Elizabeth Broderick said at the National Press Club that, “Gender equality is the unfinished business of the twenty first century”. This is a quote that accurately represents the issue of equality in the United States. Women gained the right to vote in 1920 after the 19th amendment was ratified due to countless women, such as Susan B. Anthony, fighting for that right. Women then started to enter the workforce (in greater numbers) during World War II when men went off to war. This is when we saw the first instances of men being paid more than women and men also being chosen over women for jobs, like when the men returned home from war.
Not much has changed since these times seeing that women are still paid less, men are still chosen over women, and there is still an issue of sexual harassment. But just like Susan B. Anthony, women are coming together to fight for equality and it can be seen all over the country, like the women’s marches and the #MeToo movement. The country isn’t necessarily seeing the changes it should, but everything takes time. The main issues women face with inequality in the workplace is the pay gap, men are favoured over women, and sexual harassment.
The pay gap is one of the most controversial and widely discussed issues of gender inequality in the workplace. Because of Sex uncovers that one city utility had women contribute 15 percent more of their pension fund than men (Thomas, 5). This was because women have a longer life expectancy than men. This is no longer happening, but there are still some unexpected differences in the way men and women are paid. Today on average, “women earn about 20 percent less than men” (Cowan). This is saying on average that women earn 80 cents to every man’s dollar. There are many studies showing that women are earning less than men. All of the studies surrounding the wage gap, are based off of men and women with the same jobs, same qualifications, and the only difference is their gender.
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The issue is that women are doing the exact same job as men. There is no difference in their work performance or their qualifications, so why are women being paid less than men? This is because there aren’t strong enough laws protecting women’s wages. California has the strongest laws for equal pay, but they are still only at 89 percent of what men earn (Miller). The laws surrounding the wage gap need to be federal, and not vary state to state. If women earn equal pay, it will be better for the economy with more money cycling through it. But with this, there are many people in the United States who don’t believe the wage gap is real.
The wage gap is by far the most controversial issue of inequality in the workplace. There are so many people who don’t believe that it exists or that it exists for a reason. Many naysayers believe that the pay gap simply doesn’t exists and women are just trying to earn more money than men. But time and time again the wage gap has been proven to be real. Almost every article written about the inequality of women in general has included studies that prove it does exists and women aren’t just trying to get ahead. One study even shows why they believe women are earning less than men stating, “Some labor analysts believe [that an] increased level of domestic responsibility is a factor when considering the gender gap in professional development” (“Working Women”).
They believe that since women spend more time doing “household tasks’’, it takes away time from them being able to advance in their career. But the same article disproves this by showing that this isn’t necessarily true for all working mothers, and that it certainly isn’t true for working women without children. There are also people in the United States who believe that the wage gap exists because women aren’t doing the same job as men or don’t have the same qualifications. But this has also been proven time and time again in these studies that they are using people with the same exact jobs and qualifications, (“Working Women”).
Another point in question is that men are favoured over women in the workplace. In one article, the author interviewed different women and asked them what they thought the biggest issue that women in the workplace face. One women answered “getting more women into senior leadership positions” (Ellis). She describes that men often have an easier time advancing in their careers than women, and she believes this could have in part to do with women having children. It’s believed in many fields of work that when a woman has a child, that she is no longer as serious about her job and doesn’t work as hard. In some cases, yes that may be true but it is unfair to put all working mothers into that category and assume they don’t want to move up in their job field.
Along the same line, “ Men still occupy the most powerful positions of leadership and women are still seen as the homemakers and mothers of the union.” (Khuzwayo). This is another article that just goes to show that women are just put on the back burner because they are believed to want to focus on just having a family, and not focus on their careers as well. CNBC even shows that “Of the CEOs who lead the companies that make up the 2018 Fortune 500 list… just 24 are women.” (Mejia). Women don’t even make up a fourth of the people running successful companies. Women just don’t have the same opportunity as men in their fields of work to be able to reach as high up positions as them.
One of the largest issue of inequality in the workplace is the sexual harassment women encounter in their jobs. This is an issue that has been discussed more recently than ever before to do the #MeToo movement. This movement is working to end sexual harassment in the workplace and well as expose those who are committing it. This movement was brought into the light thanks to celebrities coming forward and telling their stories of sexual harassment in Hollywood. These women, like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lawrence, Molly Ringwald and many many more, have given women who don’t work as “glamorous” jobs feel safe to come out and share their experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace.
One article shows that, “about half of all employed women in the United States will face sexual harassment in the workplace” (“Working Women”). The same article talks about how women are often too scared to report a coworker of sexual harassment in case they aren’t believed or they could be fired for causing issues and making a company lose revenue. A woman shouldn’t be afraid to come forward for violating them verbally or physically because they are afraid people will think she’s a liar or even lose her job over. The #MeToo movement is helping this not be as big of an issue, but it is still happening. Women may not feel safe or comfortable at their job after something like this happens, and a women shouldn’t have to switch jobs because of someone else making them feel this way.
The issue of inequality in the workplace for women has been around as long as time and continues to be an issue today. The largest issues in the workplace are the wage gap, men being favoured over women in the workplace and sexual harassment. A very large portion of the country does want to see a change, but women make up the majority of the people actually working to see a change but women, “don’t have a strong voice to challenge [the inequality]” (Khuzwayo). It’s hard for women to fight for a change in this issues because they want to be heard, but only other women are listening. Men need to help with this change because at this point in United States history, men are running the show. If men can agree to help fight the inequality for women, which there are some men helping, but not nearly enough, than as a country a change can be seen and women will one day feel and be as equal as men.
Bibliography
- Cowan, Benjamin, and Benjamin Schwab. ‘Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and the Gender Wage Gap.’ Journal of Health Economics, vol. 45, 2016, pp. 103-114. https://www-sciencedirect-com.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/science/article/pii/S0167629615001095. Accessed 2 Dec. 2018.
- Ellis, Sarah, et al. ‘Women in the Workplace: A Conversation.’ Women’s Policy Journal of Harvard, vol. 10, 2013, pp. 37-39. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.gate.lib.buff alo.edu/docview/1751997783?accountid=14169. Accessed 5 Nov. 2018.
- Khuzwayo, Zuziwe. ‘Separate space: an approach to addressing gender inequality in the workplace.’ Journal of International Women’s Studies, vol. 17, no. 4, 2016, p. 91+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/apps/doc/A4722662 24/AONE?u=sunybuff_main&sid=AONE&xid=b3e89349. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.
- Mejia, Zameena. ‘Just 24 Female Ceos Lead The Companies On The 2018 Fortune 500—Fewer Than Last Year.’ CNBC. N. p., 2018. Web. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/21/2018s-fort une-500-companies-have-just-24-female-ceos.html. 2 Dec. 2018.
- Miller, Kevin. ‘The Simple Truth About The Gender Pay Gap.’ AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881. N. p., 2018. Web. https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-th e-gender -pay-gap/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2018.
- Thomas, Gillian. Because of Sex: One Law, Ten Cases, and Fifty Years That Changed American Women’s Lives at Work. Picador, an Imprint of St. Martin’s Press, 2016.
- ‘Working Women.’ Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/PC3010999247/OVIC?u=sunybuff_main&sid=OVIC&xid=028c0fa6. Accessed 14 Nov. 2018.
