Sociology ' Using Material from Item a Assess Sociological Explanations of Gender Inequality in Todays Society’

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

However, Gregg and Wadsworth (1996) (cited in Williams, 2007) believe that over the past half-century, the employment participation rates of women and men have steadily converged and are now approaching equality in many Western economies. At the turn of the millennium in the UK, for instance, some 75 per cent of the total population of working age was of men. Indeed, during the past decade, the particular life-cycle pattern of women’s participation in employment that was so evident in the past has disappeared even if the pay rates and hours that have long distinguished women’s employment remain.

Wage Gap in America On a broader aspect, it says men and women are equal. Though at a bottom level, women are still struggling to occupy the same status as men in the outer world. Stratification between the two genders is seen everywhere including the household or the workplace. Even today, women still earns less as compared to men involved in the same profession. Like a male physician makes $140,000, while a female in the same profession makes $88,000. Statisticians at the US census bureau looked at almost 821 occupations. After adjusting for workers’ ages, education and work experience, they found a substantial gender gap in the earnings of the workers. Scholars at the Census Bureau studied several characteristics and after taking into

Those jobs often provide less opportunity for training and career development (ibid.). Lastly, there is a sex-segregated workforce in Australia (Healy 2004). For example, men and women still tend have separate occupations and to work in different areas of the workforce and industries (ibid.). In addition, historically, male dominated occupations and industries have been more greatly valued with men’s work rewarded more than women’s work (ibid.). Pocock and Alexander (1999) studied the impact of sex-segregation on the Australian wage gap. They draw the data from the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS) in 1995 and it reports an overall gender wage gap of seventeen per cent (ibid.). Moreover, they argued that both human capital and sex-segregation variables could not explain the gap (ibid.). However, they could explain the gap using their regression model while the rest was linked with being in female dominated work (ibid.). They also argued that comparable worth policies, that revaluate the women’s job, could help to reduce the pay gap (ibid.).

According to Ioakimidis (2012) reports that gender wage gap to due women's life and work cycles. In addition, one major barrier that leads the number of high-level position jobs in becoming extreme jobs is that it requires an individual to work more than 40 hours per week. However, according to Eagly (2011), she outlines that common notion that those who put longer hours into their jobs will generally rise faster, this makes it difficult for women who have family responsibilities. Consequently, another reason for explaining the current gender wage gaps is that women ultimately choose to study less rewarding subjects, by entering lower-paying professions and stay towards the bottom rungs of the career ladder. Although their choices might give them flexible working hours, it also negatively affects their earnings. (Bussin,

Women are more prone to live in low income circumstances than men, hence introducing the social problem of gender discrimination. Women have been discriminated in the workplace over time in that they are paid less than men in specific jobs and are not seen to be ‘suited’ to particular jobs, especially in the manufacturing and trade industries. Marxist feminist Margaret Benston believed that women were oppressed by capitalism in that they were treated almost as a back-up, or secondary option of cheap labour that enabled profits to be kept up. ‘In 1994, 6.41 million women were in low-paid jobs and on average women’s full-time gross weekly pay was 72 percent of that of men’(Kane, 2003:115).

Today, the workforce is unfair; genders are not treated equally. Women are paid less than men for a variety of reasons. Whether it be discrimination, tradition, or simply the effects of the wage gap beginning right out of college, women are underpaid. Women often find that right out of college

Women and women’s rights have come a long way in terms of equality .Over the past century women have been granted the right to vote , to divorce , to own bank accounts , join the army , stand in election and the right to work , all of which should be natural rights (allwomenstalk, Alison Bryant). Despite theses substantial advances for equality , even in 2016 there is still inequality for women in the labor market. According to Catherine Hill , in the U.S. women working a full time job were paid 79 % of what men were paid. If this hasn't cast doubt on the realities of inequality in the labor market just think ‘Why does it exist?’. How does it affect women in general ,transgender women, women of color, mothers?, Furthermore ‘How can we fix

Gender Pay Gap: Inequity, Work and Society In Australia over the last 20 years, it is documented that a person’s income and wages, differs based on one’s gender, known as the gender pay gap (The Conversation, 2017; Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), 2017c). This paper will discuss what a gender pay

It is very hard to imagine individuals performing the same job and the rate of pay not being equal due to the gender of the worker. This occurs too often in our society and is unjust and unfair. Women often characterized as homemakers have not been paid at the same rate as men when they enter the workforce. Even when women work jobs which require more worker than men, they have a lower pay rate. Female employees are still suffering from salary inequality.

This is known as gender income difference i.e. the ratio of female to male median yearly earnings among full time year round workers. It is also the average difference between men’s and women’s hourly earnings, the gender pay gap has grown from 14.8 per cent last year to 19.7per cent

Outline and asses the feminist explanations of gender inequalities (40) Feminists believe that women are unequal to men, and the different groups think it is down to different reasons. Liberal feminists think it is because it is down to gender role socialisation. Marxist feminists believe it is down to capitalism. Radical feminists think women are not equal to men because of relationships within the home, and black feminist think they are unequal not just because they are women, but also because of their skin colour. All groups of feminists also believe that women are subordinated due to patriarchy, (the idea that males are dominant).

His belief was that women would be an ideal source of cheap labour and ever since, inequality amongst the sexes has prevailed (Gillespie, 2014). This leads to the second argument that inhibits the gender pay gap, which is occupational segregation. Occupational segregation is the existence of specific occupations that are traditionally dominated by either males or females (Baron, A, Clark, 2009). This brings to light horizontal segregation, which is a subsection of occupational segregation. When this type of seclusion occurs, there is a significant difference in the number of people in each gender present across an occupation. For example, traditionally women have taken the majority in occupations like nursing, teaching, sales, and secretarial/clerical work. The increase in horizontal segregation was due to the post-industrial restructuring of the economy, in which the expansion of service industries influenced women entering the workforce. During this time, millions of housewives who entered during the post-industrial restructuring entered service sectors jobs where they could be employed part-time and have flexible working hours. This choice for working mothers established the gender roles and representations they took in regards to certain professions as of today (OMICS International—peer reviewed journal, 2016). Occupational segregation is a major cause of the pay inequality due to gender. An analysis performed by the Institute of Women’s policy Research, confirmed that average earning tends to be lower the higher the percentage of female workers enter a male-dominated occupation, however, the opposite is to say when a high increase in males enters an occupation that is female-dominated. Women in female-dominated jobs pay two penalties: the average wage is lower than that in comparable male-dominated jobs, and they earn less relative to men in the same jobs. In

Thao Nguyen English 101 Mr. Merchant October 19, 2012 Essay #2 Causes and Effects of Gender Inequality Throughout history, countless acts of gender inequality can be identified; the causes of these discriminating accounts can be traced back to different causes. The general morality of the inequity relies on a belief that men are superior

As we are all birth equally throughout the world, there is still contingency that causes a barrier between human kinds. What barriers are we talking about that can’t be changed through our DNA? That is our gender. When each of us are born into the world, we are labeled as male or female due to our genetical DNA and different types of organs (WHO). Yet, society still isn’t as balance enough and there are still so much discrimination in gender in even today’s society.