ECONOMIC INEQUALITY 1

Economic Inequality: The Wage Gap

Professor Davis

St. Petersburg College

28 April 2020

Madison Mistarz
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Abstract

The wage gap between men and women in America is a very pressing issue. It has been going on

for decades despite numerous attempts to eliminate it. In the last several years, millions of

women have joined the workforce and made large gains in their educational attainment. ​Gender

pay gaps within occupations persist, even after accounting for years of experience, hours worked,

and education. Pay should be based on qualifications and education, not gender. Requiring pay to

be based on qualifications and education as well as encouraging women to stand up for fairness

could go a long way in the fight for inequality.

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Economic Inequality: The Wage Gap

A very large problem in today’s society is the gender wage gap. Annually, women only

make about 77% of what men do. This is a huge issue because women are being discriminated

against in the workplace. ​Women are not inferior workers, so why are they being treated like

them? A frighteningly large portion of employers hold biases against women, simply because of

the sexist culture in which they live. People frequently joke about women not being adequate to

men. This causes a lot of problems not only for educated working women, but young girls

looking ahead to their future. If the rate of pay or salary for all positions was determined before

employers began their interview process gender would not play a part in any discrepancies in pay

for a given position. If all decisions in the workplace were strictly based on qualifications it

would make for a much more fair work environment. (Blau and Kahn, 2007)

Making pay based on qualifications and having a set salary for a position before

beginning the interview process would eliminate that wage gap. It would prevent employers from

paying women less than men. Oftentimes, caregiving and family responsibilities tend to fall on

women, or at least the bias is that they do. According to estimates slightly more than 10 percent

of the wage gap is due to women spending less time in the workforce than men, most often due

to family care. Setting a fair wage across the board despite gender would also make up for that.

Family care should never affect a person’s wage.

People should also never be afraid to discuss pay with coworkers. This could be vital in

helping to curb the wage gap. If a woman in an office found out her male coworker working the
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same position with the same education as her made more money than her, she could bring that up

to her employer. Women should be encouraged to discuss those topics or even report employers

that are paying women less. “Lack of accurate salary data creates a major barrier both to leaders

seeking to address inequities and to females as they negotiate” (Rotenstein, 2019, para. 4).

Discussing pay at work could add more salary data and try to make up for the economic

disparity.

Another solution would be to create a petition to have a full review of gender gap analysis to

ensure there's no current discrimination occurring. Companies should be required to formally

state job requirements and point values for each job qualification prior to the interview process.

A petition could go a long way in helping to even pass laws prohibiting unequal pay. It could get

a lot more congressional recognition and go a long way towards fixing this inequality. This could

lead to women all over the country teaming up to fight for equality.

In conclusion, the gender pay gap is unfair and unjust. Women are not being

compensated equally to men for equal work. Women are not inferior to men, therefore they

should not be paid as if they are. It is very important to hire people based on their qualifications

and education. There would not be any pay discrepancies if employers were to set a salary before

they begin interviewing candidates. By everyone doing their part and being committed to the

fairness of equal pay maybe one day, the gap can be eliminated for good.
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References

Schieder, J., & Gould, E. (2014). "Women's work" and the Gender Pay Gap: How

Discrimination, Societal Norms, and Other Forces Affect Women's Occupational Choices

and their Pay. Retrieved from ​epi.org

Glynn, S. J., Fisher, M., & Baxter, E. (n.d.). 7 Actions that Could Shrink the Gender Wage

Gap. Retrieved from ​americanprogress.org

US Census Bureau. (2019). Equal Pay Day: April 2, 2019. Retrieved from ​census.gov