Analysis: The Gender Wage Gap Is A Myth

This essay expresses the opinion of Tara Siegel Bernard on behalf of the existence of the gender pay gap and focuses on it being a primary issue in the workplaces of major companies. The essay goes on to discuss how our society expects women and men to both behave in particular ways and how that idea has contributed to the ever present pay gap, such as how “. . . the imbalance often traces back to women being hired at a lower salary than their male peers” and “. . . women are less inclined to ask for raises. . .” Pointing out the possible reasons for the gender pay gap helps to establish the need for companies and our country’s leaders to find solutions.

Sometimes, women are not given the chance to make more money because employers think that men are stronger, smarter, or more experienced or skilled (Gender Differences 84). This obviously means that women do not get a fair chance to get higher paying jobs in some cases. However, women know how to fight and try to make things right. An example of this is in the article “Understanding the ‘‘Family Gap’’ in Pay for Women with Children”. Jane Waldfogel states that if women had “not increased their investments in education and experience, the gender pay gap would have widened in the 1980s simply due to the changes in the overall wage structure” (140).

Lastly, take risk as another factor. Majority of the workers in nearly all the most dangerous occupations, such as iron workers and loggers, are male, and 92 percent of work-related deaths in 2012 were to men. Males are also more likely to pursue occupations where compensation is risky from year to year, such as finance and law. Research shows that average pay in such jobs is higher to compensate for the risk. Therefore, due to the fact that women and men do different type of jobs and work different hours, the gap in wage is not related to gender discrimination and feminism is again proven to be irrelevant

The gender pay gap has been a very controversial topic for a long time. Abby Hayes talks about this topic in her article, “Gender Pay Gap - Statistics, Trends, Reasons and Solutions”. Abby Hayes is a journalist who writes about personal finance, health, and wellness, she also has a B.A. in English Literature from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Through her article she explains the gender pay gap, the difference in pay of women and men, and how women can solve the difference so that they can get equal pay. Hayes uses research and statistics to give reason to her examples and what she says about the gender pay gap.

Although the author is correct about a gender wage gap existing in America, he/she is only partially right due to misleading data, the fact that men work

Paragraphs will be ordered in terms of topic, rhetoric analysis, evidence, collaboration between results to embody my argument and to provide contributing factors and there effect on a universal standpoint to the ethos of women (religion, maternal implications, upbringing, geographic location). A contributing factor leading to gender inequality and segregation in the workforce is geographic location. This refers to the general identification and location of individuals and or data (Jones, 2015) and no matter where you are based in the world, there will always be gender inequality and segregation in the workforce. Pay gaps across such a place as the America, has seen a difference of 77% between men and women in pay. This means that women get roughly 77cents per dollar less than the average white man across the country (Casserly, 2015).

The gender wage gap is outrageous. That gap is still significantly large in America, despite efforts that have been going on for decades to eliminate it. Women simply receive substantially less than men in this country. They are being discriminated against, and there is so much evidence to prove this. We cannot let them dismiss the evidence any longer.

“Forty percent of the wage gap can’t be explained by occupation, work experience, race, or union membership,” “That’s not true. Something can explain it all. Also, another reason why it doesn’t exist is that women choose lower-paying jobs. If they didn’t want to be paid less, they should have chosen a higher-paying job.” Matthew reasoned.

This is the gender wage gap that started almost half a century ago since women advocated for going into the workforce where women earned 55 cents of every dollar a man makes. Decades later and the wage gap has only narrowed by a small margin. When considering women’s wages and it effect on them, it is in the best interests of women and their families to close the gender wage gap and raise women's wages. On average women who work full time make 78

Analysis of “The Gender Pay Gap Is a Myth” In the article “The Gender Pay Gap Is a Myth”, Steve Tobak expresses his opinion on the difference in pay between males and females. The gap in pay between men and women has been a reoccurring controversy through many decades. While some say that women are generally paid at a lower scale than men, there are others that believe that this is a myth. Published on May 3, 2013 by Fox Business, throughout this article the Tobak explains his reasoning as to why he believes that the gender pay gap is a myth.

Gender equality: the pinnacle concept that American society is not-so desperately trying to achieve. Many Americans have convinced themselves that gender equality was remedied by the Nineteenth Amendment and the Second Feminist Movement, and have not considered the thousands of steps that are left on the journey. In recent years, a matter of public interest has been the gender wage gap, stating that women are earning significantly less money than men for doing an equivalent amount of work. Critics of the effort to “break the glass ceiling” claim that a pay gap does not exist, and that if it does, it is because women either do not work as hard, have to tend to their families, or hold lower paying jobs. However, the gender pay gap has been proven to exist in a variety of different forms,

The fallacy of faulty statistics is defined as,” A small number of dramatic and vivid events are taken to outweigh a significant amount of statistical evidence”, in other words the entirety of the wage gaps argument shows only the final statistic, that women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, and not the legitimate reason for why it prevails. The Bureau of Labor Statistics published a statement stating that a man will make 23 cents more than a woman for every dollar, but what it doesn’t leave out is the major hole most feminist leave open, why it exists. There are 7 major reasons for why women get payed less than men for the same job: job choice, college major choice, working hours, job stress, job location, vacation time, and starting a family. One of many reasons is a person’s job choice, out of the top 10 highest paying majors in college, women are only the majority in one of the 10, being pharmacy science, while out of the top 10 lowest paying college

The gender wage gap can be explained by the statistic; the female-to-male wage ratio of 2010 was 77% (Ferris & Stein, 2014 pg 255). This means that in 2010, the average female made 23% less in yearly earnings compared to men. Ethnicity can also be included to explain the wage gap. This can be explained by the statistic; Asian males make the most money compared to all other racial groups (Median, 2012). The symbolic interactionism view on gender can be explained as “Gender is learned through the process of socialization; gender inequalities are reproduced through interactions with family, peers, schools, and the media” (Ferris & Stein, 2014 pg 247).

Annotated Bibliography Quast, L. (2015, November 22). The Gender Pay Gap Issue Is Fixable -- But May Require Bolder Actions To Overcome. Retrieved from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2015/11/22/the-gender-pay-gap-issue-is-fixable-but-may-require-bolder-actions-to-overcome/2/ It is reported by the Economic Policy Institute that although women had made tremendous records entering into workforce and gain great successes in education, but their wage is 83% comparing to men. The world forum also released a report in 2015 that women now make as much as men earned a decade ago.

In his article, Mark Perry, the professor of economics and finance, argues if the gender wage gap is caused by discrimination. In his opinion, simply claim that women are paid less due to discrimination is “fundamentally misleading” and “economically illogical.” There are more factors that affects this issue. In addition to the physical differences between men and women, different hours of work, importance degree of children, and occupational selections also influence different earnings.