Society has made progress in getting women into the workforce, according to Pew Research. Some findings show the effort may have stalled.

 

 

WORD FORMATION: Change the word in CAPITALS to fill in the blanks.

 

(…) research shows the workplace is a leading arena marking progress on the path to gender 1. ……… [EQUAL] in the U.S. Women now make up nearly half the workforce, 2. ………… [DRAMATIC] up from the post-World War II era. But women are still a minority 3. ………. [PRESENT] in higher paying career fields, and when it comes to business leadership, men still dominate. (…)

Pew’s statistics roundup starts off with the good news: Compared to making up just 30 percent of the workforce in 1950, women now make up 47 percent of the civilian labor force. That’s definite progress (…), but Pew’s data show that 4. ……… [GROW] has stagnated in recent decades. The data are a little better when you look at the college-educated workforce, (…) it sounds like 5. ………. [PAR]is close to being achieved there. (…)

But before anyone pops champagne to celebrate progress toward gender equality, Pew also notes that just 35 percent of workers in the country’s highest-paying 6. …………s [OCCUPY] are women. The data do show a rise from the era of yuppies and power suits with padded shoulders: 1980’s figure was just 13 percent. But the figures imply the glass ceiling is still firmly in place for jobs like physicians, pilots, 7. …… [LAW] and other jobs that earn more than $100,000 a year. More concerning still is that data show there’s been no meaningful progress on closing the gender pay gap since the new millennium. Pew notes 8. ……….. [ANALYSE] of hourly and full-time worker pay shows that in 2002 women earned 80 cents to the dollar compared to men, and in 2022 that figure rose…to just 82 cents per dollar. (…) When it comes to the pay gap, more than six in ten women say 9. ……….. [EMPLOY] are to blame for treating women 10. ………… [DIFFER].

 

In order to read the whole article/check your answers, go to: https://www.inc.com/kit-eaton/survey-data-show-more-women-in-workforce-though-things-are-far-from-equal.html?ref=biztoc.com

 

Key: 1. equality; 2. dramatically; 3. presence; 4. growth; 5. parity; 6. occupations; 7. lawyers; 8. analysis; 9. employers; 10. differently

 

Glossary

 

• to stall – (of a process) to stop but it may continue at a later time
• to lag behind – to move more slowly than someone or something else so that you are behind them

 

Practice makes perfect

Watch the first 5 minutes of the video and decide if the sentences below are true or false:

 

1. The speaker ran for Congress a few years ago.

2. The speaker received the endorsement of the Wall Street Journal.

3. The speaker raised money from Indian uncles for her campaign.

4. The speaker made it in the congressional race in 2012.

5. The speaker spent 1.3 million dollars on her campaign.

6. Boys are taught to avoid risk and failure.

7. Bright girls are more likely to give up on difficult challenges compared to bright boys.

8. Men are more likely to apply for a job if they meet all the qualifications.

 

Key: 1. T; 2.F; 3.F; 4.F; 5.T; 6.F; 7.T; 8.F

 

Discuss:

• What are women best at?
• Are women equal to men?
• Are women cleverer than men?
• Do you agree that girls should be taught to be brave (not perfect)?
• Who’s the greatest woman you know?

 

 

 

Explore more to create your own teaching-learning experience!

 

The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women

 

Read:

https://www.forbes.com/power-women/list/

 

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