Gender Pay Gap Essay

1193 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Pay inequality between men and women essay

Gender discrimination is not a new topic, but it is oftentimes a controversial one. The differing political groups in the United States is a good example of how certain groups of people do not think the issue of a gender pay gap needs to be addressed. People on both sides of the political divide have dodged questions on whether or not the gender pay gap is a real issue and if it should be addressed. While some politicians may be divided, most scholars believe that having a gender gap does hamper the countries economy. For example, closing the gender pay gap in the United States should boost the economy by three to four percentage points (Bassett 2014), as this would introduce a group of people who will have more earning and spending potential …show more content…

These issues are not blatantly propagated by people, but these are considered “nonconscious cognitive processes” (Weichsellbaumer 2005, 327) Normally the gender pay gap is decreased by allowing women into higher education and into more selective universities, (Bobbitt-Zeher 1-2) while also imposing laws that help to generate a societal change in the way that women are viewed. Sometimes that societal change happens because women are allowed to receive an education; and then they are able to implement the change needed. Education (Bobbitt-Zeher 2) seems to be one of the stepping-stones of equality because once women have that they are able to fight for equality by becoming part of the system and attempting to change it. Cuba is a good example of a country that has made an effort to close a gender gap in their society, and they really only succeeded in allowing women into higher education. (Gonzalez) They have implemented laws that prohibit blatant discrimination against women in higher education and in society at large, but these laws were not enacted or pushed by the Cuban women and have not succeeded in erasing the pay gap or changing antiquated views of women’s place in society (Hees 152). The attributed reason for these laws not erasing a gender pay gap is because women were not the ones fighting for it and the stereotypical female household roles are still …show more content…

Culture is a big influencer in how women are perceived in the workplace; generally the cultural stereotype of a woman belonging in the home causes women’s work to be devalued. As previously mentioned in Cuba these gender stereotypes are incredibly prevalent and can explain why women are paid less for the same work. Across the world this mindset prevails, in Korea a study done on laborers showed that even with no difference in education between the sexes, there was still a devaluation of women’s work. “This study indicate that the theories of culturally given gender stereotypes and labor market risk/cost are more likely to explain the remaining gender difference in labor earnings and other employment conditions.” (Lee, Cho, Lee, 2001,

Show More
Related

  • The Gender Wage Gap In The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Gender Wage Gap The gender wage gap is a highly debated and controversial topic in the modern day United States society. Women have been treated very poorly in the past, and advancements in gender equality are still flourishing today. Although are making great strides as a society, there is still the popular belief in the wage gap. However, the wage gap that was once very prominent in our society is not nearly as much of a disparity as people have been lead to believe.

    Read More

  • Discrimination In Dorothy Allison's Gun Crazy

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the workplace environment it is a known fact that women are passed over for higher positions that would allow them to earn higher wages. Author of “Workplace Gender Discrimination and the Implicit Association Test" Jo- Ann Kadola stated, “Women earn 18 % less per hour than men working the same job, with the same title, with the same credentials even when a woman has a higher education.” (Kadola23) This is known as the gender gap, it happens in all occupations whether in management, directors or any high level position. Overall men and women never earn the same pay for the same job. This is known to be a worldwide fact. On every job women are always asked to prove or provide credentials for a job that men are able to obtain without proof. Kadola also stated, “Women have to show skills more often, they are required to take or be more responsible than men.” (Kadola24) Men are generally respected more. Their opinions hold more value. Men tend to have more freedom in making decisions. When it comes to merit raises they will receive a higher percentage based on the fact that they are men. When women enter the workplace it is a perceived notion that she will get married and start a family. Therefore a working mother is looked down upon based on the fact she is no staying home caring

    Read More

  • The Gender-Based Wage Gap in Real Estate

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    The second approach to explaining gender-based wage inequality is human capital. Human capital acknowledges the fact that often times women invest in human capital that will have lower market returns because they avoid getting involved in career areas that may interfere with their familial duties later in life. Because women invest in less or lower returning human capital they tend to make lower wages than men who invest in more valuable human capital.

    Read More

  • Wage Gap Essay

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    The wage gap is a major issue that is constantly brought up in the work place. Numerous people use the term “wage gap” to state how gender can affect somebody 's income. There has always been an understanding that men typically made more money than women. For a long time, women were not allowed to work; therefore men were in charge of “bringing home the bacon”. However, times have changed and there are various situations where a household is centered off a women’s’ income. Females can become single mothers who have a responsibility to care for a child(s). Responsibilities can include monthly payments of water and electric bills and even weekly payments towards groceries. Women have to acquire enough money so that they are able

    Read More

  • Gender Payage Gap Essay

    1384 Words  | 3 Pages

    When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law, he hoped that it would allow working women to finally earn the same amount of money as men; however, more than half a century later, men continue to out earn women in almost every field of work (Lipman para. 4). Male dominated fields tend to pay more than female dominated fields at similar skill levels. In 2012, women earned an average of $691 per week while men earned an average of $854 per week. Furthermore, the majority of women remain unaware that they are earning less than their male colleagues (Hegewisch para. 1). The gender wage gap not only harms a woman’s ability to provide for herself, it also harms many children and families. Women are now the primary caregivers

    Read More

  • Gender Wage Gap Essay

    1711 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.

    Read More

  • The Issue of Gender Inequality in the United States

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issue of gender inequality will never truly be solved in the United States. This arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through hormonal differences, chromosomes, and brain structures. Gender inequality is defined as unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on gender. One of the reasons for gender inequality is income disparities. Another reason is because of the positions in the workplace. Thirdly, the reason is because of beliefs that one another has. For these reasons is why these situations should be examined to get to the root of the problem.

    Read More

  • Equal Pay For Women Essay

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    ​ For many years in United States, equal salary pay for women has been a major issue that women have been fighting for decades. This began back in World War II, when the National Labor Board urged equalize the salary rates for women with the same rates that males were getting of the same professions. (Rowen) Although, traditionally most women do not work to provide for there family and there are not so many independent women during World War II. After World War II more women lost their jobs to veterans returning to the workforce. Women in the workforce after the war have been discriminated ever since. The idea of women as weak and cannot perform there jobs

    Read More

  • Gender Pay Gap Essay

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Closing the wage gap between men and women is a continuing struggle today in nations all over the world. In many occupations women are paid less overall than their male counterparts. One nation, however, is making strides to bring this disparity in wages into the light. British law will soon require large companies to publish information about the salaries paid to their male and female employees. While this is a great step forward in recognizing the gender pay gap, many women also face many other obstacles to getting equal pay such as the “Mommy Tax” that reporter Ann Crittenden talks about in her piece of the same name (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 337). Another obstacle for women in the work place that ties into the “Mommy Tax” is how women are generally

    Read More

  • Unequal Pay Is Important To Me

    1647 Words  | 4 Pages

    These two are a major concern for me because I feel when we talk about unequal pay we fail to include the intersections of race and ethnicity that also play a role in the wage gap that exist but when the wage gap is brought up we typically hear that women make 78 cent to every mans dollar which is incorrect if you are not a white women it is less compared to the dollar every man make which is also inadequate if you aren’t a white male. According to an article by Rebecca Leber on newrepublic.com, “Hispanic women earn 54 percent, followed by black women at 64 percent, and Native American at 65 percent”. When we bring up gender inequality we should be more inclusive and understand the actual facts about the wage gap. With gender race is closely related because at first observation of a person these are the first traits that stand out to us. We cannot address a fact about a specific person without looking at them as a whole and their intersections that may come into play as well. Having your gender also hold you back from a specific job you because it is seen as a typical male job, but you have the right qualifications is another big issue. Gender is connected to your economics when in essence these two topics should be separate and have no relation or correlation. Socially and culturally when we look at any form of media women are always shown as aspiring to marriage and have kids, women being domesticated, physically weaker than men, submissive to men, never shown as the hero, and women are typically never shown in being in charge. Media has become something that is very important in this generation media also plays a big role in telling us this is how a woman acts or this is how a man acts. When young girls and women watch TV, read newspapers, use social media, these messages and images they portray instills ideas in these women and girls to make them believe this is how they are

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Canada

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Gender inequality exacerbates economic inequality and economic inequality, in turn, reinforces gender inequality” (Oxfam Canada, 3). Primarily due to sexist assumptions about a women’s emotions, her choice to start family’s mid-career, and her ability to perform tasks as efficiently/ well as men are constant. Emotional stereotypes about women would be things such as: women are overly emotional, sadness, guiltiness, shamefulness, irritability, and fearfulness. These assumptions are made on a daily basis by men who face quite the opposite preconceptions. Men are characterized to be similar to a leader because of their “assertiveness” and, “controlled emotions” . Women also are also the sex that carry children, and require maternity leave, even though paternal leave also exists. Employers are often reluctant to hire women by the chance they will become pregnant and need to be on leave for a year on the company’s dollar. While women are 15% more interested in being promoted or taking on a larger responsibility within the workplace, men take up more than 95% of Fortune 500 CEOs. This goes to show that regardless of the interest, demand, and effort women put in to be promoted, the men will almost always receive the position. Both due to the wage gap and the difficulty women have to be promoted to higher positions, poverty affects a

    Read More

  • Stereotypes And Prejudice Essay

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    The another large group of people affected by discrimination in the labor market are women. Women more often than men meet on their way to a career glass ceilings, limited access to management , lower wages for the same work, and the enormous requirements for the appearance. Moreover, due to their maternal privileges, they have hard time in getting a job.

    Read More

  • Gender Pay Gap Essay

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s society, Women perform similar jobs to men. Whether it’s blue or white collar jobs, women are always present and thriving for success balancing a life of business and family. In the job market, some are graduates of the best schools and have interned at the best firms, but are still not compensated as equally as men. Following the recent comments by the CEO of Microsoft concerning women asking for raises and how they should trust the system to install equality, the issue seems to be still present, and women’s work is not rewarded similarly to men’s.

    Read More

  • Gender Wage Gap Analysis

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    The home economics theory is used in explaining the wage gap because it examines the relationship between the amount of time and effort put into working and the varying incomes that correspond to the amount of time being worked. In the scholarly article “Working from home and the gender gap in earnings for self-employed US Millennials”, Jessica Simon explores the gender differences in terms of self-employment for millennials who are working from home. The increase in women’s self-employment along with the tendency for women to work from home suggests that working in their own home is becoming the new work environment for women, which is why it is essential to study the economic consequences. Based off of a few theories of women’s wage and self-employment earnings, Simon argues that working from home will be negatively related to women’s earnings, but not to men’s earnings. In order to support her thesis’, she conducted a study using a population-based survey, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which allowed her to compare home-based and non-home-based

    Read More

  • Examples Of Discrimination Against Women In The Workplace

    1796 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gender discrimination is due treated differently depending on the gender of the people rather than occurring due to differences in men and women. Although our society seems to treat equally everyone, discrimination still exists anywhere. Even though the government asserts men and women equality, discrimination against women happens all over the workplace. Nearly thirty percent of women still feel that gender discrimination is a major problem in the workplace and report experiencing discrimination (Giapponi and McEvoy 137). Career women think if they were male they would be paid more. Despite the federal law of Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion, women still persist to have a problem with discrimination in hiring, wage, promotion and pregnancy in the workplace (Corbin, Reed and Duvall 928). For example, females were denied being hired in the digital cable company, a Parma, in Ohio, even if they had better qualifications than males who were hired by the company. The federal agency charged the company $75,000 for the sex discrimination (“Digital cable” par. 1). Even though females are capable, this evidence shows that employers favored male applicant despite of their less

    Read More

More about Gender Pay Gap Essay

Open Document