Did you know that in 2014, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 78 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 21 percent? This calls for a change. “Gender pay gap is the difference between women and men’s average weekly full-time equivalent earnings, expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings.” (Work Place Gender Equality, 2016) Some argue that the gender gap can be influenced by societal factors and stereotypes while other ssay that the gap is formed strictly from the differences in education levels and preferred industries chosen after college. The gender gap affects woman of all backgrounds and all ages. This is an ongoing issue from the past and now has become a very evident problem in our modern day society. …show more content…
In 1932, the Great Depression left 12 million out of work. During this time women were discouraged from taking jobs from the men and many companies started passing laws against hiring women workers. Fast-forward to 1941 when Japan attacks Pear Harbor and the United States enters World War II. During the war media campaigns started urging women into the workforce and women started learning many new industrial skills. Once World War II ended women were told to return to their household roles. Ten years later in the 1950’s the baby boomers were being born and women were still expected to be stay at home mothers. Once the 1960’s came around women had enough. In 1963 Congress passed the Equal Rights Act in hope of eliminating gender discrimination in the work place. This law requires that both men and women be given equal pay for working in the same establishment. Women started getting jobs outside the home and by 1969, 43% of women were working. In the 1970’s the second wave of feminism took place and a catalyst for changed happened. During the 70’s the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced. This law was put in place to end segregation in public places and put a ban on employment discrimination. (race, color, religion, sex, national origin) Soon after the gap started narrowing and more women started enrolling in college and graduating. In 1998 a woman named …show more content…
Today job and industries with higher pay tend to be dominated by men, a study done by Pay Scale the gender pay gap increases as you climb corporate ladder. According to book “The Simple Truth: About Gender Pay Gaps,” In 2014, median annual earnings in the United States for women and men working full time, year round were $39,621 and $50,383, respectively.” (Hallman, 5) As a result of this women have been investing a huge chunk of their time into their education. "Women are fast becoming our most educated workers – they are attending school at higher rates, and they are entering a wide range of careers and deepening their work experience.” (Bidwell, 2014) A study done by World Economic Forum, found that women are shifting their career choices to more male dominant positions. Women are now picking majors that involve nursing, computer science, math and engineering. In pervious years they were choosing more female dominated majors such as teaching and social science jobs. Education is not an effective tool against the gender pay gap, “ At every level of academic achievement, women’s median earnings are less than men’s median earnings, and in some cases, the gender pay gap is larger at higher levels of education.” (Hallman, 13) This is a startling statement for woman college students who are getting themselves in thousands of dollars in debt while the pay gap