Breaking The Norm: Cultural Differences Between Men And Women

Over the past few decades, great strides have been made by women in the workplace. This increased number in women in the workplace does not mean equality however. Even with equal qualifications and achievements, women are still not given all the opportunities that men have. The chapter in the textbook, “Gender at Work”, shows us more of these inequalities in the workplace. Such inequalities cause gender segregation of jobs and can be linked with the pay inequality in the labor force. Even in jobs that are predominantly filled by women, men earn more than women. Women are often stereotyped as being family focused and not as able to travel, therefore they tend to get passed up for promotions (Garson p.353). This invisible barrier that keeps women from moving up the executive ladder is referred to as the “glass ceiling” (Baxter and Wright p. 346). Women also tend to do more domestic work, or unpaid labor and caregiving. This extra unpaid work is referred to as “the third shift” and is largely rested on the shoulders of women (Gersel p. 352). Consequently, this seems to be one of the biggest things holding women back from taking on jobs that are normally considered male

It seems that women workers have reached a plateau in society. In order for women to be respected (as men are) in the workplace there needs to be a redistribution of domestic and family work. It’s acceptable now for women to work; but this acceptance into the workforce has not drastically changed what they, women, are expected to perform at home. There is no way for women to move forward to equality in pay if they are not recognized as contributers to their job (i.e. women are still expected to perform outside of work in the family setting as well in a way that men are only expected to perform at work and not at home).

When you think about women in the work field today, what do you see? A successful lawyer, a doctor, perhaps. That’s true. In fact, there have been more females holding high employment positions in the late 20th and 21st century than ever before. According to Donald M. Fisk in “Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003”, 60% of working-age women worked in the labor force in 1999. That’s 41% more than that of 1900, where only 19% of women worked in the labor force. Among these women, a vast majority have seen their salaries sky-rocket in the past two decades, almost surpassing those of male workers. However, it is not always this way.

For the first time in history women had surpassed men in the paid labor force. Yet, instead of provoking an equality among the sexes, the figures play no statistical significance, as women still try to bridge the gap between their inequality among their male counterparts. One apparent setback for women in the workplace is their unequal payment, “Women workers are still paid less than men, currently about-three quarters of mens income if they work full time and year round”(Institute for Womens’s Policy Research, 2010). Although there women are beginning to integrate into vastly male populated jobs throughout the labor force “… women in America today earn 78 cents to a man’s dollar, according to the U.S Census Bureau, and have struggled for decades to achieve pay for equal work” (Riley 2). Not only has this pay gap significantly effected the nature of women throughout the county, it has also violated the bill that Congress passed called the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Equal Pay Act was signed in order to establish a more sound and equal treatment among the sexes. It noted that an employer was unable to discriminate employees on grounds of gender, yet as figures denote today, this bill seems to not possess enough jurisdiction over the wage gap. The wage gap has contributed to various problems within the United States, especially among single mothers who do not have a supporting male figure within their household.

However, there is still much more to be done. According to a recent study, American women today who work full-time, year-round, are still only paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts (Kim p.1). Women’s median earnings are also lower in nearly every occupation regardless of whether they work in male dominant

The article “The Simple Truth About the Gender Wage Gap,” Kevin Miller describes this issue by providing evidence and statistics that men get paid more than women, despite similarities in education and ethnicity, emphasizing that the difference in gender causes the difference in pay. In fact, Miller declares, “The gap has narrowed since the 1970s, due largely to women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate. Still, the pay gap does not appear likely to go away on its own.” Therefore, since the early 1900’s, women advanced, further closing the pay gap between men and women. Women now have careers and become educated rather than become bound to their roles as a possession of their husbands and mothers to their children. Although the gap does not seem to completely close soon, the clear improvement of women in society suggests that women’s oppression decreased over time. However, the wage gap is not the only issue regarding women’s

One of the reasons income inequality continues to prevail in today’s society is because lawmakers disagree on the issue at hand. The New York Times (n.d)) notes that Republicans blocked a bill on equal pay presented by Democrats that was aimed at closing the pay gap between men and women. Republican lawmakers impede that bill because they believed that given existing anti-discrimination laws, the legislation was redundant and is a transparent attempt by the Democrats to distract from President Obama’s much –criticized health care law. Another reason the income equality persist is due the difference in pay between genders within the same occupations. However, some lawmakers who turn down the equal pay bill believed that the disparity remains because of difference in occupations held among male and female. An example of an occupational difference is a female social worker that makes less than a male engineer (New York Times, n.d). Finally, I believe these income disparities persist because this civilization refuse to dismantle the past sexism views of women’s role as the weaker, idle and subservient domesticator. All in all, until society as a whole embrace women’s ingenuity, strength, and eagerness to be a working productive member of society the pay gap between men and women will continue to prevail for generations to

From the beginning of time there has been a distinction between the accepted roles of males and females. For ages men have been viewed as the family provider and women as the family caretaker. Although new roles developed with different eras, the same ideals have held for centuries now. Since the late 1800’s, the idea of “feminism,” or the social, political, and economic equality for females, has begun to shake the foundations of gender roles. It is 2015, and women have made tremendous strides to establish equality for themselves in a world dominated by male leaders. However, women have not been able to conquer the wage gap. The gender wage gap refers to women being paid on average 78% of what men do. Although the gap is closing, it is still

Women have made extraordinary strides toward workplace equality in the last century. The labor-market participation rate for women 25 to 44 years of age - the average child bearing years - rose from less than 20% to more than 75% between 1900 and 1999 (Velasquez, 1.) Author Andrea Lunsford writes about the simple concept of “comparable worth” saying that concept of workers with “comparable skills, education and experience be paid equal amounts” should be a fairly simple policy to institute. (Lunsford, 617) But as many women know first hand, this practice can be fairly difficult to enforce. Many companies can even seem downright opposed to it. Women in the workplace have it hard enough; they are under more

A topic that is often debated is whether there is a difference in pay for women doing comparable work with men. It is a fact that women on average make 78 percent of what a man makes while doing almost the same work. The first article discussed delivers evidence that wage disparity does in fact exist by using a first hand account of a woman directly affected by the wage gap’s injustice and correct statistics that are not outdated. The second source does not focus on one type of job, level of education, or length at the workplace that a woman may work in, instead this article attacks women for wanting to spend time with their families and not constantly work.

The debate for gender inequality has been going on for decades. In the 21st century, this debate has been on its pinnacle with feminists demanding equal rights in all areas of life. The increased pressure by the feminists has caused small and large firms, organizations, non-profits, and governments all over the world to change their policies to accommodate or make up for the gender inequality that exists in work place and homes. Women are half of the workforce. They are the equivalent, if not fundamental, breadwinner in four out of ten families. They get more college and graduate degrees than men. Yet, on average, women continue to win considerably not as much as men. In 2014, female full-time workers made only 79 cents

A commonly debated topic is whether or not further work is required to ensure women’s rights. Despite of the increasing opportunities, women still have along ways to go before they have the same options as men do. A statistic from WIC says, “Women constituted more than 45 percent of employed persons in the United States in 1989, but they had only a small share of the decision-making jobs" (WIC 2). As women continue to fight for jobs they impact the world as they go. Another issue is the pay gap between the sexes. The US Census Bureau published their findings, “Women working full time made 78.6 percent as much as men did in 2014” but the gap was even bigger for minority women; African American women made sixty-four cents and Latina women made

Women’s work is often undervalued because of the two arguments mentioned before, gender stereotypes and segregation in the workplace (McGrew). Women’s work in the job force and the work they do as a parent is undervalued. In the workplace, women in both higher and lower paying job fields are seen as unqualified for the work. As a mother, women are expected to give up all other passions or aspirations to be a mother, while still providing for their children financially. Either way a woman’s potential is judged based on her gender, instead of her work ethic, qualifications or hard

The earning gap between men and women is slowly closing in part because of women 's educational attainment. “Organizations run by women perform better, and not just a little bit,” she says. “The same thing goes for companies that have diverse leadership.” (Carter, 2013). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that most of the 30 fastest-growing occupations through 2020 are in female-dominated fields, such as health care, child care and education and as the baby boom generation ages, the need for home-health and personal-care aides is expected to grow by 70 percent by 2020, creating an estimated 1.3 million additional jobs for women. In conclusion, the article ends on a positive note. In spite of all the challenges that women face in the workforce, that ultimately they will not only continue persevere in their fight for equality, but excel in the coming decades.

While women have made substantial gains towards achieving equality in the workplace, this goal has yet to be completely achieved. Even in 2017, women still only earn approximately 80 percent of the salary that a man earns. Given the continual lack of equality in the workplace, the natural question is “How can women help close the wage gap and achieve true equality in the workplace?” Sheryl Sandberg reasons in her book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, that women face many internal barriers, such as a hesitancy to speak up and take risks in the workplace, which ultimately, hinder their ability to advance in the workplace and achieve true equality. However, Sandberg fails to acknowledge the true significance of the presence of external barriers that women face, assuming that society as a whole in the United Stares has progressed to a point where these outer obstacles no longer exist. Unfortunately, society is not as progressed as Sandberg believes, as women continue to face many barriers outside of their control. Ultimately, holding women back in the workplace is the lack of public policy to support women and society’s expectations for women: to be the primary caretakers of families, and to exhibit stereotypically feminine traits in the workplace.