A woman working in the same job as a man will usually earn less, despite the fact that she may have the same or better training, education, and skills required for the job ("Study Shows Female Managers in Britain Earn Less than Men, and Equality Could Be 57 Years Away." 2010). Women are consistently discriminated against in the workplace. Women only make 60 percent or less than their male counterparts in the same job position (Louis, 2010). Throughout history men are seen as the “strong/tough ones”; the belief is that they should be paid more than women in order to support their families (Loney, 2005).
Even though today more women have joined the workforce and often do the same jobs as men, women get paid less. Women who get paid less in the workplace, despite doing the same job as a man, experience what is called the “pay gap”. The pay gap, also known as the “gender wage gap”, is the earning difference between a woman and man. Men earn an extra $1,356 a month or $650,000 a year between the ages of 25 and 65 (Henslin, 2010, p. 316). Now if the male is also a college graduate the pay gap will increase to $2,482 a month and total of $1,192,000 during their whole career (Henslin, 2010, p. 316).
If a woman does not appear physically able she may not get hired for jobs that require physical strength. Another form of discrimination is when a woman who has the same job title as a man and responsibilities is paid less. According to a 2010 study, women only earned 77 cents to every dollar men earned, this in fact shows that there is gender discrimination and a gap that needs to be resolved. Women in the workforce
However, there is a major concern inside of the workforce. On average men earn more money than woman working in the same career position. This should be an outrage to business women everywhere. On the other hand, the gender hierarchy starts way before men and women enter their career field. Unfortunately, in thier adolescent years, girls and boys are influenced to take classes that are deemed appropriate for their gender.
In studies provided by the Census Bureau, women proved to have worked more hours per week than men. Vanderkam feels the pay gap is reasonable considering women are beginning to work more hours, but some Americans argue that social inequality is now in favor of women. America is always going to have competitiveness with employee wages. While this is seen as social inequality, it sometimes is morally fair. If women are working more hours than men, many people find it reasonable for women to make more money.
The companies stuck to their claims that both genders were being assessed an paid using the same commission based system, and that the women were usually being paid less than the average male broker because of their “underperformance”. Madden’s investigation actually found that the women employed at these brokerage firms were assigned (by the most upper staff who were largely male) to inferior and less lucrative accounts, which resulted in smaller returned earnings and commission. Brokers who have smaller returns are not offered the various amenities, such as bigger offices or a support staff, that could be necessary to attract the biggest accounts and grow within the company. Thus, this created a cycle in which female brokers were rarely given an opportunity to work with the biggest accounts that would earn them larger returns for their companies. In regards to the gender pay gap in which women’s earning are typically much less than the earnings of their male counterparts, the two social theories that are best linked to the issue are functionalism and the feminist theory.
Employers who engaged in unfair hiring practices attempted to justify making discriminatory hiring decisions for several reasons. Some employers believed women lacked the skills and qualifications necessary to perform nontraditional and higher-paid positions simply because of gender. Other employers who hired or promoted women into supervisory or management positions prevented those women from attaining higher-level roles, which is referred to as the "glass ceiling." The glass ceiling is a metaphor used to describe a barrier where the targeted group--in this case, women--can see the higher rungs on a career ladder but are prevented from attaining more responsible and influential positions due to discrimination based on sex and business decisions that convey the message that men are more suited to leadership roles. This is evidenced by a study in 2003 conducted by University of California-Hayward professor Dr. Richard Drogin who discovered "women make up 72 percent of Wal-Mart's total workforce, but only 33 percent of its managers."
For example, the median full-time salary for U.S. women is 77% of that of U.S. men. Several factors other than discrimination may contribute to this gap. On average, women are more likely than men to consider factors other than pay when looking for work, and may be less willing to travel or relocate. Thomas Sowell, in his book Knowledge and Decisions, claims that this difference is due to women not taking jobs due to marriage or pregnancy, but income studies show that that does not explain the entire difference. A U.S. Census's report stated that in US once other factors are accounted for there is still a difference in earnings between women and men.
They point out that: empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty. Equal pay for equal work is one of the areas where gender equality is rarely seen; all too often women are paid less than men for doing the same work. This is one of the reasons that the majority of the world’s poor are women: around 70 per cent of the people who live in extreme poverty, on less than one dollar a day, are girls and women. Suffrage, the right to vote, is another area of gender equality that still does not extend to all the women in the world. Saudi Arabia does not give women the right to vote; in the USA right wing commentators say that women should never have been given the right to vote.
Females with bachelor's degrees earned $35,408 in 2000, compared with $49,982 for males. To this point in my point of view, it is absurd that women are still being underpaid for similar jobs occupied by men. Women worked hard in this society just like any men and still it is difficult for them to reach or break the glass ceiling that bare them from the executive office. This issue is not only a United States issue; it is a worldwide issue where women are