Workplace

Workplace equality has long served as one of feminism’s primary goals. The National Woman Suffrage Association, founded in 1869 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, included equal pay for equal work as one of their tenets.

Today, women still receive only 77 cents for every dollar a man receives for the same work. An ongoing study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that at this rate, women will not achieve pay equity until almost 2056.

Adrienne Shih, from Taipei American School, believes that conditions for women in the workplace are improving.

“Traditional Taiwanese culture often puts women in charge of the household, but I think that this stereotype is starting to become an antiquated notion. More and more women are starting to work,” she said. “There’s a startling statistic that the birth rate in Taiwan has dropped significantly throughout the past decade simply because women are starting to work, leaving little time to start a family.”

In light of Taiwan’s first female candidate running for presidency, Adrienne harbors a “positive outlook for the future.”

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Jan. 27, 2014.