Gender in the Workforce

PRESENTED BY CELENE FULLER

Yeah, but hasn’t the gender wage gap decreased

since then? More women work now than ever

before!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6LUg-siJVs

Let’s see:

In 2010, women comprised 47% of the workforce.

Still, isn’t this “wage gap” just a myth?

http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/17/fox-uses-debate-question-to-obscure-gender-wage/190716

AAUW found that one year after college graduation (2009), men already earn more than women.

What about the colleges they attend?

What about the grades they earned?

What about choice of major?

Choice of major, however, shows gender differences

Female graduates from 2007-2008 tended to major in healthcare fields, social sciences, and education whereas fewer women than men graduated in engineering and information and computer science fields, math

Both genders were present in business. Still, dominated by men (27% of men compared to 19% of women majored in business)

Why do women choose majors that pay less than male-dominated majors?Women and men have different pressures and expectations.

As we learned, the socialization process of schools leads to gender differences in achievement and goals.

Other Factors?Occupation?

Number of hours worked?

Economic sector?

Overall, observable factors such as education, occupation, hours worked, age, race, sex, marital status, number of children, etc. only explain about ___of the wage gap!

Besides having different pay, women and men have different ranks in corporate and government jobs. The higher you go, the fewer women and minorities you will see.

This “glass ceiling” confronting women and racial/ethnic minorities is a global phenomenon. On the other hand, men in female-dominated professions often “ride the glass escalator” as tokens.

So what’s going on here?

Sex, Gender, and Life Chances

This has led to a situation called the feminization of poverty, which is ____________________, due in part to:• the gendered gap in wages,

• the higher proportion of single mothers compared to single fathers,

• and the increasing cost of childcare.

Arlie Hochschild, a sociologist and professor at UC Berkley, coined the term “emotional labor” in 1983 to describe jobs in which certain emotions are required.

Emotional labor is defined as ___________________________________________________.

Emotional Labor

Jobs such as flight attendants, teachers, health care workers, and other service jobs require thanking the customer, smiling, greeting, and control of emotions.

Emotional labor tends to be more demanding in female-dominated careers, as opposed to male-dominated careers.

Emotional Labor

Emotion Work

Hochschild also coined the term emotion work to describe ________________________________________.

Emotion WorkWomen are expected to show certain emotions that reflect nurturing and compassion, while men are expected not to show these emotions at all.

Second Shift

The second shift describes the phenomenon of the late 20th century in which women _____________________________________________.

Motherhood Wage PenaltyStudies have shown that women who have children are more likely to be penalized in terms of wages.

Some recent studies have shown as much as a 5% wage penalty per child for women. Employers see mothers as less competent and less committed to work than childless employees.

Research also shows that men tend to benefit from parenthood and are seen as more competent and responsible.

Gendered Division of Household Labor

The unpaid work of women is estimated be worth about $138,095 a year for stay-at-home mothers and $85,876 annually for employed women.

Despite the obvious importance of this unpaid work, it is often invisible.

Household chores for boys and girls

Girls are more likely than boys to do laundry, wash the dishes, clean the house, care for younger children and other emotion work.

Boys are more likely than girls to take out the trash and do yardwork.

Where do we go from here?According to Society for Human Resource Management, women who gain more experience in a job before having children incur a less severe motherhood wage penalty.

Additionally, mothers who return to the same employer after temporarily leaving the workforce may preserve social networks and on-the-job skills.

The 1963 Equal Pay Act was enacted to attempt to bridge the gender wage gap by requiring equal pay for equal work.

In 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. This resets the statute of limitations of each discriminatory paycheck, allowing workers to file discrimination claims for earlier paychecks.

Where do we go from here?