Brooke Leone

GCU
The Societal Role of Men and Women in Costa Rica
When thinking of the societal roles of men vs. women in the Country of
Costa Rica, the very first thing that comes to my mind is their former
president Laura Chinchilla. Holding office from 2010- 2014, Laura was the
countries first female president. But the fact of the matter is that SHE was
the president. The country was under the lead of a female, and thats
something that we cant even say about the United States. In the US, women
are eligible to run for president, and have in the past, but no female has ever
won a presidential race here in the US. In Costa Rica today, women are in
leadership roles, making decisions. (Evans) Further than just political roles,
women are becoming ministers and heads of government agencies. This is
something you may not see in every country, and this is something you may
not have seen in Costa Rica 50 years ago. But in todays society, women are
respected enough but the general population to hold roles that previously
only men held.
After doing more research I found that women have not always had
these opportunities to have these types of jobs. Previously the gender roles
were similar to those of other countries in Latin America. The women stayed
home and was domestic. She cooked, cleaned, took care of the children, had
no opportunity to get an education. The men made all the money, and had
all the leadership positions both in the workplace and at home. But as of
recently, the roles of women have begun to change. Giving women the
opportunity to get a higher education and hold work positions that previously
were exclusive to men has started to modernize the country.
The good news is that the insertion of women into the workplace is
transforming their roles and responsibilities at a very fast rate. (Costa Rica
Women) The Costa Rican society has been more accepting of the idea that
women can take on the responsibilities of jobs held previously by men only.
For example, Banco Nacional (BN) has begun hiring women as tellers, a role

that only a decade back was the exclusive role of men. (Evans)This shows
that these changes and newfound respect for women is something that has
just begun within the last ten years. Not only have women been given the
opportunity to work, but it is becoming a common theme for companies,
such as BN, to hold workshops and programs that teach women how to
succeed in business and in their careers.
Thing are changing quickly for the women of Costa Rica. The rate of
womens employment grew 26% between 2000 and 2012. (Liepold) A study
done in 2012 shows again how rapidly the change for women is happening.
The study found that Costa Rican women earn 90% of what their male
counterparts earn. And women hold 39% of the seats in national legislature.
(Liepold ) When comparing these statistics to those of the United States, I
found that the US legislature is made up of 24% women. Something we as a
country should maybe think about. The website Peace X Peace calls Costa
Rica a good place to be a woman.
No country will ever be perfect, and I think it would be impossible to
live in a world free of any discrimination whether it be race, religion, or sex.
But after reading more about how quickly women are coming up in todays
society, it gives me hope that we are on the right track.

Works Cited
"Costa Rica Women." Costa Rica Guides. N.p., 2011. Web. 06 Oct. 2015.
Evans, Marcel. "Shift in Traditional Roles of Women in Costa Rica - Costa Rica
Star
News." Costa Rica Star News. N.p., 26 Dec. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2015.
Liepold, Mary. "Costa Rica: A Good Place to Be a Woman Peace X Peace."
Peace X Peace. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2015.