WOMEN'S JOURNEY TO GENDER EQUALITY IN THE LABOUR MARKET
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47743/asas-2025-1-806Keywords:
gender equality, women’s participation in the labour market, inequality of opportunity, gender wage gap, the digital ageAbstract
Drawing from human capital theory and cultural lag theory, this article examines how the role of women in the labour market has been influenced from the earliest societies to the contemporary status quo. Using a thematic literature review, we present the long journey of women toward equality and dignity, beginning before the Neolithic Revolution and continuing through the Digital Age, incorporating current statistical data from Eurostat regarding the gender gap in employment and wages. Our findings reveal that despite significant advancements, structural inequalities persist, particularly among parents, highlighting the slower evolution of societal norms compared to the techno-economic transformations. Although differences between individuals are natural, including between women and men, the labour market tends to penalize working women, as the data show. Automation and Artificial Intelligence are anticipated to reshape the labour market, and create new opportunities for women, but ingrained gender disparities remain, reinforcing the tendency to revert to previous norms even after temporary shifts, such as those observed during the Covid-19 pandemic, regarding domestic responsibility sharing.
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