Though it has continually received more and more
attention the gender pay gap still demands needed attention. Verified and published through Census Bureau
is the eye opening fact that for each dollar earned by men, women earn just 79
cents, a fact extending from entry level to elite occupations. While a
presently growing shift seems to exist in the focus from gender to sexual
rights, the issue remains one requiring immense attention. New York Times contributing writer Thoka Maer
suggested several solutions to diminish this remaining gap, the most notable of
these solutions being Maer’s proposal to publish the pay of all employees. A
concept otherwise known as wage transparency, the underlying idea is that the
mere presentation of inequality creates awareness, hence creating a healthy
friction. A jarring statistic within the article stated that 51.5 percent of
men asked for more money whereas just 12 percent of women did. Well this seems as if it could point to a
problem perpetuated by women, this stands as a misconception as women are
actually penalized for negotiating, according to the article. With this
problem, the proposed solution was to ban workplace pay negotiation altogether.
While this may seem to be absurd, the inequality not only in pay but also in
negotiation needs to be rearranged in some dramatic fashion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/17/upshot/how-to-bridge-that-stubborn-pay-gap.html?ref=economy&_r=1
This is a very intriguing topic. In previous research, I found that some reasons why the pay gap exists are that women often hold jobs that require lower education levels (thus, typically lower paying) and that women usually need to take more leave than men due to childcare and maternity leave. In order to diminish the pay gap, women can be encouraged to receive higher education levels by making it more affordable. Further, programs can be made to ease the burden of childcare for women.
ReplyDeleteIn the 21st century, this should not even be a topic. I don't know how this is still happening when men and women have equal rights. It is interesting how about 50% of men ask for more money and only 12% of women ask for more money. I would think that might have something to do with different wage prices for men and women, but if it's true that women are penalized for negotiating, then I'm not sure why this still happens
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that any wage gap is unacceptable, I am with Hope in saying that it is not caused by discrimination on a firm to firm level. In the January 7th freakonomics podcast, they delve into the issue and found that the major factors in the wage gap do not include discrimination. The Harvard economist that they interviewed cited facts such as, when you hold all other factors apart from price constant, wages are very close. Additionally, the finding that men are better negotiators than women is not backed with substantial evidence. If that was the case, men would have much higher starting salaries but the starting level wages in comparable fields is moderately equal between men and women. Instead of focussing on wage transparency in firms, I would suggest beginning to work on the socialization of children from a young age and making the public perception of child raising a male and female shared responsibility. Finally, I would also work on giving female students more opportunities to enter fields such as finance and natural sciences, given that these are historically the highest paying fields and men typically make up a larger share of these jobs, which makes average price per hour wages look higher for men than women.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that any wage gap is unacceptable, I am with Hope in saying that it is not caused by discrimination on a firm to firm level. In the January 7th freakonomics podcast, they delve into the issue and found that the major factors in the wage gap do not include discrimination. The Harvard economist that they interviewed cited facts such as, when you hold all other factors apart from price constant, wages are very close. Additionally, the finding that men are better negotiators than women is not backed with substantial evidence. If that was the case, men would have much higher starting salaries but the starting level wages in comparable fields is moderately equal between men and women. Instead of focussing on wage transparency in firms, I would suggest beginning to work on the socialization of children from a young age and making the public perception of child raising a male and female shared responsibility. Finally, I would also work on giving female students more opportunities to enter fields such as finance and natural sciences, given that these are historically the highest paying fields and men typically make up a larger share of these jobs, which makes average price per hour wages look higher for men than women.
ReplyDeleteWage gaps should not depend on gender but rather on the level of risk and skills that are associated with a certain job. There has been a lot of research and studies on the growing wage gap between men and women but i feel as time goes on this gap will slowly keep reducing. This is because in todays society women are accepted as equal counter parts to men as compared to previous decades and with time this acceptance will keep on growing.
ReplyDeleteI find this article very surprising and interesting as it seems that in today's world women are viewed as equals, however the pay gap suggests otherwise. As some of the above comments mentioned, I think the large pay gap may be a result of women holding jobs that require lower levels of education. However according to the article there are laws being created in California, because the problem existed where a woman who has the same job as a man often earned less. In addition to creating laws, some of the other solutions mentioned in the article seemed a little far-fetched, such as banning wage negotiation, while others such as paid parental leave seemed more plausible.
ReplyDeleteI find this article very surprising and interesting as it seems that in today's world women are viewed as equals, however the pay gap suggests otherwise. As some of the above comments mentioned, I think the large pay gap may be a result of women holding jobs that require lower levels of education. However according to the article there are laws being created in California, because the problem existed where a woman who has the same job as a man often earned less. In addition to creating laws, some of the other solutions mentioned in the article seemed a little far-fetched, such as banning wage negotiation, while others such as paid parental leave seemed more plausible.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that we are making strides toward bettering the inequality of the wage gap between men and women, I don't agree with banning negotiation of wages. I think that we need to teach women how to negotiate for higher pay rather than ban negotiation. Also I think that constricted gender roles in our culture come in the play in these types of situations. It might be viewed as aggressive for a women to ask for a higher wage or a promotion, which is why so many don't.
ReplyDeleteTransparency through publishing wages could bring much needed awareness to the pay gap. However, it could also create rivalry in the workplace that has the potential to hurt productivity and workplace relations. Awareness is crucial, but I am not sure that publishing wages is the best way to bring that about.
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