Women and Work

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.

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

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

History of Women and Worksome 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Factors that Affect Women in Workplace Stereotypes

– token employees– queen bees

Access Discrimination Evaluation & Promotion Bias Job Leaves Sexual Harassment Occupational Segregation Salary Differentials

Why do these factors occur?

In large part because of our social construction of gender!!

The Wage Gap in 2000http://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%

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

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% maleMechanics & repairs

97%

Construction labor 97

Engineers 92

Health diagnosing 83

Protective srvs 85

Farm operators&mgr 85

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

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.

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

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

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

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 $25,79035,962 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

1999 UD College Grads from UD Career Plans Survey

$ Male $ Female RatioAgric. Sci. 33,905 25,667 0.76A&S Human. 32,463 27,984 0.86A&S Soc Sc. 29,694 26,538 0.89A&S Life/Hlth. 30,000 27,827 0.93A&S Phys. 35,504 34,331 0.97B&E 36,215 33,049 0.91Engineering 41,211 41,993 1.02Hlth &Nursing24,458 33,370 1.36CHEP 27,527 28,470 1.03

Average 34,336 30,170 0.88

2000-01 Faculty SalariesPublic 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

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/

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.

Effects of Work on Woman’s Personal Life

Marriage

Household Tasks

Children

Personal Adjustment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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