CSP - SOC 320, Module 7-1, Final Projet - Equal Pay for Women PDF

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Running Head: FINAL PROJECT – EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN Module 7-1 Final Project – Equal Pay for Women Christine Priller Sociology 320, Section Q2372

Dr. Duncan September 10, 2021 Southern New Hampshire University

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Module 7-2 – Final Project – Equal Pay for Women Introduction A.

A Brief Overview of the Issue The gender issue I have chosen for my final paper is Equal Pay for Women. Gender bias

in general and the gender income gap in particular, play a large role in the economic inequality women face in our society. The role of women in the home as well as in the workplace has changed significantly over the years. More women than ever before work outside of the home choose careers over family and occupy jobs that were formerly male-dominated. Perceptions about women’s abilities, however, create disadvantages for women in the workplace, resulting in gender discrimination and pay inequality. The role changes of women in our society demand policy changes to address equality for women in general and equal pay for women in particular. To achieve these policy changes, women will benefit greatly from public support of social advocacy groups. B.

Focus and Goal of the Social Advocacy Group UN Women The focus of the social advocacy group UN Women is the elimination of gender

discrimination and closing the gender pay gap, which will empower half of the world’s population by improving the current and future socio-economic situation of women and contribute to the social and economic stability of communities and the nation. One of the goals of the social advocacy group UN Women is to close the gender pay gap and achieve equality for women. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon (UN Women, 2014) states “where men and women have equal rights, societies prosper. (…) Equality for women is progress for all” (para 36, 37). To support the claims of UN Secretary-General, we will look closely at research regarding gender equality and the status of women in society.

FINAL PROJECT -EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN C.

Evidence Used to Analyze the Issue Credible and relevant evidence is critical to support the position of UN Women regarding

the importance of achieving pay equality for women. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposal of 1923 was aimed at providing women with equal rights protected by the U.S. constitution (Murphy, 2018), but the ERA has not been ratified in all states, and women remain subject to discrimination in the workplace (Sbrocchi, 2019). Throughout history, women have stepped up during times of war to fill the jobs of the men who went to war and successfully demonstrated that they are capable of more than domestic labor (Lindsey, 2016). However, to this day, women are paid less than men who perform the same work (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2019). Gender discrimination and institutional bias hold women back from reaching their full potential and achieving financial security. According to The Institute for Policy Research (2018) “women represent only 5 percent of CEOs at Fortune 500 firms” (para 2), which suggests that women are still underrepresented in positions of power. Eliminating gender discrimination and closing the gender pay gap is more important than ever in our increasingly global society. Policy changes to provide women with equal opportunities and equal pay would greatly improve the social and economic stability of our nation. D.

The Theory That Helps Analyze the Gender Pay Gap How can the gender pay gap be explained, one might ask? The conflict theory may be

applied to analyze the issue of pay inequality between men and women. The conflict theory views the social world as conflicting interest groups of varying status and power, which easily translates into the traditional American family as well as the workplace. The patriarchal family structure of our society gives the husband control over the family and considers the wife as inferior to the husband without any rights. Stereotypical beliefs that men are superior to women

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FINAL PROJECT -EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN is evident in the workforce as well. Most organizations are controlled by men and women are viewed as inferior to men. While the face of the workplace is changing rapidly, discrimination of women in the workplace, the gender pay gap, and the lack of women in positions of power support the conflict theory in action. The conflict theory is further supported by the proposal of the ERA, which aims to eliminate the conflicting power structure between men and women and provide women with the same rights men already enjoy. E.

Position Statement of UN Women The position of the social advocacy group UN Women is that equal pay for women is a

key element for social justice in our society. Pay equality will empower women and secure the economic and social stability of all nations. Analysis A.

The Link between UN Women’s Position and its Goal Social justice, as well as social, economic, cultural and environmental security, can only

be achieved by eliminating gender discrimination and providing equal pay for women. The advancement of women and the achievement of equality between women and men are a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice and should not be seen in isolation as a women’s issue. They are the only way to build a sustainable, just and developed society. Empowerment of women and equality between women and men are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security among all peoples (UN Women, 1995, pg 30). Women in America outpace men in achieving college and advanced degrees, make up about half of the workforce, and contribute to the household income, yet deeply rooted gender biases and social constructs regarding gender roles have prevented to achieve pay equality for

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FINAL PROJECT -EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN women. B.

Stereotypes Regarding Women Some of the stereotypes regarding women that hinder progress and pay equality are

deeply ingrained through our history of patriarchy and male dominance (Lindsey, 2016), as well as gender norms constructed by society. According to society, there are certain jobs for men, such as construction or law enforcement, and others for women, such as teaching and nursing, which reflect the socially constructed character traits of men (strong, protective) and women (caring, nurturing). Boys grow up to believe that they are superior to girls, and anything feminine is devalued (Lindsey, 2016). Because men are considered to be of more value than women, the jobs performed by men also pay more. Education for example used to be a male-dominated profession, highly valued, and well-paid, however, the increase of women in education has devalued the profession and is no longer paid at the same level. The perception that women are not as smart as men is challenged by the increasingly large numbers of women, who achieve advanced college degrees in formerly male-dominated areas, such as medicine and law (Lindsey, 2016). However, gender segregation within these fields, and the perception that a man’s job has more value results in lower earnings for women and promotes the gender pay gap. For example, surgeons are mostly men and paid very well, while women are pediatricians, who earn a moderate income compared to surgeons, although both of them hold medical degrees. To this day there is a perception that women are less competent than men and cannot perform at the same level, and therefore don’t deserve to be paid the same. Women, however, have proven time and again that they are capable of doing “a man’s job,” such as during WWII,

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for example, when women successfully performed the jobs that were abandoned by men who enlisted in the war, yet employers got away with paying women less for the same jobs that men performed before the war (Lindsey, 2016). C.

Recent Social Change Regarding Equal Pay for Women The gender pay gap has made new headlines just recently when both, the Australian as

well as the U.S. women’s soccer teams filed discrimination lawsuits against their employers in support of pay equality for all female athletes (Das, 2019). Both teams claim that they frequently outperform the male soccer teams, yet consistently receive lower earnings than their male counterparts. Australia’s women’s soccer team has reached a landmark agreement closing the gender pay gap between the men’s and women’s national soccer teams (D’Amore, 2019). Their success has resulted in social change, which is supported by the statement of the chairman of the Australian Football Federation that “Football is a game for everyone, and this new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) is another huge step toward ensuring that we live the values of equality, inclusivity and opportunity” (D’Amore, 2019). Although the U.S. women’s soccer team has not yet achieved equal pay, they have succeeded in being granted class status in their lawsuit with a trial date set for May of 2020. While not always successful, women’s ability to stand up for their rights has a long-standing history. D.

Historical Events That Have Affected Perceptions of the Issue The suffrage movement, which originated at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, sought

the right to vote for women and the fight continued for many years (Lindsey, 2016). The movement had many followers and gained strong support during World War I. Finally, the right for women to vote became part of the constitution in 1920 with the ratification of the nineteenth amendment (Lindsey, 2016). This success encouraged feminists such as Alice Paul to continue

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the fight for equal rights for women, who proposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923, to gain legislative protection for women against all forms of discrimination, (Lindsey, 2016). The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 was another historical milestone in the fight for women’s rights. It represents the “first federal legislation that addressed the issue of equal pay for men and women” (Lindsey, 2016, pg. 327). The EPA provides women the opportunity to sue an employer “who pays different wages to employees of opposite sexes for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions” (Sbrocchi, 2018, pg. 851). The #TimesUp movement of 2017 was another historical event that was aimed “to motivate women to fight for change including, but not limited to, safety and overall equality in the workplace” (Sbrocchi, 2018, pg. 850) by changing existing policies and fighting for new laws. Despite its infancy, this movement has already achieved gender pay equality at the movie company HBO. Historical events highlighting pay inequality have influenced current perceptions on the issue. E.

Current perceptions of the issue The international feminist movement has had an impact on perceptions regarding gender

stereotypes with a number of World Conferences on Women. The so-called International Bill of Rights for women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1979 (UN Women, n.d.) with a goal to eliminate all discrimination against women and achieve equal human rights for all men and women. The Bejing Conference on women in 1995 declared women’s rights to be human rights, and the General Assembly of the UN has established UN

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Women, which is the new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women, n.d.). The resurgence of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) proposal is also impacting the perceptions regarding gender equality. The ERA was originally introduced by Alice Paul in 1923, rewritten in 1943, passed the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and forwarded to the states for ratification on March 22, 1972, but fell short of the required support of three fourths, or 38 of the states (Murphy, 2018). This proposed 27th Amendment to the Constitution will provide equal rights to men and women and prohibit discrimination based on sex in every state of America, which will empower women and close the gender pay gap. F.

Sociological Theory Appropriate to Analyze Historical and Modern Interpretations How can sociological research help us understand historical and modern perceptions of

pay inequality? The social conflict theory may be most applicable to study historical and modern interpretations of the pay inequality between men and women. According to Karl Marx (18181893), the social world consists of varying interest groups competing for status and power (Lindsey, 2016), while modern conflict theorists describe the social world as groups of people who dominate others (Lindsey, 2016). Social and cultural constructs have placed men in positions of power and perceived gender roles of males and females are carried over into the workplace (Lindsey, 2016). While society has evolved from the hunter-gatherer society to today’s society of two-income households, male dominance has remained, which has created social inequalities, including the gender pay gap. The work performed by men is associated with status and power, while the work performed by women is considered of lesser value, which equals to lesser pay for women. The gender pay gap and the resulting movements to achieve pay equality is a perfect example of the sociological conflict theory, asserting that the power

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inequalities between men and women have created social conflict - gender pay gap, which the resulting movements are targeting to change - equal pay for women. Conclusion A.

Ethical Issues in Analyzing the Gender Pay Gap Sociological research is guided by a code of ethics developed by the American

Sociological Association (ASA, 2019). Ethical standards of the code of ethics describe the expectations of sociologists regarding competence; confidentiality; informed consent, as well as plagiarism. Ethical challenges in analyzing the gender-pay gap may arise because we are part of what we are studying, which is society and human behavior. Individual biases may have an effect on an individual’s objectivity in sociological research, including gender-relations issue. The video Truth be Told (Crouch (narrator), 2005) described this ethical dilemma as having an emotional investment. When there is an emotional investment, individuals may find it challenging to remain objective and to avoid inserting personal values and biases. For example, gender-biases of the individual analyzing the genderpay gap might cloud his or her objectivity and misrepresent the issue; other individuals analyzing the gender-pay gap may reveal confidential salary information to support their cause, because of their emotional investment in the subject. On the other hand, organizations may pressure individuals to produce and publish genderpay findings in a hurry to advance their cause. If the researcher is pressured by the organization to produce research in a hurry, he or she may behave unethically by falsifying research with distorted data or steal research from others. This may point to the professional incompetence of the individual and is considered scientific misconduct. Unethical behavior in sociological

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research in an effort to further one’s cause is unacceptable and will not only reflect badly on the individual but also on the organization. B.

Key Points The social advocacy group UN Women has presented credible and relevant research to

support their goal of closing the gender pay gap and reaching equality for women. Half of the world’s population are women, yet deeply rooted gender biases regarding the competence and status of women in society continue to support male dominance and devalue the worth of women. Stereotypical gender constructs place men in positions of power and women in subordinate positions, whose tasks are of lesser value, which carries over into the workplace and is demonstrated by occupational gender segregation. Occupations dominated by women are consistently paid less than those occupied by men. The pay inequality puts women at risk of economic insecurity or even poverty, which also has a negative impact on society. Societies can’t prosper when half of their population is living in poverty. Feminist movements throughout the years have achieved many rights for women, including (1) voting rights for women and (2) the recognition of women to be citizens; (3) women have the right to an education and are (4) able to pursue careers in formerly male-dominated occupations. However, despite laws that were enacted to provide women with equal pay rights, women continue to face pay discrimination and earn significantly lower wages than men (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2019). Organizations such as U.N. Women increase the visibility of the plight women face and support the fight for equality. The recent success of the Australian women’s soccer team in reaching an agreement for equal pay is evidence that progress is possible. C.

Possible Solutions To reach these goals, UN Women recommends an all-inclusive approach. Reducing the

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gender pay gap really starts at home, by teaching children that we are all created equal, regardless of origin, color, sex or gender. However, there are comprehensive efforts that can be implemented today to achieve the goal of pay equality for women. An all-inclusive approach to address the issue of equal pay for women will increase the probability of success in reaching these goals. These efforts may include federal-, state-, and institutional policy changes, increasing public awareness regarding the negative effects of the gender pay gap, and the implementation of gender-bias-reducing efforts in the workplace. Let’s start with institutional policy changes to address the occupational gender segregation. By removing gender segregation in certain fields of employment, employers will be able to hire the best-qualified person for the job, regardless of gender, which is a big step toward gender equality. A mandatory training program to address implicit gender biases in the workplace will support an integrated workplace. Raising awareness of implicit gender biases and how it inhibits progress followed by providing the tools to overcome those biases will further support gender equality in the workplace. The ratification of the ERA and making it a constitutional law would hold states accountable for the implementation of equal rights policies and support institutional efforts of closing the gender pay gap. Ratification of the ERA, removing occupational gender segregation, and overcoming implicit gender biases promises to reduce male dominance in the workplace and to move us closer to gender equality and closing the gender pay gap. Changing the public perception regarding female gender roles and socially constructed stereotypical behaviors and abilities of women will take some time. After all, we have been bombarded with gender stereotypes for such a long time, it can’t be unlearned in one day. Social media and television are powerful mediums that can assist in raising public awareness of implicit

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biases and the negative effects on women and society and promote the positive effects of pay equality for women. D.

Final Position During the analysis of the issue, it became clear that equal pay for women is not only a

key element to achieving gender equality in our society, but i...