A gloomy future for Greek women
A study by the World Economic Forum made public earlier this week revealed that Greek women have the poorest job prospects in the European Union, ranking 50th out of 58 countries for gender equality (somewhere between Venezuela and Brazil). These findings may appear excessive to those accustomed to the image of Greek woman as educated, economically independent, and unafraid of taking their lives in their own hands. However, this image does not account for the multiple roles of women, the dramatic changes they experience through their lives, and the stereotypes which affect them. And indeed, statistics show quite a different picture. A total of 60 percent of women in Greece do not work, while those who do receive about two-thirds of their male counterparts’ salary. Very few women make it into management (currently, only 4.9 percent hold top posts) with 77.7 percent holding «low specialization» posts, which entail little job security. Furthermore, Greek women account for only 10.3 percent of MPs and 11.6 percent of government officials. The truth is that Greek girls start off without great inequalities; it is later that things go off track – when they leave college and come up against the patriarchal structures, cultural constraints and biological realities…
