Women and Flexibility in the Workplace Essay Example
Women and Flexibility in the Workplace
Gina Carithers
SOC402
Michael Burton
December 17, 2012
Women and Flexibility in the Workplace The focus of this paper is to evaluate factors that have affected women`s pay in the workforce. The analysis of historical factors affecting women`s flexibility in the workplace as a continuous social and structural issue is added to the paper to explain the need for change because of the demands that accompany working female caregivers in the home. Historical and statistical data is provided to validate the issues surrounding unequal pay scales women commonly experience in the workplace. A hypothesis is developed to suggest the type`s of change that women hope to see take place in the workplace over the next ten years. Women have experienced low pay, long hours, and less than professional treatment compared to male counterparts for many generations. Economic recession has now driven more women than ever to enter the workforce generating a need for flexibility in scheduling working hours around family needs to decrease the decline of the home and family structure. Women have proven to be a driving force in the workplace and are demanding the deserved respect to continue to work without the loss of the ability to nurture home and family.
Historical and Statistical Support that Woman are Paid Less than Male Counterparts Work typically performed by women has long been considered less demanding and therefore deserving of lower pay than jobs performed by male counterparts. The problem does not stop with types of jobs because statistical data also provides documentation that women performing jobs equal to male counterparts were paid less and received fewer or lower raises than men. “According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, in the last 35 years, women have been catching up to male wages at a rate of only 1/3 of 1 percent a year, equivalent to $2,000 in constant dollars over the entire period” (Kahn
Gina Carithers
SOC402
Michael Burton
December 17, 2012
Women and Flexibility in the Workplace The focus of this paper is to evaluate factors that have affected women`s pay in the workforce. The analysis of historical factors affecting women`s flexibility in the workplace as a continuous social and structural issue is added to the paper to explain the need for change because of the demands that accompany working female caregivers in the home. Historical and statistical data is provided to validate the issues surrounding unequal pay scales women commonly experience in the workplace. A hypothesis is developed to suggest the type`s of change that women hope to see take place in the workplace over the next ten years. Women have experienced low pay, long hours, and less than professional treatment compared to male counterparts for many generations. Economic recession has now driven more women than ever to enter the workforce generating a need for flexibility in scheduling working hours around family needs to decrease the decline of the home and family structure. Women have proven to be a driving force in the workplace and are demanding the deserved respect to continue to work without the loss of the ability to nurture home and family.
Historical and Statistical Support that Woman are Paid Less than Male Counterparts Work typically performed by women has long been considered less demanding and therefore deserving of lower pay than jobs performed by male counterparts. The problem does not stop with types of jobs because statistical data also provides documentation that women performing jobs equal to male counterparts were paid less and received fewer or lower raises than men. “According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, in the last 35 years, women have been catching up to male wages at a rate of only 1/3 of 1 percent a year, equivalent to $2,000 in constant dollars over the entire period” (Kahn