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I'm always surprised when people mention the gender gap as an issue. It's as if those people are blind toward the income inequalities already existing in our society within genders and across races.
If we accept that one person deserves to earn more than someone else... then why does it matter if it's between a man and a woman? Is the gender gap okay if it's between two men? Is it okay if it's between a White and an Asian?
I am not interested in living in a society that accepts it. And as I am fairly sure this post has the intention of either upsetting people or starting a fight, I am not engaging with this silliness any further.
i read a really good article by an economist about that a few months ago. i wish i could find it again. the basic argument was that women generally make their career secondary by choice. when you control for factors like industry, hours worked, etc. the gap gets a lot smaller. i've also heard the argument that men are better negotiators and that women struggle more with networking. to explain the networking thing: if a young, ambitious female tries to ride the coat tails of an older male in a position of power many will make sexual jokes or assumptions about it. on the other hand if a young, ambitious male tries to network his way to the top with the men in power he will become one of the boys.
of course it is an issue if a man and woman are doing the exact same thing yet getting paid differently.
i read a really good article by an economist about that a few months ago. i wish i could find it again. the basic argument was that women generally make their career secondary by choice. when you control for factors like industry, hours worked, etc. the gap gets a lot smaller. i've also heard the argument that men are better negotiators and that women struggle more with networking. to explain the networking thing: if a young, ambitious female tries to ride the coat tails of an older male in a position of power many will make sexual jokes or assumptions about it. on the other hand if a young, ambitious male tries to network his way to the top with the men in power he will become one of the boys.
of course it is an issue if a man and woman are doing the exact same thing yet getting paid differently.
Why?
That's basically what the negotiating part entails. For whatever reason, women don't do it as often or as well. Employers use financial enticement to either push you into a new position with more responsibility or move to a new company. If person A is making $80k a year doing the same thing as person B making $60k a year, they aren't just going to offer them both $85k. They'll offer person A $85k who may counter for $90k or some other perq (business car allowance, what have you). They'll offer person B $65k who may accept it with no negotiation. That balloons as time goes on.
I work for five different agencies regularly, each pays a different rate. There's a couple others I will not take any work from simply because they pay less. Someone is still doing to that work. In more traditional employment it's also very common for firms in the same area and field to pay differently for the same work and experience level. Basically, labor is just a product to the business world. Just as you or I search for the best price on milk, so do businesses.
i read a really good article by an economist about that a few months ago. i wish i could find it again. the basic argument was that women generally make their career secondary by choice. when you control for factors like industry, hours worked, etc. the gap gets a lot smaller. i've also heard the argument that men are better negotiators and that women struggle more with networking. to explain the networking thing: if a young, ambitious female tries to ride the coat tails of an older male in a position of power many will make sexual jokes or assumptions about it. on the other hand if a young, ambitious male tries to network his way to the top with the men in power he will become one of the boys.
of course it is an issue if a man and woman are doing the exact same thing yet getting paid differently.
Mark Perry has brought this up in his blog. In addition to the factors you mentioned, the hazardous jobs are filled mostly by men. The pay is higher, when you risk your life to make a "living".
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I have not seen any evidence that there is a lack of equal pay for equal work. Where I work with about 2,000 employees, people with the same title and duties are paid the same regardless of their gender, whether admins, engineers or lawyers. Any differential is from performance-based annual pay increases where only the quality of work is addressed. From what I have seen over the years there are still far more male CEOs and upper level managers than female which skews the earnings between the genders. While most of that is still a result of the women taking time off for family which causes gaps in their upward mobility, there is still another generation or two required for the slow process of incorporating women into the higher paying jobs which they traditionally have not sought after or have not been considered suitable for. We are starting to see a few women as auto mechanics, electricians, plumbers, engineers, firefighters, police and scientists, but other jobs such as pilots, ship captains, coal miners, and oil rig workers are still very much male only. Thinking about it, I have never even seen a female cab driver.
I have not seen any evidence that there is a lack of equal pay for equal work. Where I work with about 2,000 employees, people with the same title and duties are paid the same regardless of their gender, whether admins, engineers or lawyers. Any differential is from performance-based annual pay increases where only the quality of work is addressed. From what I have seen over the years there are still far more male CEOs and upper level managers than female which skews the earnings between the genders. While most of that is still a result of the women taking time off for family which causes gaps in their upward mobility, there is still another generation or two required for the slow process of incorporating women into the higher paying jobs which they traditionally have not sought after or have not been considered suitable for. We are starting to see a few women as auto mechanics, electricians, plumbers, engineers, firefighters, police and scientists, but other jobs such as pilots, ship captains, coal miners, and oil rig workers are still very much male only. Thinking about it, I have never even seen a female cab driver.
This is not the issue. Well, it sort of is...but it is another issue.
The equal pay for equal work means that if a man and a woman are hired as a bus driver, right out of training...they should make the same amount, regardless of gender. And a make and female nurse who are both hired right after passing the exam and getting their license should be hired into the same hospital at equal pay. It has nothing to do with experence, or seniority...merely with making sure an offer of employment isn't 5% higher or lower based solely on gender.
I'm always surprised when people mention the gender gap as an issue. It's as if those people are blind toward the income inequalities already existing in our society within genders and across races.
If we accept that one person deserves to earn more than someone else... then why does it matter if it's between a man and a woman? Is the gender gap okay if it's between two men? Is it okay if it's between a White and an Asian?
I have had many jobs in my 40 years of working and I have never, once experienced any so-called Gender Wage Gap - even before some idiot felt it necessary to make laws about it. My experience has been that if you are an exceptional employee, you will be paid as an exceptional employee and if you are treading water, watching the clock, then you will receive a paycheck accordingly. Whenever I hear about a woman who does not make the same amount of money as her co-worker, doing the same job, I always say to myself.... "Better step up your job performance then, sweetie". Because if she was the most exceptional employee in her department/field, she'd be making MORE than her co-workers.
People do realize that women are surpassing men everyday.... 51% women employed versus 49% male in the current workforce... Women are also more educated/excelling in school
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