The Pay Gap...Is it Discrimination??
I was sitting in my sociology class today and we began discussing gender roles in the workplace. My professor started off the discussion by talking to us about the pay gap between men and women in the workplace. Statistically, women make $.76 for every $1.00 a man makes at the same job. I found this disturbing and sat there wondering how it could be true if Title VII is being enforced correctly. I did a little bit of research and found an article talking about how the following factors contribute to this gap:
1)Women work full time less than men and take longer time periods off.
2)Men with children get an earnings both while women lose earnings. ( I don't understand how this is true or how it is fair at all)
3)Women have fewer years of work experience.
4)And the most disturbing: Despite external factors, men get a bonus just for inherently being men.
Now if I found out that a male equal was getting paid more than me at my job I would be quick to look for a discrimination lawsuit and I'm assuming that other women would as well. So I still can't understand why this pay gap exists and how we can get rid of it and eliminate discrimination for good. Thoughts???
1)Women work full time less than men and take longer time periods off.
2)Men with children get an earnings both while women lose earnings. ( I don't understand how this is true or how it is fair at all)
3)Women have fewer years of work experience.
4)And the most disturbing: Despite external factors, men get a bonus just for inherently being men.
Now if I found out that a male equal was getting paid more than me at my job I would be quick to look for a discrimination lawsuit and I'm assuming that other women would as well. So I still can't understand why this pay gap exists and how we can get rid of it and eliminate discrimination for good. Thoughts???
posted by Stephanie Grohovsky at
12:25 AM
2 Comments:
I think this is a very interesting question and comment regarding Title VII. Money has the ability to influence many hiring decisions both as an employee and an employer. If gender does help or hinder that decision, discrimination is taking place.
Often, however, you need to check the source of the statistics regarding these numbers. Are they averages? Is this a representative sample? After taking statistics courses in college, I've become very skeptical about these types of numbers because they can be so easily manipulated.
I think societal norms play a large role in this question, too. America has been known to change for the best and I think that in the next 10 years the gap will continue to shrink. As a final thought, these figures are disturbing and I would hope that gender does not influence compensation practices.
I agree with Brad that most of these situations arise out of social norms. To answer Stephanie's questions on how to get rid of the pay gap maybe litigation is the best answer. If people start to stand up and look for a discrimination suit everytime there is a pay gap and win. Companies will take notice and that gap will begin to diminish.
It is shocking to think that there is still such a gap in the workplace. I had been in the dark on believing that this was no longer in practice. Hopefully, people will begin to come forward when they discover this and the gap will quickly disappear.
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