The Status of Women in Contemporary American Society

Education

Today, women enjoy the same educational opportunities as men. There is no longer any social expectation that only men will pursue higher education after high school and in many colleges and universities there is approximately an equal ratio of female to male students. In some respects, old stereotypes about the respective gender-based specific aptitudes may still persist, but they no longer dictate social expectations or educational opportunities.

Employment

Today, the vocational environment is completely integrated at all levels. Women graduating from colleges and universities generally pursue identical career tracks to men in similar fields and legislative protection exists at both the state and federal level to prohibit employment discrimination in the workplace. Likewise, whereas women in earlier eras of American society faced...

Women may still face challenges and benign discrimination that make it harder for them to rise to levels of professional leadership, but virtually every conceivable field now includes females in positions of power and leadership.
Financial Independence

Because women in contemporary American society have greater access to higher education and to professional career tracks, they are no longer financially dependent on men. Today, women routinely pursue undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees through which they develop the same kinds of professional careers as their male counterparts. Therefore, even though women still earn somewhat less than men in some industries, they generally compete on an equal level with men and have comparable earning potential and financial independence as a result.