Gender and David A. Cotter

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2010 the median earnings for women were $36,931 compared to $47,715 for men. [3] The majority of college degrees earned in the US are by women, and yet a study according to the American Association of University Women found that these educated graduated women are starting out with earning 5 percent less than their male peers. This was after several factors were taken into account, such as experience, training, and what school women earned their degrees from. Their study summarizes that, “In this analysis the portion of the pay gap that remains unexplained after all other factors are taken into account is 5 percent one year after graduation and 12 percent ten years after graduation.” – Behind the Pay Gap, American Association of University Women, Dey, Judy Goldberg

A majority of women across the world are highly accountable for home duties, and child rearing, while men on the other hand are bound for working in higher paid salary jobs. As of a result of this, inequality amongst genders has turned into a controversy in the workplace. And due to this gender inequality, women have been led to poorly paid gender typed positions. The gender pay gap negatively impacts individuals and some elements that play a major role in this issue are: work experience, independent skills, specific length of time at a company, and the level of education the person has obtained. However, the

Studies have shown that “Education attainment has a significant impact on earnings levels throughout a worker’s life. Differences in educational [acquirement] across these groups, among other factors, will cause the wage and pension gaps among these groups to persist.” (“Futurework - Trends and Challenges for Work in the 21st Century). Astonishingly as a matter of fact, a woman needs four more years of education than a man on any graduation level to obtain the same income as that man. For example, if a guy only procured his high school diploma, a gal would need an additional four years of education after her procured high school diploma to reap the same amount of money that that guy will gain for a job! Since women are starting to get more education, their occupation availability will grow, although they are expected to leave their job to assume the lead role in child rearing. According to Futurework reports, ”Young women enrolled in college at higher rates than young men … a trend likely to help close the gap between women’s and men’s average earnings.” (“Futurework - Trends and Challenges for Work in the 21st Century - U.S. DOL.” paragraph 16.) As rewards for education continue to be beneficial, the trend of enrollment in colleges and universities will rise and be maintained. And again, with the impending of college and university enrollment and graduation of broads,

In American society today there is an imbalance in the gender income gap between men and women in the work force. Many factors such as discrimination, productivity, educational background and disproportional hours worked contribute to this ongoing challenge. While many are skeptical, others remain to have strong beliefs that women and men are treated equally. In most professions according to Glynn “women only earn seventy seven cents for every dollar earned by men” (2014). Although, the seventy seven cents figure does not accurately reflect gender discrimination, it does capture some discrimination,

According to Johansson et al (2005) “differences in the educational requirements for jobs have contributed considerably to gender earnings inequality.” Kara (2006) demonstrated that women get remunerated less with no formal schooling, however, the wage gap decreases among genders with higher education. Gregorio and Lee (2002) also found that higher educational attainment led to more equal income between men and women. Kara (2006) found that women with high school and college degrees are more likely to work than women with lower levels of education. A study done by Löfström (1989) found that returns for women to education and to work experience are far lower than men. According to Johansson et al (2005), in a decomposition analysis he found that the measured differences in jobs and qualifications between women and men can account only for between two-fifths and three-fifths of the gender wage

In a 2015 study, it is shown that the wage gap can even seem to increase at higher degrees of education. For men and women with less than a high school diploma, the wage gap is at about 20%. Surprisingly, for men and women with an advanced degree, the wage gap is 26%. While The wage gap steadily closed at a relatively rapid pace between the 1960s and 1990s, improving from a 60 percent gap to a 71 percent gap. But since 2000, progress has all but flatlined. Men earned $50,400 at the median in 2014, while women earned $39,600. Neither gender has seen a significant increase in their median earnings since 2009, and women’s 2014 median earnings were not statistically different than what they made in 2007. In conclusion, this is a big issue across the nation, and shown by statistics, not much has been done in the recent

The gender wage gap has been around since women began having jobs and careers. Though in the beginning the gender wage gap was purely do to discrimination by social stereotypes, now it has become more complicated than that. The issue today has evolved into a complex issue which combines our American culture with business economics. As a result, some are skeptical of the issue and some are very adamant in their beliefs. The issue encompasses not only gender stereo types but also educational, government policies and business’s best practices.

But since 2000, progress has all but flatlined. A big underlying factor is the slowdown in women’s wage growth. That’s what helped propel the closure of the gap in earlier decades, but women have seen a standstill in wage growth since about 2001, as has most of the country.Women make less than men, on average, for a number of reasons. About 10 percent of it is thanks to different work experience, often because women are much more likely to take breaks from work to care for family members. The drop of women in the labor force over the last decade can be tied to the country’s lack of paid family leave, child care assistance, and support for flexible schedules.Some of it is also due to the fact that women end up working in areas that tend to pay less. But that doesn’t mean they can escape the gap by choosing different paths. They make less in virtually every industry and every job. And while getting more education boosts earnings, women make less than men with the same educational credentials at every level and even make less than their former male classmates when they graduate from top-tier universities. Some of that difference may be due to different majors or grades, but when salaries in the first year after graduation are compared while taking the college, major, grades, and other factors into account, women still experience a significant wage gap.Discrimination therefore plays a role. Economists consistently find a portion of the gap that can’t be explained by a variety of other factors. Studies have found that people of both genders are inclined to give men more money, especially if the woman is a mother. Meanwhile, women’s job performance is continuously underrated compared to men’s. Therefore in the workforce are discriminated

In “Behind the Pay Gap” the authors focus on how choices made by the post-secondary graduates affect gender wage inequality and present ideas for narrowing this gap (Dey and Hill, 2007). A year after graduation, females who worked full time earned about 80 cents for every dollar that males earned (Dey and Hill, 2007). Through regression analysis, weekly pay after a year out of post-secondary school, a dependent variable, was set as a function of workers’

In the 21st Century the number of women enrolling in higher education institutions is surpassing the numbers of men enrolled. The graduation rates of women from high school and higher education are most often higher than for men. The number of women graduates from most professional occupations, including higher paying medicine, law and business, will exceed the number of men graduates in the near future. In numerous occupational areas with a majority of women graduates, salaries already surpass salaries in occupational areas with a majority of men graduates.

The gender wage gap has been a substantial subject that has had numerous studies done, that included extensive debates and commentary for the past three centuries. In fact, the gender wage gap predominantly affects women. For example, in 2003 people reported that women make eighty cents for every dollar men make(Gender Pay 8). For one thing, women should not be getting paid less for doing the same job as men. The individual hired at the same time as another individual should receive the same starting pay until it is shown they deserve more pay than they are receiving. If the wage gap continues to grow at the rate it has been, it will be another fifty years before women make the same as men (Discrimination 1). The workforce has grown a considerable

The gender wage gap has been a nationwide problem since women were able to enter the workforce. Women have begun to speak out more about the issue and evaluate what they can do to change the industries and how they personally present themselves to help this change. Currently there is a wide range of opinions on this issue, with some saying it does not exist while others think it will ruin the economy if not fixed immediately. This makes it more difficult to address the problem and predict how it will be in the future; however, all sides of the spectrum are becoming more aware of what the gender wage gap means and what they can do to change it. This paper will analyze the different stances on the extent of this social issue as well as the current practices being used to increase knowledge and equalize pay for all.

The American Association University of Women reports that the average full time workingwoman receives just 80% the salary of a man. In 1960, women made just 60% of what men made, an upward trend that can be explained “largely by women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate”, but a trend that is not yet equal (p. 4). Hill recognizes that the choices of men and women are not always the same, whether it be in college major, or job choice, however she concludes that women experience pay gaps in virtually all levels of education and lines of work. She suggests that continuing to increase the integration of women in predominately male dominated work will help the pay gap, however, she believes that alone won’t be enough to ensure equal pay for women.

Considerable changes have taken place over the past two decades (WGEA, 2017c). Women have become more prominent within the workforce (WGEA, 2017c). Participation of women in the workplace has risen from 45% to 60% over the last 40 years (WGEA, 2017c, ABS, 2017a). Women’s education attainment has risen, showing a 28% increase since 1996 (ABS, 2017b; WGEA, 2017c). Despite this, earnings are not equal between male and female undergraduates (WGEA, 2017b). One suggestion is that women are choosing lower paid professions, contributing to an unequal distribution among part-time and full-time work (WGEA, 2017b).

Even though it is against the law to pay women a lower wage based on gender, a significant earnings gap exists. Women earn less than men in almost every line of work regardless of age, race, ethnic background or level of education. This study discusses the disparity of income between men and women, and the primary factors that contribute to the disparity. It then looks at some of the legislation that has been passed or is under consideration to address the issue. Finally, it concludes that there are many reasons for the disparity other than gender discrimination. Men and women are motivated by different things and therefore make different choices. Gender discrimination