In spite of the many advances women have made in education and employment, yjey continue to be at a disadvantage when it comes to pay and promotion. in your view, what shoule be done to promote equality for men and women in the workplace?

In many parts of the world, there is now greater equality between working men and women.

Nevertheless

, women still tend to earn less and enjoy fewer promotions than men. Some would argue that

this

situation will correct itself over time.

However

, in my view, there is much that can be done to address the problem constructively. One possible approach would be for governments to force employers to promote the same numbers of men and women and to pay them the same salaries.

This

would certainly tackle the problem quickly.

However

, measures like

this

would probably be seen as excessive and difficult to enforce. A more feasible approach would be for governments themselves to take the lead in ensuring that their male and female employees earn the same for equivalent work and that women are promoted fairly.

This

would help to establish gender equality as a norm and set a good example for companies in the private sector. Countries,

such

as Sweden and Iceland, which have done

this

are often regarded by others as socially-advanced models. To

further

encourage quality, companies could be required to publish figures on the rank and average earnings of men and women in their workforce. Evidence of large inequalities would create a bad impression. In order to avoid bad publicity, companies might consider it worthwhile to pay fairer wages and promote more women to management positions. It is true that the problem of gender inequality in the workplace will probably not be solved quickly.

However

,

that is

not a reason to avoid taking action. Governments can encourage change by showing the way forward and taking advantage of the need for companies to present themselves as fair and reasonable.