Gender Equality In The Workforce

Pushing For Equal Pay and Gender Equality in the Workforce
Over the past hundred years, women’s participation in the workforce has grown significantly. Today’s women are getting college degrees which was not common before the mid-twentieth century. More of them than ever are taking jobs that were originally run by men. Many women are going into medicine, engineering, and law which was nearly impossible fifty years ago. Their ability to get into these fields allows them to pursue careers they could never before. However, there is a major gender pay gap. Men are still to this day paid way more than women. Although men have a large impact on our nation’s workforce, women perform job tasks just as effectively, therefore they are completely worthy
The barrier that prevents many women from attaining the most powerful, the most prestigious, and the highest paying jobs in work organizations has been labeled the glass ceiling (Biber 58). The glass ceiling is largely to blame for why many professions are gender-disproportionate. It also makes work hard for women in leadership roles because many times they are put in positions that set them up for failure. The odds of women being influenced by the glass ceiling are less when women have influence over policymaking decisions, perceive empowerment, and experience organizational equities (Sabharwal). However, women are less likely than men to be put in charge of these jobs. Therefore, women are affected by the glass ceiling either
The Democratic Party has tried to bring equality to women in the workforce for years. They have attempted to pass the Equal Pay Legislation, but the Republican Party has blocked it three times. In April of 2014, President Obama signed an Executive Order to prevent workplace discrimination and empower workers to take control over negotiations regarding their pay. In addition, he signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Labor to require federal contractors to submit data on employee compensation by gender, helping employers take proactive efforts to ensure fair pay for their employees (“Norton”). Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is an avid supporter of providing equal pay for women. Clinton believes that unequal pay is not just a women’s issue, but also a family issue because a woman’s work can directly impact her children (Foley). To reduce the wage gap, she called for changes in federal law and incentives for states and localities to toughen their policies. This is already happening in California, where Democratic Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that would, among other measures, protect employees from retaliation for asking about or sharing information on pay (Foley). This in return allows women to talk about their concerns regarding their paychecks to their employers. Although this does not fix the gender