, occupations described in pair forms mitigated the difference between ascribed success to female and male jobholders in gendered occupations ( Vervecken et al., 2015 ). Also, women’s perceptions of belonging were found to mediate the effect that women found jobs advertised in the masculine less appealing ( Gaucher et al., 2011 ). Accordingly, women experienced the use of gender-exclusive language during a mock job interview as ostracism ( Stout and Dasgupta, 2011 ). They reported a lower sense of belonging when gender-exclusive language ( he ) was used compared to gender-inclusive ( he or she ) or gender-neutral ( one ) forms. In a study on Austrian German, the wording of job advertisements influenced the evaluation of candidates for leadership positions ( Horvath and Sczesny, 2015 ): men were perceived as fitting a high-status leadership position better than women when a masculine job title was used ( Geschäftsführer , masc. ‘chief executive officer, CEO’). But when the job ad was gender-fair ( Geschäftsführerin/Geschäftsführer , fem./masc. ‘[female/male] CEO’), women and men were judged as equally suited. In the context of a lower-status position (project leader) no differences of this kind occurred.

Language Policies

Many countries have pledged themselves to an equal treatment of women and men (e.g., the member states of the European Union and associated states in the Treaty of Lisbon- European Commission, 2007 ), and the use of GFL is widely recommended ( Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei, 1996 , revised in 2009; UNESCO, 1999 ; National Council of Teachers of English, 2002 ; European Commission, 2008 ; American Psychological Association, 2009 ). But the implementation of GFL has reached different stages in different countries and speech communities.

In the 1970s, guidelines for GFL were introduced in particular professional domains across national and linguistic boundaries, for example, by the American Psychological Association (1975) , by the McGraw-Hill Book Company (1974 ; see also Britton and Lumpkin, 1977 ; Sunderland, 2011 ) and the Macmillan Publishing Company (1975) . These guidelines demand that authors of (psychological) articles, books, teaching materials, or fiction treat women and men equally, including the language they use (see also Sadker et al., 1991 ). Publication guidelines of this kind have been effective, because authors need to follow the rules if they want to see their manuscripts published. In texts written by Australian academics ( Pauwels, 2003 ), for example, masculine generic pronouns were infrequent. Similarly, an analysis of American Psychological Association journal articles from the years 1965–2004 revealed a complete absence of generic he from 1985 onward, even if the articles still contained other, more subtle gender biases such as androcentric reporting in tables and graphs ( Hegarty and Buechel, 2006 ).

In 1987 representatives of Canada and the Nordic countries argued for an adoption of GFL by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization . This resulted in the creation of guidelines in UNESCO (1999) . UNESCO’s position in favor of GFL is described in their gender equality guidelines: “This development indicated a growing awareness that language does not merely reflect the way we think: it also shapes our thinking. If words and expressions that imply that women are inferior to men are constantly used, that assumption of inferiority tends to become part of our mindset; hence the need to adjust our language when our ideas evolve” ( UNESCO, 2011 , p. 4). The document not only became the most widely recognized international standard for GFL, it also regulates language use in internal documents and publications of UNESCO. Similar guidelines for publications were issued by the European Commission (2008) , referring to all working languages of the European Union (EU). Yet, the standards promoted by UNESCO and the EU do not regulate language use in the different countries and are not considered mandatory within their member states.

The availability of GFL policies and the extent of their implementation, that is, their dissemination and execution, also vary considerably between countries ( Moser et al., 2011 ). In Italy, for instance, guidelines for GFL were issued in Sabatini (1987) , in the German-speaking area most guidelines appeared in the 1990s (e.g., Hellinger and Bierbach, 1993 ; Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei, 1996 ; revised in 2009), and in the Czech Republic guidelines were published only in Valdrová et al. (2010) . In other countries such as Poland there are as yet no official guidelines at all. While in some states GFL policies are mentioned only on the website of a ministry (e.g., Czech Republic; Valdrová et al., 2010 ), use of GFL is mandatory in job ads and public administration in Austria. Since the 1990s the German Duden dictionaries, for example, have included not only the masculine form of personal nouns and job titles but routinely cite the corresponding feminine forms ( Kunkel-Razum, 2004 ). The dictionary lists even feminine forms that are infrequent in texts. An example is the word Päpstin ‘female pope,’ which has been listed in the Grosses Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (Large dictionary of the German language) from the year 1999 onward, even though obviously there never was a female pope in the history of the Catholic Church ( Kunkel-Razum, 2004 ). Moreover, the Duden editors decided to include a chapter on the “equal treatment of women and men in language” in the ninth volume of the series Richtiges und gutes Deutsch (Correct and good German). The chapter describes the linguistic potential which the German language offers for speaking or writing in a gender-fair way.

In the German-speaking countries, language policies have become part of the organizational culture of various institutions such as universities and administrations (e.g., Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei, 1996 , revised in 2009; Merkel, 2011 ; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 2011 ; Gendup – Zentrum für Gender Studies und Frauenförderung, 2012 ). Even so, Austria is the only country where the use of GFL in job advertisements is strictly prescribed and companies are fined for failing to address both genders in their job ads ( Bundesministerium für Frauen und Öffentlichen Dienst, 2009 ). This may be the reason why the proportion of job ads worded in GFL differs between Austria and German-speaking Switzerland: only 9% of Austrian job advertisements contain masculine generics, whereas it is 27% in Switzerland ( Hodel et al., 2013 ).

School and education are of particular importance for the implementation of GFL. In most countries there are few official GFL guidelines for authors of educational materials ( Eurydice, 2009 ) and regulations concerning schoolbooks exist only in certain countries (e.g., Germany, Ireland, or Iceland). Similarly, only a few countries require schoolbooks to be officially evaluated or approved. In the UK, for example, educational authorities do not monitor teaching materials and schools choose them autonomously. Today German schoolbooks for mathematics and German mostly use gender-neutral forms, followed by masculine generics and feminine-masculine word pairs, ( Moser and Hannover, 2014 ). The two gender-fair options together (word pairs and neutralizing) outweighed the masculine in the schoolbook sample that was analyzed. Since earlier studies on German schoolbooks (e.g., Lindner and Lukesch, 1994 ; Preinsberger and Weisskircher, 1997 ) reported a predominance of masculine generics, this finding indicates an increase of GFL in schoolbooks. In some of the texts, however, feminine-masculine word pairs were mixed with masculine generics (see also Markom and Weinhäupl, 2007 ). This inconsistency is problematic because in the presence of word pairs masculine forms may be understood as referring to male persons only (e.g., Gabriel et al., 2008 ).

Individual Language Behavior

Apart from language structures and country-specific aspects, there are a number of factors that make individuals use or reject GFL. One major factor is the novelty of gender-fair forms, which conflicts with speakers’ linguistic habits ( Blaubergs, 1980 ). As long as this is the case, people may experience GFL as irritating, and consequentially may refrain from using it. This could explain why negative effects of GFL have been found especially in the initial phases of language reform such as, for instance, in English in the 1990s ( McConnell and Fazio, 1996 ), and in Italian and Polish in the beginning of the 21st century ( Mucchi-Faina, 2005 ; Merkel et al., 2012 ; Formanowicz et al., 2013 ).

Moreover, initiatives for GFL were first instigated by activist movements (e.g., Silveira, 1980 ; Pusch, 1984 ) and for that reason often met with negative reactions ( Blaubergs, 1980 ; Parks and Roberton, 1998 ; Formanowicz et al., 2013 ). It is conceivable that individual reactions toward GFL are not only caused by its novelty, but also depend on attitudes toward gender arrangements ( Jost and Kay, 2005 ; Carney et al., 2008 ), for conservative political attitudes are associated both with lesser openness for novelty ( Carney et al., 2008 ) and with stronger support for traditional gender arrangements ( Jost et al., 2003 , 2008 ; Hoyt, 2012 ). Thus, speakers of Polish with more conservative attitudes devaluated female job applicants referring to themselves with a feminine job title compared to female and male applicants using a masculine job title ( Formanowicz et al., 2013 ).

Another factor for individual speakers’ use of GFL might be speakers’ gender: women could be expected to hold more favorable attitudes toward GFL than men and they might be more inclined to use it in their own speech. However, research findings on this point are mixed. While in some studies men rejected GFL more than women did (e.g., Parks and Roberton, 2004 ; Douglas and Sutton, 2014 ), other studies found no gender difference in attitudes toward GFL (e.g., Sczesny et al., 2015 ). Gender differences were mediated by participants’ attitudes toward women, which were, in turn, driven by more comprehensive ideologies that justified the social gender hierarchy (i.e., gender-specific system justification and social dominance orientation; Douglas and Sutton, 2014 ).

Language use has been viewed as associated with speakers’ sexist attitudes , so much so that the use of sexist language has been regarded as an example of subtle sexism ( Swim et al., 2004 ). Modern sexism, for instance, is a view that denies that women are still discriminated against and disapproves of policies promoting gender equality ( Swim et al., 1995 ). In fact, participants with modern sexist beliefs were found to use more traditional, gender-unfair language ( Swim et al., 2004 ). Correspondingly, speakers with stronger sexist attitudes toward women used gender-fair pronouns less frequently than speakers with less sexist attitudes ( Jacobson and Insko, 1985 ). Speakers with progressive gender role perceptions, on the other hand, exhibited a tendency to avoid sexist language when writing an essay ( McMinn et al., 1991 ).

This raises the question how sexist or non-sexist ideologies translate into actual language behavior. Spontaneous use of GFL was found to be guided by explicit intentions to use GFL as well as more implicit processes involving use of GFL in the past ( Sczesny et al., 2015 ). GFL use was not predicted directly by sexist beliefs but by intentions and habits. In other words, sexist speakers do not avoid GFL just because they are reluctant to change their linguistic habits, they deliberately employ a form of language that treats males as the norm and makes women less visible. Habits guide speakers’ linguistic behavior without their being aware of it ( Sczesny et al., 2015 ), and learning processes play a role for GFL to become a habit. S peakers who grew up with schoolbooks using predominantly masculine generics (e.g., English: Hellinger, 1980 ; Campbell and Schram, 1995 ; Lee and Collins, 2008 ; German: Lindner and Lukesch, 1994 ; Preinsberger and Weisskircher, 1997 ) tend not to question this usage. But once speakers have acquired the habit of using GFL they will rely on this language form. Establishing GFL habits via teaching and practicing current linguistic standards (e.g., Duden; Kunkel-Razum, 2004 ) is a promising approach which should follow the initial phase of GFL implementation and may reduce political controversies. In this sense, a prevalence of GFL in the media could also promote the use of GFL by individual speakers.

So far, few studies have investigated how speakers can be made to use and approve of GFL. After training interventions, speakers of English used slightly more gender-fair pronouns in completing sentences than non-attendants ( McMinn and Foster, 1991 ; McMinn et al., 1991 ; Prentice, 1994 ). Their attitudes, however, did not change ( Prentice, 1994 ). German speakers as well used more GFL after being exposed to arguments for GFL than in a control condition ( Koeser and Sczesny, 2014 ), but this did not affect their attitudes toward GFL. Interestingly, merely reading texts in gender-fair wording can also increase speakers’ own use of GFL: female speakers of German employed more gender-fair forms after reading a gender-fair text than after other texts, but there was no such effect for men ( Koeser et al., 2015 ). Male speakers increased their use of gender-fair forms only when their attention was drawn to GFL forms. These findings indicate that it is more difficult to change attitudes than to promote speakers’ actual use of GFL.

Overcoming Gender Stereotyping And Discrimination With Gender-Fair Language?

Over the past decades, a large body of research—based on various experimental methodologies, from storytelling to measuring reaction times—has confirmed the influence of linguistic forms on the accessibility of mental representations of women and men (see Stahlberg et al., 2007 ). Regardless of language structure and of the ease of implementing GFL ( Bußmann and Hellinger, 2003 ), a consistent finding is that speakers do not understand masculine forms as referring to both genders equally but that they interpret them in a male-biased way. This underscores the importance of implementing GFL in everyday language and of using it consistently, so that speakers take up this usage in their own texts and utterances.

How successful have the respective language policies been so far? In natural gender languages , neutralization has been fairly easy to adopt and implement (e.g., English, Danish). But even in these language communities people are guided by their knowledge about typical gender distributions in social roles. Thus, English readers tend to associate different occupations or role nouns with men or women, since gender stereotypes are incorporated in their mental representations ( Oakhill et al., 2005 ); and even though there are fewer gender-marked forms in natural gender languages, masculine generics exist and their use can result in social discrimination ( Stout and Dasgupta, 2011 ). In grammatical gender languages , feminization as the main strategy of GFL still poses challenges. This is especially true for some languages, e.g., Italian ( Merkel et al., 2012 ) and Slavic languages ( Koniuszaniec and Blaszkowa, 2003 ), where the creation of feminine forms can be problematic, as outlined above. Refusal of GFL can still be observed ( Formanowicz and Sczesny, 2014 ). Such disadvantages are likely to occur while the change is in progress ( Formanowicz et al., 2015 ).

Moreover, our review suggests that—independent of language structure—GFL is more frequent and more accepted when it is backed by official regulations and when the use of biased language is sanctioned in some way (e.g., in official publications or texts; American Psychological Association, 1975 , 2009 ; Bundesministerium für Frauen und Öffentlichen Dienst, 2009 ; see Hodel et al., 2013 ). The relationship between policy-making and social change is surely bidirectional. On the one hand, gender equality movements and their demands find their way into legislation. On the other hand, official regulations may stipulate social change by facilitating the internalization of new norms and enforcing their execution. Public discussions over policies also enhance public awareness for GFL (see above the singular pronouns they in English and hen in Swedish). The contribution of language reforms to gender equality in a society/speech community can best be assessed with investigations that compare countries sharing the same language (e.g., French in Canada and in France) as well as countries with different languages (e.g., Polish and German, two grammatical languages at different stages of implementing GFL). Although there have been some attempts at this type of research ( Formanowicz et al., 2015 ; Gustafsson Sendén et al., 2015 ) more research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of language-related policies and provide an evidence-based rationale for policy-making.

As mentioned above, speakers’ use of GFL results from deliberate processes, involving attitudes and intentions, and habitual processes, involving repetition of past behavior ( Sczesny et al., 2015 ). Both types of processes are relevant for the successful implementation of GFL. Despite the various guidelines and legal regulations for GFL that exist on global and national levels, spontaneous use of GFL by individual speakers still seems to be infrequent. For instance, use of GFL in a gap-filling task was quite low among speakers of German from Germany and Switzerland, although GFL policies are fairly advanced in both countries. Most of the participants used more masculine generics than gender-fair forms. As language use is an action performed in a wide range of circumstances, future research should also assess the contiguity between behavior and context. Speakers may employ GFL when writing official texts, for instance, but not when talking or writing to friends. Moreover, attitudes, norms, and intentions concerning GFL in general seem to be only moderately favorable. Even though positive arguments for GFL can help to promote a change in language behavior ( Koeser and Sczesny, 2014 ), future research should attempt to identify factors that are crucial for a deliberate use of GFL. For instance, it might be worthwhile to determine the content and strength of attitudes in different groups of speakers, namely speakers who use GFL regularly compared to speakers who use GFL only occasionally and others who do not use it at all. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the processes underlying a rejection of GFL, future research could also take a closer look at people’s political attitudes ( Formanowicz et al., 2013 ), their preference for status quo, and their acceptance of traditional gender arrangements ( Jost et al., 2008 ).

In any case, attitudes toward GFL may become more favorable the more frequently and longer GFL has been used (in addition to a mere exposure effect, Zajonc, 1968 , see also the existence bias: people treat the existence of something as evidence of its goodness; Eidelman et al., 2009 ). The role of familiarity for an active use of GFL can best addressed with longitudinal studies. In Sweden, for example, speakers’ attitudes toward the gender-neutral pronoun hen have become more positive over time ( Gustafsson Sendén et al., 2015 ). A meta-analytical approach would constitute another way of capturing the dynamics of GFL implementation, taking into account the time when the studies were conducted but also the availability of policies and the structure of the languages concerned. This approach might help to determine whether a language has left the phase where GFL evokes negative associations as well as the role of other factors (such as language policies).

Interventions aiming to increase the use of GFL could focus on a simple repetition of non-sexist expressions, so that these become established habits ( Koeser et al., 2015 ; Wood and Rünger, 2016 ). This would be a very subtle and implicit way of promoting use of GFL. The development and evaluation of GFL interventions/trainings has not yet been investigated systematically. Future research should take both deliberate and habitual processes of GFL use into consideration, for instance, by analyzing whether children—exposed to and trained in GFL at school (with the help of current schoolbooks)—will later use GFL habitually and consequently hold less gender-stereotypic beliefs.

Finally, there are still obstacles that prevent GFL from becoming a linguistic norm/standard and prevent the change toward an equal treatment of women and men. First, the male bias of linguistic asymmetries in mental representations is backed by a higher prevalence of men in certain social roles (e.g., heroes, politicians), which facilitates their cognitive accessibility ( Stahlberg and Sczesny, 2001 ). Once women and men occupy all social roles to a similar extent (see social role theory, which poses that gender stereotype content results from observing women and men in certain societal roles; Eagly, 1987 ; Bosak et al., 2012 ), this difference in accessibility should decrease and more gender-balanced mental representations should emerge. Ironically, recent research has documented that linguistic asymmetries prevent girls and women from aspiring to male-dominated roles (see Chatard et al., 2005 ; Gaucher et al., 2011 ; Stout and Dasgupta, 2011 ; Vervecken et al., 2013 ; Vervecken and Hannover, 2015 ) and thereby perpetuate the higher accessibility of men in these roles.

Second, the use of gender-unfair language, especially of masculine generics, restricts the visibility of women and the cognitive availability of female exemplars ( Stahlberg et al., 2007 ), which may be disadvantageous for women (e.g., in personnel selection; Stout and Dasgupta, 2011 ; Horvath and Sczesny, 2015 ). However, increasing the visibility of women with the help of novel feminine forms may also have negative consequences and may therefore be avoided, for instance, in women’s professional self-reference ( Merkel et al., 2012 ; Formanowicz et al., 2013 ). Thus, the avoidance of GFL by women (e.g., avoidance of feminine job titles in grammatical gender languages), in order to protect themselves from ascriptions of incompetence or lower status, also perpetuates the reduction of gender stereotyping and social discrimination.

Third, arguments against GFL have routinely included the presumed difficulty of understanding GFL texts ( Parks and Roberton, 1998 ). Empirical investigations have refuted this argument and have shown that text quality ( Rothmund and Christmann, 2002 ) and cognitive processing were not damaged ( Braun et al., 2007 ). When GFL texts were compared to (generic) masculine texts, there were no differences in readability and esthetic appeal ( Blake and Klimmt, 2010 ). In all, the empirical evidence does not confirm the alleged disadvantage of GFL. Yet, these findings and the scientific evidence for serious disadvantages of masculine generics (see above) have largely been ignored in political controversies and public discussions about GFL. In all, there is a lack of transfer of scientific knowledge which prevents the understanding of linguistic asymmetries as part of a broader gender imbalance and hinders social change. Education and policy-making therefore need to increase the efforts of circulating new scientific insights about GFL to break the vicious circle of ill-informed controversies and discussions about GFL.

At first glance linguistic gender asymmetries seem to affect mostly women. When masculine forms are used it is women who are seen as less prototypical category exemplars, it is women who feel less adequate or are less preferred as job candidates, and it is women who profit from GFL. Therefore, the question arises whether GFL benefits men as well. First, the introduction of GFL might represent a particular challenge for men. In a study by Crawford and English (1984) both male and female participants read a text whose title contained either masculine generics ( Psychologist and his work? ) or GFL ( Psychologist and their work? ) and were to recall the text after 2 days. As the results showed, men’s recall was better in the masculine and women’s recall in the GFL condition. This finding indicates that learning to use GFL involves more than overcoming linguistic novelty. For men, GFL means an unwelcome loss of their privileged position in language. Only in few situations have they something to gain through GFL. If all job advertisements would contain GFL, for instance, men might be more included in traditionally female jobs which used to be referred to in the feminine. Future research should also consider the perspective of men and examine how GFL can turn into a win–win situation for women and men in modern societies.

To conclude, past research has revealed that GFL has the potential to make significant contributions to the reduction of gender stereotyping and discrimination. But as the body of existing evidence is based mainly on experimental paradigms with different kinds of measures, future research should take a closer look on people’s actual language use in everyday life (e.g., in conversations, in the classroom, in social media or organizational communication). Moreover, it will be fruitful to further investigate the dynamics of GFL usage and its effects from cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspectives (see above the Marie Curie Initial Training Network - Language, Cognition, and Gender, ITN LCG , which can be regarded as a first step in this direction). Speakers’ willingness to use GFL in everyday life is crucial in order to profit from the impact of GFL on the (linguistic and social) treatment of women and men in society. But a deliberate effort is required before the use of GFL can become habitual. Education and policy-making can facilitate these processes. When employed consistently over a longer period, and especially when supported by well-informed controversies and discussions, GFL will contribute even more to the reduction of gender stereotyping and discrimination and may thus function as another barometer for change (like the decrease in gender-stereotypical social perception of leadership, Schein, 2001 ).

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer Simona Mancini and handling Editor Manuel Carreiras declared their shared affiliation, and the handling Editor states that the process nevertheless met the standards of a fair and objective review.

Funding. This research was conducted within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network: Language, Cognition, and Gender , ITN LCG, funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n°237907 ( www.itn-lcg.eu ). We thank Friederike Braun for her valuable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

1 In the literature, GFL is also referred to with other terms, e.g., gender-neutral language : Sarrasin et al. (2012) ; gender-inclusive language : Stout and Dasgupta (2011) ; non-sexist language : Douglas and Sutton (2014) .

2 According to McConnell-Ginet (2013) , however, the concept of natural gender language is a myth, and she suggests calling the respective languages “notional” gender languages, since, for example in English, “concepts and ideas about biological sex matter at least as much as sex itself to the choice of English third-person pronouns.” (p. 3).

• American Psychological Association (1975). Guidelines for nonsexist use of language. Am. Psychol. 30 682–684. 10.1037/h0076869 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• American Psychological Association (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: Supplemental Material , 6th Edn. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [ Google Scholar ]
• Banaji M. R., Hardin C. D. (1996). Automatic stereotyping. Psychol. Sci. 7 136–141. 10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00346.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bem S. L., Bem D. J. (1973). Does sex-biased job advertising “aid and abet” sex discrimination? J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 3 6–18. 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1973.tb01290.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Blake C., Klimmt C. (2010). Geschlechtergerechte Formulierungen in Nachrichtentexten [Gender-fair formulations in news texts]. Publizistik 55 289–304. 10.1007/s11616-010-0093-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Blaubergs M. S. (1980). An analysis of classic arguments against changing sexist language. Womens Stud. Int. Q. 3 135–147. 10.1016/S0148-0685(80)92071-0 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bojarska K. (2011). Wpływ androcentrycznych i inkluzywnych płciowo konstrukcji językowych na skojarzenia z płcią [The impact of the andocentric and gender-inclusive language constructions on the gendered asssociations]. Stud. Psychol. 49 53–68. 10.2478/v10167-011-0010-y [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bosak J., Sczesny S., Eagly A. H. (2012). The impact of social roles on trait judgments – a critical re-examination. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 38 429–440. 10.1177/0146167211427308 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Braun F., Gottburgsen A., Sczesny S., Stahlberg D. (1998). Können Geophysiker Frauen sein? Generische Personenbezeichnungen im Deutschen [Can geophysicists be women?Generic terms for describing persons in German]. Z. Ger. Linguist. 26 177–195. 10.1515/zfgl.1998.26.3.265 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Braun F., Oelkers S., Rogalski K., Bosak J., Sczesny S. (2007). “For reasons of intelligibility.” How masculine generics and alternative forms affect the cognitive processing of a text. Psychol. Rundsch. 58 183–189. 10.1026/0033-3042.58.3.183 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Braun F., Sczesny S., Stahlberg D. (2005). Cognitive effects of masculine generics in German: an overview of empirical findings. Communications 30 1–21. 10.1515/comm.2005.30.1.1 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Britton G. E., Lumpkin M. C. (1977). For sale: subliminal bias in textbooks. Read. Teach. 31 40–45. [ Google Scholar ]
• Bundesministerium für Frauen und Öffentlichen Dienst (2009). Geschlechtergerechte Stellenausschreibungen [Gender-Fair Job Advertisements]. Unabhängiger Bericht der Gleichbehandlungsanwaltschaft iS §3 Abs 5 GBK/GAW-Gesetz, Wien. [ Google Scholar ]
• Bußmann H., Hellinger M. (2003). “ Engendering female visibility in German ,” in Gender Across Languages. The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men Vol. 3 eds Hellinger M., Bußmann H. (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company; ), 141–173. [ Google Scholar ]
• Cacciari C., Padovani R. (2007). Further evidence on gender stereotype priming in language: semantic facilitation and inhibition on Italian role nouns. Appl. Psycholinguist. 28 277–293. 10.1017/S0142716407070142 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Campbell R., Schram P. J. (1995). Feminist research methods. A content analysis of psychology and social science textbooks. Psychol. Women Q. 19 85–106. 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1995.tb00280.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Carney D. R., Jost J. T., Samuel D., Gosling S. D., Potter J. (2008). The secret lives of liberals and conservatives: personality profiles, interaction styles, and the things they leave behind. Polit. Psychol. 29 807–840. 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00668.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Carreiras M., Garnham A., Oakhill J. V., Cain K. (1996). The use of stereotypical gender information in constructing a mental model: evidence from English and Spanish. Q. J. Exp. Psychol. A 49 639–663. 10.1080/027249896392531 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chatard A., Guimond S., Martinot D. (2005). Impact de la féminisation lexicale des professions sur l’auto-efficacité des élèves: une remise en cause de l’universalisme masculin? Année Psychol. 105 249–272. 10.3406/psy.2005.29694 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Crawford M., English L. (1984). Generic versus specific inclusion of women in language: effects on recall. J. Psycholinguist. Res. 13 373–381. 10.1007/BF01068152 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Doleschal U., Schmid S. (2001). “ Doing gender in Russian ,” in Gender Across Languages. The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men Vol. 1 eds Hellinger M., Bußmann H. (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company; ), 253–282. [ Google Scholar ]
• Douglas K. M., Sutton R. M. (2014). “A giant leap for mankind” but what about women? The role of system-justifying ideologies in predicting attitudes toward sexist language. J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 33 667–680. 10.1177/0261927X14538638 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Eagly A. H. (1987). Sex Differences in Social Behavior. A Social-Role Interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. [ Google Scholar ]
• Eidelman S., Crandall C. S., Pattershall J. (2009). The existence bias. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 97 765–775. 10.1037/a0017058 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Engelberg M. (2002). “ The communication of gender in Finnish ,” in Gender Across Languages. The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men Vol. 2 eds Hellinger M., Bußmann H. (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company; ), 109–132. [ Google Scholar ]
• European Commission (2007). Treaty of Lisbon. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/archives/lisbon_treaty/full_text/index_en.htm [ Google Scholar ]
• European Commission (2008). Gender-Neutral Language in the European Parliament. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/publications/2009/0001/P6_PUB(2009)0001_EN.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Eurydice (2009). Gender Differences in Educational Outcomes: Study on the Measures Taken and the Current Situation in Europe. Available at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/thematic_reports_en.php [ Google Scholar ]
• Fairclough N. (2003). Political correctness: the politics of culture and language. Discourse Soc. 14 17–28. 10.1177/0957926503014001927 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Formanowicz M., Bedynska S., Cisłak A., Braun F., Sczesny S. (2013). Side effects of gender-fair language: how feminine job titles influence the evaluation of female applicants. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 43 62–71. 10.1002/ejsp.1924 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Formanowicz M., Sczesny S. (2014). Gender-Fair language and professional self-reference: the case of female psychologists in Polish. J. Mix. Methods Res. 10 64–81. 10.1177/1558689814550877 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Formanowicz M. M., Cisłak A., Horvath L. K., Sczesny S. (2015). Capturing socially motivated linguistic change: how the use of gender-fair language affects support for social initiatives in Austria and Poland. Front. Psychol. 6 : 1617 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01617 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gabriel U., Gygax P., Sarrasin O., Garnham A., Oakhill J. (2008). Au-pairs are rarely male: role names’ gender stereotype information across three languages. Behav. Res. Methods 40 206–212. 10.3758/BRM.40.1.206 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gastil J. (1990). Generic pronouns and sexist language: the oxymoronic character of masculine generics. Sex Roles 23 629–643. 10.1007/BF0028925 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gaucher D., Friesen J., Kay A. C. (2011). Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisement exists and sustains gender inequality. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 101 109–128. 10.1037/a0022530 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gendup – Zentrum für Gender Studies und Frauenförderung (2012). Leitfaden für einen gerechten Sprachgebrauch [Guideline for Gender-Fair Language]. Available at: http://www.uni-salzburg.at/fileadmin/oracle_file_imports/2103374.PDF [ Google Scholar ]
• Gustafsson Sendén M., Bäck E. A., Lindqvist A. (2015). Introducing a gender-neutral pronoun in a natural gender language: the influence of time on attitudes and behavior. Front. Psychol. 6 : 893 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00893 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gustafsson Sendén M., Lindholm T., Sikström S. (2014). Biases in news media as reflected by personal pronouns in evaluative contexts. Soc. Psychol. 45 103–111. 10.1027/1864-9335/a000165 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hamilton M. C. (1988). Using masculine generics: does generic he increase male bias in the user’s imagery? Sex Roles 19 785–799. 10.1007/bf00288993 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hausmann R., Tyson L. D., Zahidi S. (2009). The Global Gender Gap Report 2009. Geneva: World Economic Forum. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hegarty P., Buechel C. (2006). Androcentric reporting of gender differences in APA journals: 1965-2004. Rev. Gen. Psychol. 10 377–389. 10.1037/1089-2680.10.4.377 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Heise E. (2000). Sind Frauen mitgemeint? Eine empirische Untersuchung zum Verständnis des generischen Maskulinums und seiner Alternativen [Are women included? An empirical investigation of interpretations of masculine generics and their alternatives]. Sprache Kogn. 19 3–13. 10.1024//0253-4533.19.12.3 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hellinger M. (1980). For men must work and women must weep: sexism in English language textbooks used in German schools. Womens Stud. Int. Q. 3 267–275. 10.1016/S0148-0685(80)92323-4 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hellinger M., Bierbach C. (1993). Eine Sprache für beide Geschlechter. Richtlinien für einen nicht-sexistischen Sprachgebrauch. [A Language for Both Genders. Guidelines for a Non-Sexist Language Use]. Available at: http://www.unesco.de/fileadmin/medien/Dokumente/Bibliothek/eine_sprache.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Hellinger M., Bußmann H. (2001, 2002, 2003). Gender Across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men Vol. 1 2 3 Amsterdam: Benjamins. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hentschel E. (2003). “ Serbian: the expression of gender in Serbian ,” in Gender Across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men Vol. 3 eds Hellinger M., Bußmann H. (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company; ), 287–309. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hodel L., Formanowicz M., Sczesny S., Valdrova J., von Stockhausen L. (2013). “ Gender fair language use in online job Avertisements ,” in Proceedings of the 16th Conference of European Association of Work & Organisational Psychology (EAWOP) , Münster. [ Google Scholar ]
• Horvath L. K., Sczesny S. (2015). Reducing women’s lack of fit with leadership? Effects of the wording of job advertisements. Eur. J. Work Organ. Psychol. 10.1080/1359432X.2015.1067611 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hoyt C. L. (2012). Gender bias in employment contexts: a closer examination of the role incongruity principle. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 48 86–96. 10.1016/j.jesp.2011.08.004 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Irmen L. (2007). What’s in a (role) name? Formal and conceptual aspects of comprehending personal nouns. J. Psycholinguist. Res. 36 431–456. 10.1007/s10936-007-9053-z [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Irmen L., Roßberg N. (2004). Gender markedness of language. The impact of grammatical and nonlinguistic information on the mental representation of person information. J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 23 272–307. 10.1177/0261927X04266810 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jacobson M. B., Insko W. R., Jr. (1985). Use of non-sexist pronouns as a function of one’s feminist orientation. Sex Roles 13 1–7. 10.1007/BF00287456 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jost J. T., Glaser J., Kruglanski A. W., Sulloway F. J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychol. Bull. 129 339–375. 10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.33 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jost J. T., Kay A. C. (2005). Exposure to benevolent sexism and complementary gender stereotypes: consequences for specific and diffuse forms of system justification. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 88 498–509. 10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.498 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jost J. T., Nosek B. A., Gosling S. D. (2008). Ideology: its resurgence in social, personality, and political psychology. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 3 126–136. 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00070.x [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koeser S., Kuhn E. A., Sczesny S. (2015). Just reading? How gender-fair language triggers readers‘ use of gender-fair forms. Advance online publication. J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 34 343–357. 10.1177/0261927X14561119 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koeser S., Sczesny S. (2014). Promoting gender-fair language: the impact of arguments on language use, attitudes, and cognitions. J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 33 548–560. 10.1177/0261927X14541280 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Koniuszaniec G., Blaszkowa H. (2003). “ Language and gender in Polish ,” in Gender Across Languages. The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men Vol. 3 eds Hellinger M., Bußmann H. (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company; ), 259–285. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kunkel-Razum K. (2004). “ Die Frauen und der Duden – der Duden und die Frauen [The women and the Duden – the Duden and the women] ,” in Adam, Eva und Die Sprache, Beiträge zur Geschlechterforschung [Adam, Eve and the Language] , ed. Eichhoff-Cyrus K. M. (Mannheim: Dudenverlag; ), 308–315. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lee J. F. K., Collins P. (2008). Gender voices in Hong Kong English textbooks – some past and current practices. Sex Roles 59 127–137. 10.1007/s11199-008-9414-6 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lindner V., Lukesch H. (1994). Geschlechtsrollenstereotype im Deutschen Schulbuch. [Gender Stereotypes in German Schoolbooks]. Regensburg: S. Roderer Verlag. [ Google Scholar ]
• Maass A., Suitner C., Merkel E. (2013). “ Does political correctness make (social) sense? ,” in Social Cognition and Communication , eds Forgas J. P., Vincze O., Laszlo J. (New York, NY: Psychology Press; ), 331–346. [ Google Scholar ]
• Macmillan Publishing Company (1975). Guidelines for Creating Positive Sexual and Racial Images in Educational Materials. New York, NY: Macmillan. [ Google Scholar ]
• Marcato G., Thüne E. M. (2002). “ Gender and female visibility in Italian ,” in Gender Across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men Vol. 2 eds Hellinger M., Bußmann H. (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company; ), 187–217. [ Google Scholar ]
• Markom C., Weinhäupl H. (2007). Die Anderen im Schulbuch. Rassismen, Exotismen, Sexismen und Antisemitismus in österreichischen Schulbüchern. [The Others in Schoolbooks. Racism, Exocitism, Sexism, and Anti-Semitism in Austrian Schoolbooks]. Wien: Braumüller. [ Google Scholar ]
• McConnell A. R., Fazio R. H. (1996). Women as men and people: effects of gender-marked language. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 22 1004–1013. 10.1177/01461672962210003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McConnell-Ginet S. (2013). “ Gender and its relation to sex: the myth of ‘natural’ gender ,” in The Expression of Gender , ed. Corbett G. G. (Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton; ), 3–38. [ Google Scholar ]
• McGraw-Hill Book Company (1974). Guidelines for Equal Treatment of the Sexes. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company. [ Google Scholar ]
• McMinn M. R., Foster J. D. (1991). A computer program to teach nonsexist language. Teach. Psychol. 18 115–117. 10.1207/s15328023top1802_16 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McMinn M. R., Troyer P. K., Hannum L. E., Foster J. D. (1991). Teaching nonsexist language to college students. J. Exp. Educ. 59 153–161. 10.1080/00220973.1991.10806558 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Merkel E. (2011). Geschlechtergerechte Sprache in den universitären Gleichstellungskonzepten: Eine vergleichende Analyse [Gender-Fair Language in University Concepts of Gender-Equality: A Comparative Analysis]. Essen: Netzwerk Frauen– und Geschlechterforschung NRW. [ Google Scholar ]
• Merkel E., Maass A., Frommelt L. (2012). Shielding women against status loss. The masculine form and its alternatives in the Italian language. J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 31 311–320. 10.1177/0261927X12446599 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Moser F., Hannover B. (2014). How gender fair are German schoolbooks in the twenty-first century? An analysis of language and illustrations in schoolbooks for mathematics and German. Eur. J. Psychol. Educ. 29 387–407. 10.1007/s10212-013-0204-3 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Moser F., Sato S., Chiarini T., Dmitrov-Devold K., Kuhn E. (2011). Comparative Analysis of Existing Guidelines for Gender-Fair Language within the ITN LCG Network (Work Package B ITN LCG). Available at: http://www.unifr.ch/psycho/itn-lcg/assets/files/ITN_publications/guidelines_final_may2011.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Mucchi-Faina A. (2005). Visible or influential? Language reforms and gender (in)equality. Soc. Sci. Inform. 44 189–215. 10.1177/0539018405050466 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• National Council of Teachers of English (2002). Guidelines for Gender-Fair Use of Language. Available at: www.ncte.org/positions/statements/genderfairuseoflang [ Google Scholar ]
• Ng S. H. (1990). Androcentric coding of man and his in memory by language users. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 26 455–464. 10.1016/0022-1031(90)90069-x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Oakhill J., Garnham A., Reynolds D. (2005). Immediate activation of stereotypical gender information. Mem. Cognit. 33 972–983. 10.3758/bf03193206 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Parks J. B., Roberton M. A. (1998). Contemporary arguments against nonsexist language: Blaubergs (1980) revisited. Sex Roles 39 445–461. 10.1023/A:1018827227128 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Parks J. B., Roberton M. A. (2004). Attitudes toward women mediate the gender effect on attitudes toward sexist language. Psychol. Women Q. 28 233–239. 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00140.x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Paterson L. L. (2014). British Pronoun Use, Prescription, and Processing: Linguistic and Social Influences Affecting ‘They’ and ‘He’. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pauwels A. (2003). “ Linguistic sexism and feminist linguistic activism ,” in The Handbook of Language and Gender , eds Meyerhoff M., Holmes J. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; ), 550–570. [ Google Scholar ]
• Preinsberger A., Weisskircher E. (1997). “ Mathematikschulbücher – eine aktuelle Untersuchung [Mathematics books – a recent examination] ,” in Schule Weiblich – Schule Männlich. Zum Geschlechterverhältnis im Bildungswesen [Female School – Male School. On Gender Relations in the Educational System] , eds Lassnigg L., Paseka A. (Innsbruck: Studien Verlag; ), 132–143. [ Google Scholar ]
• Prentice D. A. (1994). Do language reforms change our way of thinking? J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 13 3–19. 10.1177/0261927X94131001 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Prewitt-Freilino J. L., Caswell T. A., Laakso E. K. (2012). The gendering of language: a comparison of gender equality in countries with gendered, natural gender, and genderless languages. Sex Roles 66 268–281. 10.1007/s11199-011-0083-5 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pusch L. F. (1984). Das Deutsche als Männersprache. Aufsätze und Glossen zur Feministischen Linguistik [German as a Male language]. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ridgeway C. L., Correll S. J. (2004). Unpacking the gender system: a theoretical perspective on gender beliefs and social relations. Gend. Soc. 18 510–531. 10.1177/0891243204265269 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rothmund J., Christmann U. (2002). Auf der Suche nach einem geschlechtergerechten Sprachgebrauch. Führt die Ersetzung des generischen Maskulinums zu einer Beeinträchtigung von Textqualitäten? [In search of gender-fair language. Does replacement of masculine generics impair text quality?]. Muttersprache 112 115–135. [ Google Scholar ]
• Sabatini A. (1987). Il Sessismo Nella Lingua Italiana, Commissione Nazionale per la Realizzazione Della Parità tra Uomo e Donna, Roma. Available at: http://www.funzionepubblica.gov.it/media/962032/il%20sessismo%20nella%20lingua%20italiana.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Sadker M., Sadker D., Klein S. (1991). The issue of gender in elementary and secondary eduation. Rev. Res. Educ. 17 269–334. 10.2307/1167334 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sarrasin O., Gabriel U., Gygax P. (2012). Sexism and attitudes toward gender-neutral language. The case of English, French, and German. Swiss J. Psychol. 71 113–124. 10.1024/1421-0185/a000078 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schein V. E. (2001). A global look at psychological barriers to women’s progress in management. J. Soc. Issues 57 675–688. 10.1111/0022-4537.00235 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei (1996). Geschlechtergerechte Sprache. Leitfaden zum Geschlechtergerechten Formulieren im Deutschen. [Gender-Fair Language. Guideline for Gender-Fair Formulation in German]. Available at: http://www.bk.admin.ch/dokumentation/sprachen/04915/05313/index.html (revised in 2009). [ Google Scholar ]
• Sczesny S., Moser F., Wood W. (2015). Beyond sexist beliefs: how do people decide to use gender-inclusive language? Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 41 943–954. 10.1177/0146167215585727 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Silveira J. (1980). Generic masculine words and thinking. Womens Stud. Int. Q. 3 165–178. 10.1016/s0148-0685(80)92113-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stahlberg D., Braun F., Irmen L., Sczesny S. (2007). “ Representation of the sexes in language ,” in Social Communication. A Volume in the Series Frontiers of Social Psychology , ed. Fiedler K. (New York, NY: Psychology Press; ), 163–187. [ Google Scholar ]
• Stahlberg D., Sczesny S. (2001). Effekte des generischen Maskulinums und alternativer Sprachformen auf den gedanklichen Einbezug von Frauen [The impact of masculine generics on the cognitive inclusion of women]. Psychol. Rundsch. 52 131–140. 10.1026//0033-3042.52.3.131 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stahlberg D., Sczesny S., Braun F. (2001). Name your favorite musician: effects of masculine generics and of their alternatives in German. J. Lang. Soc. Psychol. 20 464–469. 10.1177/0261927x01020004004 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Stout J. G., Dasgupta N. (2011). When he doesn’t mean you: gender-exclusive language as ostracism. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 3 757–769. 10.1177/0146167211406434 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sunderland J. (2011). Language, Gender and Children’s Fiction. London: Continuum. [ Google Scholar ]
• Swim J. K., Aikin K. J., Hall W. S., Hunter B. A. (1995). Sexism and racism: old-fashioned and modern prejudices. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 68 199–214. 10.1037/0022-3514.68.2.199 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Swim J. K., Mallet R., Stangor C. (2004). Understanding subtle sexism: detection and use of sexist language. Sex Roles 51 117–128. 10.1023/B:SERS.0000037757.731.06 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (2011). Die Zwölf Sprachregeln [Twelve Language Rules]. Available at: http://www.equal.ethz.ch/rules [ Google Scholar ]
• Twenge J. M., Campbell W. K., Gentile B. (2012). Male and female pronoun use in US books reflects women’s status, 1900–2008. Sex Roles 67 488–493. 10.1007/s11199-012-0194-7 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• UNESCO (1999). Guidelines for Gender-Neutral Language. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001149/114950mo.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• UNESCO (2011). Priority Gender Equality Guidelines. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/BSP/GENDER/GE%20Guidelines%20December%202_FINAL.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Valdrová J., Knotková-Capková B., Pacliková P. (2010). Kultura Genderove Vyvazeneho Vyjadrovani. Available at: http://data.idnes.cz/soubory/studium/A100125_BAR_GENDER_PRIRUCKA.PDF [ Google Scholar ]
• Vervecken D., Gygax P. M., Gabriel U., Guillod M., Hannover B. (2015). Warm-hearted businessmen, competitive housewives? Effects of gender-fair language on adolescents’ perceptions of occupations. Front. Psychol. 6 : 1437 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01437 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vervecken D., Hannover B. (2012). Ambassadors of gender equality? How use of pair forms versus masculines as generics impacts perception of the speaker. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 42 754–762. 10.1002/ejsp.1893 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vervecken D., Hannover B. (2015). Yes I can! Effects of gender fair job descriptions on children’s perceptions of job status, job difficulty, and vocational self-efficacy. Soc. Psychol. 46 76–92. 10.1027/1864-9335/a000229 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vervecken D., Hannover B., Wolter I. (2013). Changing (s)expectations: how gender-fair job descriptions impact children’s perceptions and interest regarding traditionally male occupations. J. Vocat. Behav. 82 208–220. 10.1016/j.jvb.2013.01.008 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wasserman B. D., Weseley A. J. (2009). Qué? Quoi? Do languages with grammatical gender promote sexist attitudes? Sex Roles 61 634–643. 10.1007/s11199-009-9696-3 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wood W., Rünger D. (2016). Psychology of habit. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 67 11 1–11.26. 10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033417 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zajonc R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 9 1–27. 10.1037/h0025848 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Welcome to the United Nations

Breaking gender barriers through education

Get monthly e-newsletter.

Roseline Adewuyi  is a fervent advocate for gender equality in Nigeria, driven by a passion for dismantling entrenched gender stereotypes. She spoke to Africa Renewal’s  Kingsley Ighobor on the need to empower girls through education. This is in line with the African Union’s theme for 2024: Educating and skilling Africa for the 21 st   Century.

Roseline Adewuyi believes that fighting gender inequality requires raising awareness and empowering young women and girls through education.

“My goal is to help break those barriers that limit our potential,” she told  African Renewal  in an interview. “I am talking about issues related to land rights, access to education, economic empowerment, leadership, and trust me, gender discrimination.”

Gender discrimination, she explains, is heightened during times of severe economic constraints such as now, when the tendency is often to invest in boys over girls. “That’s when parents often choose to send their sons to school or provide them start-up funding for business ventures, while daughters are expected to focus on house chores and wait for marriage. It’s absolutely absurd.” she insists. 

Roseline has her work cut out for her. “We are constantly finding ways to help women and girls break free from these constraints.” 

She founded the Ending Gender Stereotypes in Schools (ENGENDERS) project, which is dedicated to unlearning gender stereotypes in educational institutions.

“We reach the students, boys and girls in high schools and universities, and we do community engagement, speaking to parents and other influential community inhabitants,” she explains.

Already, she claims to have reached tens of communities and over 6,000 young girls through seminars and webinars, while her  blog , featuring over 300 articles on gender equity, has garnered a wide audience.

Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in French Literature with a focus on women, gender, and sexuality studies at Purdue University in Indiana, US, Roseline now aims to merge academic rigour with passionate advocacy.

“It’s an interesting intersection,” she says, adding that “The body of knowledge that we pass on to future generations is full of gender stereotypes. Our books need to be gender conscious.

“In most African literature, characters often depict women or girls as housemaids and men as pilots or engineers. It reinforces stereotypes; we need to root it out,” she stresses.

Roseline's journey into gender advocacy began in her childhood, fueled by a belief in the transformative power of education. She recognized the systemic challenges faced by African women and girls, including limited access to education and entrenched cultural biases.

“When I served as a prefect in secondary school, the belief among boys and even some girls was that I did not merit the position, that leadership was reserved for the boys. That experience sparked my curiosity as to why girls weren’t perceived as equally competent as boys.”

In 2019, she worked as a translator and interpreter for the African Union (AU), having been selected as one of 120 young people from various African countries to participate in the AU Youth Volunteer Corps. 

Her exposure to continental leaders' efforts to address gender-related challenges reinforced her conviction that gender equality is essential for achieving sustainable peace and security.

“At the AU, I also realized the connection between gender and peace and security. When there is a crisis, it is women who suffer the most. Therefore, women must be at the centre of efforts to achieve peace in our societies,” she adds.

Her international exposure includes being a participant in the Young African Leaders Initiative in 2016 (YALI – Regional Leadership Center West Africa), as well as being a Dalai Lama fellow in 2018. She says these experiences exposed her to gender best practices and strengthened her resolve to advocate for change in her home country.

Although some advances have been made in gender equality in Nigeria, Roseline highlights that the remaining hurdles include challenges in female land ownership, financial inclusion, and access to education.

“For example, we have laws [in Nigeria] that provide for women’s rights to land, but many communities still prevent them from owning a piece of land. We also have situations in which widows are not allowed to inherit the properties of their husbands. 

She says: “So, we have a lot more work to do. We need effective community engagement in raising awareness among women about their rights.

“Importantly, we need to provide women with access to education to equip them with the knowledge and skills to assert their rights effectively.”

In her ongoing advocacy work, she acknowledges facing cyberbullying, which she attributes to resistance from elements of a patriarchal society reluctant to embrace progress.

Roseline's final message to young African women and girls is for them to drive positive change, stand up for their rights, and challenge gender norms.

Also in this issue

We must do more to prevent genocide

Football saved me from genocide; now I promote peace with it

30 years on, South Africa still dismantling racism and apartheid’s legacy

Kwibuka30: Learning from the past, safeguarding the future against genocide

Streamlining Egypt’s food value chain through technology

Lessons post the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda: we must speak out against discrimination and prejudice

Creating credible carbon market in Africa

REMEMBER.UNITE.RENEW.

Claver Irakoze: Bridging Generations Through the Memory of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

We must confront the legacy of slavery, tackle systemic racism

More from africa renewal.

Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Empowering change: Safeguarding women in Sierra Leone

Intra-African trade provides an opportunity for inclusive economic growth

Racheal’s resolve: Championing disability rights in Uganda