challeenges for womentin working envirenment

1. Women and Work

2. In Small Group:
Assume that you are an academic advisor at SuperDuper
College. A female junior level student majoring in ____
comes to you and asks for your advice on the career she
is considering. Answer the following questions in
preparation for your talk with her.
1. What is the average salary for a new recruit in that field
(give male and female salary separately)
2. What is the average number of male and female workers
in that field. Is there gender segregation?
3. List some potential challenges and opportunities for a
female in that field.

3. An Interesting Topic
By virtue of your college degree, you will/
are likely enter the paid workforce
variety of issues you will face, so be
prepared
Today, more than 50% of women hold
paying jobs, so she is not an anomaly but
the NORM

4. Outline of Presentation
History of Women and Work
Where are we today
Factors that affect women in the workplace
How the wage gap affects salaries
Effects of work on a woman’s personal life

5. History of Women and Work
some info from Women Working by Stromberg & Harkness, 1988
Women are not new to concept of work
differences we see today were prompted by
industrial age
Colonial America-- work roles for men &
women more equitable than today
frontier conditions, agrarian duties meant
everyone worked hard

6. Colonial America
Men and women had many shared
activities, worked as part of household
economy, gender roles more fluid
but tasks generally assigned by age and sex
wives had exclusive responsibility for
mgmt. of household economy
women helped with bookeeping, supervised
workers, collected debts, ordered materials
men assumed discipline/soc. of children

7. Colonial America
Women typically had 7-9 children
roles were physically demanding- made
soap, candles, fabric, clothes, chopped
wood, prepared meals, cared for children
many served as midwives, dispensed herbs
all women operated under constraints of
English legal system

8. English Law in America
3 basic assumptions about women:
– women depended on men, this was necessary &
proper
– English law dictated that property mgmt. &
public affairs best left to the man
– interests of husband and wife were the same- so
whatever husband wanted was naturally what
wife wanted as well
Surest way to property was thru widowhood

9. Industrial Era- early 1800s
People moving Westward
agriculture becoming commercialized
** Indust. Rev. dramatically changes
relationship of individuals to their work
work and home roles become more separate
men increasingly work outside home for
paid wage
women’s domestic work still exhausting but
a little better

10. Industrial Era
Women becoming more involved in
socialization of children
women also expected to attend to husband’s
emotional as well as physical needs
** gradual but perhaps biggest change:
the absence of men from the household also
reduced the social visibility of women’s
domestic work

11. The (de-) value of domestic work
Women at home perceived to be in leisurely
role
men associated home with rest, relaxation,
place of seclusion from stress
because men didn’t associate home with
work, they also failed to associate women
with work

12. Women and work during 1800s
Yes, some women in paid labor force
– 1890 estimate to be 5%
most worked in textile factories
those who remained in the home often took
on laundry, sewing, piecework for others
By end of 19th C. large corporations
beginning to form, govt. expands, increase
in immigration, transportation,
communication

13. Expansion of work roles
Late 19th C. changes meant gradual
increases in work opportunities for women
greatest expansion 1890-1940
women in clerical & sales jobs:
– 1900 - 8%
– 1940 - 29%
women also move into teaching
most opportunities only for white women

14. Early- Mid 1900s
Despite high unemployment rates, men did
not displace women employees. WHY?
Despite public ambivalence, women in
workforce rose rapidly after 1940s
WWI and WWII - mass media campaigns
to get women into traditional male jobs
then 1950s - mass media campaign to urge
women back into the home

15. Mid- late 1900s
1950s and 1960s - social pressure to stay at
home, increase in childbirths (also
marriages and then divorces)
1964 - Title 7 Equal Pay Act of Civil Rights
Act passes and reinforces women in work
since 1940s women increasingly entering
the workforce in all age brackets, with
fastest increase in 20-34 year-olds

16. So Where Are We Today?
1st quarter 2002:
– 54.1 million men and 42.9 million women
(16+ yrs) in the paid workforce
70% men and 57% women in civilian labor
force (US Dept Labor Stats)
unemployment rate about 6% overall
– higher for women with children and minorities
in general. If interested go to:
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?lf

17. Factors that Affect Women in
Workplace
Stereotypes
– token employees
– queen bees
Access Discrimination
Evaluation & Promotion Bias
Job Leaves
Sexual Harassment
Occupational Segregation
Salary Differentials

18. Why do these factors occur?
In large part because of our social
construction of gender!!

19. The Wage Gap in 2000
http://feminist.com/fairpay/factsheets.htm
Women make 73 cents to man’s dollar,
hovered between 70-74 cents thru 1990s
Median earnings:
– men: $37,339
– women: $27,355
Earnings for others as % of White Men:
men women
– black 78% 64%
– Hispanic 63% 52%
– Asian 105% 80%

20. 2 primary causes of Wage Gap
Job Segregation - few jobs are held by 50%
men, 50% women. Those held by women
usually not valued nor paid as highly
Entitlement - individual’s sense of what
s/he is entitled to receive in pay.
Examples of entitlement theory by B. Major

21. Sex-Segregated Occupations
Over 80% female
Secretaries, stenog 98%
Health care 85
Financial Records 91
Priv hshld maids 90
Hairdressers, child care
workers 83
BLS (1990). Employment & Earnings,
37(1), Table 20.
Over 80% male
Mechanics & repairs 97%
Construction labor 97
Engineers 92
Health diagnosing 83
Protective srvs 85
Farm operators&mgr 85

22. http://www.apaclassics.org/profmat/PS2001_figure4.html

23. The Wage Gap By Education: 2001
The following avg.figures reflecting the median earnings in 2001for FT, YR workers,
25 yrs +:
Total H.S. Grad. Bachelor's Master's
ALL MEN $40,706 $33,037 $53,108 $66,934
White $41,317 $34,792 $55,307 $67,423
Black $32,180 $27,422 $42,999 $51,336
Hispanic $26,502 $26,944 $44,778 $60,661
Total H.S. Grad. Bachelor's Master's
ALL WOMEN $30,504 $24,253 $39,865 $48,343
White $30,890 $24,736 $40,192 $48,615
Black $27,351 $22,341 $36,253 $43,884
Hispanic $22,192 $21,600 $34,060 $46,169
Data Source: US Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2002, Table PINC-03 "Educational Attainment" - People 25 years
old and over by total money earnings in 2001 'Work' experience in 2001, age, race, Hispanic origin and sex.

24. Women of Color in the Workplace
The wage gap is most severe for women of color. Consider these facts
about the paychecks of black and Hispanic women in the workplace:
•In one year, the average black woman earns approximately $12,000 less
than the average white man does. Over a thirty-five year career, this adds
up to $420,000!
•Black women account for 30% of all female-headed families in the U.S.
They have a median income of $18,244 annually, while families headed by
white males (no wife present) have a median income of $39,240.
•In one year, the average Hispanic woman working full-time earns $17,837
less than the average white man does. Over a 30 -year career, that adds up
to $510,000!
•Hispanic women with a high school diploma earn $22,469. That is 33%
less than white men with the same level of education.
From National Committee on Pay Equity Fact Sheets

25. More stats on women & work
1993 - women without HS degree earned
$14,700, compared to men at $21,402
women with HS diploma earned $19,168,
compared to men at $26,820
women-headed households are worst:
– married couple $43,129
– male head, no wife present $29,849
– female head, no husb. Present $18,545

26. BLS. http://www.stlcc.cc.mo.us/ccdocs/instres/item5.htm

27. Wage Gap by Education
1997 all FT workers, 25+ yrs. (US DoL,Census Bureau)
HSGrad BA/BS MA/MS Doctorate
Men
White $31,195 47,220 60,081 71,423
Black $25,790 35,962 42,125 61,573
Hisp. $24,021 37,725 44,702 42,082
Women
White $21,602 33,896 41,884 52,653
Black $19,993 31,010 40,589 40,342
Hisp. $19,247 31,993 41,554 55,956

28. 1999 UD College Grads
from UD Career Plans Survey
$ Male $ Female Ratio
Agric. Sci. 33,905 25,667 0.76
A&S Human. 32,463 27,984 0.86
A&S Soc Sc. 29,694 26,538 0.89
A&S Life/Hlth. 30,000 27,827 0.93
A&S Phys. 35,504 34,331 0.97
B&E 36,215 33,049 0.91
Engineering 41,211 41,993 1.02
Hlth &Nursing 24,458 33,370 1.36
CHEP 27,527 28,470 1.03
Average 34,336 30,170 0.88

29. 2000-01 Faculty Salaries
Public 4-yr universities
Male
Asst Prof $46,859
Assoc Prof 55,384
Full Prof 78,083
ACHE Survey Salaries.
http://www.ache.state.al.us/00Abstract/
TABLE38.pdf
Female
Asst Prof $43586
Assoc Prof 49,185
Full Prof 65,614

30. Have women broken the
glass ceiling yet?
What factors affect the glass
ceiling?
See Table 7.2 in Hyde women are
6.6% executives, minorities 2.6%
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/e
_archive/gov_reports/glassceiling/
?page=home
http://glass-ceiling.com/

31. Global Connections of Poverty
(B. Lott in Primis)
Although women are 50% of population,
they own only 1% of world’s property and
10% of world’s income
conditions of women’s lives provide
markers of poverty and hunger
Women comprise two-thirds of the world’s
illiterate
even a little education for women pays
dividends in every index of social progress
and development.

32. Effects of Work on Woman’s
Personal Life
Marriage
Household Tasks
Children
Personal Adjustment

33. Marriage
Employment = delayed marriage for many
Sure, it’s getting better but still the
predominant ideology is that man’s job
comes first - i.e., job transfers
hard for some dual career couples; women
more likely to choose job to fit family
3 kinds of marriage:
– traditional, modern, egalitarian

34. Marital Bliss
In general, marriage not as satisfying for
women
Jesse Bernard- studied mental & physical
hlth of single and married men and women
found married men healthier, likelier to get
better-paying jobs & higher pay than unm.
Married men commit fewer crimes, get
fewer traffic tickets, live longer than unm m.
married women - 2 to 3 x more likely to
report physical & emotional problems

35. Household Tasks
Household chores generally not fun for most
dissatisfaction with inequity in household
tasks perhaps one if not greatest difficulties
In 1971 38% men did little/no housework
today changing, but after last 25 years still
not equal efforts
the double disadvantage
women who work outside the home the most
dissatisfied with task division

36. Household Tasks
Keep in mind--housework generally not a
seen, and therefore not a valued task
J. Birnbaum (75) found homemakers to
have lowest SE (women who had BA)
social isolation, lack of reward for job well
done, financial dependence create feelings
of frustration, little control

37. Children
1980s was 1st time more than 1/2 all
mothers with children under 6 yrs in labor
force
much stress, guilt, mommy wars
big debates about quality of child care
1993 Family & Medical Leave Act
time off can be costly for many years

38. Children in Day Care
Early research said separation of mother &
child had negative effects
findings from early studies (some argue)
based on poor methods, biased samples,
misleading statements
other studies show preschoolers in day care
not signif. different from those at home
Belsky & Steinberg (78) day care may
intellectually benefit some children

39. Day Care
Some argued that day care = impersonal
trtmnt, aggressive behavior, more illness
others report day care children show better
social adjustment, no difference in later
school achievement, girls may have
advantage seeing mom role model,
encourages independence, daughters of
working moms less gender stereotyped

40. Personal Psychological
Adjustment
2 hypotheses on women in work:
– scarcity - work makes one feel tired,
overwhelmed, unable to do all tasks
– enhancement - work gives one more energy
certainly many experience role strain, but
that can be minimized (some good, some
bad ways)

41. Physical Health
Role strain could lead to poor health, but
some studies show that employed women
are healthier
WHY?
Many find work mentally stimulating,
encourages social interaction, meet/work
with people with similar interests, increases
self-esteem
read A. Hochschild’s The Second Shift

42. So what’s the right answer?
there is no perfect/right answer; it’s an
individual decision
those women who can CHOOSE their role
and decision of whether or not to enter the
paid workforce are the happiest.
keep these points in mind as you enter or
move to next level of your career