IELTS essay - Most high level jobs are done by men. Should the government encourage a certain percentage of these jobs to be reserved for women?

Since the beginning of twentieth century, women have fought for equal rights and opportunities in society. As a result, in many countries these days, women make up 50% of the workforce. However it is still a fact that high positions such as CEO jobs are still dominated by men. Although this is not desirable, I do not personally believe that imposing quotas is the solution.

 

Firstly, I believe that companies have a right to choose the best person for the job, whatever their gender, in order to contribute to the success of their business. Forcing companies to hire, promote and appoint women could negatively affect businesses in the short term and even in the long term. Reserving a few seats for women may also result in negative discrimination against deserving men.

Furthermore, I believe that this problem should be solved outside the workplace. Girls need to be encouraged to take more male-dominated subjects at school and later at university, and to aspire to do well in their careers. Girls and boys also need to be taught equality from an early age. This education can take place in schools, career programmes and in homes.

Finally, it has been seen that artificially imposing rules has not always had the desired effect. In places where governments required males and females to receive the same pay for the same job, employers simply changed job titles to ensure that women were still paid less than men. It is my belief that employers will simply find loopholes to get around any such law.

To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that, forcing companies to allocate jobs to women is not the best way to address this imbalance. Rather it is a question of education and of changing mindsets so that those who deserve to be at the top, will earn it and be appropriately appointed.