Many who think of gender equality think of Women’s Suffrage and perhaps yesteryear’s fight for equal pay. One little known fact is that gender equality in the workplace is still an issue, with women earning, in some cases just over half of what White males earn.
As we highlight diverse stories for Women’s History Month, it’s important to discuss with your students why we have the need for a Women’s History month at all. It is also important to highlight not only the strides women have made, but also the gains still needed, particularly economic and career gains.
While I am not a fan of cultural and heritage months, they offer an immense opportunity to open discourse with your students on cultural and gender norms. There is history and then there is African American History, Women’s History, Native American History, Asian American History, all as seeming adjuncts to just plain old, regular history, which continues to be largely dominated by figures who are male and of British and Middle European descent (White).
This month–and during every cultural month–be sure to discuss the need for such months and why multiperspectivity is not the norm and why everyone’s stories are not woven into one great big beautiful tapestry called history.
For classroom resources and lessons on the world’s global goals for gender equality, visit the World’s Largest Lesson.
For Census Bureau stats and facts on women in STEM, click here.
To read the good news on home ownership by women from Urban Wire, click here.
Get a gender wage gap overview from the Center for American Progress here.