Introduction to Essay Series 7

Essay Series 7 focuses on education and labor issues because women and men suffer without good educations and jobs. They also experience family life stressors when a work-life balance isn’t possible.

The first essay about education shows that girls now outperform boys on some measures. However, girls and women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) studies. These types of jobs offer high salaries.

The second essay describes women’s unpaid labor at home and non-promotable labor at work. Society expects that women do most of these types of labor. If they don’t, they can suffer backlash. However, men who refuse to do unrewarded labor generally don’t suffer.

The remaining essays document the history of unequal pay for women and how recent their workplace gains truly are. This history also shows society's pattern of relying on women's labor in wartime, then forcing them back into domestic roles when the wars end. The final essay discusses the obstacles that women and men still face at work.