Gender Equality in America and The Wage Gap

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to discuss gender inequality and some of the problems that women are facing in America, including the wage gap and the lack of family-friendly policies in the workplace that hinder how women choose their careers. There is also discussion of how our society can shift our thinking in order to make the responsibilities at home more equal and also change how women and mothers are viewed in the workplace. This issue needs attention because there is such a lack of understanding surrounding women and the workplace and light needs to be shed on the problems women and mothers are facing. Society must change their thinking in order to solve the problem of gender inequality for once and for all.

Gender Equality in America and The Wage Gap

Women have faced many challenges throughout history and gender inequality is one that women have been forced to deal with for many years. Women still have to deal with gender inequality even in the progressive world that we live in today. One has to ask why that is. What causes gender inequality and why are women struggling to occupy jobs that are high-paying and on the same professional career paths as men? Americans have generally shared the belief that men should be the breadwinners of the household, and although there have been more and more women who have broken this mold, women still have the primary responsibility of taking care of our children as well as the daily running of their households. In recent history women have made great progress in breaking that stereotype, pushing through the doors of the workplace only to face the new challenges that greet them. Women are under-represented in high-paying fields causing a significant wage gap while dealing with policies that will not allow them to thrive.

Zoe Savitsky, in her essay Inertia and Change: Findings of The Shriver Report and Next Steps, found that:

In just forty years, women have gone from being around one-third of the workforce to making up more than half. Nonetheless, to cite a paradigmatic example of how little has changed, women still only make seventy-seven cents to every dollar men earn, and the gender wage gap has barely narrowed in over a decade. (173) 

What can be done to change our nation’s thinking about women in the workplace to enable them to climb the ladder of success without being held back? Women are being asked to handle the majority of the household responsibilities and the care of their children. Despite those ample responsibilities, they must work without enough support from their spouses, the workplace and society. The more people can do to help women, the better use everyone can make of the varied talents in our society.  

The women of America are staring at a dilemma where the desire to pursue their dreams is being cut by a stark reality. There is no shortage of responsibility at home and the workplace is a cold environment where the challenges women face, by having to juggle their personal and professional lives, is simply not understood. Most women, consequently, follow their dreams only to the places where they know they will be welcome and hours might be flexible. This prevents them from finding the jobs that may be the most rewarding, pay the most, and require the most time commitment; therefore, America is not equally represented by both genders in the workplace. 

Although fifty-seven percent of college students are women (Marklein par. 1), according to Mary Ann Mason, they obtain an average of sixty percent of all college associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees (1). Women are graduating with degrees in fields that are low-paying, like education, nursing, or with degrees like art history that do not lend themselves to successful careers. They are continuing to be under represented in the highest-paying jobs, like law, medicine, science, engineering and mathematics because they are afraid to get degrees and go into fields that they fear will not be family-friendly, resulting in the choice of lower-paid jobs.  Savitsky explains further why many women are choosing this route:

Women enter “female” professions not merely because they are attracted to the material, but also because many of these workplaces, being predominately female, are more open to the flexible schedules and family-friendly structures that many women need.  Thus the gender wage gap is self-reinforcing: women continue to enter fields, professions, and workplaces that are responsive to their needs, but in doing so, they remain in jobs that pay less than their similarly situated, similarly educated male cohort. (182)

As education provides an avenue into the workplace, we are seeing an under representation of women in high-paying jobs primarily because women are looking for ways to balance work and family. Women have many responsibilities at home that often are not shared equally by their spouse. These basic responsibilities like cooking, cleaning, taking care of children, not to mention the many appointments and extra-curricular activities of families (Gilbert 12) which can take away from a woman’s energy. This over extension leads to excess stress and health problems if not properly shared. Women have to keep their many responsibilities in mind when looking for work and oftentimes find discrimination and a lack of toleration when requesting more flexible hours to deal with the many issues they might face.  Mary Ann Mason explains this in more detail when she states:      

One reason that women may be encouraged or even choose not to enter male-dominated   educational fields and occupations is that once female graduates enter the workforce, they     find inflexible workplace policies that can exacerbate gender inequalities (policies that   are often inflexible across the board, but may be exacerbated in male-dominated fields).  Knowing this, students choose jobs they perceive to be more family friendly. (2) 

            The family-friendly policies that most women feel would provide the best work experience are in-house or close to work day care providers, flexible hours and parental leave. For families where both parents work, in-house childcare can greatly reduce the anxiety that comes with their children spending forty hours a week alone under someone else’s supervision. To be able to check in on their children, and spend lunch hours with them, is something that today’s parents are seeking. Fifty-four percent of women, and forty-nine percent of men, believe that more flexible hours would contribute to a parent’s ability to balance their job (Mason 1).

The latest from the American people

Q: Which of these things, in particular, would need to change in order for working parents to balance evenly their job, their marriage, and their children?

Source: Better Educating Our New Breadwinners by Mary Ann Mason, The Shriver Report, 2009.

Businesses, like Microsoft, Ernst & Young, and Aflac are finding that integrating these policies into their workplace is translating into business success (Holland par. 1). If we ever hope to see more women in the workplace and the wage gap reduced, more companies will follow suit. 

We not only need to change workplace policies to better integrate the job market and reduce the wage gap, but there are other areas as well that need improvement. Among the most important improvement is changing the way young women view education and the possibility of becoming more than a low wage earner in life. Women need the self confidence to realize their potential and to know that they do not have to depend on a man to live a comfortable life. Women can have it all and the more our mothers teach our daughters and sons the possibilities, the more we will see the gender war come to a close. “Because mothers provide the primary female model for most children, those mothers who have higher education, and thus greater openness to feminist ideas, are more likely to pass on their gender-egalitarian ideals to their male and female children” (qtd. in Bolzendahl and Myers 766). By increasing women’s interest in high-paying fields like science, engineering and mathematics, we better prepare them to compete in the high-wage job market. According to Lisa Rowles, an Ivy League graduate and scientist who has thirty years in her field, her love of science came about because of her mother’s encouragement.  When she realized that she excelled in the field, doors opened up for her and she began a career that she feels truly validated by. When asked how women can take more notice in technology and science, she felt that women need to believe that they can excel in these fields and that society and their religious community will support them.   

By decreasing the wage gap, we would move our country forward into the future.  For that to happen, we need a paradigm shift of our entire society. The change starts at home, in the classroom and between the sexes by altering the mind set of young men and women. A revolution is needed to change the way men view the home and their roles inside it. No longer is it a woman’s job to work, and take care of the responsibility that a family entails. The men of younger generations are learning that the more they help out around the house, the happier their wives are, and the more self esteem and energy they have to be successful and give back to their families. No longer should men feel threatened by women in the workplace or view them in a negative light when they are trying to succeed in their job. Tara Dooley illustrates that, “Women who are competitive and assertive are often penalized for not being feminine or likable enough.  Those who are feminine are often deemed incompetent” (par. 27). No longer should an identical resume to another be passed up because of a person’s sex or family status. 

America needs to get more benefit from everyone in society, not just from one sex or one race. There are talented women across America that can strengthen the workplace. Research has shown that women high up on the corporate ladder have a positive effect on the company. As an example, Anna Quindlen reports that “Fortune 500 companies with the most women in top positions yielded, on average, a 35 percent higher return on equity than those with the fewest female corporate officers” (par. 7). This is a statistic that should not be surprising, but to many, it just is. 

The glass ceiling can be broken and gender equality is something that can be realized in our lifetime. Instead of competing with one another, the workplace should be a cooperative environment where women are free to add their talent to the company.  Fathers need to realize that supporting their wives with household responsibilities will only help their family.  Finding ways to work together to be a better example for our children is needed in order to have a truly healthy society. It will not only benefit women, but it will also help our children realize what the possibilities are. With more women and men deciding to be role models there will be more mothers and fathers leading a good example for their children who will ultimately follow in their footsteps. Women have made tremendous progress and it is time now for our nation to help write the ending to the struggle we have faced for so long.

Works Cited

     

            Bolzendahl, Catherine & Myers, Daniel.  “Feminist Attitudes and Support for Gender Equality; Opinion Change in Women and Men, 1974-1988.”  The University of North Carolina Press. (2004) 83(2): 759-790. EBSCO. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.

            Dooley, Tara. “Women in the Workplace The Road to Equality paved with Detours.  Perception        of gender roles, and children, can affect pay work. Houston Chronicle 6 September 2010: 1. ProQuest. Web. 18 Sept. 2010.

            Gilbert, Neil. “FAMILY LIFE: SOLD ON WORK.” Society 42.3 (2005):  12-17. Academic Search  Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Set. 2010.

            Holland, C.C. “Family-Friendly Policies from Family-Friendly Companies.” BNET.com (2007). Web. 18 Sept. 2010.

           Marklein, Mary Beth. “College gender gap widens; 57% are Women.” USA Today. (2005). Web. 19 Sept. 2010.

           Mason, Mary Ann. “Better Educating Our New Breadwinners.”  The Shriver Report. (2009): 1-13. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.

            Quindlen, Anna. “Everyday Equality.” Newsweek 148.13 (2006):  84. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 20 Sept. 2010.

            Savitsky, Zoe. "Inertia and Change: Findings of The Shriver Report and Next Steps." Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice 25.(2010): 172-198. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Sept. 2010.