Gender gap-what is it? Ric arbogast Com 305 8/6/07 Gender gap-what is it? The first thing that needs to be established is what is gender?Haspels et al (2000) says: `The sex children are born with influences their chances in life, alongside other important variables such as socio-economic class or caste, race or ethnicity. The biological differences of being born as a boy or a girl become important only later in life when children reach puberty. However, from the moment of their birth, all societies assign different roles, attributes and opportunities to boys and girls. They are socialized to perform the roles of men and women in their society, based on the ideas in that society how men and women should or should not behave. These social meanings given to biological sex differences are covered by the term gender. So, Sex refers to the biological differences between men and women that are universal and do not change. For example, only women can give birth. Gender is an important variable and classifier in society. It is affected by other variables such as age, class or caste, race or ethnicity, and by the geographical, economical and political environment.(P.)` `In most societies there are differences and inequalities between girls and boys, and women and men in the opportunities, responsibilities, rights and benefits they are given and the activities they do. While there are variations across cultures and over time, there is one common feature: Gender relations throughout the world are characterized by unequal and unbalanced relations between the sexes. Disparities exist, for example, between girls' and boys' access to education and training, between women's and men's access to and control over resources and benefits, and in the roles of men and women in decision-making. Drawing of weighting scale Gender equality means that people of all ages should have equal chances to succeed in life. It does not mean that boys and girls, women and men should become the...