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Effect of women in the workforce
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Unequal Pay is Harmful to Women Jobs and money rule nearly your entire life, so it should not be acceptable to be compensated less for the same amount of work. Women can face discrimination in the workplace in multiple ways, but being paid less than their male counterparts is an issue that still has not been resolved. The unfair payment, makes women feel inferior to men, causes more household problems, and impacts their quality of life. Women have been depicted as inferior to men throughout history, this is the one of the main reasons as to why the pay gap exists. Even after almost of century of proving that women can do just as much as men, they still have not achieved the equality they deserve. In 1848, women participated in a series of protests to fight for their right to …show more content…
vote. The right to vote was finally guaranteed after Congress passed the 19th Amendment on August 18,1920. Giving women the right to vote would not negatively affect anyone or anything, so it is baffling to think that it took over 70 years of hard work to obtain. Even after many decades of trying to prove that they are equal, many people still believe that women should not go out and work. Men are stereotyped as the person going to work and making money for the family, while women are stereotyped as the stay-at-home caregiver. This mentality often discouraged women from working in the past, but it quickly became more acceptable for both parents to work. More mothers are entering the workforce, and the pay gap they face can cause household problems. “With women making about 78 cents for every man’s dollar, the gap in earning ends up being roughly about $10,876 less per year on average, which results in single mother families struggling to make ends meet. Also, a form of childcare is a necessity for younger children, and the high price puts an even tighter strain on funds. The average annual cost of childcare for an infant and a 4-year-old in Indiana is $15,678. The amount they lose annually could be used to pay for groceries, gas, bills, childcare, and student loans. The gap is even larger for women of color, and it becomes increasingly difficult to get by. African American women make 64 cents for every white man's dollar, and Latinas only make 56 cents” (“How the Wage Gap Hurts Women and Families”). Women are more likely to work part-time, mainly for family reasons, which means they receive lower hourly wages and less opportunities for promotions and benefits. However, full-time working mothers often have to sacrifice quality family time for their jobs. The precious milestones that they could miss, like having their child say their first word, can never be made up. Women also tend to turn away from jobs more often because they believe that certain fields are unwelcoming to their gender.
“The bias of gender in the STEM field has discouraged women from taking jobs in math and science. Studies show that when asked to view two identical résumés, the only difference being the gender of the candidates, people were more likely to pick the male. The male candidate, John, was also more likely to be offered a higher salary than the female candidate, Jennifer” (Davidson). People also tend to underestimate a woman’s performance in mathematics, resulting in less qualified men going into jobs that a woman could perform better in. Gender and racial biases are constantly influencing society, and its effects are detrimental to women and people of color. When women are not in the workplace to actively participate, everyone misses out on the benefits of having more diverse opinions. A simple way to reduce the influence of gender and other biases is to remove information about race, gender, and age when making important hiring decisions for available jobs in a company. Jobs should not be biased towards a gender or race, and should only focus on how capable each person
is. The effects of the wage gap will continue to haunt them when retirement rolls around. Since women face the wage gap as soon as they enter the workforce, the money that they lose begins to add up. “The pay gap increases with age and drops to about 74 cents per dollar, which makes saving up for retirement harder. If a woman worked full time, year round she would lose $435,049 in 40 years” (“Wage Gap Hurts Women and Families”). In order to close this gap, a woman would have to work an extra 11 years. Since they receive less earnings throughout their life, they also receive less Social Security benefits. It is nearly impossible to save a large amount for retirement when most of their money is needed to keep a roof over their heads, put food on the tab, and pay off loans. As a result, women have about half as much in savings compared to men. The lack of savings can cause them to retire below the poverty line. Women tend to live longer than men, so their savings may not even cover their entire time spent in retirement. If she does not adequate funds to live the rest of her life in retirement, she would most likely have to rely on her family to take care of her, which can cause additional hardships. Women are constantly undervalued and underappreciated in the workforce throughout their entire life. If we want women to live a happier life, solving the wage gap would be a great start. Without the wage gap, women could finally feel equal, home life would be simpler, and retirement would be a more enjoyful experience.
Even in the modern society woman are constantly looked down. A quick comparison the average wage of a man and a woman shows that woman are still paid lower wages for the same amount of work.
On the contrary, women still get paid less than men. According to CNN Money, “men still make more than women in most professions -- considerably more in some occupations than others, according to a new study by the job search site Glassdoor”. Although we like to comfort ourselves with the idea that we have gotten our rightfully earned rights, we had not been given bathroom breaks until 1998. Furthermore, employees are still afraid to have a voice in the workforce. Employers establish rules that let laborers know that they are inferior.
Ethical issues are being raised due to the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields and stereotype threats arises which are relevant to evaluating performance. A research report by Hills shows that’s stereotype threat is one compelling explanation for why women remain underrepresented in STEM fields” (Hills, Para. 2). People have implicit biases and they unconsciously believe that women cannot do better in math and science as they underestimate women’s capabilities. People’s negative stereotypes continue to influence their views about women in technology fields. Romano (2016) wrote, “There are several forms of sexism present in the academic setting, such as considering women less competent in mathematics than their male counterparts or considering men lower than their female counterparts in languages (Romano, para. 2). Underrepresentation of women in technology is a complex issue as male colleagues undervalue women, thinking they cannot be good in math and technology which lowers women’s aspirations. According to the researchers at Pew Research Center, K. Parker & C. Funk, a survey conducted in July and August (2017) women in the United States believe gender discrimination is a big problem in tech industries. The survey goes on to state, “The survey comes amid public debate about
STEM, also known as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, is the field that is advancing at a rapid rate. Within STEM, there are many occupations across the four fields. As years go on, more and more people start to have a growing interest in STEM, but this can’t be said for women. Women almost take up half of the workforce, but when it comes to STEM, women only take about 24%, almost half of the women aren’t participating in STEM. The numbers continue to get worse. From 2000 - 2009, the numbers have remained at a constant 24%. At this rate, employers could potentially see a decline in women’s representation, but there have been efforts to change this rate (Beede et al par. 6). This could mean disastrous problems in the world as more problems will arise and there’s nothing to be done because companies are non-diverse and
If women ask for pay equality then, some jobs will fire them and discriminate them. (Fratti, Karen ) Personally, I feel it helped women when the Lilly Ledbetter act passed because women have more power to tell their managers if they are getting the same payment as men do.
A Woman may work in the same career as a man and work equal time but in the end the woman is still getting paid less. The statistics are even worse for women of color. Women of color are paid 55-64 cents compared to every dollar earned by a man. According
It is illegal to pay a woman less than a man that are doing the same work.The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed to make it so (Burns). However, the act does not stop women from being paid less than men. A woman gets paid “…only 78 cents for every dollar a man earns” (Burns). It is not okay and should never be acceptable to get paid less than a male co-worker while doing the same job.
In 1963, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, making it unlawful to discriminate against a worker on the basis of sex. Since that time, the wage gap between men and women in the United States has narrowed by just 15 cents, now being 74 cents, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The effort of pursuing gender equality is one that has faced many trials and tribulations throughout American History. Modern day movements to promote gender equality have stemmed from previous movements. Ideas of equal pay for equal work, equal job opportunities, equal opportunities within education all can be traced back to as late as the Industrial Revolution. Due to the job growth, because of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, the necessity to hire women became more prominent within the factories. Females began working in factories and started to earn wages less than men. Soon after women recognized the disparity in their wages compared to their male counterparts, the women understood that they were being treated unequally. Not only were they making lower wages than the men, they were working in worse conditions with very little opportunity to advance.
... it would be nice to be paid equally, we have to think about how it’ll affect our society’s economic system. It should not be based on sex, however, but on the type of work and skills that the workers have. Some women may choose to be stay-at-home moms and not carry another job, but being a mother is a job itself when you are taking care of young children. Overall, we need to take into account how women sometimes may not be appreciated as they want to be.
In the workplace, women do not receive the same benefits that men do. Some women do the same job, for the same amount of hours, and still do not receive the same pay for their work. Is there a specific reason behind this? No, it is just one of the many inequalities that goes on on the job. As pointed out in the essay by Susan Faludi, Blame it on Feminism, women earn less. The average women’s paycheck is twenty percent less than their male counterparts. Men with only high school education’s make more than some women who have graduated college. Most women are still working the traditional “female” jobs: secretaries, teachers, and nurses for example. Construction work, engineering, and doctor’s, are considered “out of our reach” and men’s jobs. Women are very capable of doing these jobs, but most times when applying for a “man’s job” are not taken seriously. American women are more likely not to receive health insurance and twice as likely not to draw pension then American men. They face the biggest gender-biased pay gap in the world.
The wage gap is defined as the relative difference in the average hourly earnings of women and men within the economy as a whole (ABC). The wage gap is not a new issue, it has been a prevalent part of our culture since women have been accepted into the workforce. However, throughout modern history some action has been taken to alleviate the strain of unequal pay. For example, The Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963 and since then the gender pay gap has been gradually closing. (ZAP) Despite the act being signed, women still face discrimination and inequality in regards to their wages from the moment they graduate college. Female college graduates on average make around 29 percent less than male graduates. (DAD) This inequality doesn't correspond
It is very important to be concerned about the issue because it is constantly increasing throughout the United States. It upsets me that women are paid less than men because women have the same ability and work ethic as men do, but they are looked at differently. According to AAUW, women make 77 percent of what men make. This rate hasn’t changed since 2002 (Hill, 2013). Statistics show that women will never make as much as men due to the thought of never being comparable to men (Williams, 2013).
A work place should be give merit on efficiency and precision on work done rather than the sex of a person. If we are deem equal then why do women get paid so much less than men? I know the argument pregnancy can easily be thrown to women but is that really the case for every single situation. Along with this, why doesn’t a culture
It is important to realize that much of gender discrimination comes from organizational practices stemming from the hiring process and human resources. Many of the policies in place affect the ability for hired, training, pay and the promotion prospects of women. Under set circumstances, human resource policies are inherently predisposition to exclude certain groups specifically women, despite their education, skills, performance or abilities to conduct the job. “For instance, if women are under-represented in a particular educational program or a particular job type and those credentials or previous job experience are required to be considered for selection, women are being systematically, albeit perhaps not intentionally, discriminated against. In another example, there is gender discrimination if a test is used in the selection battery for which greater gender differences emerge, than those that emerge for job performance ratings. Thus, institutional discrimination can be present within various aspects of HR selection policy and can negatively affect women’s work outcomes” (Hing, 2015). When trying to conceptualize the outcome of organizational Structures, processes, and practices on HR policy, the focus is on the link between institutional discrimination in organizational structures, processes, and practices that can lead to personal discrimination in HR practices (Appendix B). We