Gender Wage Gap in the USA

The Gender Wage Gap

The Gender Wage Gap (or Gender Pay Gap) illustrates the average income difference between men and women workers. It is a widespread trend throughout the world that reflects the inequality between genders, as men often earn more than women in jobs that require similar qualifications and skills. In the United States, the average difference is often expressed as a ratio between the women’s median earnings and men’s median earnings within the workforce; often times women’s earnings are also expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings, to show the size of the gap. According to the OECD, the average wage gap among member nations is 17.6%, similar to the wage gap of the USA at 17.9%.

Gender Wage Gap of each OECD member nations

Causes

Since the Wage Gap is a very broad concept, it is difficult to find the definite cause. The society often suggests the following as causes of the Gender Wage Gap; however, these ideas have different effects and have yet to be proven to be the root cause of the gap.

Social Expectations

With the strong influence of male narrative in the society, the social constructs often give more power and voice to the male workers. Female workers enter the workforce are often discouraged and even penalized when negotiating salaries and welfare, as their assertiveness are often seen as a negative attribute. On the other hand, men are less likely to be punished when negotiating for salaries, as they are seen as powerful and confident. Due to the social constructs associated with power and gender, female workers are often avoid negotiating wages, as it refutes the feminine social norms of being polite and having lower power than men.

Education

Oftentimes, human capital and education of women are often blamed for the income inequality between genders; however, the data and history of the US disproves this idea. In the United States white women and men have generally been equally educated due to the government’s high investment in education, where it is mandatory for all children and teens to receive basic education. Furthermore women on average achieve higher grades in university, but still earn considerably less than their male counterparts. On average female undergraduate degree recipients only earns 82% of their male counterparts in the first year after graduation, further displaying the inequality between genders.

Gender Wage Gap one year after university graduation

Fields of Work

Under the current social constructs different genders often join different job markets and field of work, causing workforce segregation. In the labor market, male workers often dominate “professional” fields, contributing to their higher average wages. The norms and stigmas associated with the professional fields often discourage women from entering higher earning labor markets, while staying in more “feminine” jobs such as teaching, nursing and secretary work .

Labor Participation Rates in STEM

STEM

STEM refers to the “professional” fields of work, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Workers in the STEM industry often earn more than workers in other professions, due to the importance of STEM in the modern society. Male workers dominate these fields, where they take up 76% of the field and only 24% of the field is female workers. The disproportional distribution of the labor force gender is associated with the lack of support for the female students in STEM education and industry. In effort to change the gender imbalance, universities and government of the USA have been trying to attract female students into the STEM fields through subsidies and mentoring programs for women.

Intersetionality

Intersetionality refers to the overlapping social identity such as gender, race, sexuality, and class of a person; these characteristics are often creates an interconnect system of oppression, discrimination and disadvantages. The wage gap is often heavily influenced by intersectionality, where differences in an individual’s race and gender can affect their prospect earnings. Under the strong narrative and social construct of settler colonialism, women and workers of ethnic minorities are often disadvantaged and discriminated against, as they have a lower earnings prospect. Women with an ethnic background are often suffered the most from the wage gap, due to their inersectionality of gender and race. In 2009, the weekly median income for white male workers is $845, and for a white female worker it is $669; with the intersectionality, African American female workers’ median income is $582 and a Latino female worker earns $509. The data shows that the overlapping identity of being female and having an ethnic background often creates a bigger wage gap, as the system discriminate against these workers.

Closing The Gap

The gender wage gap have been reinforced by the dominant social construct and stereotypes that advantages males in the workplace, making the social norms and construct one of the biggest cause of the Gender Wage Gap in the United States. However, in recent years, the gap has been narrowing down, as many in the society have noticed the income inequality between genders; furthermore, the government recognition and media reports of the Wage Gap have brought the attention to the country, where many are trying to break the barriers and bringing change to the system and deconstructing it. The recent decades have experienced a steady narrowing in the wage gap, where the younger generation of female workers are staring to achieve wages more similar to their male counterparts. Despite the narrowing of the gap, female workers are still being disadvantaged, to achieve gender equality, the narrative and social construct of settler colonialism has to be deconstructed to accommodate workers of different backgrounds and identities.

Trends of the Gender Wage Gap in USA 1979-2005