Gap in Gender Pay: Why Men make more Money Than Women
INTRODUCTION:
Although women are steadily making their mark in the business world and heading major corporations, the question remains, are they still earning less than their male counterparts? Throughout time there has been a definite difference between men and women and their median income. This wage gap cuts across a wide spectrum of occupations. However, in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was signed making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who hold the same job and do the same work. There may be many reasons for this gap in salaries; most of them may not be necessarily based on gender. The following research will investigate what causes the gap in earnings, if any, and examines various factors that may have an effect on the earnings of men and women.
I. RESEARCH PURPOSE
The purpose of this research is to determine whether or not women who are working the same types of jobs, with the same amount of education and experience are being compensated the same as men. Although women have made a significant pace in entering the workforce and in exploring a wider range of occupations, they may still be treading behind in wages earned compared to their male counterparts. Many years ago, it was thought that because women were not as well educated as men, did not have as much experience as men, and did not work as hard as men that the range of pay should not be the same. This is no longer true and women have been graduating from college at the same rate as men and are working just as hard as men. However, the wage gap between men and women remains and nationally, women earn 77 cents for every $1 earned by men (Head, 2008).
Thus, despite a sense of continued progress toward gender equality in the workplace the gap between men and women still persists. The significance of this research issue may reveal an underlying discrimination between the sexes that many may believe has narrowed. The importance in equality of gender pay is not only that it is the
Although women are steadily making their mark in the business world and heading major corporations, the question remains, are they still earning less than their male counterparts? Throughout time there has been a definite difference between men and women and their median income. This wage gap cuts across a wide spectrum of occupations. However, in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was signed making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who hold the same job and do the same work. There may be many reasons for this gap in salaries; most of them may not be necessarily based on gender. The following research will investigate what causes the gap in earnings, if any, and examines various factors that may have an effect on the earnings of men and women.
I. RESEARCH PURPOSE
The purpose of this research is to determine whether or not women who are working the same types of jobs, with the same amount of education and experience are being compensated the same as men. Although women have made a significant pace in entering the workforce and in exploring a wider range of occupations, they may still be treading behind in wages earned compared to their male counterparts. Many years ago, it was thought that because women were not as well educated as men, did not have as much experience as men, and did not work as hard as men that the range of pay should not be the same. This is no longer true and women have been graduating from college at the same rate as men and are working just as hard as men. However, the wage gap between men and women remains and nationally, women earn 77 cents for every $1 earned by men (Head, 2008).
Thus, despite a sense of continued progress toward gender equality in the workplace the gap between men and women still persists. The significance of this research issue may reveal an underlying discrimination between the sexes that many may believe has narrowed. The importance in equality of gender pay is not only that it is the