T his year is set to be the first in which there are more women than men in the university-educated workforce in America. Finally, equality has arrived in at least one country! Well, not exactly.

Statistics released by Pew Research Global revealed that 29.5 million working American women aged 25 and older have at minimum a bachelor’s degree, compared to 29.3 million American men.

But even accurate statistics can be misleading. They portray data unilaterally, and for issues such as gender parity, a holistic solution is the only way to address the problem.

Significant inequalities are still in place in America and the rest of the world. The gender pay gap still exists, men still dominate certain professions and women still report being treated unfairly because of their gender. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), sectors such as finance, technology, media and entertainment are still dominated by men, with only 30 per cent female workers, while only 9 per cent have female CEOs.

Women of colour are subject to further barriers at work; they experience microaggressions, double standards and unconscious bias. They’re also the most likely to experience workplace harassment, and these factors can contribute to them making up just 4 per cent of senior positions.

Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin People hold up posters reading among others "We have the right to be heard" as they take part in a Women's March on January 19, 2019 in Berlin. - The Women's March movement that has started in the US and has become global supports women's rights, fights for an end to the gender pay gap and aims to bring awareness to violence against women and demand action to end it. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images ODD ANDERSEN AFP/Getty Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures New York A girl takes part in a march organized by the Women's March Alliance in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs CAITLIN OCHS Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Washington Thousands of people participate in the Third Annual Women's March at Freedom Plaza in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts JOSHUA ROBERTS Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures New York Demonstrators emphasizing gun violence take part in a march organized by the Women's March Alliance in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs CAITLIN OCHS Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London epa07300308 Protesters with a placard 'End Period Poverty' take part in 2019 Women's March in Central London, Britain, 19 January 2019. Thousands of protesters called for greater protection and rights for women and end of austerity in Britain. EPA/WILL OLIVER WILL OLIVER EPA Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Washington Thousands of people participate in the Third Annual Women's March at Freedom Plaza in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts JOSHUA ROBERTS REUTERS Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures New York Demonstrators take part in a march organized by the Women's March Alliance in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs CAITLIN OCHS Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin A woman holds up a poster as she takes part in a Women's March in front of the Brandenburg Gate on January 19, 2019 in Berlin. - The Women's March movement that has started in the US and has become global supports women's rights, fights for an end to the gender pay gap and aims to bring awareness to violence against women and demand action to end it. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images ODD ANDERSEN AFP/Getty Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Washington Baby Trump balloons float over thousands of people as they participate in the Third Annual Women's March at Freedom Plaza in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts JOSHUA ROBERTS Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures New York Protesters hold signs during the Women's Unity Rally at Foley Square on January 19, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP)ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images ANGELA WEISS AFP/Getty Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Washington Thousands of people participate in the Third Annual Women's March at Freedom Plaza in Washington, U.S. January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott ERIN SCOTT REUTERS Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Washington Resist signs are held aloft as thousands of people participate in the Third Annual Women's March at Freedom Plaza in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts JOSHUA ROBERTS Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin BERLIN, GERMANY - JANUARY 19: People attend the Women's March 2019 protest for more women's rights on January 19, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. Organized by Democrats Abroad, the event coincides with Women's Marches taking place today across the USA. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images) Carsten Koall Getty Images Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Protesters take part in the Women's March calling for equality, justice and an end to austerity in London, Britain January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson SIMON DAWSON Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin BERLIN, GERMANY - JANUARY 19: People attend the Women's March 2019 protest for more women's rights on January 19, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. Organized by Democrats Abroad, the event coincides with Women's Marches taking place today across the USA. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images) Carsten Koall Getty Images Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin epa07299365 A woman holds a sign reading 'Rise up and resist' during the 2019 Wome's March in Berlin, Germany, 19 January 2019. The march is to support women's rights, against racism and violence against women. EPA/MARKUS HEINE MARKUS HEINE EPA Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin epa07299373 A woman holds a sign reading 'I'm not ovary acting' during the 2019 Wome's March in Berlin, Germany, 19 January 2019. The march is to support women's rights, against racism and violence against women. EPA/MARKUS HEINE MARKUS HEINE EPA Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Protesters take part in the Women's March calling for equality, justice and an end to austerity in London, Britain January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson SIMON DAWSON Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London REFILE - ADDING RESTRICTIONS Protesters hold up signs in the Women's March calling for equality, justice and an end to austerity in London, Britain January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson TEMPLATE OUT SIMON DAWSON Reuters Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin BERLIN, GERMANY - JANUARY 19: People attend the Women's March 2019 protest for more women's rights on January 19, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. Organized by Democrats Abroad, the event coincides with Women's Marches taking place today across the USA. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images) Carsten Koall Getty Images Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures Berlin epa07299383 A man holds a sign with the reading 'here for my sisters' during the 2019 Women's March in Berlin, Germany, 19 January 2019. The march is to support women's rights, against racism and violence against women. EPA/MARKUS HEINE MARKUS HEINE EPA Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent Women's march 2019 – global protest in pictures London Women's march for “bread and roses” – rally against austerity in London Angela Christofilou Angela Christofilou/The Independent

In a speech at Leeds University last year, MP Harriet Harman, 68, noted that when she ran for office in 1982, there were only 19 women MPs out of 650. “So the ‘quota’, if you like, was around 3 per cent,” she said. We’ve come a long way since then, but less than a third of today's MPs are female. Even these numbers are skewed, however, as Labour is 45 per cent women while the Tories are only 21 per cent.

The fact is that women are still underrepresented in key industries. It was only in January of this year that female MPs were granted maternity leave. When she was in parliament, Harman felt she had to hide her pregnancies, her unborn child an unwelcome interloper in the House of Commons.

Though many companies and government bodies have made great inroads when it comes to maternity and paternity leave, women still report being treated unfairly at work.

So it's important to delve beyond simple statistics to uncover the reality of gender parity. After all, politicians and advertising agencies constantly use misleading statistics to curry public favour. Dropping in a percentage or two may make them sound trustworthy, but numbers never tell the full story.

The women featured in this article have shared their experiences in the workplace to help paint a picture beyond the data.

Lily Sharp, 21, works at a media/entertainment firm as an assistant producer. She says though her firm is now “51 per cent women”, the firm was mostly men when she began, and all those in senior positions were men. “When I first started interning, I felt like being young and being female made people take me less seriously,” she says. “The clothes I wore and how I presented myself on certain days changed how people acted around me and often treated me better the more ‘dolled up’ I was, which felt gross.”

Sharp is not alone. A WEF survey revealed that 44 per cent of women say unconscious bias among managers was a significant barrier to gender parity in the workplace. Other barriers include societal pressures and lack of role models.

Helen James, 40, is a corporate finance partner at HW Fisher – she tells me about the importance of female role models at work. She believes that employing women in more senior positions will help close the gender pay gap, and that employers have a responsibility to ensure promotion pathways are open, especially for younger women. “I personally always try to champion more junior women within HW Fisher and aim to instigate changes that will have a positive influence on diversity at the top.”

People like James are important for women in the financial industry, which remains one of the worst for equal pay. Last March, it was revealed that investment bank Goldman Sachs International had a gender pay gap of 50.6 per cent. However, in the UK, it is now a legal requirement for companies with 250 or more employees to disclose how they pay men and women. When this first came into law last year, it was revealed that from 10,000 large firms, nearly eight out of 10 paid men more than women.

Alexandra, 30, a publisher at a media agency, recalls finding out that a man was being paid more for the same work. “When I left my last job, a male assistant took over who was much younger than me and less qualified, and he ended up being paid more than my final going-out salary at his entry-level salary because he pushed for it.” A poll in April by CV-Library found that two out of three men would be comfortable asking their employer for higher pay, compared with just two in five women. Men were also statistically more likely to receive that pay rise than women.

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So is the increase in American women in the university-educated workforce contributing to a narrowing gender pay gap? In response to the data, a spokesperson for the Pew Research Centre said that substantial progress has been made in the past 40 years. “Relative to their male counterparts, female workers have upgraded their educational credentials and labour market experience and that has likely been an important contributor to narrowing the gender wage gap,” they said. “Assuming that employers continue to value college-educated workers, women’s growing advantage in educational attainment will likely contribute to further narrowing of the overall pay gap.”