Opinion: As teachers and nurses strike, society's gender bias persists

The neglect of these crucial public sectors is a symptom of gender norms that assign less worth to work traditionally associated with women.

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In recent weeks, teachers and health care workers have taken to the streets, rightfully demanding better wages and working conditions. The strikes are not merely about negotiations; they are a clarion call for acknowledging the undervaluation of professions predominantly held by women.

Women stand at the forefront of our hospitals and classrooms, dedicating their lives to the well-being and education of our communities. Women make up 91 per cent of regulated nurses in Canada, tallying 75 per cent of paid care workers overall. In the education sector, women represent 76 per cent of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools. We entrust them with the development of our children and the overall health and stability of our society.

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Yet, despite their indispensable roles, care workers and teachers remain underfunded and often underappreciated. The neglect of these crucial public sectors is a symptom of a larger issue — the persistent gender norms that assign less worth to work traditionally associated with women.

Research consistently underscores that female-dominated professions tend to be viewed as less intellectually vigorous. One large-scale study out of Princeton University shows that fields with higher percentages of women, like education, are viewed as drawing fewer talented people. Some of my own doctoral work at Concordia University highlights how male-dominated fields are instead commonly esteemed as requiring intellectual prowess. Such stereotyped beliefs perpetuate gender disparities across disciplines and can easily be argued to influence policy decisions and resource allocation — ultimately contributing to the chronic underfunding of sectors like education and health care.

To be clear, women are not more drawn to fields that are undervalued or underpaid; instead it is as women make up a field that it becomes devalued. Public perceptions are beliefs that have been shaped by societal norms over history. Take computer science, for example, a field pioneered by women. In the early 1940s and ’50s, programming was advertised as a woman’s job. Accordingly, status and salaries were low. As men began to overtake the field, its marketed prestige rose and so did programmers’ wages. The opposite is true for teaching and nursing. It might come as a surprise that historically, most teachers were men. As women started entering the field in large numbers, funding was cut, and the profession devalued.

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Basically, pay and value drop as women dominate a profession, regardless of qualification or skill. The still strikingly large pay gap between fields of work dominated by men versus women is a hallmark reflection of this reality.

Women have long been expected to carry the caring load, without fair recognition or compensation. They are still taken for granted to shoulder the lion’s share of housework and child rearing. And this cultural expectation generalizes to the workforce, wrongfully justifying the lack of proper remuneration.

As we’ve all witnessed over the pandemic, care labour is incredibly taxing. Our care workers were rightly hailed as heroes, yet their tireless dedication still stands in stark contrast to the inadequate recognition and compensation they receive. Classrooms and hospital rooms are overcrowded, and resources are stretched thin, while demands continue to escalate.

We can’t keep taking advantage of women in caring roles without fair recognition – that’s exploitation, whether we like to admit it or not. The deplorable conditions under which they are expected to work not only perpetuate injustice but also represent a great disservice to the entire community.

Premier François Legault recently called out the strikes for harming our children. When in fact, the insufficient support teachers and health care workers are receiving is what’s actually jeopardizing our children — and the entire foundation of education and caregiving in Quebec for that matter. It is imperative for society to reassess its priorities. Policies and funding decisions must be re-evaluated to reflect the true worth of these professions.

As teachers and health care workers bravely confront the status quo, we must collectively work toward a future where the undervaluation of these female-dominated sectors becomes a relic of the past. The well-being of our society depends on it.

Maxine Iannuccilli is a PhD candidate and public scholar at Concordia University.

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