SOURCE Undergraduate Research
- Isabelle Schmidt
- Apr 16, 2020
- 2 min read
In the spring of 2020 I was honored to be represented by Dr.Schulte from the Department of Mass Communications to present Why can't Women Win in Workforce? at the Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE). SOURCE is an annual, on-campus event in which Winthrop undergraduates from all disciplines can present or perform their scholarly and creative work. Students' projects may have originated from course assignments or from extracurricular scholarly or creative activities.
Abstract
Women in the U.S. on average earn 20% less than men. In order to close the gender wage gap, the public needs to be made aware of the startling statistics accounting for the gap, the root cause of the gap, and the path our collective society needs to take in closing the gap.
There are several underlying factors accounting for the gender wage gap including: Education, Occupational Selection, Marital and Family status, share of women in the workplace, and women’s duties outside the workplace. Over the past several decades, women have made great strides to overcome these underlying factors. For example, there has been a remarkable increase in the labor force participation rate of women and women have actually surpassed men in educational attainment, and yet the gap remains due to gender discrimination.
Pay Inequity is a symptom of deep-seated bias and social pressures. Gender bias presents itself in many ways including: stereotyping of children through colors and toys, cultural and media sexualization of women, traditional role of women as caretakers, societal pressure on women's’ occupational choice, and workplace bias that solidifies gender specific jobs.
The best approach to closing the wage gap is a two step path. One step is to end gender bias and stereotyping. The other step is to urge the public to enact stronger laws protecting women from wage discrimination. Stricter regulations need to be placed on companies, demanding them to be transparent with their pay practices. The more informed we are, the better chance we have in closing the wage gap.
Comments