Transient Gender Bias

Jacob Lequire

Why are there more men than women in this class? This is a question I find myself

asking quite often when my mind wanders away in class. Is it because women as a whole dont

prefer the class in question, is it forced by the university, or is another reason entirely, the

culprit? I believe that gender bias is to blame. In a legal sense, gender bias is defined as unequal

treatment in [employment] and expectations based on gender, but Im using a more general

argument throughout my argument, which is that gender bias is any inequity or disparity based

on gender in academia or in the workplace. As a disclaimer, when I say gender, I am referring

to men and women, as this context deals with the inequity between men and women. Gender

bias isnt only happening in universities or educational institutions, but also in the workforce.

With all this information, Id stake my claim by saying I believe the perpetuation of gender bias

in the workforce stems from existing gender bias in fields of study or majors at universities

and/or educational institutions.

First, lets start by looking at the first half of my argument: gender bias in fields of

study/majors at universities/educational institutions. This section consists of any disparity in

grades, preference, and attendance between men and women in certain fields. One example of

gender bias at universities was found here, at UNC Charlotte. My team and I conducted a survey

in which we asked over fifty college students if the saw gender bias in their classes, to which two

thirds of the group said they did observe gender bias. Most of the people however, said that even

though they believed they experienced or saw a form of gender bias, that they couldnt really

explain how, they just knew it when they saw it. This point refers to my definition of gender

bias, how it can range from anything to professor preference to gender exclusion in a major, but
were here to explore why these biases occur. I say biases because contrary to widespread

belief, gender bias does go both ways. For example, more and more women are joining the

nursing field as less men do so, according to a study comparing male and female nursing

students. This study also showed that patients preferred female nurses to male nurses, siting the

men as too masculine and less caring than the women. Preference isnt the only instance of

gender bias between men and women in nursing, as, according to a student at UNC Charlotte, the

nursing program is dominated by women. It appears men get the short end of the stick in

nursing. Another program where men arent as prevalent as women is in the educational field.

Few men enter the field every year, and when they do, they are put at a disadvantage because

women are perceived as more caring and nurturing, while men are viewed as rougher and more

violent, and therefore less or not fit to lead children. Although gender bias toward men does

exist, gender bias in mens favor is more common, especially in the STEM (science, technology,

engineering, and mathematics) fields. Less and less women are joining STEM-related majors

every year, and a lot of the ones that do drop out. I know in my program, which is mainly data

science and mathematical finance, there is only one girl out of the twelve of us. Now that weve

seen examples of gender bias in universities, we need to look at possible explanations. One

possible cause of these disparities in majors is what is called gender socialization. Gender

socialization is essentially men staying around men and women staying around women, over

time. This builds on and helps create gender stereotypes and roles, such as women need to take

care of people while men need to bring in the money, ergo putting them in the nursing and

education, and higher-paying STEM fields, respectively. Gender socialization could also lead to

people preferring to be in a field of study composed of mainly their own gender, leading to a

greater disparity. Another possible cause of these disparities could simply be interest.
Historically, it shows that men are more interested in the STEM fields rather than other fields,

since more men apply to and are in those programs/majors. The same could be said for women

in regard to education and nursing. A more radical reason for the gender disparities in fields of

study could be that professors give each respective gender a higher grade in the respective field,

but there is very little evidence to support that. I myself believe that one of the biggest causes of

the gender disparity seen at universities in majors and fields of study is what is called second-

generation bias, which is essentially a culmination of all the previous causes I mentioned in a

subliminal manner of our mind, so much so that people dont realize they are committing a

gender bias. Perhaps the second-generation bias explains why people in our survey answered

that they believe they see gender bias on campus, but couldnt say how or where.

The latter part of my claim talked about gender bias in the workplace, which is more

inequity than disparity. The main point to cite here is the wage gap, the idea that women earn 79

cents to every dollar a man earns at the same profession, generally. Of course, there are

professions where there is the opposite or where there is no gap, but the gap I mentioned before

is heinous enough to skew the argument of gender bias in mens favor. Gender roles are another

example of the inequity between men and women, where women are forced to take care of

kids while men get to go to work. Both of these can be easily explained by the gender bias in

universities. The change in pay can be attributed to the disparity in job fields, while gender roles

stem from gender socialization.

Overall, its clear to see that gender inequity in the workforce can be explained by gender

disparity in universities. While this is troubling to see, there are workable solutions such as

hiring programs and programs like Title IX that can try and bridge the gap between men and

women.
 Works Cited

Aranda, M., Del Rosario Castillo-Mayn, M., & Montes-Berges, B. (2015). Has The Traditional
Social Perception On Nurses Changed? Attribution Of Stereotypes And Gender Roles.
Accin Psicolgica, 12(1), 119-130. doi:10.5944/ap.12.1.14353
Eddy, Sarah L., and Sara E. Brownell. "Beneath the numbers: A review of gender disparities in
undergraduate education across science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines."
Physical Review Physics Education Research 12.2 (2016): n. pag. Web.
Fondas, Nanette. "First Step to Fixing Gender Bias in Business School: Admit the Problem." The
Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.
Moss-Racusin, C. A., & Johnson, E. R. (2016). Backlash against male elementary educators.
Journal Of Applied Social Psychology, 46(7), 379-393. doi:10.1111/jasp.12366