Woman’s Human Capital

Human capital is defined in the area of research on how one is able to attain educational opportunities in order to increase their value in society. It is based on the notion that humans are individuals that make rational choice on how much education they obtain to increase their labor status position and their salaries. There are constraints in obtaining these values. The constraints are based on gender, ethnicity, race, age, urban/rural and government polices on health, education and access to work opportunities. In this essay, I will focus on how women obtain this human capital in order to increase their value in society, the consequences of increasing their status, the constraints they face with and on how the government can help to reduce the obstacles.

The ideology for women is that their place in society is to take care of the household, serve their husbands and childbearing and taking care of their children. Husbands were to be the breadwinner of the household and women were to be dependent on their husbands for monetary means. Therefore education was not seen as an important factor in women’s life. In India, sons were given first preference in educational attainment than daughters. They were seen as being more valuable than girls.

As societies progresses, attitudes have changed, women are now able to access more educational opportunities hence it is has brought forth the increase of women in the labor force. It can be argued that education is only one of the main factors that increased women’s role in the labor force. Due to industrialization, it was important for woman to participate in the labor force as it increased the income of their household. It also increased their bargaining power in the household as there have been studies that the younger and more educated women do less housework but that does not mean that men have been doing more housework. Across the board, household duties is still a woman’s job.

There are more equal opportunities of women in obtaining education. However, there was once a time where there were obstacles placed that made it difficult for women to obtain equal education with their male peers. They were segregated from different activities from their male peers. For example, they were not able to take part in the sports and share the same equipment with their male peers. Teachers gave more preference to boys than girls. Women were encouraged to do soft subjects like home economics and literature. Eventually the US government issued the Title IX to give women equal opportunities in education attainment with their male peers.

It has shown that education for woman has brought an increase in economic growth. It has increased the empowerment of women and thus led to the increase of women’s contribution to the political arena. It has shown that women are more likely to vote if their education levels were higher.

Even though there are equal opportunities in education attainment for women, they still tend to take up more business, arts and humanities subjects. Hard subjects like Engineering is still mainly a male dominated subject even though there has been an increase in women taking up the subject. Governments should persuade more women to take subjects like engineering so that they can contribute more to the labor force. Women’s value would also increase and be on par with their male counterparts. Women’s income will be increased as salaries for jobs like engineering are higher than jobs like teaching. Subsequently it will be a way to close the income gap.

Equal opportunities in education for women maybe more prevalent in developed countries, however the minority in developing and also in developed countries may be discriminated by their race and ethnicity and gender in education attainment.

Parents attitudes towards girls in education attainment are also important in increasing the human capital of their daughters. In some countries, like India, boys are given more opportunities to be educated than girls because they are viewed as being more valuable. Girls are married off earlier. As a result they will always be trapped in poverty as their education level will be low and if they go into the labour force, they will only be able to access low paying jobs. Together with their dependence on their husband, they will forever be in poverty.

Therefore parents must give their children, whether boys or girls, equal opportunities in education as to increase their status and hence providing to economic growth. Boys are also seen as those to bring in the dowry into their families on marriage. In poor countries, girls are seen as more useful at home than boys. Therefore, more boys are sent away to be educated. Girls are used in work in the fields like paddy fields. They do not have the time to go to schools.

Governments must persuade these parents to change their mindset by giving them incentives like monetary compensation and to show the benefits of educating their daughters. For example, if their daughters become educated, they can provide their families with a higher income. Hence pulling them out of poverty.

Governments can play it’s part in providing transportation to those who can’t attend school because they are staying far from the schools or build schools around where they stay if it is feasibility. Subsidies or free education can be provided to those that are unable to pay for an education. Accessibility one of the problem why some children do not attend school. This problem is more prominent in agriculture countries where most children are working in the fields. These countries also suffer from high rates of poverty.

Attitudes, tradition and culture must also be changed as some societies view education for women a threat to men’s superiority. There are views that if a girl is overly educated then it will be difficult for them to find a husband. Men prefer marrying a women with a lower status than him so that he can still be in control.

However, these ideas are changing as society advances. Governments must set up policies to debunk these fear of men marry some one of a higher status and vise versa. It is easier said than done. Men in Singapore are more likely to marry a women with their same status or lower. Minister of Mentor Lee Kuan Yew once said in order to produce intelligent babies, graduate women should marry graduate men. It created an up roar among the women in Singapore. Only with education and joining groups like Aware can women fight for such absurd suggestions.

With more education, women are able to obtain high paying jobs however their income level is still lower than their male counterparts. One reason is that the idea of women not staying as long as their male counterpart in the labor force still prevails. They are seen as those to stop working earlier in order to tend to household and child bearing duties. Another reason is that men in the work force tend to protect their job by preventing women to be promoted.

Therefore there are not many females in high decision making positions which is male dominated. The government should encourage officers to place more women in high decision making positions. When women are able to contribute in decision making, they can provide a better working environment for their fellow female work mates. More ideas can also flow in instead of ideas being male driven. The status of women also increases. Governments should also increase the incomes of the female labor force. This is to reduce the wage gap between men and women. This will encourage more women to work. More flexible benefits are needed to help cope women with their work and household duties without losing out the race with their male counterparts for career advancement. For example, if women find it difficult with looking after their children and working, provisions could be made for them to work at home. It could be on a case to case basis . Mobility for women to find jobs also increases. They will have more independence and also be more financial independent to go to other countries to work.

Upon obtaining higher human capital and education, women now plan their careers instead of finding jobs. They are willing to be entrepreneurs. They are more willing to be self – employed. The rate of women running their own business has increased to 35% of all businesses run in US. They are now more empowered and independent. They have also surpassed their male counterparts in terms of education attainment. Where once women were entering in tradition business sectors like retail and service sectors, they are now venturing into non traditional businesses like construction, technology, transportation, public utilities, business consulting and other types of services. Self – employment is another way to change careers for some women who feel discriminated against their male counterparts.

There are some women with low education who migrate to countries like Singapore, Indonesia, HongKong, Japan, US and Australia to work as maids. They also contribute to the economy of the country they work in. Policies are needed to protect these women. They should be given educational opportunities to upgrade themselves. Their salaries should also be increased so that their value as maids can be increased. With more purchasing power, they can contribute to the countries economy. These will also increase their status as women. Government should also protect these women from exploitation. With all said, sadly there are not many policies to protect these women as their work is seen as domestic work. Domestic work is regarded as unpaid work. For example, women are not able to join unions in some countries therefore they are more exposed to exploitation by their employers. The governments running the countries from where they come should provide educational opportunities for them also. With higher education, these maids can fight for their rights that will prevent them from being exploited. Unfortunately, educational and job opportunities are not readily able for them therefore they need to migrate in order to look for jobs.

As women increase their status, education level and become financial independent. They are able to have more say in decision making in household duties. Household duties are shared more equally. They would be not subordinated by their husbands. However, men still do not increase their share in the household duties. Women still view men as the breadwinner.

In the health arena, educated women would gain information about illnesses and would know how to seek proper treatment. They can also fight for their rights if they are being mistreated. There is a tendency for doctors to treat women’s illness as less serious than men. Doctors tend to attribute women’s illness to mental illnesses. Doctor’s may mistreat women by inserting pressure among them to go for unnecessary caesarean operations in order to give birth. They claim that since they are professionals in the medical field, they have the right of say of women’s health. In some countries women are placed in jail due to drinking when they are pregnant. They are accused for endangering their unborn child’s life. Surprisingly, the unborn child is regarded as a separate entity and the mother is just a temporary host. These are the several injustices against women. Educated women with the right information will be able to fight for these injustices. It is very important for governments to provide these information to women. However, some of these injustices are brought upon by the governments themselves so sometimes there is very little women can do. They do have other avenues like joining lobby groups to fight these injustices. Women will also be able to make decisions to become pregnant or not. With the availability of information on various methods of contraception, they can have more control over their bodies especially their reproductive system. The pill was one of the greatest invention for women in the 60’s.

Education has also increased the rate of female doctors in the medical field. However, some obstacles that they face were quotas place on them. These quotas have since been abolished after fighting for their rights. Singapore is one country that once placed quotas on female doctors. There has also been an increase of women joining the nursing profession. Governments have created schemes to promote the nursing professions. For example providing courses for women to attend professional qualifications as nurses. In Singapore, there are diploma courses for nursing and SIM have recently introduced a degree course for nursing. All these courses would increase women value and participation in the health field. They would not be so easily subordinated by doctors whom claim that they have a higher authority over nurses.
Higher education would also encourage women to vote. It was reported President Bill Clinton victory was the result of more women voting for him. Women tend to vote for Democrats. Democrats take women issues more seriously than the Republicans. Women with higher education would be able to take up political offices. However, more men are in political jobs than women. There are more male ministers then women ministers. In Singapore, all the cabinet ministers are men. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong mentioned that if there was a woman who had the qualifications and caliber to be a cabinet minister, he would appoint her. At the current, no action has been carried put to recruit a women minister into the cabinet. Is it all talk but no action? It is left to be seen.
Even if women take up political posts, they are given posts that look after family affairs.
Governments must not stop encouraging women to joint the political arena. They can appoint them higher post. For example, Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State for the United States of America.

Increasing women’s education is very important and it is something governments must take seriously. Women are also human. They can also provide to economic growth. They are also beneficial to political groups because educated women will vote. They will vote for whoever they think will address women issues seriously. With higher education, women have better job opportunities in fields like business, technology, construction, transportation, medical, and political. They will able to venture in the fields dominated by men. However, they may still feel discriminated as men like to protect their status from women. Sadly it is sometimes that families with traditional cultures and attitudes that prevent women from being educated. This can impede women from increasing their status and from being more financial stable. As a result they may forever be dependent on their husbands of monetary means, dealing them with the faith of forever being in poverty. More can be done to increase women status and value in society. I hope governments would not stop from encouraging women to upgrade themselves. As the saying goes, unless you are six feet underground, you can never stop learning.