Compare and contrast Colombia with another country regarding equal pay/the glass ceiling.
Part I: Research
Research another country and fill out the table comparing the data with Colombia.
Country 1 (differences) 2
Canada
- “Women workers in Canada
earned an average of 76.8
cents for every dollar earned
by men in 2019.”
- The Pay Equity Act requires
employers to ensure men and
women receive “equal pay for
work of equal value.” The
Employment Equity Act
requires that employers
remove barriers to the
workplace for women,
Indigenous people, members
of racialized groups, and
people with disabilities.
Part II: Outline
A compare and contrast essay usually has the following organizational structure:
Both (similarities) 2
- Map: “Guarantees equal
pay for work of equal value.”
Colombia (differences) 2
- Colombia has a
constitutional
mandate for
guaranteeing equal
treatment and pay
by protecting
against unequal
treatment based on
gender, race,
nationality, religion,
opinion or political
affiliation.
- To comply with the
regulation, every
employer should
follow the legal
remuneration
assessment factors
when bargaining
about salary with
their employees and
keep employee
records with specific
information such as
job position, gender,
duties, remuneration
and type of
agreement or
contract.
 1. Introduction
2. Similarities between the two topics
3. Difference 1
4. Difference 2
5. Difference 3
6. Conclusion

Take your research from the chart above and organize it into an outline.

Part III: First Draft

Write your first draft below here. Try to use as much of the grammar we’ve learned so far
(conditionals, reported speech, passive voice).

Part IV: Final Draft

Meghan will add comments and suggestions after you’re done writing your first draft. Then you
can finalize your essay. ☺

ESSAY

Pay equity is a human right, if you do the same work, in the same way, for the same time that

your partners; you deserve the same payment without discrimination. But the reality is there is a

gender pay gap in a lot of countries, on different scales. I'm going to talk about two countries in

America: Canada and Colombia.

Although geographically this countries are very separate, both share some factors in common

about pay gap:

Still there are traditional gender roles ideas about which jobs are for men and women. Women's

work usually is related to care (children, the elderly, the sick, domestic work) which is

undervalued because society thinks women should do it and perform for free.
Another factor is the kind of contract, women earn less than men because the majority of them

work part-time, due they still carry the majority of domestic responsibilities (care the children,

clean the house, cook, etc…) This makes women being absent from work or have more

interruption, which affects them from getting opportunities for promotions and salary increases.

However Canada is more developed in equal pay than Colombia, since 2018 Canada

implemented the The Pay Transparency Act which would require that all public job postings

include a salary rate or range, additionally, employers with 100 or more employees would be

required to track and report pay data, including any gender pay gaps within the organization

Another big difference between both countries is that in Canada exist Employment Equity Act

requires that employers remove barriers to the workplace for women, Indigenous people,

members of racialized groups, and people with disabilities. In Colombia there is a similar law but

not so solid.

Each country has their own advantages but it is necessary to get a pay equity not just for

women’s wellness but also the country 's economic development. It’s a task for governments

and employers to build this reality.