Short report on Gender Equality in the Netherlands

COLWRIT 9C: Academic Writing for Multilingual Students

Elodie Dinkelberg
Number of words: 667
Elodie- Very good start on this report. Youve got the tone and use of data/ sources just right; your tone
is objective, but doesnt leave out some evaluation of the facts you present. Ive marked some details
to attend to, some word choice and word form issues (see the key at the bottom of your paper). Look
for similar issues throughout your paper, since some of these errors persist in other parts of the paper
(periods instead of commas in your numbers, for example.) Also be sure to include topic headings for
each section, following the example in the reader.
The equality of men and woman is a global issue, and the Netherlands is not an exception. On the
surface, it might seem like woman in the Netherlands are very emancipated, even when compared to
other European countries. In 2009, the Netherlands came in at fourth place on the Gender
Empowerment Measure (GEM), following Denmark, Finland and Sweden. A high GEM score means
that a country has considerable equality between men and women with regards to finance and politics
(CBS, 2009). However, as the following figures will tell you, there is still much room for
improvement. To this goal, the Dutch government actively tries to improve the educational and
occupational standing of women. Three topics highlighted here are womens access to education,
economic independence, and women in top functions.
Like in most Western countries, women and men in the Netherlands have equal access to education.
Not only that, but girls outperform boys in school. Girls get held back less often, and achieve a higher
level of education than boys do (Belfie, Levels & van der Velden, 2015). There are more woman in
higher education, with 87.000 woman going to University compared to 76.000 men in 2010 (Stoffelen,
2010). However, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS, 2015) boys do still seem to
outperform girls in math, and woman are less likely to pursue a path in STEM fields. Although the
numbers of women in STEM majors have been rising, the Netherlands falls behind in comparison to
other European countries.
The head start that woman make during their educational years is not noticeable when you look at the
financial independence of woman in the Netherlands. As stated on the website of the Dutch
government (Rijksoverheid, 2016), about half of Dutch woman are not financially independent. The
website states that these woman earn approximately 70% of the minimum wage. Aside from their pay,
the lack of financial independence is related to the under-employment of women. In May of 2015,
60,5% of women had a job, compared to 70% of men. Within the group of woman that work, many of
them work part time, further impacting their economic independence. In the first quarter of 2015, 16%
of woman worked less than 12 hours a week, as opposed to 9% of men. And in 2014, merely a quarter
of working woman worked fulltime, compared to three quarters for men (CBS, 2015). However, the
number of employed women does show a growing trend, slowly closing the gap between participation
in the workforce of men and woman (Gijzel, 2016).
Of course, the number of employed women does not tell all when it comes to equality. The number of
women in top positions is also relevant to this issue. In the Netherlands, woman are underrepresented
in top functions in politics and business. In 2013, the Dutch government set a goal to have at least 30%
of top functions occupied by women by 2020. Within the government, this has been a success. As of
last year, 31% of top officials in the Dutch government were female. This is a sharp contrast to the
business world, which still has a long way to go before reaching this goal. Right now, only 1 in 10
woman fill a top position within business. However, the government might take action if this remains
to be the case for much longer. Specifically, if there is not at least a 1-to-5 woman-to-man ratio by
2020 in all quoted companies, the 30%- recommendation could become a legal requirement (Giebels,
2016).

As shown by these statistics, there is some but limited equality of men and woman with regard to
financial independence and employment in top functions in the Netherlands. Within education, woman
and men have equal access, but woman are underrepresented in certain fields of study within higher
education. The government actively tries to strive towards equality, and we are improving, albeit
slowly. And so, the Netherlands still has a long way to go before it can claim to be gender equal.
References
Belfi, B., Levels, M., van der Velden, R. (2015). De jongens tegen de meisjes [Government report].
Retrieved from https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2015/11/18/de-jongenstegen-de-meisjes
CBS. (2009). Nederlandse vrouwen behoren tot meest gemancipeerde van Europa [Article].
Retrieved from https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2009/27/nederlandse-vrouwen-behoren-totmeest-geemancipeerde-van-europa
CBS. (2015). Meisjes soepeler door het onderwijs, meer jongens economisch zelfstandig [Article].
Retrieved from https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2015/22/meisjes-soepeler-door-het-onderwijsmeer-jongens-economisch-zelfstandig
CBS. (2015). Meer werkende vrouwen op de arbeidsmarkt [Article]. Retrieved from
https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2015/25/meer-werkende-vrouwen-op-de-arbeidsmarkt
Giebels, R. (2016). Rijksoverheid haalt streefcijfer vrouwen in topfuncties [Article]. Retrieved from
http://www.volkskrant.nl/politiek/rijksoverheid-haalt-streefcijfer-vrouwen-intopfuncties~a4302524/
Gijzel, T. (2016). Zo staan de Nederlandse vrouwen er op de arbeidsmarkt voor [Article]. Retrieved
from https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2016/03/07/hoe-goed-scoort-nederland-op-internationalevrouwendag-a1493570
Rijksoverheid. (2016). Vrouwen aan het werk [Article]. Retrieved from
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/vrouwenemancipatie/inhoud/arbeidsparticipatievan-vrouwen
Stoffelen, A. (2010). Veel meer vrouwen dan mannen in hoger onderwijs [Article]. Retrieved from
http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/veel-meer-vrouwen-dan-mannen-in-hogeronderwijs~a1002146/

Error analysis key with examples

.. = article error
.. = verb error/ wrong tense, problem forming the verb, or subject-verb error
.. = word form error
.. = word choice error- inaccurate word choice or collocations error
.. = noun ending/ singular or plural error

.. = sentence structure- punctuation, confusing grammar, or word order

problem
.. = word missing
.. = pronoun reference unclear

Examples below

.. = article error
It is a most interesting book I have read. Steve Jobs is the leader of the Apple.

.. = verb error/ wrong tense, problem forming the verb, or subject-verb error
We didnt completed the job yesterday. Disposing of electronics properly becomes a major
issue.

.. = word form error

Her father is the most success software engineer in the firm.

.. = word choice error- inaccurate word choice or collocations error

The team is putting emphasis to their defense. Hybrid vehicles need more workers for
production.

.. = noun ending/ singular or plural error

We have enough homeworks to last a week. The wastes have to be dealt with properly.

.. = sentence structure- punctuation, confusing grammar, or word order problem

I like apples they are delicious. The manager bought yesterday a new computer.

.. = word missing
They are interested going with us to the concert.

.. = pronoun reference unclear

We enjoyed the book and the movie, but it was more violent.