You see few female mechanics in shipbuilding. In elderly care, male caregivers are in a strong minority. This is strange, especially when you consider that many girls are just as suited to shipbuilding as boys and that boys can take care of old people just as well as girls.
Men’s or women’s work?
It is often said that there are typically male professions and typical female professions. You can often hear that in the name. Kindergarten teacher or truck driver. Yet nowadays you also see men in kindergarten and women on trucks. Many professions that used to be performed only by men or only by women are now done by both men and women. There is no real distinction anymore
Why do they usually choose something else?
That has to do with the past. About fifty years ago, hardly any women worked outside the home, except in nursing and care. Men earned a living, women did the housework. We still find such a traditional division of tasks in the way children are raised. There are few parents who give little boys dolls as toys or girls cars. Through their toys, boys become interested in technology at a very early age and girls in more caring tasks. That interest affects later (professional) choices. There is not much against that in itself. If only boys and girls who want something completely different would be given a fair chance. And that is sometimes the case.
Division of work
What is the problem in the division of work between men and women? Nowadays we think it is normal that women want a paid job and therefore want to earn their own money. Yet there are more men than women in paid work. And most men also have better paid work than women.
Unpaid work, such as housework and volunteer work, is most often done by women. Many people, and not just women, do not think it is fair that women have less chance of well-paid work than men. But despite a lot of good will, not much has changed.
Equal treatment
In 1994, the Equal Treatment Act came into effect. This law prohibits employers from treating women differently (worse) than men just because they are women. This law is a step in the right direction. But this does not mean that the disadvantage of women and girls has immediately been completely closed.
Equal opportunities?
On paper and according to the law, men and women have equal opportunities. But in practice it is often different. Women who have a family and want to continue working outside the home often have to make all kinds of arrangements. This is because very often their husbands do not want to do some of the housework or look after the children. That is why women are more likely to work part-time than men, but this reduces their chances of promotion. Men who want to work part-time face the same problem. The employer often does not like it when the man wants to work part-time. Quite a few problems arise when a husband and wife both want to work. For example, think of the children who need to be looked after. This is often only partially possible and it costs a lot of money.
How to distribute more fairly?
Sometimes you see the following text in job advertisements, if equal suitability, preference is given to a woman.
You could interpret this as discrimination against men. But usually the intention of such a text is to ensure that more women get a job. We call this positive action. And this is often necessary because there are quite a few negative prejudices in society about the suitability of women and men.
In practice, there appear to be plenty of technically gifted women around. Nevertheless, prejudices continue to play a role and as a result women do not get a fair chance.
There are also prejudices about men, who are said to be less suitable for caring for and raising children than women. So it is very important to get rid of our prejudices. This can only be done by assuming that all work can be done equally well by a man or a woman. After all, it’s about the quality of the work and not who did it.