Women in Technology and the Meritocracy Myth

American sexism has changed dramatically over the years, but it is far from perfect. Today many women in America face sexism in many areas throughout their lives; especially in workplaces. Women face sexist stereotype that holds them back from rising up as corporate ladders, especially in jobs that have a high ratio of men compared to women. Sexist comments such as “women are weak to do this kind of job” , “these are men 's jobs” and ”women are too emotional to work” often causes a woman to be cautious of how she acts, making sure she is not feminine or that she does not cause trouble or repercussions. But, that is not all sexism is doing, often times women face discrimination at workplaces especially after entering motherhood.

Sexism is prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. An example of sexism in the public services is in the fire brigade. Many people refer to fire fighters as firemen even though there are women in the fire brigade. A report from The Guardian in April 2012 tells the true stories of female fire fighters battles to get recognition as they are in the most sex-segregated profession with only 4% of the entire workers being female.

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)

A different quote from a different reading from class that closely relates and further demonstrates this problem is about unequal pay. The quote reads “Many sociologists point to sex segregation, or the concentration of men and women in different occupations, as an important cause of the gender gap in earnings” (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, Carr, 269, 270). It is obviously not fair that women and men get paid differently because of sex segregation. It should not matter if someone is a male or female. If the person is doing what they are supposed to be doing, I believe the pay should be the same between the

In this is essay an article by Eileen Pollack which is called “What Really Keeps Woman Out of Tech” will be analyzed. Eileen is director of the Master of Fine Arts project at Michigan University. In addition, she is a novelist and essayist. Why women are avoiding technology majors? The women of 21st century assume that IT is not the best option for them with career. Through personal experience, essay and news an individual can understand that gender matters when choosing a job. There are various reasons why people study faculties or choose to study them. Eileen P. studied and researched about why women do not major in technology. In Eileen Pollack’s essay “What Really Keeps Woman Out of Tech” she argues why females do not study computer engineering,

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.

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 in the United States have acquired constitutional rights over the time; however, discrimination still exists. Sexism occurs frequently in the workplace. In fact, sexism is one of the main barriers that women face. For example, women in the same job as men usually earn less, even though both have the same education and skills that are require for completing the job. Indeed, paying women less than men for the same job is a blatant discrimination that could be solve by providing equality among genders. Sexism is a term that describes the inequality among genders. According to Guynn (2013) the issue of sexism occurs in many companies. Men usually think that women are not capable of completing certain task because they might not to be strong

In 2014, female full-time workers made only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 21% according to IWPR Org or Institute for Women’s Policy Research. There is no debate that in the past women have been discriminated against when it came to compensation and wages in the workforce which led to the enactment of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This a federal law signed by John F Kennedy attempting to amend wage disparity based on sex, under this law, it is still illegal for employers to discriminate wages by sex for the same amount of work, which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and are performed under similar working conditions with the exception of seniority system, merit system, or based on quantity or quality of production. With all these laws and statistics, the raw differences between the gender wage gap can be attributed to the differences in choices made by an individual.

Sexism has been prevalent in our society for generations. It has plagued the views and outlooks on gender, and has molded the populace’s minds to favor one over the other. Engrained within society is the strict framework of binary gender roles, and placing males and females into distinct and rigid categories that they can rarely break free from. While progress has been made with regards to weakening these rigid and unfair gender roles, the prejudice views that run rampant through the minds of the older generations, and into the up-and-coming ones, are difficult to combat. Women are often overlooked and regarded as the inferior gender, and they are often portrayed as individuals who are at men’s every beck and call. This is highlighted through the observations of Paula Rothenberg in her novel Invisible Privilege, she discusses her observations and dealings first hand with prejudice of all kinds. The book recalls her experiences from the mid to late 20th century, which was a time of more blatant sexism, but I will be using other sources in addition to prove that sexism is still a prevalent issue in everyday life. The sources I will pull from in addition to the novel include, “Different but Equal? Inequalities in the workplace, the Nature Based Narrative, and the Title VII prohibition on the Masculinization of the ‘Ideal Workers,’” an academic article by Kristin Housh, which uses statistical information to argue that women are treated differently in the workplace. Secondly, “Gender Bias in Education,” an op-ed by Amanda Chapman, which discusses unequal treatment of women in education, in addition to a visual and song lyrics that also support these arguments. Sexism and unequal treatment of women in the workplace and education is still a problem in society today that needs to be changed.

Occupational pay based on gender is an issue that has been around since the early 1900s. Women have always been discriminated against by men, which is proven by history dating back to the Civil Rights Movement. Gender inequality with the significant wage gap for men and women is longstanding and has been acknowledged by researchers. The wage gap that is present in the United States has aroused many Americans, and even kindled several protests. The issue, occupational pay based on gender, dates back to Women’s Rights of 1848.

It is possible for employers to comply with existing legislation, but to continue to make sexist assumptions when appointing or promoting staff. In conclusion, women are being devalued in the workplace. Even if they hold a job that requires equal education and skills, they are being paid less than men. In the world today, issues such as child abuse, the unfair treatment of animals and the environment have been, or are being addressed.

I examined different professional industries in The United States to get a familiar understanding of gender inequality around me. Gender inequality does not particularly favor one sex in every professional industry. Joanne Lipman’s article, "Let’s Expose the Gender Pay Gap," dealt with professional women in the work force and the gender pay gap that exists between professional men. There is also a distinct gender gap between a woman and a man asking for a raise or promotion within a company. “Female doctors and surgeons, for example, earn 71 percent of what their male colleagues make, while female financial specialists are paid just 66 percent as much as comparable men. Other researchers have calculated that women one year out of college earn 6.6 percent less than men after controlling for occupation and hours, and that female M.B.A. graduates earn on average $4,600 less than their male classmates for their first jobs.” (Lipman). There is a statistical gender pay gap in The United States that is undeniable.

Gender equality in salary is always unfair. Men employees always receive higher wages than women employees had received. Companies would like to hire men employees compared to women employees because they believed women employees are weak and cannot competent in the workplace although they have abilities and skills. As a conclusion, our research has proven that this theory was true.

“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.