All the women I know accept the idea that education is vital, and in fact consider it fundamental to our growth. An education is freedom; a vehicle that can help us reach our fullest potential in life. This concept isn't new. As parents, we've been pitching the idea of education to our kids as the answer since they were in diapers.
However, though education is sought and schools are attended in great numbers by all girls who get the chance, are they landing the top jobs? Are girls and women equally represented in power positions based on percentage of population? Nope. So what are girls going to do with all this hard-won knowledge and education if our society doesn't allow them access to the highest-level careers, power board seats and corporate positions?
Oh, I know -- we do have many notable women in power positions. We have a female Secretary of State, a woman Speaker of the House, and an extremely notable woman just made a run for the Democratic Presidential nominee. However, the actual numbers of women in top-level positions is still far below par with men.
This apparent mixed message may be contributing to the fact that with all the possibilities seemingly on our plates and with all our legitimate potential, women still venture into the same fields that we have always historically dominated; 59 percent of all women workers are still concentrated in sales, clerical, and service positions. Either the majority of us don't realize there are other career options, or we don't believe we can vie for them.
Though we're loathe to admit it, the socialization of girls and women is still pretty much based on outdated schemas and norms. We're raised to assume, from an early age, usually by about 6 to 8 years old, that there are gender-specific roles we should play; a hierarchy of power; a norm or generalized set of behaviors and cultural rituals that we should perform. We've been bucking these boundaries for centuries, yet as a group, we continue to pursue the tried and true.
Though there is no single answer to resolve this conundrum, perhaps education is still the key. Studies show that girls make up 57 percent of all college students in the United States. Perhaps the sea change will come when these young women cross society's unwritten boundaries and choose careers that fall outside of the norm.
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