Running Head: Gender Wage Gap 1

Gender Wage Gap: A Research Report

Evelyn Fernandez
University of Texas at El Paso
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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:

1) How is the gender wage gap determined?

2) Is the gender wage gap a myth?
3) What is being done to reduce the gender wage gap?

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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How is the gender wage gap determined?

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

representation of annual income of all full-time men and women by occupations.

Figure 1: Median earnings of full-time, year-round, male and female workers in the past

12 months by occupations.
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Source: The United States Census Bureau. (2017). Retrieved from

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.

Failure to negotiate salaries contribute to the gender wage gap.

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

be successful in the workplace.

Is the gender wage gap a myth?

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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What is being done to decrease the gender wage gap?

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

the past decades.

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

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOS) , prohibits sex-based wage discrimination

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

discriminate against an individual in respect to compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of

employment. This means that an employer cannot deny women transfers, promotions, or wage

increases; manipulate job evaluations to reduce womens pay; or segregate, employees or

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applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of

employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, (1964).

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.

These laws have made a major impact in discrimination however unfortunately, it is

difficult to determine that the gender wage gap has shrunk because of this alone because

measuring discrimination itself is difficult.

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

went out for the money.

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.

Furthermore, women have begun seeking top leadership positions. It is a common

misconception that women do not crave power as much as men do. However, most women

nowadays aspire higher leadership positions within their organizations.

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

will be hard to move towards justice.

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

In this book, Bose provides information on prestige, income, and education in

gender segregated jobs. She also discusses gender roles and womens stereotypes
in the matter. I believe this book will help me when I analyze the history of the
gender gap as I may discuss the reasons women choose certain jobs. A career
choice is one of the factors non-believers of the wage gap assume to be of
importance on determining wage gaps; therefore analyzing the reason behind it
will be useful.
Fisanick, C. (2008). The Wage Gap. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press

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:

In this hearing, provided by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and

Pension, various senators, professors and the committee examines the bureau of
labor statistics which provides a full picture of the gender wage gap, the reason
behind the gap and the impact it has on women and families alike. They also
examine the effectiveness of current laws and proposed solutions. I chose this
document since it is as credible as it can get. Information gathered from this
hearing, although a bit outdated, can be useful when in need of government laws
and opinions.

Vo, T. The Huffington Post (2014). Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/what-is-the-wage-gap-costing-
you-every-day_b_5108147.html

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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United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2017). Retrieved from

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/index.cfm
This website contains laws passed regarding sex discrimination in the work place
including the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These laws
helped in the decrease of discrimination of women and therefore are of help in
my research report.