GENDER STRATIFICATION SYSTEM
GENDER STRATIFICATION SYSTEM - MEANS THAT THERE ARE NOT ONLY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN - THERE ARE
ALSO "STATUS ISSUES ATTACHED" TO THESE DIFFERENCES [THERE IS AN UP AND DOWN RANKING SCALE BASED ON GENDER].
THERE ARE TWO
OVERRIDING QUESTIONS HERE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH: (1) WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF GENDER
INEQUALITY OR THE “GENDER WAGE GAP”
IN CANADA?, AND (2) HOW IS “OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION” AND/ OR “GENDER DISCRIMINATION”
RELATED TO THE PAY GAP?
THE GENDER WAGE GAP
THE WAGE GAP
REFERS TO THE DISPARITY BETWEEN WOMEN'S AND
MEN'S EARNINGS. IT IS CALCULATED BY DIVIDING WOMEN'S EARNING'S BY MEN'S TO
YIELD A PERCENTAGE – "EARNINGS RATIO".
IS THE GAP ATTRIBUTABLE TO "OCCUPATIONAL
SEGREGATION? – [ THE DISTRIBUTION OF GROUPS
DEFINED BY ASCRIBED CHARACTERISTICS, MOSTLY GENDER, ACROSS OCCUPATIONS. MORE
BASICALLY, IT IS THE CONCENTRATION OF A SIMILAR GROUP OF PEOPLE (BE THEY MALES,
FEMALES, WHITES, BLACKS, ETC.) IN A JOB
]
IS THE GAP ATTRIBUTABLE TO “GENDER DISCRIMINATION”? – [ALSO KNOW NA SEXISM OR SEX DISCRIMINATION, IS THE APPLICATION OF THE BELIEF OR ATTITUDE
THAT THERE ARE CHARACTERISTICS IMPLICIT TO ONE'S GENDER THAT INDIRECTLY AFFECT
ONE'S ABILITIES IN UNRELATED AREAS.]
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM: WE KNOW THERE IS A WAGE GAP [IN ALL
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES] è HOW MUCH OF THE GAP CAN BE
ATTRIBUTED TO GENDER DISCRIMINATION {OCCUPATIONAL CONTROL AND SOCIAL CLOSURE}?
{{The 2008 edition of the Employment Outlook report by the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found that women are
paid 17% less than their male counterparts. Moreover the report argued that
labor market discrimination continues to be a problem and that "30% of the
variation in gender wage gaps across OECD countries can be explained by
discriminatory practices in the labour market."}}
MALE-FEMALE WAGE DIFFERENCES REVEAL THAT GENDER IS A MAJOR
SOURCE OF INEQUALITY IN THE CANADIAN WORKFORCE.
WOMEN'S OVERALL PAY RELATIVE TO MEN'S HAS
INCREASED BY ABOUT A PENNY A YEAR FOR THE PAST TEN
YEARS, WHICH
IS A SIGNIFICANT MOVE UPWARD – HOWEVER:
AT THE TURN OF THE 21ST CENTURY, WOMEN WHO WORKED FULL TIME FOR THE WHOLE YEAR STILL EARNED ONLY 73
CENTS FOR EACH DOLLAR EARNED BY THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS (STATS CANADA,
1999)
SINGLE WOMEN EARNED
93 CENTS FOR EVERY DOLLAR EARNED BY A MARRIED MAN.
MARRIED WOMEN, ON THE OTHER HAND,
EARNED ONLY 69
CENTS FOR EVERY DOLLAR EARNED BY A MARRIED MAN
(STATS CANADA, 1998).
[CONSIDER THAT] THE GENDER WAGE GAP
EXISTS FOR ALL LEVELS OF EDUCATION
è ALTHOUGH HIGHER EDUCATION CLEARLY
NARROWS THE WAGE GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, A WOMAN WITH A UNIVERSITY DEGREE EARNS
APPROXIMATELY $13,000 LESS THAN A MAN
WITH A UNIVERSITY DEGREE – THE GAP
IS ‘NORMALLY’ ATTRIBUTED TO "OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION"
– [THE MAJORITY OF FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ENROL IN DEGREE PROGRAMS IN
EDUCATION, HEALTH PROFESSIONS, FINE ARTS, AND
THE HUMANITIES, WHILE MALES CONTINUE TO DOMINATE IN FIELDS OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.]
EVEN WITHIN OCCUPATIONS THAT REQUIRE
SPECIALIZED EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS, THE WAGE GAP
DOES NOT DISAPPEAR – FOR EVERY DOLLAR EARNED BY MEN, WOMEN EARNED: 66 CENTS AS
DENTISTS, 68 CENTS AS LAWYERS, AND
77 CENTS AS UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS (STATS CANADA, 1998).
GENDER CHARACTERISTICS AND DIFFERENCES
IN THE WORLD OF WORK
[AGAIN] THE GENDERED DIVISION OF LABOR IS A CENTRAL ASPECT OF
THE GENDER INEQUALITY THAT EXISTS IN SOCIETY. THE FACTS ARE
AS FOLLOWS:
(1) IN THE WORLD OF WORK,
MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOT EQUAL. SINCE 1960S, WOMEN IN CANADA HAVE
ENTERED THE PAID LABOR FORCE IN LARGE NUMBERS, WITH THEIR PARTICIPATION RATE NOW
VERY CLOSE TO MEN
(2) IN TERMS OF EDUCATION, MORE WOMEN THAN MEN NOW EARN UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES. NONETHELESS, WOMEN
HAVE NOT ENTERED THE PAID LABOR FORCE ON AN EQUAL FOOTING WITH MEN.
(3) IN CANADA TODAY, A SPLIT LABOUR MARKET
EXISTS, WITH WOMEN PRIMARILY IN JOBS THAT HAVE LOWER INCOMES AND LOWER STATUS. IN THE HOUSEHOLD, WOMEN DO THE
MAJORITY OF THE WORK. MOST WOMEN WORK IN THE PAID LABOR FORCE OUT OF ECONOMIC
NECESSITY.
(4) IN FACT,
THE WAGE GAP IS EVEN GREATER IN
THE MORE PRESTIGIOUS OCCUPATIONS -- WOMEN AVERAGE ONLY 61% OF MALE
EARNINGS.
(5) IN THE LOWER RANGE OCCUPATIONS, WOMEN ONLY
EARN 73 PER CENT OF WHAT MEN EARN.
(6) THREE-QUARTERS OF THOSE IN THE TEN LOWEST-PAYING OCCUPATIONS ARE WOMEN.
(7) OF
THE TEN HIGHEST-PAYING FULL-TIME, FULL-YEAR
JOBS, ALL ARE
MALE DOMINATED, WITH WOMEN ACCOUNTING FOR LESS THAN 20 PERCENT OF WORKERS IN
THOSE OCCUPATIONS.
(8) THE
PAY GAP IS EVEN GREATER FOR UNIVERSITY-EDUCATED WOMEN WHO EARNED 68% OF WHAT A
MAN MADE IN 2005 è DOWN FROM 75% IN 1995 {WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?}
(9) ALTHOUGH "GENDER-SEGREGATION" IS
THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF LOWER WAGES, THE WAGE REMAINS LOWER THAN MAN'S EVEN WITHIN MALE-DOMINATED OCCUPATIONS.
1) [SO] WHAT IS THE
CAUSE OF GENDER INEQUALITY IN CANADA? [DISCRIMINATION OR PERSONAL MOTIVATION AND
CHOICE? IS IT CLASS EXPLOITATION [INVERTED
PYRAMID THEORY]? IS IT GENDER DISCRIMINATION [HORIZONTAL PYRAMID THEORY]? OR IS IT THE INEVITABLE RESULTS OF A FREE MARKET SYSTEM [VERTICAL PYRAMID THEORY]?
GENDER INEQUALITY RESULTS FROM ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN.
IN MOST WORKPLACES, JOBS ARE
EITHER GENDER SEGREGATED OR THE MAJORITY OF EMPLOYEES ARE
OF THE SAME GENDER.
WHILE THE DEGREE OF GENDER SEGREGATION IN THE PROFESSIONAL
WORKPLACE HAS DECLINED
SINCE THE 1970S, RACIAL AND
ETHNIC SEGREGATION REMAINS DEEPLY EMBEDDED.
2) HOW IS OCCUPATIONAL
SEGREGATION AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION RELATED TO THE PAY GAP?
MANY WOMEN WORK
IN LOWER-PAYING, LESS PRESTIGIOUS JOBS THAN MEN. THIS OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION
LEADS TO A DISPARITY, OR PAY GAP,
BETWEEN WOMEN'S AND MEN'S
EARNINGS.
[HOWEVER] EVEN WHEN WOMEN ARE
EMPLOYED IN THE SAME JOB AS MEN,
ON AVERAGE THEY DO NOT RECEIVE THE SAME, OR COMPARABLE ,
PAY.
***HOW DO WOMEN
SOCIAL RESEARCHERS è “FEMINIST SCHOLARS” è INTERPRET THIS SITUATION?