This exposes an inbuilt gender bias, which is an obsolete vestige of a bygone era. The premise for this blame ensues from a deep-seated lack of faith in the abilities and potential of the women, and tends to be more of a conjecture than a belief based on any objective analysis. Before coming to any valid conclusion, it is vital to research and study the role women are playing in the present UK economy. What is their share in the prominent professional sectors that are acting as a vital force behind the British economy? Once the participation of women in the wealth generation is understood, it will become easy to digest the reality that the weaker sex has finally arrived.
Going by the available research and data, the number of females pursuing higher studies in the UK has exceptionally increased, while in the case of males, the fall has been significant. Perpetuating their success at school, which has outstripped boys at GCSE and A level, women are going for higher studies in an ever-increasing number. Considering the last decade’s data, more than seventy percent share of increase in the full-time undergraduates has been women. In the academic year 2002-3, 56% of first degree graduates and 58% of first-year graduates were women. According to the statistics compiled by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), in the academic year 2002-3, the proportional increase in women accepted for higher education was double that of men. Hence it would be safe to conclude that in the last decade, female participation in higher education in the UK has considerably increased. However, this trend tends to be a little skewed. Women have been underrepresented in engineering and technology, and more than proportionally represented in arts, humanities and natural sciences. This is indicative of the gender bias engrained in our education system. If we assume that education is the most important step on the way to riches, it won’t be difficult to say that which sex will be more affluent in the times to come.
A casual perusal of the research paper by McManus and Sprotson, ‘Women in hospital medicine in the United Kingdom’, written in 1999, will reveal startling facts. The proportion of women medical students remained between 20-25% until 1968, since when it increased steadily, exceeding 50% in 1991. In 2002 the number of women accepted in UK medical and dental schools was 4,797, compared with 3,088 men. In 2002, 60.8 % of those accepted into UK medical and dental schools were women. The proportion of women compared with men has been rising steadily from 54% in 1996, to 57% in2000, and 58% in 2001. Thus women have clearly outnumbered men in the medicine-related professions.
IT industry is the steam engine, which is powering the present quest for higher economic growth. However, women tend to be grossly underrepresented in the IT sector at all levels. Only 17% of students pursuing computer science degrees are women and the majority of them are from overseas. However, the recent government and private studies have concluded that it is almost impossible to sustain the present levels of growth in the IT sector, without encouraging the active participation of women. According to Meg Munn, DTI Deputy Minister for Women and Equality, “It is vital for the UK’s productivity and competitiveness that the IT industry harnesses all of its skilled labour force potential’. There seems to exist certain old boys clubs in some segments of the industry, who resist the reorganisation of the system to suit women. The UK IT industry is leading the world; however, this won’t stay so, considering the step-motherly treatment being given to highly skilled female professionals.
Women have carved out a secure niche for themselves in the realm of business and entrepreneurship. Now in the UK, women-owned businesses contribute about £70 billion to Gross Value Added; this equates to 25% of the UK total, produced largely from within the ever-expanding service sector. Nearly a million women are now self-employed and this number has increased by around 10% over the last four years. There are now more women millionaires aged between 18 and 44 than men, according to figures from the Inland Revenue. According to some estimates, women currently own 48% of the nation’s personal wealth, but this is predicted to rise to 60% by 2025. Although men still earn more on an average than women, this pattern is soon going to change.
Considering the economic parameters listed in the above argument, it can be authentically stated that women have the potential to generate wealth, and death and divorce are not their sole opportunities for getting rich. At the most, this is but a shallow excuse to justify male chauvinism. There will continue to exist men who are paranoid of women and believe that the emancipation of women may lead to sterility, brain damage, higher crime rates and what not!
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