Women have been portrayed to be weaker than men by the media and society, in general. They have been shown to be less valuable in the workplace, with most media showing them as deserving the smaller roles in the workplace. These aspects, coupled with other factors have led to the characteristic wage gap between men and women in the work place. All over the world, women receive less compensation for their work than men do. For instance in the US, women at the same level as men make on average 22% less or 77 cents on the dollar (Cames, Vinnicombe, & Singh, 2001). An examination of the glass ceiling problem associated with women has indicated that the lower pay is related to career choices made by women, the comparatively low level of skills, productivity mismatch, undue discrimination, lower level of workplace placement, and the social and family roles associated with women, such as raising children. This essay will discuss the reasons why women earn less than men at the workplace; among the issues discussed include women facing challenges in getting promoted, poor career choices, lack of adequately skilled women employees in technical fields, lower productivity as compared to their male colleagues, labor division that disadvantages women, gender roles in society, gender discrimination, and men working for more hours. After the analysis of the various reasons for women receiving lower pay than men, a conclusion will be drawn.
According to Alowaihan (2004, the financial disadvantage held by women over men is increasing with gender pay gap in some areas of the economy doubling. Gender pay gaps are highest in high level jobs such as chief executives, upper management and other professional positions. Women also face challenges in key aspects of their careers such as entering into certain work positions, promotions and substantial increase in pay as compared to their male counterparts. This problem is even higher for women in minority groups as recently established in the New York Times. Women in minority groups such as women of color face greater challenges in the workplace and are less likely to break the glass ceiling.
The career path of an individual determines their value to society and the employer. Women do not always make bad career choices. Some women are leaders in their own industries. They have trumped numbers of men to get to the top of their particular organizations. However, this comprises of a small number of women working in the US. The poor career decision making can be attributed to the attitude of society towards women’s place in the work place, and how young girls are taught and motivated while at school (Fateri & Kleiner, 1992). Looking at the generational change in women’s place at the workplace, there has been a corresponding change in the education of girls and attitudes of society. The changes made so far, nonetheless, have not been sufficient to break the glass ceiling in earnings. Young girls and women who are encouraged to pursue higher goals while young make appropriate career choices. The vice versa is also true (Le & Miller, 2010).
The level of skill possessed by an individual is essential for his or her hiring and corresponding compensation. A company that is hiring looks at the skills and educational level of the individual and then allocates the appropriate pay. In professional positions of a company, it is evident that there are usually more men hired than women are. In positions of engineers, accountants, lawyers and doctors, there are more men than women are. This can be attributed to the relatively lower level of skills. The skill level is determined by training and experience. Due to historical irregularities in the allocation of duties and chances given to women, there is a disparity between men and women in terms of level of skill. That said, it is essential to note that the skill level is often ignored in determining pay for women. In most cases, men at the same level as women are paid more, even though they possess the same level of skill and carry out similar duties.
The productivity of an individual determines the compensation. The Marginal Revenue Productivity (MRP) theory indicates that the wages paid to a person correspond to his or her productivity, all other things held constant. Men’s productivity is higher than that of women in industries requiring a substantial amount of manual labor. As such, men are paid more than women at the same level (Farrell, 2005). However, the productivity disparity is not true in other industries, particularly service oriented ones. Nonetheless, in these industries where there is not disparity in productivity, there is also a gap in pay in favor of men.
The glass ceiling for women is fueled by the notion that men are more productive than women, especially in manual work. However, it has been shown in many instances, that any differences in the amount of manual work carried out by women and men does not justify the substantial gap between their levels of compensation (Jackson & O’Callaghan, 2009). Given time, women in the physical production industry will catch up with their male counterparts. However, the same cannot be said of their comparative compensation packages. This problem is aggravated by the social construction that women must always be paid less than men. This is because money is considered as a recognition of superiority, and society has stereotyped women as being less superior to men.
An analysis of gender differences in different professions using the human capital model, has shown a significant of the traditional division of labor to the present glass ceiling problem (Josephine, 1988). The way labor was traditionally been divided, has resulted in women having less experience than men. This leads to a corresponding difference in compensation levels. Another argument brought forward is that the career paths of men and women contribute to the disparity in pay. The biggest responsibility for men, traditionally, is to provide. They therefore have few family roles. They are able to take up full time jobs, working all year round for a long period. On the other hand, women have to balance between work and family. They are therefore split in time. In a country or world that pays in response to labor provided, women earn less.
Gender roles in society are seen to affect women’s careers. The traditional roles of women, had them work at home, feeding the children and maintaining the homestead. Even though these roles have changed significantly, other aspects such as bearing of children cannot change. Most women take up maternity leaves to bare children. This puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to promotions and the corresponding pay hikes. Women in positions of power often have to neglect their family duties or assign them to others. Most of them get children at a higher age, when they have reached the top of their corporate ladder.
Many media show women as being capable of doing the low level functions in a workplace. They make the secretaries, nurses and dental assistants. They are barely shown to be the CEOs, doctors and dentists. This has influenced the type of work women choose to pursue. Research is showing that the situation is changing, with more women taking up to higher level positions. They are venturing into what is considered a man’s world. Even so, there is still an observable barrier to women’s rise.
There is considerable discrimination on the basis of gender in many workplaces. This is a contributing factor to the pay disparity. A significant portion of employers, even women, hold the believe that men are better workers than women are. This makes them favorable to men in terms of pay. The women end up with lower salaries than their male counterparts do. For instance, in the past, most high-end hotels preferred to hire men as waiters and pages, due to their stamina and ability to stand for longer periods. This stemmed out of their belief that women were not capable of doing so.
There is also considerable blame on women for the glass ceiling. The attitude and beliefs of women towards positions of leadership have been contributing to the low level of compensation. Many women do not attempt to achieve what men achieve. They do not believe they are capable of doing so. This aspect has widened the gap between the achievements of men and of women, consequently leading to the rise of the glass ceiling. The cultural background of women is responsible for this attitude and belief system. This is still evident in developing nations, where women are less educated and few are involved in leadership.
The gap between men and women in compensation is considerably low when looking at the individual level of experience and career position. Even so, the gap still exists at every level (Rampell, 2009). The Supreme Court in Corning Glass Works v. Brennan (1974) addressed the gender discrimination in compensation. It stated that pay cannot be different for employees at the same level based on the gender of the employee. Even though this case was heard almost 4 decades ago, there is still stereotypical thinking in the workplace that results in women being discriminated against.
Few individuals and companies have tried to explain why men are paid more than women are. The main explanation given related to the average number of hours worked. According to the report, men are more likely to work full time than women. As such, some employers consider the contribution of the men compared to that of women. They pay according to the presumed contribution to the organization. This suppresses women’s pay, even for those who do not have familial obligations and work full time. They state that the widening gap is caused by the irregular work schedules of women. This indicates that most employers value men more than they value women. In the end even with the world changing significantly, the gap in pay remains the same.
According to Weissman (2012), the reasons given for the disparity in compensation do not justify it. It is relatively impossible to establish why women receive less compensation that men in this day and age.
In a free market, labor is a factor of production. The price for labor is supposed to be determined by economic forces, such as demand and supply. Economists expect or theorize that there is no reason for the glass ceiling. However, the market is seen to be abnormal in many ways, hence the wage gap. Economists also expect rational individuals to hire cheap labor to increase their profit margins. This would mean that employers should employ more women, who are cheaper than men are. Yet again, this is not the case. There are more men being hired for more money than women are (Adayemi-Bello & Tomkiewicz, 1997).
Measures are necessary to allow for the bridge of the compensation gap between men and women. The issue of the glass ceiling has been discussed at all levels of government and there is still a little solution for it. It is advisable, that women ought to lead the way to resolving and breaking the glass ceiling. Women changing their attitudes towards work and their positions would contribute to the improvement.
The second measure necessary to resolve the problem is skill development. This involves better training for women and the provision of opportunities to gain experience. Improving the skills of women adds value for them and reduces or bridges the gap in compensation (Josephine, 1983).
There is also a need for women to reduce the time spent away from work, or the difference between how much time they contribute and how much men contribute. This will resolve the problem of compensation based on hours.
The pipeline theory is a theory that describes a situation in which women are placed on a path to eventually acquire top-level management positions in an organization. In many organizations, however, the pipeline is seen to be either blocked or leaking. This means that women spend between 20 and 30 years before acquiring CEO positions or equal executive pay. This is an indication that even in organizations hiring highly skilled women with high levels of education, the likelihood of them acquiring equal compensation and promotion is lower than that of men. For the pipeline to work, there have to be more women in the pipeline. The women also have to be willing to overcome barriers of breaking the glass ceiling in their individual and collective positions.
Conclusion
The glass ceiling is a way for employers to oppress the women in the organization. There is an undisputed capability by women to achieve the same levels of excellence as men. However, the discrimination and lack of opportunities leaves them overlooked and stuck in the pipeline. Women and men doing the same amount of work get paid differently. This is neither ethical nor legal. The career progression of women is also affected by the discrimination. Even in situations where discrimination is not evident, there are other factors that limit women’s abilities and widen the compensation gap. Necessary measures can contribute to the lowering or breaking of the glass ceiling.
References
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Jackson, J. F., & O’Callaghan, E. M. (2009). What do we know about glass ceiling effects? A taxonomy and critical review to inform higher education research. Research in Higher Education, 50(5), 460-482.
Le, A. T., & Miller, P W. (2010). Glass ceiling and double disadvantage effects: women in the US labor market. Applied Economics, 42 (5), 603-613.
Farrell, W (2005). Why Men Earn More: The Starling Truth Behind the pay Gap and What Women Can Do About It. New York: Amacom
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Josephine, H (1983) "Women's Wages: Materials on Pay Equity", Collection Building, 5(3) .68 – 72
Adayemi-Bello,T & Tomkiewicz, M (1997) "Attitudes Toward Women Managers: A Developing Country's Example", Equal Opportunities International, 16 (3), 1 – 12
