Sexism in the workplace

Sexism in the Workplace

Working Women and Men

60% of women in the work force; 75% work full-time

Factors that have changed the U.S. labor force◦Decline of farming◦Growth of cities◦Shrinking family size◦Rising divorce rate

Gender and Occupations

U.S. Department of Labor

◦High concentration of women in two types of jobs

Administrative work (“pink-collar jobs”) Service work (food, child care, and health care)

◦Men dominate most other job categories

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Gender and Occupations

Women are kept out of certain jobs by defining some kinds of work as “masculine”

Fewer women higher in the corporate world

Gender, Income, and Wealth

Women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men

Differences are greater among older workers

◦Older working women have typically have less education and seniority

• Reasons for the gender pay gap

Tracking in education Women are more likely to work at types of jobs

that pay less. Women professionals, such as physicians, work

fewer hours than men in same profession. Above factors account for about half the pay gap Other half may be attributed to pure gender

discrimination

• The Fuller-Schoenberger Study

Women had to have higher qualifications than men in order to be offered lower salaries!


What are the reasons given as to why women earn less than men?

◦Still think of less-important jobs as “women’s work”

Supporters of gender equality◦Propose a policy of “comparable worth”


Second cause of gender-based income inequality

◦Society’s view of family

◦U.S. culture gives more of the responsibility of parenting to women

◦Pregnancy and raising small children keep many young women out of the labor force

Continued

Choices women make in workplace have an effect on how much they’re paid◦Women choose positions that offer flexibility

rather than high salary◦Avoid extensive overtime or business travel

because of home responsibilities◦Tend to take breaks in work careers due to

maternity leave or child-rearing duties

Continued

2007 Cornell University study◦Mothers are penalized in the workplace◦Perceived by employers as less competent and

offered lower starting salaries than equally qualified childless women

◦Men aren’t similarly penalized for being parents

Housework: Women’s “Second Shift”

How does housework present a cultural contradiction in the U.S.?◦Essential for family life◦Little rewards for doing it

In U.S. and around the world◦Care of home and children are “women’s work”

Housework: Women’s “Second Shift”

Labor force reduced the amount of housework, but the share done by women remains the same

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Third factor is discrimination against women◦Because it is illegal, it is practiced in subtle

ways◦Glass ceiling prevents many women from rising

above middle management


Why do many people think women own most of the country’s wealth?

◦Perhaps because they typically outlive men

Government statistics say differently◦57% of people with assets of $1.5 million or

more are men◦Forbes: 10% of the richest people in the U.S.

are women