Discrimination, Policies, And The Gender Wage Gap

The gender wage gap is the difference in earnings between women and men in the workplace. It is a widely recognized indicator of women’s economic equality, and is measured by comparing annual earnings of women full-time, year round, to working men. Currently, the gender gap is at 28% in Canada. To be valued less than any man I have and will ever meet despite my education, drive, skills, or intelligence simply because I am a woman, is an issue that I will not let stand. I am committed to addressing the discrimination in wages and employment and the undervaluing of women and our work.

The average woman in the United States makes approximately $82.90 for every dollar their male counterparts make. (Elsesser). While those 20 cents may seem inconsequential to you, they add up. Losing that much money all year can be the difference between someone living in poverty, and someone living a nice life. The gender pay gap is the cause of this problem. Around the world, women are losing money just because of what gender they are. The gender wage gap is a huge problem, that can only be solved by going to extreme measures, such as requiring people to release their employees wage gap and passing new laws.

Simultaneously, the gender pay gap has financial effects not just on the women, yet their families too. Studies have shown that American families with children count on a women’s earnings as a massive part of their family’s income, and many are the head of the household. Data demonstrates that “seventy percent of mothers with children under 18 participate in the labor force, with over 75 percent employed full-time. Mothers are the primary or sole earners for 40 percent of households with children under 18 today, compared with 11 percent in 1960. Women’s participation in the U.S. labor force has climbed since WWII: from 32.7 percent in 1948 to 56.8 percent in 2016” (Dewolf). Now women make up more than half of the U.S. workforce, the gap in earning deciphers to $7968 per year in median earnings for a high school graduate, $11,616 for a college graduate, and $19,360 for a professional school graduate. By and large, this gap effects hundreds of millions of women and their families, and lag them back hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout their life.

Canadian workplaces today seem to be a fairly diverse place, with a blend of many religions, ethnicities, and genders present. However, although people preach affirmative action and melting pots in current times, many inequality and power issues still abound. One strikingly noticeable example is gender discrimination. Women in the workforce face many challenges like smaller wages, harassment, male privilege in hiring or promotions, and lack of support when pregnant or raising children. One half of the planet is women, and it can be assumed the same for Canada, but they still face judgment at work because they lack the authority to dispute against big corporations or even their male supervisor. It cannot be argued that

Gender stereotypes are one of the most common encountered on a daily basis. The infamous ‘Glass Ceiling’ still exists in many areas of the professional world, restricting valid promotions simply based on gender. This type of concept can be verified by looking at comparative weekly wages of other professionals in a variety of industries. Most people will generally see female dominated occupations, such as nurse, teacher and secretary as requiring feminine personality traits and physical attributes for success; whereas male dominated occupations such as doctor, lawyer, and business executive are seen to require male personality traits for success (Sanderson, 2010, p. 344).

It has been a long and hard journey in Canada to attain gender equality between men and women. Today, most people are unaware of the discrimination in workplaces, schools, and everyday life. Due to the Famous Five who lead the Persons Case that stated women as official persons, and many heroic individuals who lead the Women’s Suffrage Movement, women now have more opportunities than ever before. The Canadian Labour Movement has helped improve many citizens’ careers including those of women, protecting them from discrimination, violence, and harassment at work. Saskatchewan feminism has followed a similar path to Canada concerning women’s rights, most often categorized into three influential periods of time. The gender pay gap is the difference of money that men and women make, that is a crucial example of gender inequality. Gender stereotypes have limited the ability of men and women, judging them with false ideas through the media. All of these have played a major part of women’s rights and gender equality today.

The pay gap that exists between men and women is an obstacle that has existed since women first joined the work force in the early 20th century. After almost one hundred years one would think that by 2016 this problem would be almost eradicated, especially in a first world country such as Canada. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. In Canada, there is still a demonstrable difference in the gender pay gap, with women earning almost 20% less than men for doing similar or identical types of work. In this paper I am going to address why there is such a considerable wage gap between men and women in Canada. I will also evaluate some of the reasons that experts offer as to why this problem still in occurs in Canada. In addition, I will

You would expect in the 21st century that Canada understands the importance of closing the gender gap and would treat everyone equally, but that’s not the case. The gender gap is the differences between men and women and can be shown politically, socially, culturally, economically, or even intellectually. It has been an issue for several years, and only a few people have done anything to close the gender gap or do anything to make a considerable change in it. Moreover, the gender gap doesn’t make a good impact on our world and should be closed if we wish to live in an equal and fair environment. We should be looking at how the gender gap will impact us economically, environmentally, politically, and socially.

Transition: If more women like Rizzo were to speak out about pay inequality than more states and even countries will be able to pass laws similar to the new Fair Pay Act.

Women remain at an economic disadvantage compared to men due to the fact that some occupations still pay women less than their male counterparts. This unequal pay reinforces the thinking that it is okay for men to make more than women just because of their gender. This is an obstacle within the workplace which prevents a woman from advancing her career and allows for higher positions to continue consisting almost entirely of men. Present day in the labour market, “Canadian women earn 23% less than men regardless of their age, education or occupation” (Struman, 2015). Even though women have been quite successful in seeking employment and many possess a decent education, women continue to face a difference in pay because of their gender. In order to be seen as equals women need to be earning the same amount as their male coworkers because they possess the necessary skills needed to complete the job. Differences in pay should be based on an individual’s qualifications and job experience not their gender. The difference in pay prevents women from achieving success and reinforces the point that women remain at an economic disadvantage. Gender based pay is problematic and “[t]he Canadian gender pay gap is the fifth largest among the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries… [and] the pay gap is particularly pronounced for single mothers, racialized women, First Nations women, and women with disabilities” (Struman, 2015). Gender

Our society has the belief that women have always been portrayed as weak, emotional, and powerless. Throughout this article by Tavia Grant, it shows how women do not get the same opportunities men receive. Statistically shown, women are still earning less money than men regardless to the amount of education they possess (Grant). Women are accepted to hold obligations regarding family tasks while the men do the providing in the family. The article shows the disadvantages women have in Canada compared to men, however, it also shows gender inequality and gender discrimination.

Stereotype threats are negative consequences about one’s race, sex, nationality, or social group. Stereotype threats are used a lot more frequently than people realize. Gender is a powerful stereotype that affects many people’s decisions and actions. The stereotype of women in the workplace has come a long way even in the last twenty years. Many businesses tend to want to diversify their demographics by making the ratio of men to women almost equal. “Demographic projections anticipate that by the year 2000 women will exceed 50 per cent of the total workforce…” (Johnston and Packer, 1987). Women were able to make their way in to the workplace when men were off at war during the 1950s. During this time, women proved their ability to do the same kind of jobs men did. Many women worked as machinist, factory workers, and clergies.

Stereotyping can come in many different forms and have many different subjects. One form of stereotyping is of gender. Just about everyone holds stereotypes of women and men – some positive and some negative. Women are more empathic and talkative; men are more competent and aggressive. For example, are women really “more empathic” than men? Which women? Empathic toward whom? When women’s and men’s actual behavior is observed systematically under a variety of conditions, the sexes do not differ in having feelings of empathy or in its expression (book, p. 365). Social pressures influence how we conform to these stereotypes, however it does create a problem when people are victimized by the negative stereotypes of their gender or group. There are different connotations that can be identified when stereotyping: positive, women are better caregivers and men are better breadwinners or money makers. These positive connotations can be taken negative towards the other gender or even their own gender – men can be caretakers too and women can make money. In the early 1900’s there was a high discrimination towards women, women entering the work force worked in factory lines, while men worked management which resulted in lower pay for women kept the men in charge. Over the years gender roles have taken a turn and there is now a significant increase with women working and taking on management roles. Roles in society are different between genders and those differences either positive or negative will hopefully diminish after time.

A study on the implicit and explicit occupational gender types, Sex Roles, “Occupational gender stereotypes are activated when men and women are considered to be more suited for certain occupations based on stereotyped characteristics and temperaments” (White and White 2006). Matheus represented the following examples, “a stereotypically feminine job would be associated with attributes such as nurturing, caring, and being sensitive to the needs of others and a stereotypically masculine job would be associated with attributes such as decisiveness, coldness and toughness” (Matheus 2010). Nowadays, women are usually seen in the workforce as secretaries and nurses. Meanwhile, most doctors and construction laborers are men. In addition, Anker points out that “Occupational segregation by gender is prevalent in most if not all countries” (Anker 1998). “Women and men work in different fields and within fields at different levels” (Anker 1998). Diekman and Wilde explained that “men’s concentration in leadership and other high power roles led to the assumption that men have “agentic characteristics” such self-assertion and dominance and women’s concentration in subordinate and caretaking roles lead to the assumption that they have “communal characteristics” such as being kind and supportive (Diekman and Wilde 2005).

In combination with the oft-held belief that in rural communities, women are expected to stay home, and take on the caretaker role, gender roles remain cemented in place. Thus, women in certain communities, like rural Alberta, are still expected to stay home and conform to traditional gender roles and the view of women’s wages as supplementary are maintained. The gender pay gap also stems from the patriarchal views of employment and the gender roles that men and women are expected to hold in the public and private spheres. As women entered the workforce, “[their] earnings [were] regarded as a ‘supplementary to a husband’s wage” (Pateman 138). While Canadian society no longer holds these views, in Alberta “full-time working women earn around 37% less per year than men” (Global par. 2). Unions now include both men and women, and Canadian society no longer holds men as the primary breadwinner. Even so, the patriarchal origins of these beliefs continue to have a negative effect on women entering the workforce today, especially in the trades.