Gender Wage Gap: A Research Report Evelyn Fernandez University of Texas at El Paso
Gender Wage Gap: A Research Report Evelyn Fernandez University of Texas at El Paso
Gender Wage Gap: A Research Report Evelyn Fernandez University of Texas at El Paso
Abstract
One of todays most controversial issues is the gender wage gap. The gender wage gap is a
percentage that determines the annual salaries of full time men and women across the United
States. This gap has persisted over the past few decades and is yet another issue in todays
world. The purpose of this research report is to help the reader fully understand the meaning of
the gender wage gap and what the factors that determine this are.
Introduction
The wage gap between men and women has been a widely-disputed issue for the past few
decades. A wage gap is difference in percentage of the median annual earnings between a
working American male and female. Although the average earning of woman is calculated to be
about 80 percent as much as men in the United States it fails to acknowledge a few factors. There
is a debate to whether this gap is real or not and what causes it. The purpose of this research
report is to conclude whether or not the gender wage gap is real and determine the real causes
behind it. To do so one must take into consideration the following questions:
These questions will narrow the purpose of the research report by providing information
from a variety of sources that will help the reader understand the measuring of the wage gap,
the factors that contribute to this gap, and the solutions made to solve the issue.
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The national wage gap between men and women is calculated by examining the average
hourly salaries of full time employees using data from places such as the Current Population
Surveys or Decennial Census from the United States Census Bureau. According the most recent
survey data dated March 17, 2017, shown in Figure 1 below, women across all occupations, from
child care workers to pharmacists, earn significantly less than men do. The data does not take
into account factors such as education, race, experience, and significant life choices and is only a
Figure 1: Median earnings of full-time, year-round, male and female workers in the past
12 months by occupations.
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https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/2016/comm/cb16-
tps68_graphic_womens_earnings.jpg
People that believe the wage gap exists point out the main factor to be sex discrimination.
According to the U. S. Department of Labor, the glass ceiling is an artificial barrier based on
attitudinal or organizational bias that prevents qualified individuals from advancing upward in
their organization into management-level positions, (1991). Believers in this glass ceiling point
out that women are more likely to be disregarded for promotions and salary raises. It is also
pointed out that women tend to be less valued because of biased sexuality, that is, women who
dress provocative are taken less serious than those who do not dress provocative. Furthermore,
women who tend to act more feminine are also not taken as serious as women who act more
mature or manly. Such stereotypes and biases discredit female capabilities and is the reason
people believe this glass ceiling remains as the main contributor for the gender wage gap.
In opposition of the glass ceiling, non-believers argue that sex-discrimination has nothing
to do with this persisting wage gap. Main factors in favor of this argument include home
responsibilities, women turning away from leadership occupations, and failure to negotiate
salaries. Home responsibilities like child caring leads women to leave work to care for their
children. This leave is not paid for therefore directly contributing to a decrease in salary.
Although not all women have children, those who do will contribute to the average salaries
calculated in the gap. In addition, all careers that are female dominated are not stem fields, that
is, they are not the highest paid careers. These career options for women are not the best and
qualify as a contributor to the wage differences. Finally, people who negotiate salaries, regardless
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of gender, are paid 7 to 8 percent more than those who do not negotiate at all. According to a
study done by Linda Babcock, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, only 12
percent of women negotiated their salary while 52 percent of men negotiated their salary.
Today, women are more financially independent and have more liberty in choosing career
options. Understanding the wage gap and whether the glass ceiling exists or not is important to
The most controversial question in this literary research is whether he wage gap is a myth
or not. The following is an observation made that may help answer this question.
According to the information obtained, there is in fact a gender wage gap although it is
not due to the glass ceiling mentioned previously. This is based on results gathered throughout
the process of this research report that conclude the reason the wage gap has reduced is because
of women taking action. Although discrimination was an issue and may continue to be, it is
difficult to say it is the sole reason for the gap. This is because laws were passed and it is illegal
to discriminate people based on sex and gender in the work place. Even though discrimination
decreased in the workplace the gender wage gap remained significantly large up until women
increased their participation in stem field positions such as business, medicine, and engineering.
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The rate in which the gender wage gap has decreased in the past decades has been
carefully studied and researched to come up with possible explanations. Laws banning
discrimination against women in the work force, increased participation of women in education,
as well as pursuing more profitable occupations can account for increase in womens wages in
To explain the phenomenon of the narrowing of the gender wage gap, one must keep in
mind the changes in gender role biases and discrimination. Differences in pay between men and
women were largely due to discrimination and although it is not completely gone, laws enforcing
equal pay benefited women in a wide scale. To help this issue, the United States passed the Equal
Pay Act of 1963. The law, signed by former president John F. Kennedy and enforced by the
between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially
equal skill, effort and responsibility under similar working conditions. (1963). This law became
the first attempt by the United States to reduce the issue of discrimination in the work place.
A year after the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Congress passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 signed into law by former president Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. This law. This
law attacks sex discrimination more broadly and is therefore illegal for an employer to
employment. This means that an employer cannot deny women transfers, promotions, or wage
applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of
Other laws after this were passed including the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
signed by former president Barack Obama, which allows employees to file lawsuits regarding
equal pay for up to 180 days after a discriminatory paycheck extending the time period for filing
complaints.
difficult to determine that the gender wage gap has shrunk because of this alone because
This leads us to the next step in the decrease of the gender wage gap, which is the
participation of women in education and their pursuing of more profitable occupations. Before
the 1980s, most women were expected to stay at home meanwhile men were the sole
breadwinners. Biases and stereotypes like these have held women back from pursuing jobs and
opted for the safer choice of staying at home tending to homely responsibilities meanwhile men
Although women were more likely to finish high school than men, they were less likely
to go to college and graduate ( Blau and Kahn, 2007) Moreover, men would tend to study fields
such as engineering, law, business, and medicine which lead to a more profitable career. These
differences have decreased in the past decades and now women total over half of college students
in most U.S. schools and have increased their participation in stem fields along with men.
According to a study performed by Harvard professors, Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz
and Princeton professor Ilyana Kuziemko, American women born after 1960 began completing
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college at higher rates than men and during the 1970s women entered professional graduate
programs and went onto professional careers in record numbers. This is an extraordinary step for
women.
misconception that women do not crave power as much as men do. However, most women
When women continue their careers and step into highly profitable positions they are
more likely to raise average wages. Without a vision of higher education and profitable careers it
Conclusion
The gender wage gap is real and has decreased over the past few decades. Discrimination
laws have been passed and women are striving for higher career opportunities. It can be
concluded that the phenomenon that is gender wage gap continues to be a rich field of research
not only to understand the previous efforts to narrow the gap but also to understand the
persistence of the gap today. Hopefully, women feel encouraged to keep on fighting to diminish
the gap so that in the next ten years, there will no longer be such thing.
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References
Blau, F. D., Kahn L. M. The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women Gone as Far as They Can?
(2007). Retrieved from
https://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/_media/pdf/key_issues/gender_research
.pdf
In this article, authors Blau and Kahn discuss possible factors that contribute to
the gender wage gap such as education and working skills. I believe this to be
useful in my paper for it contains information that will help me thoroughly
develop the information that pertains to the decrease of the gap.
Bose, C. E. (1985). Jobs and Gender: A Study of Occupational Prestige. New York, NY:
Praeger Publishers
This book talks about some of the most prominent topics regarding the gender
wage gap. These issues include: the narrowing of the wage gap, actions to narrow
the wage gap, what is causing the wage gap, wage gap between the races, and
education as a key to wage gap. The book also provides two sides on each issue
which allows us to see the issues with two different perspectives. I believe this
information is of major use when working on my research paper for it provides
opposing viewpoints on major factors of the wage gap.
National Partership for Women and Families. (2016). Fair Pay. Retrieved from
http://www.nationalpartnership.org/issues/fairness/fair-pay.html
This website provides a wide range of information and statistics on the issue of
gender wage gap gathered from a variety of sources. The issues discussed are
discrimination, choices, and effects on women and families. As an organization, it
brings awareness to this issue and suggests solutions for the matter. This website
will allow me to gather statistics for a more precise numbers when working on my
research paper.
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Raised Right. (2015, May 31). Milo Yiannopoulos On: The Gender Wage Gap. [video
file]. Retrived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iqhBGQZmxM
In this video, British public speaker and media personality gives his opinions on
the gender wage gap. He strongly believes the gap to be unreal and proceeds to
explain why. The reason I chose this video is because Yiannopoulos is prominent
among the media and is praised by many republicans and males. With this video,
I will be able to provide a counter argument on the issue as necessary for my
research.
Sommers, C. H. [PragerU]. (2014, September 22). The Myth of the Gender Wage Gap.
[video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oqyrflOQFc
In this video, Sommers explains why the gender wage gap is a myth. This video is
completely stating the gender wage gap is not true. She provides graphics to
differentiate men and womens earnings of equal jobs. I believe this video is a
great source for a counter point of view on the issue. It gives me a different
perspective and even makes me question the credibility of previous sources which
I believe to be important.
United States Senate. (2008).Gender-Based Wage Discrimination: Hearing of the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Washington, DC:
This article mainly discusses the effects of the gender wage gap on men and
women alike. The author tells you what the wage gap approximately equals in
terms of money and the difference it makes in lifestyles between men and
women. The author also discusses how the wage gap affects women of color more
so than white women. At last, there are suggestions on what to do about the
gender wage gap. This information comes in handy when picturing the way
womens lives are affected as I will be discussing this in my paper.
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