Gender Inequalities in the Workplace

How does gender inequality affect women in the workplace? Is everything fair, or is it still true that men make more. Well that is true women make about 23 cents less per dollar that every white man earns. The difference in pay becomes even worse for women of different ethnicities. Even with having more education than most men women still suffer when it comes to getting promotions and pay raises. Education wise, women receive 57% of bachelor’s degrees, 60% of master's degrees, and 51% of doctorate degrees. In fact, women make up only 4% of the c-suites in fortune 500 companies and only hold 19% of the seats in congress.

Well, with the knowledge of this we must ask why is this so? Well there are many factors adding into this, such as women tend to be more involved in household events and caregiving responsibilities, as well as they tend to be given less opportunities of promotions when compared of a man of similar stature. Even starting at entry level positions men are 30% more likely to be promoted to management roles.

The workforce is slowly starting to change and become more equal for men and women. In 1979 women only made about 62% as much as men. Now though, women make about 77% of what their counterparts make. This is a rate of steady improvement and it is projected that by 2059 women will be making the same amount as men. Here is a fact for you to chew on, if women were to make the same as men the poverty rate would be cut by more than half for working women and their families and about $513 Billion would be added to the national economy.

These facts are worrisome to me, as I am planning on going into the business field, with goals of being a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a company within corporate America, but the statistics and how they are improving give me hope. That one day both men and women will be treated fairly and that they will be paid equally. I hope that we will reach these standings within my working career, but if not mine I hope that the gender of my children will not affect their life goals.

Signing out,
Liz Liber

References:

Anderson, Julie, et al. “Pay Equity & Discrimination.” Institute for Women's Policy Research, Institute for Women's Policy Research, iwpr.org/issue/employment-education-economic-change/pay-equity-discrimination/.

Graphics, WSJ. “How Men and Women See the Workplace Differently.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 15 Aug. 2016, graphics.wsj.com/how-men-and-women-see-the-workplace-differently/.

Gould, Sonam Sheth and Skye. “5 Charts Show How Much More Men Make than Women.”Business Insider, Business Insider, 8 Mar. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-pay-gap-charts-2017-3/#women-with-children-are-penalized-while-men-with-children-are-rewarded-4.

Hirby, J. “What Is Gender Inequality In The Workplace?” The Law Dictionary, The Law Dictionary, thelawdictionary.org/article/what-is-gender-inequality-in-the-workplace/.

Rollert, Josh Paul, and George Wendt. “Gender Inequality and Women in the Workplace.” Harvard Summer School, Harvard Summer School, 13 Apr. 2017, www.summer.harvard.edu/inside-summer/gender-inequality-women-workplace.

|, Clea Simon. “The Costs of Inequality: For Women, Progress until They Get near Power.”Harvard Gazette, 7 Mar. 2016, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/03/the-costs-of-inequality-for-women-progress-until-they-get-near-power/.

“ILO.” Gender Inequality and Women in the US Labor Force, International Labour Organization, 23 Nov. 2011, www.ilo.org/washington/areas/gender-equality-in-the-workplace/WCMS_159496/lang--en/index.htm.