Essay On Gender Equality In The Workplace

In the United States, women have been fighting for their equality since the beginning. First, it was the women’s suffrage movement that was catching everyone’s eye. Recently, the fight against the gender wage gap has come to many people’s attention and is finally making an

There are 3,418,059,380 women in the world (Geohive.com, 2015) and yet, women, in 2010, got paid a staggering 19% difference in wage on a universal standpoint (Economist, 2011). Such contributing factors as this (wage), has created an overwhelming notion of gender inequality leading to such things as segregation in the workforce across the globe. Ethos is universally known as the ethical appeal, convincing one of a person’s character (Courses.durhamtech.edu, 2015). The staggering numbers of economic contributions of women compared to men has however, highlighted that there are fewer women to men ratios in the workforce due to the where we live, maternal implications (pregnancies), upbringing and education.

As modern society has made clear, women have the ability to perform with equal skill and success in virtually every endeavor engaged in by men, including employment, athletics, academics and politics. Yet discrimination on the basis of sex has a long history in the United States, and its residual effects still operate to keep women's salaries lower and opportunities fewer in the employment

Research shows wage gaps are solely a product of the choices of the second party. Woman have chosen what level of education they wish to pursue, the fields they wish to be in, and where they work. When looking back at a censuses of the early-to-mid 1900’s the majority of working women worked at small enterprises rather than booming companies: large Firms pay at higher rates, their payout going predominantly to males of the working class (Rubenstien, Michael Harvey). When taken under the scope, large enterprises rejected woman workers, and if they did hire, the lady’s income would be significantly smaller. Consequently, companies would deny the reason being that they were of a different sex, and rather blame it on how little education the skill the person had, “Frequently, even when given raises, their new pay still comes short of that of their male coworkers.

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.

It is said that because of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the gender wage gap no longer exists. Studies today show that the gender wage gap is still very much alive. In the 6th edition of Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings written by Susan M. Shaw and Janet Lee, Shaw and Lee explain, “the gender wage gap is an index of the status of women’s earnings relative to men’s and is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by diving the median annual earnings for women by the median annual earnings for men” (Shaw and Lee 497). Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics in 2010 showed the ratio of women’s to men’s annual earnings were 77%. This means for every dollar a man made, a woman made 77 cents.

Did they win their fight, or are they fighting for no reason? Equal pay was always a struggle for women. When men and women in the same workplace got paid different amounts for the same amount of work it angered women. “The persistence of gender-based wage disparities — commonly referred to as the pay or wage gap — has been the subject of extensive debate and commentary.

Corning Glass Works v. Brennan Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, 417 U.S. 188 (1974) was a gender equality case brought before the Supreme Court on March 25, 1974 (Insidegov.com). It was based on whether or not Corning Glass Works violated the Equal Pay Act by paying its male night shift workers substantially higher wages than its female day shift workers. I found this case interesting because gender equality and the right to equal pay is still an important issue in the business world today. In recent years, the income disparity between men and women has gained more attention, causing researchers to study why it exists.

Shining some much-needed sunlight on the gender wage gap will make a difference for every one of us, men and women, right now.” (www.nytimes.com, 16). “It’s the twenty-first century, and the gender wage gap affects the daily life of women throughout the country, at every economic level, from cashier to CEO. Is it fair? No.

When the Equal Pay Act was signed, women were only making 59 cents for every dollar men were making (The Gender Pay Gap). Every year, especially around election time, new statistics are released asserting that despite considerable efforts to close the wage gap between women and men, it still exists. The latest reports state that women generally make 81 cents for every male’s dollar earned today, but the numbers that come out can sometimes be as low as 77 cents on the dollar (Taranto). Statistically, the general consensus is that the wage gap has gotten better, but it is still present. Though the wage gap has declined, the National Organization of Women reported that at the rate of decline that exists now, the wage gap would not close completely until 2058 in the United States (The Gender Pay Gap).

Gender Stratification in The Workplace Over the years, women have fought their way through the various barriers thrown at them by society, they are now more educated, matching male participation rates in the labour force and they are seen to create more opportunities for themselves in the workplace. Despite these achievements, gender stratification still exists in organizations and corporations in the 21st century; this paper seeks to analyze the numerous reasons why women remain underrepresented in leadership positions in the workplace and how this causes a trickle-down effect for other females in non-managerial positions. One of the major factors influencing the progress women experience in their career advancement stems from the deep cultural-infused gender stereotypes associated

The gender pay gap is a significant issue in the United States because it promotes institutional and internal sexism and the unfair treatment of human beings. An infamous statistic about the wage gap has been the 77 cent statistic, stating that for every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 77 cents. The statistic is calculated by, “...dividing the median earnings of full-time, year-round, working women by the median earnings of full-time, year-round, working men, all rounded to the nearest $100” (Glynn 2). This, however, represents males and females from all occupations, causing opponents to argue that, because it does not represent the gap between people who have the same job, a wage gap does not exist. Nonetheless, multiple studies have proven that a gender pay gap does exist within the United States.

Sexism: Got equality? Have you ever gone to the doctor and got a shot? How about used a car heater? Or even a dishwasher? Who invented these everyday items?

Small lies that we subconsciously tell ourselves mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, but if we tell ourselves small fibs on a regular bases over small and miniscule problems, what’s to stop us from saying bigger lies when bigger issues arise? One of the biggest issues, gender discrimination, must be abolished since women struggle with the gender pay gap, and unfair treatment in sports, while men struggle with the gender discrimination in divorce cases, mostimes leaving their gender as the main reason the mother receives custody over the child or children. Women may be able to participate in the same profession as men, but the large gap in pay between genders fails to attribute to the positives of said situation. The members of the Institute for Women 's Policy Research have used statistics over the past hundred years to conclude that: “Hispanic women will have to wait until 2233 and Black women will wait until 2124 for equal pay” (Pay Equity). The IWPR states that, “According to our research, if change continues at the same slow pace as it has done for the past fifty years, it will take 44 years—or until 2059—for women to finally reach pay parity.”

Gender Equality is the only way forward. What is gender equality? Gender equality is achieved when all genders enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision-making, and when the different behaviors, aspirations and needs of women and men are equally valued and favored.