Negative Effects of Gender Discrimination at Workplaces in the USA

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,

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)

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

For many years now it has been assumed that men are paid more than women are paid in many occupations in many countries. We often question, why there is a pay gap between men and women especially if they are performing the same job? Economist Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn took a set of human capital variables such as education, labor market, experience, and race into account and additionally controlled for occupation, industry, and unionism. While the gender wage gap was considerably smaller when all variables were taken into account, a substantial portion of the pay gap remained unexplained. These unexplained gaps are evidence of discrimination, which remains a serious problem for women in the workforce. In a standpoint refusing discrimination,

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

Throughout history females have often times not been treated fairly compared to their male counterparts. The gender wage gap has been a real and prevalent thing in our society. Even in the present, women are inclined to get lower salaries than men throughout the world, and most importantly the United States where the constitution says “all men are created equal.” All salaries are on a weekly basis and percentages are cents a woman earns per dollar a man earns. Although, there is much we can do as individuals to stop discrimination in the work force. The United States’ wage gap is caused by discrimination against women, who have less opportunities for higher paying jobs, and in order to eradicate this issue in our country and worldwide, women need to be treated impartially in the workforce.

Throughout history females have never been treated fairly compared to their male counterparts. The gender wage gap has been a real and prevalent thing in our society. Even in the present, women are inclined to get lower salaries than men throughout the world, and most importantly the United States where the constitution says “all men are created equal.” All salaries are on a weekly basis and percentages are cents a woman earns per dollar a man earns. Though many are currently working to fix the situation, there is much we can do as individuals to stop discrimination in the work force. The United States’ wage gap is caused by discrimination against women, who have less opportunities for higher paying jobs, and in order to eradicate this issue in our country and worldwide, women need to be treated impartially in the workforce.

In general, the wage gap has narrowed at a slow, and uneven, pace over last three decades. Recent data shows that women in the American workforce earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns (Trevino). The existence of this “gender wage gap” has been an issue since women entered the workforce. The ongoing issue of the past has now become an apparent problem in our modern-day, progressive society. Women nowadays have opportunities that were not obtainable in past decades but must overcome, or ignore, the barrier of being punished in the long run for simply being a woman. While there have been major progresses in breaking through the norms and social constructs, women face other challenges, including discrimination and sexism (Gender). Despite the ongoing struggle to reach wage equality between the sexes through various legislative initiatives and the ever increasing involvement of women in the American workforce, the wage gap has only closed by a marginal 15 percent over the last four decades (Dale and Levine).

Furthermore, they found another one third was attributed to women’s choices of occupation, industry and union status. Leaving a balance of 12% unexplained. In conclusion the wage gap may be lessening, but it is still thriving in the American workplace (Advisers, 1998). Research suggests the most important reasons supporting the elimination of wage discrimination toward women are; it would help the government out of its fiscal crisis, give a boost to the economy and bring about decreased resentment among co-workers resulting in positive change with in corporate America. The benefits for eradicating the gender wage gap are so extreme that it is baffling why so little is being done to address this issue. The government is in economic crisis. Assistance programs in place to help those in need are strained beyond their budgets, begging for help where ever they can get it, and the need is growing. Women using the assistance want to stand on their own, but without equal pay, the task is unreachable. Federal and State governments are feeling the pinch from the lack of tax revenue. An equalization of pay would bring about an increase of taxes. Families and single women would have more income to balance their budgets and save for retirement. The Social Security Administration would have the funds necessary to continue supplementing the senior community.

Bias, prejudice, and discrimination are issues that are still prevalent in the world today. These issues can include: gender, race, ethnicity, or even religion. A common dilemma that the nation faces today is gender discrimination in the workplace. Women who possess the same level of competence and aptitude as men are still getting paid less in the same careers. Studies show that, “Women are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men” (Goldin). How can this inequality be solved? It can be easily resolved by paying men and women in the same careers equal wages.

Women in the workforce still face issues regarding gender wage gap (Equal Pay Day: Are Women Surging or Stalling?, 2018). Even though there has been progress surrounding awareness of these issues, the wage gap between women and men is still very prevalent. Here in the United States, we have enacted a law called the Equal Pay Act that requires employers to pay man and women same wage for the same work (CARD, CARDOSO & KLINE, 2016). Beyond the Equal Pay Act, employers are prohibited from practicing discrimination on the basis of gender. If an organization overall pay their employees higher salaries relative to other organization then salaries for women tend to be more equitable. Organizational practices are also changing. Some organizations

For this paper, my objective was to investigate the pay gap and gender discrimination in the workplace. Through systematic examination, this paper explores numerous factors correlating to the wage gap such as occupational choices and annual earnings. On average, women have lower income due to emphasis on familial responsibilities and desiring more accommodating work schedules than men. The wage gap primarily exists within same occupational fields. In these fields, women were often faced with the “glass ceiling” and unable to advance in higher positions because of their gender. Women also earned less pay since less likely to ask for promotions or higher wages. In short, gender shouldn’t be a factor in measuring equal pay.

Even so, the percentage of women who decided to join the work force increased from 43-60%. “In fact because of the Great Recession in 2008-2009” impacted the male-dominated industries the most, but it helped the acceleration towards gender equality (Conley, Dalton, 2013). Now there are approximately the same amount of women and men working in the labor force. Actually for a brief time, women even exceeded men due to this economic crisis. Even though the US passed title VII of the 1964 civil rights act, “which declared it unlawful for employers to discriminate on the basis of a person's race, nationality, creed, or sex”, women faced harder predicaments that they had to push through. Women have to deal with hard situations like harassment, “a legal form of discrimination”, with things like dirty jokes, and sexual haggle, where they are threatened to provide sexual favors or in turn would receive punishment (Conley, Dalton, 2013). Even nearly 40 years after the Equal Pay Act (1963) was passed, discrepancy between women and men flourish in the working world. There was a study performed by the general accounting office in 2003 which found that women earned 79.7% of what men were earning. As such, if we were to compare this finding to the findings in 1983 when women earned 80.3% we can clearly see that this wage gap is in no way diminishing (Alkadry, M.G., & Tower, L.E., 1). There have been attempts to rectify and fight the unequal pay based on gender inequality through “legislation, regulation, and litigation” (Alkadry, M.G., & Tower, L.E., 1). The Equal Pay Act was based off of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the process of rectification depends greatly on trying to enforce these two lawsuits. Unfortunately despite many years of “equal

In addition to discrimination in education, women face discrimination in jobs around the world including the United States. Women are not paid same as men in America. Women working in the same fields as men will not get the same amount of money as men. Research illustrates that there is twenty percent gap between men and women’s income in the United Sates, where there is eighteen percent gap between them worldwide. Some women are not hired in companies. Aamer Madhani writes in USA Today that the White House in recent weeks has repeatedly highlighted government data that indicates women earn seventy-seven cents for every dollar in wages paid to men (USA 1). It is a Law in the United States to provide everyone equal opportunities, but it does not seem happening. Nobody follows the laws. Even though, women complain about it, nobody listens to them. It is not fair that women are not paid equally; either, businesses should pay them same amount, as men, or government should interfere in companies who

“The wage gap has narrowed by more than one-third since 1960”(Hegewisch, 2010) and “the share of companies with female CEOs increased more than six-fold” (Warner, 2014) since 1997. As well as the truth that men and women’s earnings differ for many other reasons besides the presence of sexism. “Discrimination in labor market, in education/retiring programs, unequal societal norms at home and the constrained decisions men and women make about work and home issues” (Hegewisch, 2010) are also factors that can contribute to the unequal treatment of man and women in the workplace. Yet even with most of these variables removed women are still being paid less than men, sexually harassed in the workplace and hold very little managerial positions.