Gender Equity

What does the term Gender Equity mean?

Does it mean improving societal actions that cause the unfair discrimination between Men and Women?

Is this meaning based on an inequality in the treatment of Men and Women.

Does it refer to an inequality of treatment between Men and Women, based only on gender?

Are people of one gender treated differently from the other?

If the term refers to a "fairness" sense of equality between the treatment of people regardless of gender, then we need to understand what is meant by "equality".

Equality can mean two things:

1. Equality of outcome; and

2. Equality of opportunity.

Equality of outcome means that we make one gender achieve the same outcome that another gender achieves.

If an organisation has an unequal number of men and women on their board of directors, then we simply sack some men and replace them with women, for the sole purpose of having an equal number of each gender on the board. Merit is not considered. Only gender is considered.

If you have an unequal number of certain gender of employees, you simply hire people until you get an equal number of genders in your employ.

If most men are awarded something, you simply award more women to achieve equity between genders, regardless of merit.

All this is Equity by Outcome.

If you ensure your organisation offers the same opportunity to men as to women, then you are practising Equity by Opportunity.

There is clearly a massive difference between outcome and opportunity.

Outcome aims only at the end result and not the means to get there.

Opportunity aims at providing as much chance of acheivement by men as women.

Example: you offer the opportunity to compete in the 100 metre sprint to men and women.

The opportunity is equally given to men and women. But the outcome will not be equal.

So it seems that Gender Equity refers to giving one gender a handicap advantage above another gender. Gender Equity refers to Equality of Outcome.

Gender Equality refers to a belief that both genders are the same and given the same opportunities will achieve the same outcomes.

In some areas, both Genders will achieve the same outcomes if given the same opportunities.

But not in all areas.

This is because men and women are actually different; they are unequal in some areas.