SOC268.M4.Essay 3

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Northern Virginia Community College *

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268

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Sociology

Date

Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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4

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The gender pay gap extends from 2 main sources and causes. First, being the occupational segregation that preserves men and women as they tend to move in different directions when picking a job or industry. Jobs traditionally done by women can include teaching, nursing, and caregiving these professions tend to offer lower wages when compared to the male dominated professions such as engineering and finance. This divergence in occupational choices heavily contributes to the disparities in pay. Secondly, discrimination and bias against women is preserved in the workplace regardless of the legal protections that women have. Countless studies show that women receive lower pay than men for the same work or an equal amount of work. The discriminatory practices such as equal pay and promotion bias still remains, charged by the stereotypes about a women’s capabilities and commitment. Understanding the unfairness when addressing the gender roles also can influence the hiring and promotion process and decision, which can result in an undervaluation of women in a workplace. Addressing the gender pay gap requires a multifaceted strategy. Policies on promotion, pay, and transparency can help expose the differences and hold employers accountable. Efforts in combating discrimination and bias in hiring and promotion process remain critical. Promoting the gender diversity across industries and supporting women that are entering a higher paying profession becomes essential for improving this. Moreover, providing women with career advancement and addressing caregiving responsibilities can allow women to succeed economically. Through addressing both occupational segregation and discrimination, societies can work towards closing the gender pay gap and improving economic equality. Legislation such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 aimed to narrow the gender pay gap by disallowing pay
discrimination based on genders. These laws provided a legal framework for individuals to challenge discriminatory practices. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Play Act of 2009 further protect against pay discrimination. Regardless of these efforts to reduce the pay discrimination, challenges remained when attempting to fully eliminate the gender pay gap due to the insufficiencies and the lack of enforcement when it comes to the cultural biases on pay decisions. The occupational segregation and systemic obstacles within contain industries can add to the presence of a pay gap. Gaps in pay transparency and reporting hinder efforts to identify and address the disparities evenly and effectively, as legislation becomes more critical, addressing the gender pay gap needs a multifaceted approach. These approaches require a carful touch when promoting pay transparency, addressing bias, and discrimination, supporting diversity and including and supporting women’s career advancement. It becomes changing the societal attitudes and norms that embody the surrounding gender roles and caregiving responsibilities. Is addressing the gender pay gap best left in the hands of the capitalists or in the Addressing the gender pay gap best left in the hands of politicians, whilst the capitalists play the role in shaping the practices and policies. Relying only on the market forces may not be enough to address the systemic issues that contribute to the pay disparities. Politicians have the authority to sign legislation and measures that can enforce equal pay standards, promote transparency, and combat discrimination. Furthermore, politicians represent the interests of society as a whole and could implement policies that put fourth social equality and economic justice. Addressing the gender pay gap requires an organized effort across multiple sectors, including government, business, and social society. Through taking proactive measures in the legislative action and policy initiatives, politicians ensure that
efforts to close the gender pay gap are comprehensive, effective, and equitable for all individuals within the workforce. Two underlying reasons for the illusiveness of the nature of pay equity in the US since the 1960s is the lack of comprehensive legislation and the continuing gender bias and discrimination. Whilst laws such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 aimed to address pay discrimination, loopholes, poor enforcement and the limited industry coverage have allowed disparities to remain. Also, the evolving nature of work has challenged the usefulness of the existing laws. Regardless of the legal protections, gender bias and the stereotypes regarding the undervalued work that women do. The discriminatory practices such as biased evaluations and promotions decisions contribute to the pay gap as well. Achieving an equal pay requires addressing a bias and enforcing comprehensive legislation the effective closes loopholes and reinforces mechanisms. Two concrete solutions can be implemented to address the gender pay gap in the US. The first being to enact Pay Transparency Laws. Legislation like this could mandate greater transparency in pay practices within organizations, by requiring employers to disclose salary ranges for job positions and provide information on the pay decisions being made. Transparency can help highlight the disparities in pay, by encouraging employees to negotiate for fair compensation and hold employers accountable. The second would be expanding access to affordable childcare. Implementing policies that support childcare costs, to help remove the stress off of the working parents, but more importantly mothers. Higher childcare expenses can lead to working women to reduce their hours or leave the workforce entirely, which also contributes to the gender pay gap. By facilitating affordable childcare option,
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more women can contribute more full time work, which could help them to advance in their career and consequently earn high wages, which would decrease the pay gap. Highlights of women’s earnings in 2020 : BLS Reports: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . (n.d.). Www.bls.gov. https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens- earnings/2020/home.htm#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20women A Proclamation on National Equal Pay Day, 2021 . (2021, March 24). The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/03/24/a- proclamation-on-national-equal-pay-day-2021/ (n.d.). Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap (Dr. A. Chamberlain, Ed.) [Review of Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap ]. Glassdoor. Retrieved March 22, 2024, from https://research.glassdoor.com/site-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/ Glassdoor-Gender-Pay-Gap-Study.pdf