High-Tech Workers in the Silicon Valley Essay

Women are advancing in the workplace both in volume and in numbers of higher positions, but are still not paid equally to men. For every dollar earned by men, Caucasian women earn 59 cents,

The gender wage gap in America is a social problem that has existed since women entered the workforce. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman made 78.3 cents in 2013 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). Data from 1983 to 1998 and concluded that women workers in their prime earning years make 38% of what men make. During the 15-year period, an average prime-age working woman earned only $273,592 compared with $722,693 earned by the average working man in 1999 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). The wage gap affects women of color in a more profound way that it does non-hispanic white women. Hispanic women are making 53%, African American women are making 64%, and Asian American women are making 87% of white men’s earnings each year (AAUW, 2013).

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,

After years of Civil Rights Movements and Pay Equity Acts, as of 2014, women still only make 79 cents to a man 's every dollar. Although the wage gap has shrunk since the 1970’s, progress has recently stalled and chances of it vanishing on its own is unlikely. The gains that American women have made towards labor market experience and skills is tremendous. In fact, women account for 47% of labor workforce and 49.3% of American jobs. But despite of women’s strides, a gender pay gap still exists. Experts suggest that it will take 100 years to close the gap at the rate employers and legislators are working to create solutions. But by allowing women to work in higher paying positions and by proposing and updating pay equity laws, the gender gap can finally be diminished.

Lerman, R.I. & Schmidt, R.S. (2011). An Overview of Economic, Social, and Demographic Trends Affecting the United States Labor Market. Retrieved April 19, 2016, From http://www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/history/herman/reports/futurework/conference/trends/trendsI.htm

Women continue to face disadvantages in the workplace in regards to not receiving equal pay as well. There are many instances where women have the same or more qualifications to do a job than their male counterparts but do not receive the same pay. This difference in pay is not only related to gender differences but also racial differences. Women employees of different racial backgrounds tend to earn less money than their white female and male counterparts. Many women of color often face discrimination when applying to jobs and are overlooked for a position despite having the qualifications to do the work. When they are hired to these occupations they are not receiving the same pay as their white female counterparts. This double bind that minority women face within the work place continues to lead to economic hardships. Regarding women in the workplace in general, due to society’s high regard for men they are often not promoted to positions of authority or receive equal pay because people assume that women are inferior workers. (Buchanan, p205-207)

In Sarah Bianchi-Sand’s article, she details the “glass ceiling,” or an unofficial boundary that prevents women and minorities alike from reaching their highest potential. Her work is meant to persuade readers that the glass ceiling isn't a myth, but a real and serious problem. Being the Chair and Executive Director of the National Committee on Pay Equity, Sarah has plenty of reason for wanting to persuade this topic. Her thesis effectively starts this process by laying out what is happening. “This theory is circulating widely among the press-perhaps because it is controversial and contradicts what has become rather boring to the media-but what remains are the real-life experiences of women and people of color- no real change in the wage gap and no improvement in the glass ceiling (Bianchi-Sand p.306). This thesis opens the door for Sarah to talk about and persuade her readers that the glass ceiling is no myth. By using ethos, pathos, and logos our Author persuades her readers that the glass ceiling is hurting business but can be raised.

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.

April 8 is “Equal Pay Day,” which is an event where the main purpose is to raise awareness in regards to the social problem of the gender wage gap. The president makes his announcement that women still earn only about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. There are people advocating left and right for women to take a stand and sue their employers for wage discrimination or make demands they want the government to fulfill. The question becomes whether or not what everyone is fighting for is actually true and worth fighting for. Authors Sarah Glynn, Kay Hymowitz, Mark Perry, and Andrew Biggs present a different idea. They all showcase in their articles the underlying factors in the gender wage gap such as college major, career choice, hours worked, job experience, and family circumstances. Discrimination cannot be ruled out completely, but the “77 cent” figure reflects gender differences based on the personal choices that people make about their careers, which results in the gender wage gap we have today. Society has been pointing the finger at discrimination for so long, but today we need to take a second look and come to the conclusion that there could be multiple reasons for the pay gap. This social problem is too complex to focus on only one particular reason.

Unequal pay is something that has been an issue in America for a very long time. Gender has been one of the main culprits that played a factor in the wage gap between men and women, but race may have a role. The wage gap is expressed as a percentage (e.g., in 2013, women earned 78.3% as much as men aged 16 and over) and is calculated by dividing the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men. (“The Wage Gap”)

Despite the California state legislature enacting the state's Equal Pay Act in 1949, for the duration of the 20th century, women in California continued to earn significantly less than men for the same employment. In 2014, female earnings in California for full-time, year-round, employment were 84 % of male earnings. The national average was even-worse: 79%. The wage discrepancy is even more devastating for African-American and Latina women. African American women earn 64% of what a man earns. California's Latina wage gap of 44% is astoundingly the worst of its kind in the United States. As the numbers show, the California Equal Pay Act, as well as the nearly identical federal Equal Pay Act, have been limited still in their effectiveness fifteen

Now a day we hear a lot about the wage gap between men and women. President of The United States, in the state of the Union, stated that “Women earn much less than men for doing the same amount of the work”. Based on some statistic survey women makes seventy-seven cents on the dollar. The pay gap means women loses about $10,000 in median earning a year [4], if you consider career long-view the gap obstructs wealth building. This is one major concern in today's competitive world, in 2014 Republican National Committee argued that “The difference isn’t because of their genders; it’s because of their jobs.” Where research shows that gender wage gap is real and still exist The question that arises is why there is a wage gap between men and women? The answer to that question is women are more likely to take a break from their careers to take care of their family. This kind of disruption can have an impact on long-term earning.

Southern California's growth began in the early twenty century because of the oil, automobile, and motion picture industry. Oil was already discovered in California but it's biggest boom didn't happen until the 1890s when it was discovered in Los Angeles. There were so much oil that oil wells began to pop up in peoples' backyards and the barrels were full of oil. For example, Edward Doheny and Charles Canfield's oil wells were filling up 700,000 barrels for the year of 1895 (pg. 292; p. 7). Then, Henry Ford's Model-T arrived in San Francisco and it jump-started the automobile revolution in the state. As a result, the Automobile Club of Southern California and California State Automobile Association were formed to build better roads. And finally,

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.

Pay equity is a big issue among large high tech companies in America. Many companies pay their minority groups and females less than the average white male. The question is why? Why are companies in high skilled high tech positions so race and gender biased?