In the United States — on paper — women appear to be equal to men in most respects.

We have the right to vote, we’re supposed to be able to work without discrimination, we can own property, and we have seemingly equal access to education.

Undoubtedly, within the last century or so, this country has made great strides toward a gender equal society, which is wonderful.

I admit that at times, I push gender equality to the back of my mind when I consider pertinent issues today, precisely because men and women now do appear to be on equal terms — again, on paper at least.

I’ve heard the argument that women have it better today than we’ve ever had it before, so women should stop complaining. And while I agree that the state of women’s rights in America is more advanced today than ever, that is not satisfactory evidence that we have reached a point of equality.

The reality, of course, is that men and women are not equal in today’s society.

This is evidenced most concretely by the fact that women are still only paid 78 cents on the dollar for the same work as men.

Gender discrimination is apparent in the professions that men and women stereotypically occupy as well as the ones they do not. Societal expectations of what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman can potentially usher people toward certain professions and away from others.

A recent study headed by University psychology professor Andrei Cimpian and Princeton University philosophy professor Sarah-Jane Leslie examined the gender gap in academia, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, as well as in the humanities and social sciences.

The study they conducted is titled, “Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines,” and is available online through the University library system.

The study indicates that the gender gap fluctuates depending on academic field. For instance, women are currently earning about 70 percent of the doctorate degrees in art history, but only 20 percent of the doctorate degrees in physics.

I believe the intense gender discrepancy in different fields indicates that society often dictates to both men and women which professions are appropriate for their gender. This supports the idea that gender equality is not only a women’s issue but a men’s issue as well.

As a result of the study, researchers found that fields that placed high value on brilliance were less likely to have high female participation. For clarification, the study seems to equate brilliance with natural intellectual talent.

This could be because women were less likely to apply, having internalized the idea that women are less often associated with brilliance than men. Or, it could be the result of bias on part of the employer or admissions officer.

Therefore, the study suggests that women may feel as though they are less qualified for a position in academic fields where brilliance is valued, which may result in fewer women candidates.

This finding saddens me on a personal level, as a woman who aims to earn graduate degrees and professionally enter into the academic world at some point.

But most importantly, for me, the study served as a reminder of the gender inequality that is present in the United States.

I’m glad to have a reminder of gender inequality because I worry that too often in this country, gender equality is pushed to the wayside, precisely because men and women hold the same legal rights.

So, I applaud studies such as the one described above for uncovering the ways that inequality can still exist in a society that has a variety of legally sanctioned equality measures.

We cannot allow ourselves to forget or to deprioritize the issue of gender inequality in the United States, regardless of how much progress we’ve already made. Instead, we need to uncover some of the difficult to find causes of inequality, just as this study focused on the gendered perception of brilliance.

Before men and women are equal in the United States, we will have to be considered to possess equal potential for abilities, intelligence and “brilliance.”

Alex is a junior in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected].