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?