Women vs Men in Business. Should They Have the Same Rights? Essay

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.

Equality has been a topic of major discussion in the last decade. Equality, which definition consists of the state of being equal or the same, has not had a major impact on gender pay. Men are known to make more money than women simply based on gender. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was supported by President John F. Kennedy to cease the gender pay gap and allow women equal rights in wages as men. Although, it has been fifty four years since The Equal Pay Act of 1963 went into effect, it seems as if the idea for equal pay for women is still not only a topic for debate, but also an issue for women that needs to be resolved.

Women are burdened with many obstacles to achieve equality in the work place. In the corporate and

Women have been entering the workforce since the 1970’s at an increasing rate. Statistics show that 39% of the workforce during the 1970’s were women. In 2010 that percentage increased to 47% (Gender, Web). As more women enter the workforce, even with the possibility of increased fraternization and sexual harassment, there should be equality in pay and positions.

Pay equity, another form of discrimination, is a concern throughout America. On average, women continue to earn much less than men earn (while performing the same work). There are two primary reasons for this travesty: Women anticipate shorter and more sporadic work lives, and women, on average, have less work experience than men (Kim). Women should receive equal pay for equal work despite any circumstances. In 2015, women earned a mind-boggling seventy-nine cents for every dollar that a man earned. This statistic demonstrated that there is a gender wage gap of almost twenty percent. Moreover, women must work until April 12th of a given year to earn what men earned in the previous year. To make matters worse, equal pay day for minority women

With the majority of law based rights already having been granted to women, more focus will be put on equalizing the individual perception of gender. Although it isn’t legal to discriminate against women for the amount of work they do, or to give better jobs to men, more women are currently and will continue to push for these thoughts to cease to exist at all. As of 1963, the Equal Pay Act requires that men and women doing equal work must receive equal pay (Cunnea 9). With men and women receiving equal pay for the same work, the only things that should end up mattering for employment other than the usual experience, qualifications, and reviews of past management are an individual person’s work ethic and

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.

Women have experienced discrimination since the beginning of time and in some countries women still do not have certain rights. In America, companies still tend to discriminate against women. The discrimination can be shown in different forms such as unequal opportunities to be hired, unequal pay, making it harder for women to get a promotion, women getting scrutinized more harshly than men, and even basing all these other aspects on the fact that women can get pregnant or already have children. Women also may face the “glass ceiling” in the workplace. These continuous discriminations are a leading factor as to why women do not reach for their full potential or believe they cannot speak up.

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

”My own mother always taught me that fairness was a family value - I think equal pay is about fairness for everyone” (Honda). For years women and men alike have been fighting for equal rights. Lately in society, the issue of equal pay has gained popularity, and rightly so. For every 41-44 hours of work a week, women only earn 84.6% of what their men coworkers earn for the same amount of work. My family experienced this firsthand when my mother worked at Phoenix Technologies as a Purchasing Agent. She worked 50-60 hours a week and earned an estimate of 20% less than the men working the same

In fact, progress for women and minorities in terms of both pay and power has stalled or regressed at many of the nation's biggest companies. This inequality shapes perceptions about who can or should be a leader.” (Hymowitz, 2008) This statement shows applicable reasoning as to why it is necessary to have equal pay between women and men in the workplace. When a company decides they are going to pay someone less money solely based off their gender without regards to their experience, it is discrimination and therefore the company is no longer an equal opportunity employer. Such practices need to be banned so our nation can truly say that we are all equal. Women need to form an alliance to prevent such discrimination from occurring and force our government to prohibit inequality in companies.

Women have experienced a historic situation of inequality in the social as well as professional aspects. Women were normally the ones that would take care of children, do the chores in the house, and in rural areas; they would work in the field with the rest of the family. However, today’s women have become more self-sufficient and independent from the predominant male figure within every historical family. Gender inequality in the workplace is becoming less common; yet, gender is a factor that affects men and women. Especially women have been subjected to a historical discrimination that has influenced society to decide which job is more suitable for women than men. However women have confronted and tried to break down the barriers that

“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.