Geographical Representation of Gender - Essay Example

Running head: GENDER REPRESENTATION Geographical Representation of Gender Despite great strides so far taken by women to enroll and pursue technological education, a bigger majority of this group is still absent from this field. Indeed the majority of women perceive technology and other disciplines of like inclinations as the male province. The feminist geographical analysis is applicable by the educators to try and understand the differences between the males and female choice of studies, to help address this lack of wholesome participation by the females. The question of contemporary debate concerning the feminist geography explores diversity in differences that makeup the feminist geography. In this connection, it unravels some of the geography’s main concepts namely; place, space, landscape and environment. Some of the key areas of future debates are also explored. This article reveals the under-representation of the women in the social and the technical subjects through the higher education in Britain, possible impediments and discouragement in the face of the feminist geography. Some of the outstanding impediments laid out include the masculine occupational nature of the courses, the nature of the very scientific inquiry and the general lack of the women role models and the networks. In a study to explore the various experiences of the students in the gender minority causes and some of the mixed economy college institutions, there were parallels identified between the males and female minority students in their learning process2. In vehicle engineering programs for instance, the students showed a satisfactory participation and well performance during the normal classwork. However, there were reported difficulties in the workshops where practical learning was required. Further probing into the possible causes of these variations in which case the female learners did not quite fair well during the workshops, the gender issues did not explicitly feature2. However, there was a concern for the intimidatory behavior and some of the gender stereotypes was seen as the factors contributing to the compromised female participation. In fact, the same gender tutors were at some points not seen as really important, even by the learners themselves. This brings in the whole question of gendering the space and place, and the role of the very place and space in the making of gender. This case of the work place, featuring the women at work and how the perceptions of the gender play a role, which transcends down to the making of the female identity2. As indeed evident in the report, the female student is able to fair very well in the normal classroom work in these technical courses. The only problems emerge due to the masculine nature of the physical aspects of the course, the nature and perceptions of the course, which is largely understood as a male domain and finally lack or fewer female role models in the field. Notably, the female tutors were not seen as really important, even by the learners. This also shows a case of inherent stereotypes that the society had internalized and accepted to live with. Nevertheless, the research work reveals that women acceptance and participation in the labor force has remarkably risen, but still the standard is not that, which would be approved by the demographic characteristics of the different world populace. Such disabling practices like occupational segregation, discrimination on the basis of gender and the pay inequities to carry the day. Concerning the environment and how it contributes towards the making of gender, the research publication cites the New York City Board of education that had been operating separate and unequal vocational education system2. In the operationalization of this system, the girls were offered an inferior training as compared to that given to their male counterparts. Some texts have, however, opted not to expose the disparities, but downplay these issues about gender and differences, choosing to tackle the gender and race and also the issues of gender and poverty at different times and places4. As indicated in Nelson, et al. this is exhibited by the similar cases, in which the American middle class families where gender issues and disparities were evident and practiced in the areas of work5. The men are concentrated and as such accepted to be the ones manning the garages and such masculine jobs. The areas of life that seemed left for the women were the kitchen duties and some other general household chores. However, with the diversity so ascertained as concerns the feminist geography, not much can be ascertained with the abilities and disabilities of different genders5. What tends to be the center of influence into this state of things is the stereotyping and the historical influences which have been carried on to the present times. In another cited case, and about the movement aspect of the feminist geography, the transition of the female immigrants from the former Soviet Union and how they got involved in the Israeli labour market and how they got to take part in the training programs sponsored by the government3. The Cox proportional hazard model, it is ascertained that the higher education at such moments and circumstances result into shorter durations of the knowledge acquisition, with the immigrants who were older in arrival managing having more time in the trainings. These tendencies have massive bearings on the on the ability of these female learners to gather the work-specific knowledge and experience. Also, during such trainings, the immigrants are considered not having the requisite knowledge and skills for any work3. This in turn contributes to limiting of the labor hours these female immigrants were able to provide in the Israeli labor market. The initiatives to increase the girl child participation and especially in the rural areas are urgent. Removal of the gender bias in technical and vocational training practices from educational planning is also necessary especially in the ways that only emphasize masculinity and is attributes1. Closely related is the challenge of availing the employment opportunities to the girls and must be overcome in all manners acceptable. The bottom line is the change of the human mind set about the possibilities of the females delivering in similar proportions as the men. It is also imperative that specific strategies b adopted in trying to keep in view; the geographical, cultural and the ecological diversity as some of the major problems related to the ignorance and poverty. In bid to address these challenge, non-respective and decentralized planning of the education. The opportunities for the education should be geographically decentralized to enhance the reach in each and every location, including the rural population which experiences a myriad of challenges in trying to keep up with the rest of the population in urban centers1. In fact, there are proposals that the entry requirements for these technical and vocational trainings should be lowered for the rural girl child. The gender-sensitive planning gender exclusive vocational and educational guidance and counseling services and the gender inclusive curriculum need be enhanced to take care of the female gender in the education and employment opportunities. Creation of gender supportive structures for the working women and periodic upgrading of the curriculum and the instructional materials would also help in rectifying this educational and career imbalance. As earlier indicated, some of this imbalances spring from the traditions of different cultures. Issues inherent in the tradition such as; the opportunities, experiences in life, the resource accessibility and the historical, political power imbalance between the men and women. According to Mead, “Men and women are socialized differently. They have different expectations about appropriate behavior and social roles, and as such hold different standards of behavior”4. I would say that this aspect is widely ignored by some of the publications in the reading list. This inclination has, however, influenced the female participation and the degree of involvement in certain work profession and the political leadership, always leaving the women to second fiddle. For these reasons, the girls get affected by such traditions of the day during their education, and this goes on to affect them even in terms of career choice and the salary acceptance in the workforce. In order to boost the women involvement in economic activities, this publication cites a very interesting case in Burkina Faso. Having realized the different social orientations and values held by women and in contrast to those held by the men, the government sought to operate a boutique which was also run on information technology platform6. In the real sense, it used the information technology to deliver the agricultural and the marketing information to the rural farmers, which focuses majorly on the information needs of the women. The main idea behind this move was the provision of the services driven by demand. This system does not only provide the information to the women but also help in disseminating the information they produce to other prospective users. The research indicates that theses boutiques provide one of the most successful and still growing women involvements in technology. With to the research findings, it is ascertained that the internet and technology gender divide is much more pronounced in the rural areas where, surprisingly, the women constitute more than 60% of the population6. What is also easily discernible in this case is that there are initiatives which were put in place by the government to take the technology to the people, especially the women to help in revamping their economic power in a field that is not really considered technical. It is a milestone anyway and has achieved a myriad of success stories in line with women empowerment. In addition, there must be some other initiatives to encourage the women to venture, in large numbers, in the very technical fields as the engineering and political leadership and power. This would help discard such long held notions of these fields being the preserve for the male constituency. References 1Department of International Development. Gender module: a practical guide for development Policy makers and practitioners. 2Domosh, Mona, Seager & Joni, Putting Women in place: feminist geographers make sense of the World, 2001. 3Feminist geographies: explorations in diversity and difference - Women and Geography Study Group of the IBG, 1997. 4Mead, National Gender Policy and Practice, Brooklyn, 2001 5Nelson, Lise, Seager & Joni, A companion to feminist geography, 2005 6USAID Higa Ubeho. A gender training of trainers’ module, Program handbook. Royal Tropical Institute, 2007 Read More