Discrimination in the workplace and the wage gap

Is equal pay amongst genders a reality in America today? Many Americans believe that the wage gap is a myth created among Feminists to spark controversy in the workplace, arguing that statistics supporting the wage gap continually forget to factor in significant details such as careers, hours worked, and education. However, according to the Census Bureau and the United States Department of Labor, women on average earn approximately 79% of men’s earnings (2014) with factors like education, labor force participation, gender segregation, and women’s unpaid work all contributing to this difference.

Education:

In the past, a major contribution to the wage gap was a women's’ lower level of education, or lack thereof. In 1975, the share of women in labor forces 25 years or older with a college degree was 14% according to to United States Department of Labor. Similarly, women went to college at a much lower rate than men, hindering their ability to acquire high-paying jobs or earn as much as their male colleagues with college degrees. With this data on education it would be easy to assume that simply encouraging more women to pursue a higher education would solve the wage gap issue. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women with college degrees have increased from 14% (1975) to 41% (2015); and over these 40 years women have exceeded men in graduating college. So how come the gender wage gap is still evident if women have surpassed men in obtaining college degrees? Factors such as women’s labor force participation and gender segregation across occupations play significant roles in the wage gap controversy and further contribute to women’s lower earnings.

Women’s Labor Force Participation and Gender Segregation across Occupations:

Since 1975 women’s labor force participation has increased from 46.3% to 56.7%, yet the gender wage gap is still apparent today. With women’s increasing participation in the workforce, one would assume that the wage gap would be minimal and that America would be making more progress towards equal pay between men and women. However, even though women are participating more in the workforce, little improvement has been made towards closing the wage gap. Gender segregation across occupations has also contributed to wage differences between men and women. To this day women still remain underrepresented in many occupations, especially high-paying jobs, and are still paid less than their male counterparts. For example, according to the United States Department of Labor, women make up one in three chief executives and just over one in six software developers. In addition to this, women who are surgeons, on average, earn 71% of what men earn while food preparers earn an astonishing 87% of what men earn, according to Harvard economist, Claudia Goldin. By encouraging women to pursue male-dominated occupations, we can help increase the diversity of sexes across occupations and work towards bridging the wage gap.

Women’s unpaid work:

In addition to working as a part of the labor force, women are more likely to spend time performing unpaid household and caregiving responsibilities than men, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. These additional responsibilities may hinder women's’ abilities to work long hours or affect the careers they hold. Without adequate support in the workplace, women may struggle with balancing these additional duties and their jobs which may further impede their ability to earn as much as their male counterparts. In 2015, only 12% of private industry workers had access to paid family leave and only 10% received child care assistance from their employer (U.S. Department of Labor). By offering support to women, such as family leave and child care support, workplaces can help women pursue the careers and work the hours they desire without these additional duties hindering their ability to do so.

Solutions:

So how can employers work to bridge this gap? The solutions are simple: publish worker’s wages and encourage women to negotiate their own wages. Studies show that salary transparency in the workplace tends to decrease the gap between men and women’s wages. The British Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) found that “disclosure results in higher wages for workers after adjusting for profit and productivity levels and a range of other workplace and worker characteristics”. In addition to this, Alexandre Mas, an economist at Princeton, studied the impact of a 2010 California Law that required cities to disclose salaries. She found that this law resulted mainly in men’s wages being cut, most likely to avoid lawsuits or discourage women from attempting to negotiate their own salaries. Negotiation is also a key contributor to the wage gap. According to statistics from Carnegie Mellon University, women are one-quarter less likely than men to negotiate their wages with 51.5% of men and 12.5% of women asking for raises. They also found that when women did negotiate their wages they tended to earn 30% less than what men requested. A solution proposed by a researcher from the University was to teach women negotiation techniques and change corporate practices so that women have advocates during negotiations. Another way employers can minimize the wage gap is by building a more flexible workplace. The wage gap is most evident in occupations with the least flexible hours and locations. Flexible schedules would make work for mothers much easier and would allow them to still invest in their career as well as their children. Most importantly, the United States Government can help bridge the wage gap through the creation of  Federal Laws regarding equal pay between genders. The Paycheck Fairness Act is a proposed Federal legislation that would require companies to “report pay data to the government, give grants for negotiation training, and make class-action lawsuits easier”. Unfortunately, this legislation is stalled in Congress. However, by using these various solutions, employers can work to help bridge the gender pay gap and make progress towards ending discrimination in the workplace.