Morton 1 Rebekah Morton FSTY 1313.

07 Professor Micklethwait 2 November 2011

Gender Discrimination In the last century, women have made incredible progress in American Society. They have earned the right to vote, defied stereotypical gender roles, and have made great strides in eradicating professional discrimination. They have made such great progress, in fact, that some people maintain that gender discrimination is now obsolete. Journalist Carrie Lucas even goes as far as to contend that modern accusations of prejudice against women are preposterous because, if anything, women are given special treatment in the business world. Many others, such as journalists Thomas Billitteri and Rachel Silverman, however, still believe that the fight against discrimination against professional women has yet to be won. While discrimination against women in the professional world today is inarguably nowhere near as extreme as it has been historically, statistics show that men still make about twenty percent more money annually than women overall. While this alone does not prove that prejudice is running rampant against women, it is certainly a blatant warning sign that leads me to believe that the root of gender discrimination has not been eradicated, no matter how many of its symptoms have disappeared. Although American society has undoubtedly made great progress, I believe that there is still a lot of work to be done before it can be said that true gender equality has been achieved. While women have been progressively gaining power and opportunity in American society over the last few decades, there is controversy over exactly how far society has truly

Morton 2 come. Clashing claims about whether gender discrimination is an issue of the past or a problem begging to be solved reached an impasse at the question of whether or not an unexplainable wage gap between men and women exists. The nature of and reason for the pay disparity among genders in Americas professional world must be fully evaluated before a final answer can be given about the questionable reality of prejudice against women. I am open to the possibility that with more research and studies being done on the issue, all notions of gender discrimination plaguing the workplace will be dispelled and replaced with a logical justification for pay differences among genders, but thus far, the research that has been done in an attempt to do so has not been adequate. The rationalizations that are commonly used to explain the gender wage gap today vary widely and address many of the facets of the problem, from men and womens differing values to their traditional familial roles in American society. Although these perspectives do, to some extent, bolster the claim that gender discrimination is no longer an issue, they do not fully explain the pay gap and therefore fail to completely dismiss the possibility that prejudice is still affecting women. The most audacious argument in the gender discrimination controversy is journalist and managing director of the Independent Womens Forum, Dr. Carrie Lukas idea that the perennially referenced gender wage gap does not really exist. If this argument is true, then any accusations of overall prejudice against women cannot be true either, and therefore all of the other justifications regarding the issue are unnecessary. In an article for the Wall Street Journal, she asserts that the recent economic downturn proves that many American feminists complaints that our economy is ruled by a sexist patriarchy are ridiculous. (Lukas 1). According to Lukas, men have been hit exponentially harder than women by the recession, and

Morton 3 have been forced by the current state of society to take all of the hard, unpleasant jobs while women, since they are generally more educated than man, are left with all of the knowledgebased jobs. With these changes brought on by Americas failing economy taking place, Lukas asserts that, in reality, rather than men earning more than women, womens earnings are going up compared to mens. (Lukas 2). Today, with a common consensus being that, on average, women earn only a portion of what equally qualified men do, these conclusions are daring at best. While Lukas may be right in her belief that gender discrimination is no longer prevalent in America, her claims regarding womens current economic success overshadowing mens directly conflict with the findings of almost every other researcher whose work I have encountered. Lukas takes her argument to the next level, however, when she concedes that if a wage gap does exist between men and women, there is a fair explanation. In a final attempt to further disprove all admonitions about gender discrimination and wage disparities plaguing America, she states that whenever men are earning more than women, they are doing just that: earning it. She proffers that while women gravitate toward jobs that have fewer risks, more comfortable conditions, regular hours, more personal fulfillment and greater flexibility, men are willing to put up with more unpleasant factors so that they can earn more. (Lukas 2). In short, Lukas believes that men only make more money than women when they deserve it, and therefore, there is no reason to accuse them of being prejudiced. Although Lukas argument was fairly strong, her opinions are extremely unpopular and frequently contested. Most people, even if they do not think that gender discrimination is the cause, acknowledge the existence of a gender wage gap. Lukas assertion seems bold standing alone, but when juxtaposed with other arguments that are more heavily backed with statistics, it seems almost ludicrous.

Morton 4 Many professionals, including the Wall Street Journals Dr. Rachel Silverman, recognize a troubling gender wage gap; in fact, it is commonly accepted that on average, a woman will make only eighty percent of an equally qualified mans salary. Many people contend that this difference is exacerbated in more professional, highly specialized jobs, and Dr. Silverman wrote an article to prove it. In her research, she found that in the medical field, newly trained women doctors are being paid about $17,000 less annually than their male counterparts. (Silverman 1). This is a blatant example of the wage gap that Lukas so adamantly denied. Silverman takes her research beyond simply proving that there is indeed a pay disparity among genders, working to refute some of the excuses used to deny that there is prejudice against women in the business world despite the pay gap. She found that rather than moving towards pay equality, the gap has actually been growing steadily in recent decades. (Silverman 1). This finding is rather unexpected in light of the regularly used justification for the pay difference that since the people in the highest level positions are from an older generation where gender discrimination hadnt been defeated yet, it makes sense that men hold more of those positions and therefore make money, and that it was only a matter of time before the new members of the professional world replace them and equality is established. Silverman also acknowledges several other continually used rationalizations for the gender pay gap, stating that it is a possibility that the gap exists because female doctors seek greater flexibility and family-friendly benefits, but she maintains that until these possibilities are proven to be completely true and it has been shown that they account for the entire pay gap, discrimination cannot be ruled out as a potential cause (Silverman 1). If it cannot be said that prejudice is the cause of the gender pay gap on the grounds that there is no solid evidence to prove it, then,

Morton 5 likewise, no other excuses may be used to explain the pay disparity unless they have been absolutely proven to be the cause. One of the most frequently used and supported justifications for the gender pay gap is what researchers Hilary Lips and Katie Lawson call the Motherhood Penalty. The basis of this rationale is that women are of lower status than men in the professional business world due to the assumption that they will someday become a mother and will consequently work less and thereby earn less than men. Lips and Lawson did a scientific study on this phenomenon, hoping to answer the question of why having a family is associated with lower wages for women and an increase in wages for men. (Lawson 8). They attempted to decipher the complex differences in men and womens pay expectations and work and family related values in order to see how these factors pay a role in determining wages for each gender. If men and womens values differ vastly, then it would only be logical that they would succeed in different areas of life depending on what they found to be most important and therefore spent the majority of their time and energy on. Lips and Lawson entertained the idea that if women are more invested in family than work while men are more devoted to their careers than they are to raising a family, men would most likely work harder than women in their professional jobs and, as a result, earn higher wages, providing a just, logical cause for a gender wage gap. Their research did not fully support this, however, and they found that no gender differences in ratings of work valuesrelated to making a lot of money existed (Lawson 2). If men and women value earning money equally, it cannot be said that men have higher salaries due to their values. With this study, Lips and Lawson further demonstrated the notion that regardless of how reasonable a justification may seem, it cannot be used until it is actually proven, serving as a reminder that the controversy over

Morton 6 the gender wage gap has in fact not been resolved; the true explanation must be found before it can be said with certainty that gender discrimination is not afflicting Americas workplaces. Lips and Lawson therefore continued their research on the matter and came to the new conclusion that, due to historical prejudice and differences in pay among genders, it is simply expected in American society that, as they always have, men will make more money than women, and therefore they do in a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. They found in their study that pay expectations may predict actual salary, (Lawson 2) and that men who valued family anticipated working fewer weeks per year, yet did not expect a lower peak salary, while women who valued family expected lower pay along with more time off (Lawson 8). Lips and Lawsons latest explanation for the wage gap that women and mens differing expectations about their wages result in differences in their actual pay is a highly rational and probable justification for a pay gap that has nothing to do with prejudice, but it has yet to be actually proven completely. That said, it is much more legitimate than their last rationalization and many others in that it has some factual backing rather than merely being an idea that sounds plausible, and should therefore be taken quite seriously as a possible cause for the gender wage gap. Given Lips and Lawsons justifications, there are still many people who refuse consider any other excuses for the pay disparity between men and women than the notion that discrimination is running rampant against women in the business world until they see solid proof that it is not. Few dispute that a wage gap exists between men and women, contends Dr. Thomas J. Billitteri, a researcher and journalist in the field of business and public policy, the fundamental [issue is] how much of it stems from discrimination. (Billitteri 2). A proponent of the idea that until the entire gap is fully proven to be just and unrelated to prejudice, it can be assumed that discrimination probably plays a role in it, he asks not whether any of the pay gap

Morton 7 can be attributed to discrimination, but rather how much of it can. Billitteris perspective adds a new layer of complexity to the controversy, introducing the possibility that the issue is not strictly black and white; rather, it is much more probable that both discrimination and other factors have led to the current gender wage gap. In his article Gender Pay Gap, Billitteri cites a study done by the General Accounting Office from which he concluded that even when work patterns were key in accounting for the wage gap, the GAO could not explain all the differences in earnings between men and women. (Billitteri 3). This exemplifies the idea that there are multiple causes for the wage gap, none of which will fully explain it alone. He goes on to present many other various factors that have been said to have caused some of the wage gap, such as the fact that women usually take more time in their career off than men for parenting, but maintains that even when all of these factors are taken into account, part of the gap remains unexplained, suggesting that discrimination is probably part of the cause. If there were only fair, objective reasons for the existence of a gender pay gap, then they would all eventually be found and the conception of discrimination would disappear. When all of the plausible explanations for a just wage gap between genders are applied and there is still a difference that is unaccounted for, however, there is no choice but to assume that discrimination is the missing piece of the picture. An unexplained wage gap between men and women without a doubt strongly insinuates that gender discrimination and prejudice are present. Even if men and womens differing expectations for their wages and job opportunities play a role in creating the gap, that does not rule out the possibility of discrimination; if anything, the two conclusions go hand-in-hand. The fact that men and women have expectations for the futures of their careers that differ vastly enough to cause their wages to be markedly different only serves to demonstrate the deeply

Morton 8 entrenched nature of gender discrimination in American society. Prejudice against women in the professional world has been the norm for so long that it is simply expected that women will earn less. Although these findings show that lower expectations from women than men, not malicious prejudice, are the most probable cause for the gender pay gap, these said expectations only exist as the result of a long history of sexism and discrimination against women. Therefore, it can be concluded that even if only through a self-fulfilling prophecy of women expecting to be treated as less than men, discrimination is, at least inadvertently, the cause for the pay gap.

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Works Cited

Billitteri, Thomas J. "Gender Pay Gap." CQ Researcher 18.11 (2008): 243-250. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Oct. 2011.

Carrie Lukas. "There Is No Male-Female Wage Gap. " Wall Street Journal 12 Apr. 2011, Eastern edition: Wall Street Journal, ProQuest. Web. 11 Oct. 2011.

Lips, Hilary, and Katie Lawson. "Work Values, Gender, and Expectations About Work Commitment and Pay: Laying the Groundwork for the Motherhood Penalty?." Sex Roles 61.9/10 (2009): 667-676. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.

Silverman, Rachel Emma. "Health & Wellness: Women Doctors Face Pay Disparity. " Wall Street Journal 8 Feb. 2011, Eastern edition: Wall Street Journal, ProQuest.