We have come a long way regarding gender disparities specifically concerning the wage gap, but the fights still not over yet!

As I have delved deep into the social justice issue of gender inequalities, specifically regarding the evident a pay gap between genders, which personally still baffles me. I am still shocked, that to this day, in the 21st century, women are still undergoing many inequalities, and something so simple, has to be made so very complicated just because of genders differences. Women should most definetly not be having to worry about being paid less then men simply because of gender.

So here is an interesting suggestion I stumbled across.......

Whilst we have uncovered the gender inequalities resulting in the wage gap on a larger scale, such as unequal education, it is evident that gender equity throughout the workplace is in fact having breakthroughs. The Australian Government has stated that:

If the current growth patterns continue we can expect to see equal representation of men and women in full time management roles in the following years:

Gender Equity Insights 2019: Breaking through the glass ceiling

On another positive note, regarding the bigger issue to why we see such a pay gap between genders is the initiatives to fight this discrimination and advocate the powers of educating girls through the organisation “School Girls Unite- education for all“. This organisation offers a scholarship program to young girls in need of education. Not only offering this opportunity, they also campaign for an improvement in the education system for young girls around the world and to put a stop to the denial of education for women. This in turn, can lead to the social justice issues of gender inequalities faced by girls being denied an education, which ultimately leads to some women not even getting a job or when they do, still having to face the unfair and unequal issues of the wage gap.

It is clear we are still seeing a large scale of inequalities amongst genders regarding the wage gap as previously discussed in earlier blog posts dealing with not only the wage gap but the denial of education that has contributed to this gap and the unequal roles at home of unpaid work, that are another aspect of women still being paid less than men.

Hence why it is so important to educate ad familiarise society on this problematic social justice issue. We need to stand by organisations like the previous mentioned, come up with ideas to put a stop to the wage gap and consequently make this importance aware to the ones in power, to make a change and make it fast.

References:

“Face the Facts: Gender Equality”, 20018, ‘Australian Human Rights Commission’

Mandel. H & Shalev. M, 2009, “How Welfare States Shape the Gender Pay Gap: A Theoretical and Comparative Analysis”, ‘Social Forces’, Vol 87, Issue 4, pp. 1873-1911

School Girls Unite accessed 30 April, 2019 https://schoolgirlsunite.org/about/

“Women belong in the kitchen”.

Think about how this statement makes you feel whether you are female or not. Are you outraged? Did you laugh? Or have you heard this statement many times before it honestly does not have an affect on you?

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That’s the stereotype we were are all aware of, no matter what century we are in.

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Yes, of course this issue is definitely not as negative as it has been in the previous years, but we still very clearly are undergoing a massive gender gap not only in the workplace between wages but especially at home and how the unpaid worked is distributed among genders. Women still continue to this day, to do more household labour then men (Sayer, 2005), and not only is it more common for the mother to stay at home and be the primary care giver for the children, nowadays it is very common for the women to go back to the workforce and face pay gap inequalities whilst taking care of all of the unpaid work at home.

The gender inequality at home is now associated with poorer health for women (Eek, et al. 2014) due to the increased amount of workload they have to do in their day to day lives that is impacting their health negatively. As it is more common for the male to go out and work and the women to stay home, it is difficult to argue that the “traditional” gender roles are phasing out. However, more and more women are now going out to work in the workforce and yet are still having to do all the unpaid work at home for their families.

This is why we see the gender gap still persisting in our society today.  These alarming facts are conveying just how unequal gender equity is at home and as some may think gender inequality has come so far among society, but has it really? Are men and women equal?

References:

Eek. F, & Axmon. A, 2014, “Gender inequality at home is associated with poorer health for women”, ‘Scandanavian Journal of public Health’, Sage Journals, Accessed 30th April, 2019https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1403494814562598 

Sayer. L, 2005, “Gender, Time and inequality: trends in Womens and Mens paid work, unpaid work and free time“, ‘Social Forces’, Vol. 84, Issue 1, pg. 285-303

 

 

 

 

 

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The wage gap between genders, began in the early 1900’s as women were banned from working certain jobs (Rea, 2016). But even now, to this day, after such rules like this have now changed. Women are still being restricted from of employment in a decent job as they are still being deprived of education, in certain regions of the world, which have caused them to resort to jobs that pay less (Rea, 2016).

The recognitive justice that arises from hierarchical ways in which cultural value is accorded to individuals and groups (Week 5 Lecture, 2019), such as gender is still evident in today’s broader society through gender inequality. Gender gaps in education contribute to the gender gaps within employment. This considerably reduces the economic growth of the country, whilst hindering the disadvantaged to live an equal life.

The combined “costs” of education and employment gaps in the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia amount respectively to 0.9–1.7 and 0.1–1.6 percentage point differences in growth compared to East Asia (Klasen, et al. 2009, pp. 110). These gender gaps in education affect female employment in countries such as the middle east, North Africa and South Asia, leading to an increasing effect on economic growth.Source: https://annmichaelsen.com/2017/03/12/teaching-gender-inequality-and-the-lack-of-education-in-developing-countries/

In the next blog post I will be focusing and elaborating more on why this is still a social justice issue in today’s society. An issue that should have been dealt with, and many are not aware that it hasn’t been dealt with, many years ago. It is appalling that we are still facing gender inequalities as a whole, but still to this day women are still treated like they do not deserve the right to be paid equally, with no real reason at all.

References:

Keevers. L, Week 5 lecture, “Social Just Approaches”, University of Wollongong, viewed April 2019

Klasen. S, & Lamanna. F, 2009, “The impact of gender Inequality in Education and Employment on Economic Growth: New Evidence for a Panel of Countries”, ‘Feminist Economics’, Vol. 15, Issue 3: Inequality, Development, and Growth, pp. 91-132Fraser,

Fraser. N, & Honneth, A. (2003). Redistribution or Recognition? A political- philosophical exchange. London: Verso

Rea. I, 2016, “Filling in the (pay) Gap”, ‘The Eagle Eye The student news site of Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, California’ accessed April 2^nd, 2019 https://smchseagleeye.com/3550/opinion/filling-in-the-pay-gap/

 

How would you feel if your work colleague was getting paid more than you, for doing the exact same job?

It wouldn’t be a great feeling, right? Would you want this to change but no one can understand why your even thinking twice about it? For no apparent reason, in some industries, this is just the way it is.

Earnings between men and women are conceptualised due to the different locations they are stereotyped into among the social class hierarchy. Society classes men and women into different class positions influencing the wage gap between genders, whilst regulating class inequality (Mandel, et al, 2009).

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So why is this issue so widely accepted by some but others are being outraged?

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Nevertheless, women still earn about 20% less than men at the median (Antonczyk, et al, 2010). For low skilled women it is intensely evident that the wage gap exists. Similarly,  educated women working in industries of science and engineering are still experiencing the unequal pay between genders, discrimination, and funding disparities. According to the US National Science Foundation, women earn about half the doctorates in science and engineering in the United States but comprise only 21% of full science professors and 5% of full engineering professors (Shen, 2013).

Data source: National Science Foundation http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/append/c5/at05-17.pdf

The wage gap between genders, in certain industries, is still an extreme social justice issue in today’s society. So, next time you hear in the news that a women is quitting her job because she believes she deserves equal pay and is not receiving this, stop, and have a think about how this could effect you if you were in this position.

Let’s contribute together to help close this gender inequality wage gap once and for all.

References

Atonczyk. D, Fitzenberfer. B, Sommerfeild. K, 2010, “Rising wage inequality, the decline of collective bargaining and the gender wage gap”, ‘Labour Economics’, Vol 17, Issue 5, pp. 835-847

Mandel. H & Shalev. M, 2009, “How Welfare States Shape the Gender Pay Gap: A Theoretical and Comparative Analysis”, ‘Social Forces’, Vol 87, Issue 4, pp. 1873-1911

Shen. H, 2013, “Inequality quantified: Mind the gender gap”, ‘Nature: International weekly journal of science’, viewed on 21^st of March, 2019: https://www.nature.com/news/inequality-quantified-mind-the-gender-gap-1.12550