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Psychology 320: Psychology of Gender and Sex Differences

Lecture 48

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Office Hour InvitationsFebruary 10th, 11:30-12:30 Kenny 2517

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Midterm Exam

• February 13: 30 multiple choice questions (1 point each).

• February 15: 5 short answer questions (2-6 points each, totaling 20 points).

• The exam is worth 20% of your final grade.

• The exam will be scored out of 50 points.

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• Please arrive on time to facilitate rapid distribution of the exams.

• Bring a pencil, eraser, pen, and your student ID to the exam.

• All electronic devices must be put away before the start of the exam.

• Bags and backpacks should be left at the front of the room. Please do not bring valuables to the exam.

• Hats (e.g., baseball caps) should not be worn during the exam.

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Careers and Work

1. What forms of discrimination are encountered in the workplace? (continued)

2. Do females and males experience similar levels of job satisfaction?

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2. discuss sex differences in work-place negotiations.

1. distinguish between supply-side theory and demand side-theory.

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

3. define the terms: accumulation of disadvantage, maternal wall, and marital bonus.

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5. discuss factors that contribute to job satisfaction among females who encounter discrimination in the workplace.

4. discuss sex similarities in job satisfaction.

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Two theories have been proposed to account for pay discrepancies across the sexes:

What forms of discrimination are encountered in the workplace?

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(a) Supply-Side Theory (Human Capital Theory)

• Maintains that the characteristics of males and females account for pay inequities.

• Examples of characteristics of males and females (i.e., “supply-side characteristics”) that may contribute to pay inequities:

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Number of hours worked.

Occupational experience.

Occupational choice: However, within occupations females are paid less than males.

Educational background: No longer viable.

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Negotiation of salary: Females are less likely than males to engage in salary negotiation (Babcock & Laschever, 2003; Walters et al., 1998).

Gerhart and Rynes (1991) found that males’ negotiations led to a 4.3% yearly salary increase, whereas females’ negotiations led to a 2.7% yearly salary increase:

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0

50

100

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25 35 45 55 65

Female

Male

Sal

ary

(Tho

usan

ds o

f Dol

lars

)

Projected Salary of a Male and Female Over the Ages of 25 to 65 with a 4.3% and 2.7% Salary Increase Per Year, Respectively

Age

Accumulation of disadvantage

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Females are less likely to engage in salary negotiation than males because they are more likely to (Barron, 2003):

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1. feel unsure of “their worth.”

2. believe that they do not deserve to be paid more than others.

4. believe that conflict will jeopardize the negotiation relationship.

3. believe in meritocracy.

5. experience anxiety during the negotiation.

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(b) Demand-Side Theory

• Maintains that discrimination accounts for pay inequities.

• Examples of discrimination shown by employers:

Some employers pay females less than males because they believe that females are less likely to relocate due to their “family ties” (Helgeson, 2009).

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Some employers pay mothers less than fathers because they believe that mothers are primary caregivers and, thus, cannot be as productive as their

male counterparts.

This is known as the “maternal wall” or “motherhood penalty.”

Several lines of evidence point to a maternal wall:

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1. Employed mothers are perceived as less competent than individuals without children (Cuddy et al.,

2004).

2. Employed mothers are perceived as less competent and committed than employed fathers (Correll et al., 2007; Heilman & Okimoto, 2008).

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5. Sex differences in pay are larger for couples with children than couples without children:

4. Respondents indicate a preference to promote and train a woman without a child than a woman with a child, but a preference to promote and train a man with a child than a man without a child.

3. Respondents set more stringent hiring standards for women with children than women without children, but more lenient hiring standards for men with

children than men without children.

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0

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All WithChildren

WithoutChildren

Female

Male

69% 77%63%

Wee

kly

Ear

ning

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Percent Pay Gap As a Function of Parental Status (Dey & Hill, 2007)

Maternal wall for females, marital bonus

for males.

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“Motherhood is now the single greatest obstacle left in the path to economic equality for women” (Crittenden, 2001).

In her book The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World Is Still the Least Valued, Crittenden (2001) states:

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Do females and males experience similar levels of job satisfaction?

• Although females are more likely than males to encounter discrimination in the workplace, research

reveals no sex differences in overall job satisfaction (Crosby, 1984; Martinez, 2005).

• Factors that may account for this finding include the following:

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(b) females report receiving greater social support in the workplace than males.

(c) females, like members of other disadvantaged groups, tend to deny personal experiences of discrimination:

(a) as noted already, females have lower salary expectations than males.

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Crosby (1984)

Found that female participants received $5,000 –$8,000 less than male participants, demonstrating treatment discrimination.

Matched male and female participants on supply-side characteristics (e.g., prestige of job, education level).

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Females did not report less job satisfaction than males.

The vast majority of females agreed with the statement “Are women discriminated against?”; however, the vast majority of females disagreed with the statement “Are you at present the victim of sex discrimination.”

Thus, the female participants denied their personal experience of discrimination.

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Careers and Work

1. What forms of discrimination are encountered in the workplace? (continued)

2. Do females and males experience similar levels of job satisfaction?