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feminism: not just for women anymore

In every country women are more likely to be depressed than men. Surprisingly, in countries with high levels of gender equity, there’s a greater difference between men’s and women’s depression levels than in countries with low levels of gender equity.

This finding has prompted some to argue that gender equality is actually bad for women’s mental health, perhaps because of the increased stress levels and time pressures associated with balancing both traditional male and female roles.

However, Rosemary L. Hopcroft and Dana Burr Bradley (Social Forces, June 2007) find that when you take a closer look at the data, the interpretation changes.

Overall, depression levels are actually lower in gender equal societies for both men and women. However, the difference between men’s and women’s depression levels is greater, not because women are more depressed, but because men are far less depressed than their counterparts in gender unequal societies.

In other words, gender equality seems to be good for everyone, especially men. C.S.

eastwood, m.s.w.

More Ph.D. students are women and they receive more doctoral degrees than ever, but they’re on career tracks segregated from their male counterparts, according to Paula England and colleagues (Sociology of Education, January 2007).

The study analyzed gender compositions and salary effects and found that between 1971 and 2002, the trend toward gender segregation in Ph.D. programs changed very little.

Male-dominated fields, like electrical engineering and physics, continue to be mostly male; likewise with more feminized fields like nursing and education. As a field becomes more feminized (which the authors define as more than 25 percent of the field being female), men are deterred from entering and earning doctorates. Ironically, as a field becomes more feminized, women become more discouraged about entering it as well.

The authors say their findings “contradict the idea that money is the whole story.” They speculate that the stigma for men in being in “too-female” fields is the major reason why they avoid them. Apparently, creating a “macho” image for an academic field is the key for success in gender desegregation.

If only Clint Eastwood had played a social worker. C.S.