The American Association Of University Women

The most well-known limit placed upon women in a work setting is the wage gap, or the difference between a man’s salary and a woman’s salary. Authors dive into the subject of the current wage gap because of its presence in modern society, and one author who does speak out about the topic is Caroline Fredrickson. Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, writes in her book Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over about how the gap between a man and woman’s salaries does exist in today’s progressive society. To argue her case, Fredrickson reveals, “In the past decade, women have not made any progress at all, with the wage gap overall remaining stubbornly at 77 percent…” (44). This gap of seventy seven percent implies that the majority of women are paid only seventy seven percent of what a man is paid in any given position.

The pay gap between genders exhibits sexism in America yet some researchers are in denial. Warren Farrell, expert on gender issues within legislation and former board member of National Organization for Women, claims otherwise. In his book Why Men Earn More, he attributes difference in wages to females choosing human resources jobs, which pay less, and not choosing harsher jobs that pay more (Farrell). His overall point is that men sacrifice more thus companies pay more for those sacrifices. His argument only compares the genders when different job requirements alter wages, but does not mention wages of identical jobs.

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,

Discrimination in the United States, has been, and continues to be a very large problem in our country. Although, the country has continued to make outstanding strides on getting rid of discrimination in this country as a whole, it tends to stick around. One of the largest controversies in the workforce today, is that women are continuing to be discriminated against by receiving less pay than males. This problem of women receiving less pay than males in the workforce is known as the Gender Wage Gap.

“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.

The gender pay gap is the biggest unspoken problem in America. This issue has been in the world since the dawn of time, but people only started paying attention to it in the last 80 years. In order to close this gap for good, we have to look at where it began. Stereotypes and traditions of stereotypes are the main roots of this problem; before we look at that, we must make sure we stay balanced in our fight against injustice. If we push too far, we will fall into a gender pay gap in favor of women, and I don’t want that I want fair only.

Throughout the history of the United States, equality for all has been a highly sought-after, yet controversial aspect of American life. Whether it was the period of Native American reorganization or the destructive era of Southern slavery, it has been equality that continues to be denied to a certain group of citizens. In order to combat this, many efforts have been made to influence equality in all elements of citizen’s lives. However, in today’s society, many of these attempts have failed to be noticed, for true equality has yet to be entirely achieved. Notably, working women all over the country have been denied equal wages to that of men. Thus, condoning the use of wage discrimination against women in the workplace is unjust and inequitable because women perform many of the same jobs as men do, they are entitled to the same basic rights as the rest of society, and because laws have already been passed to illegalize wage discrimination based on gender. Both men and women in the labor force are expected of comparable tasks and performances, yet the payment that women receive as compensation remains noticeably less than that of men.

Not only is gender discrimination seen in sports, but it can be witnessed in regular jobs as well. Just like the story of Cassandra, women of all educational levels can experience a wage gap. One might imagine that with a great education, breaking the stereotypical gap would be possible, but the reality is that even with education women find it hard to break the the wage gap. According to the Pew Research Center, women in the U.S. who work full time are typically paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male coworkers make. Even when women earn a Bachelor’s degree, they still make less than what men with the same degree make (about $51,681 vs. $52,072). In some cases men with only a high school degree typically make more than women

It is the process of negotiating salaries with employers. To many this would seem like the easiest way to go about solving the issue at hand, and one may ask why it hasn’t been done more, however, the authors Hanna Bowels and Linda Babcock claim that, “women are penalized socially more than men when negotiating for higher pay” (Bowels and Babcock). This means that by one woman trying to solve the problem maturely and merely having a conversation of negotiations with said employer, it will ultimately make the problem worse by elevating it from tangibly making less money to being socially looked down upon for wanting equal treatment as well as potentially still making less money. Bowels and Babcock took this a step further and performed multiple studies on negotiations to find the most efficient and less consequential outcomes possible. The results showed, “although adherence to the feminine stereotype is insufficient, using these ‘‘relational accounts’’ can improve women’s social and negotiation outcomes at the same time” (Bowels and Babcock). When women are negotiating for higher pay the results are more positive when exhibiting “womanly” qualities to the

Inequality has been a dilemma for several years in countless different ways. A persistent problem with disproportion of income between women and men has been lingering within many companies in the United States. It has been said that women earn less money than men in the workplace for many different reasons. Some of these reasons are that women have not spent enough time in the office to be rewarded with raises and bonuses because they are busy with their home lives and taking care of their children, they, unlike men, have been taught to be timid and unaggressive which ultimately steers them away from requesting higher pay, or they do not meet the qualifications to receive promotions (Hymowitz, 2008). This essay is in response to On

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 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.

The presence of women in the workforce has been growing steadily and now, more than ever, women is seen in almost every aspect of the workplace. Women, however, usually receive less pay, are not promoted as quickly as men and are discriminated against in the workplace. Despite advances in education work principles and so on, women fall victims of negative feminine stereotypes and this affects their pay in the labor market. Unjust compensation between men and women in the workforce is a major problem in the United States.

The fact that to an employer “woman” translates to “unqualified” is just one example of how deeply rooted sexism is in the minds of the citizens, and what a formidable opponent gender inequality is to women. This sexist mindset is what deters women from advancing in their careers and in our society, making it impossible for that mindset to be changed. How can women advance to positions of power in their careers and achieve equality if simply being hired is a challenge, despite legitimate qualifications? And even after women are hired, workplace sexism is right at their heels. The most obvious example of how undervalued women are in the workplace is the gender pay gap, which is an immediate part of a woman’s career, already present as women coming out of college begin to work (Asian News International). According to Miller “Women make about 79 percent of what men make -- this translates into a loss of about $10,000 each year. ” This means that women are being paid over 20% less than what men are paid for the same job and for the same work. The gap between the worth of male and female labor is startling, and the gender inequality here is blatant. Women being so severely underpaid is a clear sign female workers are valued much less than male workers. The sheer financial discrimination women face in their careers is obvious, and a serious obstacle for women trying to advance in their careers.

Researchers have been digging up and breaking down astonishing facts revealing that men obtain higher wages in nearly all job positions than women. According to USAtoday.com, “Women in the US earn less than 80 cents for every dollar a man takes home”. Although these numbers remain significant, it is proven that equal pay is not always appropriate. Different professions can require different amounts of knowledge or