The Gender Pay Gap in the United States: A Literature Review The following four question will endeavor to shed some light into what seems to be the root problem and what is the 1. 2. 3. 4. What is the gender pay gap? Where does the United States stand concerning the gender pay gap? What impedes equal pay between genders? May 06, · Literature Review: Equal Pay for Equal Work. Lea, R. (, January 7). Women make different choices. That’s not bias; Britain doesn’t need ‘golden skirts’. They are bad for business and bad for equality. The London Times, p. Passant, J. (, January 10). Women Must Spoil for a Fight to Win Equal Pay. The Canberra Times, p. AEstimated Reading Time: 5 mins Key findings of the literature review 1. The gender pay gap refers to the difference between men’s pay and women’s pay as a percentage of men’s pay. If the gender pay gap is 15% then women, on average, earn 15% less than men. Gender pay gaps can be either positive or negative, with a negative gender pay gap indicating that
Literature Review of Essay | Gender Wage Gap: Equal Work for Equal Pay
The Gender Pay Gap in the United States: A Literature Review Sandra Contreras University of Texas at El Paso. A pay gap exists between two employees of different genders who are equally qualified and capable of doing the same work with one of them earning considerably more than the other, this is a form of discrimination towards women in the workforce.
By utilizing a variety of scholarly articles as well as personal communication and examining different scenarios concentrated specifically in the United States, the issue that is defined as the gender pay gap is better understood as many of its contributing factors are brought into the light and analyzed.
The findings revealed that there are two main contributing factors attributed to the gender pay gap: the explained and the unexplained. The first of the two is attributed to factors such as education, qualification and experience.
Leaving the unexplained factors to be seen as plain discrimination, as all other things taken into consideration they are not able to successfully summarize and provide an accurate explanation of the wage difference between genders. The gender pay gap is an extremely important issue that does not receive the attention that it is due. By not truly acknowledging the real issue, discrimination against women in the workplace continues. Throughout the years many have tried to excuse and justify the problem by claiming that factors such as education and work experience explain the pay difference between genders.
The closing of the pay gap has been a lengthy and slow process; efforts have been made, such as the Equal Pay Act of and the Paycheck Fairness Act. These acts have proven unsuccessful as women gender pay gap a literature review only earn 79 cents for every dollar earned by a man. There is an abundance of controversy surrounding this topic, it is talked about but there seems to be no real progress towards the settlement and conclusion of this issue.
The government must take initiative, as the civilian population cannot deal with this enormous problem on its own. The four following questions will endeavor to clarify what seems to be the root problem and what is or who are to be party responsible for its continuous grip in society. What is the gender pay gap? Where does the United States stand concerning the gender pay gap?
What impedes equal pay between genders? Should the government do more to end the gender pay gap once and for all? These four questions will help narrow the vast subject that is the pay gap by specifically focusing in the United Sates and how the women of this country are affected by it. This is a form of discrimination which takes place in the work environment as employers deliberately pay an employee less than a fellow co-worker with the same qualifications, in the same line of work. Consequently, this can influence the discriminated employees possibility towards earning raises and promotions.
Gender gender pay gap a literature review in salary have existed throughout history in all occupations, including social work and related human services professions.
Despite the salience of salaries to the professional workforce, gender pay gap a literature review, wages have remained stagnant Gibelman, As can be seen in Figure 1, there has been little increase to no increase over the course of the years; presently women earn 79 cents on the dollar. The unexplained differences in pay between genders is a violation of human rights, considering that men and women are equal before the law.
Women cannot be classified as second class citizens, we as women are being deprived of our inalienable rights; everyone is created equal Sandra Cohen, personal communication, July 5, Figure 1: Graph showing the slow diminishment of the pay gap over the course of 56 years.
Womens Pay Compared to Mens From to As mentioned in the article Statistical Analysis for Determining Pay Discrimination by Leutwiler, the gender pay gap is due to the domestic responsibilities that are perceived by society as being exclusively done by women and sex-typing, which is men going into male- oriented jobs while women should go into female-oriented jobs. Stereotypes, particularly negative ones and discrimination are clear indicators that the gender pay gap is indeed a real issue, this can be further confirmed by the countless lawsuits that are filed on a daily basis due to discrimination in the workplace.
The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission EEOC investigates and will take action accordingly. To prove discriminatory practices, a pay gap must exist between two individuals with identical qualifications Leutwiler, There are two portions that comprise the pay gap: the explained and the unexplained. The explained portion will include factors such as education and job qualifications, while the unexplained is for the most part some form of discrimination.
A recent study by the American Bar Association revealed that, despite surging numbers of female lawyers, bias against women remains entrenched in the legal profession and results in steep inequities of pay, gender pay gap a literature review, promotion, and opportunity Gibelman, In comparison to other countries such as Australia, the United States falls short, the progressive thinking of this nation has allowed it to significantly lessen it but to gender pay gap a literature review completely close the pay gap; whereas the United States cannot seem to do so.
As seen in Figure 1 the diminishment of the pay gap over the course of 56 years has been a slow process, as the gap has only closed. As a modernized country with high standards of living, political and economical stability, the United States is classified as a first world country. Gender pay gap a literature review holds significant meaning in this society in terms of the value and worth assigned to professionals and to the holders of professional positions Gibelman, But even the most advance countries have issues that they cannot seem have to control over, this being the pay gap.
In the article entitled Acknowledging Discrimination as a Key to the Gender Pay Gap by Hilary M. Lips, there is a lack of awareness of the gap. This is due in part to what Lips refers to as system-justification beliefs; attempts towards the validation of the gender pay gap by attributing it mainly to the choices individuals make, while down-playing the role of discrimination.
Currently there is no country in the world listed by the World Economic Forum where females earn more than 82 cents earned by males for similar work. There is an apparent dilemma but, to address the problem, there first has to be an acceptance that the problem itself exists.
There is an issue with the previous statement, that being that nothing can be done to remedy the problem is those who are being affected or bare witness to it, shield themselves from the wrongdoings by attempting to find vindications because they do not want to stand out from those around this as this could affect the image perceived of them by their peers; they want to stay with the status quo. A large body of evidence suggest that people do not like to acknowledge that they are the either the perpetrators or victims of injustice, and that they create justifications to explain disparate outcomes Lips Further unfairness is face by women as a study of gender inequality conducted on Wall Street showed that women are viewed as future mothers, this plus the rigorous hours worked per week have proven incompatible with family life, thus women are often depicted as not being dedicated to their.
Consequently, they are often unnoticed and are given fewer promotions if they do have children as their attention is not solely focused in their work but divided with family responsibilities.
This shows that society punishes women for starting families as they do not meet societies expectations and do not conform to the set stereotypes and thus they earn less money and are given fewer opportunities. Lips This gender pay gap is wide-ranging, from top female CEOs earning less than their male counterparts to single mothers being much more likely to live in poverty than single fathers.
Additionally, many fields also are still segregated by sex, with the few fields where women dominate tending to offer lower pay Molla, The rationalization by many for this is situated with the career and job choices made by gender pay gap a literature review typically, women will go for the jobs that are often associated as being exclusively for women, which usually offer less pay and thus are not sough out out by men.
Gender pay gap a literature review in the case a man does take one of said jobs, such as a social worker, he will still earn considerably more than his female co-workers. Gibelman, The pay gap has indeed become smaller throughout the years and discrimination along with it, but there are still many impediments that must be conquered and demolished in order for women to receive gender pay gap a literature review treatment and pay in the workplace.
Stereotyping and socially assigned roles contribute to the problem as men often hold jobs such as lawyers, doctors and engineers, these gender pay gap a literature review seen as male dominated fields where as women are expected to go into more feminine fields such as becoming teachers, secretaries or stay at home mothers. Outside the United States in countries such as Japan, well defined gender roles generate an extreme example of occupational sex-typing, resulting in a consistently underpaid female population Leutwiler, Gender pay gap a literature review United States must learn from countries such as Australia, gender pay gap a literature review, where there has been a.
The United States is the leader in many sectors and industries worldwide. These amongst other factors rank the United States as a world power. The country prides itself with its many accomplishments, but despite the nations numerous achievements, there is something that this world leader and power cannot seem to attain: closing the gender pay gap and ensuring equal pay between genders.
Figure 2: US economy in comparison to other world leaders. Source: Perlberg, S. Stereotypes play an enormous role in this, as particular jobs are viewed to be only for women as they are having fewer earnings and are traditionally performed by women, men refuse, gender pay gap a literature review. Social psychology has long produced theory and research that point to a human tendency to resist uncomfortable information and justify the status quo.
Lips Stephanie Cholensky states in her article The Gender Pay Gap: NO MORE EXUCES! that part of the problem as viewed by social feminists is the patriarchal conditions of society. Countries with greater gender equality tend to have smaller pay gap as well as less wealth inequality overall, gender pay gap a literature review. The gender pay gap a literature review pay gap indicated that we are far from an egalitarian society and that there is a lot of work to be done Cholensky Two factors try to explain the gender pay gap: human capital and structural factors.
Human capital refers to factors such as capability, education, and experience; these are concerning what a person can contribute to the workplace, known as supply-side variables. Structural factors refer to things such as work-related responsibilities, field and sector in which the person works, also known as demand-side factors.
When all of this factors are taken into account, they do amount to a certain percent of wage discrepancies but there is still no clear explanation for the pay gap. Part of the gender pay gap appears liked to differential employment of women within job sectors, sometimes referred to as job segregation Travis, gender pay gap a literature review, There is an acknowledgment of this issue and thus there is an effort by gender pay gap a literature review companies within the high paying sector such as science, that try to bring talented women into these types of fields.
During the last decades, women have surpassed men in overall rates of college graduation and have almost reached parity with men in rates of earning doctoral and professional degrees. In addition, levels of sex segregation have declined, and women have increased their representation in maledominated occupations, particularly in managerial and high-status professional occupations Mandel, Cultural and social barriers impede progress but ultimately who decides if this.
The civilian population alone cannot end the gender pay gap, the government must aid its citizens. Although it has tried on countless occasions to establish a state of equality, all three branches of government have failed to bring about the change desired by many.
The pay gap is a tremendous intransigent social problem that has proven difficult, if not impossible to surmount, gender pay gap a literature review. Presidents such as Kennedy and Johnson have issued executive orders attempting to stop discrimination not only concerning gender but race and color as well. Equal pay legislation was first introduced through the Equal Pay Act of as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Travis, This was a worthy effort for its time, but every law has its loopholes and escape clauses; take for instance the Equal Pay Act ofalthough it states that equal pay must be received for equal work, an employer can pay a male employee more for any other reason except that being on the gender of the employee.
This can be given many interpretations, one of such reasons for unequal pay could be the female employee has a family and thus she is perceived by as less serious by her employer who is less dedicated to her work and career as she must divide her attention between her workplace responsibilities and family related responsibilities. Lips, gender pay gap a literature review, The Paycheck Fairness Act of if it had gained Senate approval gender pay gap a literature review have required employers to present sensible reasons other than, men will not accept the job due to the low salary thus women are given the job.
The judicial branch has contributed its fair share towards the diminishment of discrimination; in the Supreme Court case of Reed v. Reed, the court nullified a law in the state of Idaho that gave favorable treatment and first choice to men when it came between genders and the qualifications towards the management of estates, the ruling prohibited discrimination based on sex as it is arbitrary and unconstitutional. Conclusion Discrimination comes in many forms, gender pay gap a literature review, one of those being unequal pay between competent individuals.
The gender pay gap is a social problem that must be addressed accordingly, as this is affecting women women all over the United States and around the world. Currently, there is no country in the world that does not base employee wages on gender. There are those that justify this problem by bringing in factors such as education and job experience that should explain the difference received by genders in their pay, but these do not provide the necessary proof.
Even through the passing of different laws, the government has failed to close the gap; these laws have not been implemented properly and thus the problem continues. This problem must be solved, if not today, then sometime in the near future as it is a discriminatory practice towards women worldwide. The Gender Pay Gap: NO MORE EXCUSES!. Gibelman, M. So How Far Have We Come? Pestilent and Persistent Gender Gap in Pay. Social Work, 48 1
Oprah: Hollywood gender pay gap conversation has hit critical moment
, time: 6:52Literature Review-The Gender Pay Gap Final | PDF | Gender Pay Gap | Equal Pay For Equal Work
May 06, · Literature Review: Equal Pay for Equal Work. Lea, R. (, January 7). Women make different choices. That’s not bias; Britain doesn’t need ‘golden skirts’. They are bad for business and bad for equality. The London Times, p. Passant, J. (, January 10). Women Must Spoil for a Fight to Win Equal Pay. The Canberra Times, p. AEstimated Reading Time: 5 mins Key findings of the literature review 1. The gender pay gap refers to the difference between men’s pay and women’s pay as a percentage of men’s pay. If the gender pay gap is 15% then women, on average, earn 15% less than men. Gender pay gaps can be either positive or negative, with a negative gender pay gap indicating that The Gender Pay Gap in the United States: A Literature Review The following four question will endeavor to shed some light into what seems to be the root problem and what is the 1. 2. 3. 4. What is the gender pay gap? Where does the United States stand concerning the gender pay gap? What impedes equal pay between genders?
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