Wage gap between women and men

International Journal of Scientific Management and Tourism
ISSN: 2386-8570
Wage gap between women and men: analysis of main causes and impact of schooling on wage gap
Diferença salarial entre mulheres e homens: análise das principais
causas e impacto da escolaridade na diferença salarial
Brecha salarial entre mujeres y hombres: análisis de las principales
causas e impacto de la educación en la brecha salarial
DOI: 10.55905/ijsmtv10n4-039
Originals received: 07/12/2024
Acceptance for publication: 08/12/2024
Gabriela Villaça Avila
Graduated in Administration
Institution: Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto
da Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Address: Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto - SP,
CEP: 14040-905
E-mail: [email protected]
Paulo Sergio Miranda Mendonça
PhD in Administration, Marketing
Institution: Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto
da Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Address: Avenida Professor Luciano Gualberto, 908, Butantã - São Paulo – SP,
CEP: 05508-010
E-mail: [email protected]
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0370-7154
ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to delve into issues related to the gender wage gap by thoroughly
analyzing the causes and impacts of gender inequality in our society. This paper explores
various contributing factors such as occupational segregation, discrimination, and worklife balance challenges that influence the wage disparity between men and women. Additionally, it examines the role of educational attainment, including the number of years of
schooling and college graduation, on future career earnings and how these factors contribute to the gender wage gap. By providing a comprehensive overview, this paper aims
to highlight the complexity of the issue and suggest potential pathways for addressing
gender wage inequality.
Keywords: gender wage gap, gender inequality, education, career earnings, occupational
segregation.
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RESUMO
O objetivo deste artigo é aprofundar questões relacionadas à diferença salarial de gênero,
analisando detalhadamente as causas e os impactos da desigualdade de gênero em nossa
sociedade. Este artigo explora diversos fatores contributivos, como a segregação
ocupacional, discriminação e desafios de equilíbrio entre trabalho e vida pessoal, que
influenciam a disparidade salarial entre homens e mulheres. Além disso, examina o papel
da escolaridade, incluindo o número de anos de estudo e a conclusão do ensino superior,
nos ganhos futuros na carreira e como esses fatores contribuem para a diferença salarial
de gênero. Ao fornecer uma visão abrangente, este artigo visa destacar a complexidade
da questão e sugerir caminhos potenciais para enfrentar a desigualdade salarial de gênero.
Palavras-chave: diferença salarial de gênero, desigualdade de gênero, educação, ganhos
na carreira, segregação ocupacional.
RESUMEN
El objetivo de este artículo es profundizar en cuestiones relacionadas con la brecha
salarial de género, analizando detalladamente las causas y los impactos de la desigualdad
de género en nuestra sociedad. Este artículo explora diversos factores contributivos, como
la segregación ocupacional, la discriminación y los desafíos de conciliación entre la vida
laboral y personal, que influyen en la disparidad salarial entre hombres y mujeres.
Además, examina el papel de la educación, incluyendo el número de años de escolaridad
y la graduación universitaria, en las ganancias futuras en la carrera y cómo estos factores
contribuyen a la brecha salarial de género. Al proporcionar una visión integral, este
artículo pretende destacar la complejidad del tema y sugerir posibles vías para abordar la
desigualdad salarial de género.
Palabras clave: brecha salarial de género, desigualdad de género, educación, ganancias
en la carrera, segregación ocupacional.
1 INTRODUCTION
The motivation to develop this paper was to expand the article: “Does Compulsory
School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?”. Angrist and Krueger (1991) article
discusses the effects of the compulsory schooling attendance laws and how it impacts the
future earnings on the career by mostly understanding two things: how the quarter of birth
affects years of study? - meaning people born in the first quarter of the year would get
into school later and, therefore, would spend less time studying until the age they could
drop out of school; and how does that gap impact future earnings on career?.
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The results of the second section of Angrist and Krueger (1991) article suggest
that men who are forced to attend school by compulsory schooling laws earn higher wages
because of their increased schooling. Knowing that years of schooling is a crucial factor
to earn higher wages, a question whether men and women would have the same wages,
if they had the same amount of schooling came up. The article that motivated this paper,
took a restricted public in consideration, and did not contemplate women in the study, so
the question remained unanswered. Also, this paper has a goal to not only bring numbers
to prove if there is a wage gap between women and men, but also bring background information about this phenomenon and factors that may cause it. The main purpose is to
analyze the existence of the wage gap and its tendency. Answering the following questions: Is there a significant wage gap between men and women?; What is the tendency of
the wage gap over the last few decades?; and Which gender and race are more affected
by the wage gap?
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 GENDER INEQUALITY AND WAGE GAP
The definition of gender wage inequality is the difference between women’s and
men’s median weekly full-time equivalent earnings. The wage gap is a manifestation of
gender discrimination, and it not only affects women, but gender inequality has been
named globally as one of the major deterrents for socioeconomic development
(Chaudhuri et al., 2019). Taking that in consideration the UNDP has as goal number 5 of
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve “Gender Equality” (UNDP, 2023).
As a result, from all discrimination suffered by women after their entrance into
the labor force, the government had taken some actions to prevent women from receiving
less salary even when working at the same job and the same hours as men. Some companies had explicit and advertised policies of not hiring women for certain jobs, underestimating their capabilities, and limiting their options (England et al., 2020).
“Some have argued that industrialization often benefits men more than women,
since men move into and maintain control of powerful positions, while relegating women
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to low-paying work” (e.g., Boserup, 1990 as cited in Moore; Shackman, 1996, p. 275).
To solve that issue, the Equal Pay Act was created. This law requires employers to pay
both sexes equal compensation for work demanding equal skill, effort, and responsibility,
however the wage could change based on seniority, merit, performance, and other factors
unrelated to sex (Buckley, 1971). The question that stays is, if employers must pay both
sexes the same wage for equal work, how is the wage gap still a huge issue?
Blau and Kahn (1996, p. 537) cited “The U.S. gender gap is higher than in the
Scandinavian countries, Australia, and Austria, about the same as in the United Kingdom,
and lower than in Germany and Switzerland.”. The disparity in the U.S. may be accounted
for by the significant lower gender ratio when compared to Scandinavian countries and
Australia. Despite the U.S. commitment to equal pay and employment opportunities,
these policies might be more effective when implemented under centralized wage-determination systems. Additionally, U.S. women have qualifications compared to men that
compare favorably to women in other countries, suggesting that gender-specific factors
may not fully explain the high pay gap in the United States.
2.2 WAGE GAP EVOLUTION AND RETURN TO SCHOOLING
It is a fact that women’s median earnings are lower than men’s. The depth of the
inverted-U curve of the earning trajectories over the lifetime by education and gender for
women is shallower than for men (Tamborini et al., 2020).
The wage gap is a reality, but it has been declining over time, key findings show:
“Gender earnings gap declined over time, as the ratio of women’s to men’s
median earnings increased from 0.68 in 1979 to 0.93 in 2018. The gap declined
for men and women in all types of family situations. It was largest between
men and women who were married with children (the ratio of women’s earnings to men’s among this group was 0.79 in 2018, up from 0.60 in 1979).”
(Iceland; Redstone, 2020, pp. 9-10).
One crucial factor to analyze is the schooling of both men and woman, since it is
well known that the labor market is progressing and becoming even more competitive
and, therefore, requiring more qualified people to join the workforce. “Returns to
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schooling have declined very modestly over time despite rising average levels of schooling attainment, suggesting that the world demand for skills has been increasing as the
world skill supply has also increased.” (Claudio; Patrinos, 2014, p. 3).
Tamborini et al. (2020, p. 1401) paper proves that college attainment is positively
associated with increasing the earnings of both sexes over time. Also points interesting
information about the estimated return to college, “earnings gains associated with a bachelor’s degree by 23 % for men and 42 % for women lifetime earnings gap between high
school and college graduates”. Information to support the fact that estimated returns to
schooling are higher for women than for men. However, this data could be interpreted the
wrong way, because if women have a higher return to a higher level of education, do they
have better wages? The study further explains those number, presenting that this huge
differences between the return to schooling is explained for the most part because the
earnings of less-educated young women are much lower than correspondingly less-educated men (e.g., Tamborini et al., 2020 as cited in Claudio; Patrinos, 2014; Psacharopoulos; Patrinos, 2018; Oreopoulos; Petronijevic, 2013).
“Returns to schooling are highest at the primary level and become smaller (although still large) at the secondary and tertiary levels of schooling.” (Claudio; Patrinos,
2014, p. 2). Nevertheless, even with decreasing returns to schooling over the years, the
increase in future earnings pays off college costs.
“The net present lifetime value of college education at age 20 for those who
have similar likelihood of obtaining a bachelor’s degree is 6 times greater than
the total cost of college education for men, and 4.5 times greater for women.”
(Tamborini et al., 2020, p. 1403).
It is essential to point out the “similar likelihood”, since people with different
backgrounds have different opportunities despite having the same years of schooling.
That happens because low propensity people have limited resources (human, cultural and
social) and cannot rely on their resources like individuals with more advantaged social
backgrounds (Brand; Xie, 2010).
Considering returns to schooling are positively associated with lifetime earnings
and companies are looking for more qualified people to work, why do women still have
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lower earnings than men if they are a greater percentage of college graduates? “The ratio
of women to men getting degrees went from 0.76 to 1.34 for baccalaureate degrees and
from 0.13 to 1.18 in for doctoral degrees between 1970 and 2015” (England et al., 2020,
p. 6993). Other studies also support that information:
“For cohorts born after 1965, the percentage of women who graduated college
by the age of twenty-five is greater than the comparable figure for men. For
the most recent cohorts, the four-year college graduation rate for women (32
percent) is ten points higher than the comparable rate for males (22 percent).”.
(Bailey; Dynarski, 2011, p. 7).
3 METHODOLOGY
This research is qualitative, grounded in a subjective nature, as the collected information aims to describe data through the experiences, ideas, and conceptions of participants. The context allows for the identification of motivations, or lack thereof, behind
a particular behavior, culminating in the delivery of reliable insights.
It is also important to highlight the bibliographic nature of this research, developed
based on information or prior knowledge from previously published material on the
treated topic. The sources include books, journals, publications in periodicals, and other
materials, including case studies conducted by other researchers. This approach aims to
enhance the credibility of the obtained data and prevent inconsistencies or contradictions
(Prodanov; Freitas, 2013; Souza; Alves, 2020).
4 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Upon analyzing the data obtained from secondary sources, as mentioned in the
methodology section, it was possible to categorize the main factors responsible for the
wage gap into three parts: Leadership, Career Choices, and Role in Society. Each of these
categories has subdivisions that delve into the topic with more details.
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4.1 LEADERSHIP
4.1.1 Women in top leadership positions
“Men's predominance in authority positions is recognized as a key factor maintaining gender inequality in societies.” (e.g., Chafetz, 1990 as cited in Moore; Shackman,
1996, p. 274). Gobillon et al. (2015) and Bjerk (2008) made multi-sector studies focusing
on the opportunities for women in hiring and promotions. Both studies showed that gender differences in promotion increase in higher levels of organizational hierarchies and
women are underrepresented in those levels (as cited in Bishu; Alkadry, 2017).
Women earn almost 60% of bachelor’s and master’s degrees and represent nearly
half of the U.S. labor force. In addition, they occupy more than half of all management
and professional positions, showing huge progress in reaching top leadership positions.
(Catalyst, 2009; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009 as cited in Hoyt, 2010).
However, a closer examination in this same study, revealed a huge gap in these
top positions:
“Although women occupy a quarter of the Chief Executive Officer positions
in the United States (25%, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009b), the elite
positions tell a different story: women occupy a mere 3% of Fortune 500 CEO
seats, only 15.2% of the F500 board seats, and a mere 15.7% of the F500 corporate officer positions” (Catalyst, 2009 as cited in Hoyt, 2010, p. 485).
Society accepts some actions coming from men, but backlash women for having
the same behaviors, for example, in cases of self-promotion and negotiation (Rudman;
Glick, 2001, as cited in Hoyt, 2010). Nevertheless, those behaviors appear to advantage
men in achieving leadership positions, at the same time it makes women less socially
attractive, and less hirable (Bowles et al., 2007; Rudman, 1998, as cited in Hoyt, 2010).
There is a gender inequality in top leadership positions and women have been
working so much to make progress and achieve those positions. Unfortunately, even when
women get an opportunity, it may not be what is expected from a genuine promotion,
because “When women are promoted to leadership positions they are more likely than
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men to be appointed to glass cliffs: precarious situations associated with greater risk and
criticism” (Haslam; Ryan, 2008; Ryan et al., 2008 as cited in Hoyt, 2010, p. 489).
A meta-analysis of the studies revealed that overall men and women are equally
effective leaders (Eagly et al., 1995 as cited in Hoyt, 2010). Leading to the next topic
about leadership styles.
4.1.2 Leadership styles between men and women
Most companies’ biggest goal is to have profit; therefore, a leader must help the
company to achieve that goal. A reason that could explain a gap between groups in a
leadership position, was if one group had more effective leadership skills than the other.
However, that implication is not true for men and women.
The results from Tomal and Jones (2015, p. 13) showed that “there were no significant differences in the rankings of core competencies between women and men supervisors or women and men managers”. Moreover, in this study gender was categorized
as less important than the role and responsibilities of the leader position.
Hoyt (2010) study shows that effective leadership requires an androgynous combination of feminine and masculine traits and found data to support the fact that the differences in leadership styles are not only exceedingly small, but also differences among
women and among men are more relevant than the differences between the groups.
Despite gender not affecting the leadership core competencies that much, it can
affect the results. Not because of qualification or skills, but because “not fitting the ideal
image of a leader can result in real decrements in leadership effectiveness as followers
are less likely to accept the influence of leaders who are perceived and evaluated in a
negative light.” (Hoyt, 2010, p. 490), and, unfortunately, there is still discrimination
against women as leaders. Foschi et al. (1994) made an experiment where women and
men applied for a leadership position, and the obtained results exposed that, for male
subjects, when the male candidate was the better performer, he was chosen more often,
than when the female candidate was in that position.
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4.2 CAREER CHOICES
4.2.1 Risk taking and competitive environment
Studies have shown that women are less inclined to opt into competitive environments, meaning, women prefer fixed wages instead of competitive forms of performance
pay. (Dohmen; Falk, 2011 as cited in Heinz et al., 2016).
A sizable part of the wage gap could be explained because of this. Because women
may be missing opportunities for better paid jobs by shying away from competitive environments (Manning; Saidi, 2010; Gneezy et al., 2003; Niederle; Vesterlund, 2007 as cited
in McGee et al., 2015).
The inclination to compete would fall into the group of non-discriminatory explanations as it is performance based. In the experiment made by Heinz et al. (2016, p. 337),
the results were: “When the employees decide to work under piece rate, employers take
substantially and significantly more from female workers. By contrast, employers do not
discriminate based on gender when tournaments are chosen.”.
The evidence presented by McGee et al. (2015) indicates that competitiveness
explains a larger part of the gender wage gap in the United States in the NLSY79
(NLSY97) when compared to Manning and Saidi (2010) findings in the United Kingdom
(as cited in McGee et al., 2015). Because of their higher propensity to work on jobs using
competitive performance pay.
“In 1998, men were 4 percentage points more likely than women to have performance pay contracts, and this gap rose to 8 percentage points in 2004.” (Manning; Saidi,
2010, p. 684). This study shows that a performance pay scheme is estimated to raise
wages by 17.5 log points. That gap in performance pay contracts can explain part of the
wage gap.
4.2.2 Differences between the public and private sector
Bishu and Alkadry (2017) results show evidence that the gender pay gap exists
across all sectors, however, the pay gap in the public sector is more subtle than it is in
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other sectors. For example, a public sector study found that men and women have similar
promotion probabilities in the federal government (Lewis, 1986 as cited in Bish; Alkadry,
2017).
Miller (2009) compared the gender pay gap between public and private sectors
and found evidence of a sticky floor in the public sector and glass ceiling in the private
sector, mostly, at the top of organization hierarchies (as cited in Bishu; Alkadry, 2017).
Xiu and Gunderson (2014) reported the presence of glass ceiling and stick floor
effects across a multi-sector study and Arulampalam et al. (2007) multi-sector study reported that the wage gap was wider at top and sometimes also at the bottom (as cited in
Bishu; Alkadry, 2017).
To further explain the vocabulary used in this section, stick floor is a metaphor to
a discriminatory employment pattern that keeps workers (mainly women) in the lower
positions, and with invisible barriers to advance in their career. Glass ceiling is also a
metaphor for a barrier that prevents women from advancing beyond a certain level. In
that case it is not about the gap in lower positions, but in top positions.
4.2.3 Gender-typical jobs
There are various beliefs in our society that are based on discriminatory foundations, such beliefs that tell whether women or men are more suitable to accomplish certain
activities are responsible for defining gender-typical jobs. England et al. (2020) results
show that the segregation of occupations has fallen from 0.60 to 0.42, since 1970. There
has been a slowdown, but not a complete stall of occupational desegregation. This study
also suggests changes in these beliefs or preferences would help to equalize the labor
market’s wage gap. But, even though in a scenario where women and men had equal
preferences for the same job, such beliefs when held by employers, lead to discriminatory
hiring, placement, and promotion.
What is known as “comparable worth” or “pay equity” in the United States, is a
type of discrimination (generally not illegal), where strong evidence suggests lower relative pay in predominantly female occupations (England et al., 2020). This difference
among payments is explained by employers with skill requirements and working
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conditions. To exemplify differences in occupation payment engineers have higher return
than educators, for example (Altonji et al., 2012). Part of the wage gap can be explained
by Altonji et al. (2012, p. 218): “The variation is large enough for the tendency of men to
choose high-paying majors to be an important factor in the gender gap in wages.”.
Researchers agree that the pay gap is not caused by different wages in the same
job and position. Rather it is the concentration of women in lower paying jobs. The concentration in gender-typical jobs that society judges as less valuable and, therefore, have
less returns. This segregation causes a huge part of the male-female wage differential and
is attributable to the effects of discrimination (Oaxaca, 1973; Buckley, 1971)
Retamero and Zafra (2006) research show a manifestation of prejudice against a
female candidate, except when the industry was congruent with her gender role. So, as
the Bishu and Alkadry (2017) suggests, even when women cross into traditionally maledominated occupations are not able to overcome the pay gap because of prejudice.
4.2.4 Opportunity cost and values
In jobs where workers can choose where and how long to work, the payment depends only on their choices. One example is the Uber platform, where drivers have the
autonomy to make various work choices. Cook et al. (2021) documented a roughly 7%
gender earnings gap amongst Uber drivers in the U.S and attributed this gap to three factors: “experience on the platform (learning-by-doing), preferences and constraints over
where to work (driven largely by where drivers live and, to a lesser extent, safety), and
preferences for driving speed”. The study has shown that women have relatively high
opportunity cost of non-paid-work time and differences in preferences and constraints
can sustain a gender pay gap.
These studies show that wage gap between workers can be caused by distinct factors. Even though it seems to be unrelated to discrimination, gender differences are huge
when it comes to safety factors. Women must be more careful on where to drive and at
what time, because at night it can be more dangerous for them than it is for men. This is
caused by many factors and among them: feminicide and sexual abuse.
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Firstly, “Gender-related killings of women and girls, also referred to as femicide
and feminicide, can broadly be defined as intentional killings committed on the grounds
of gender-related factors” (UNODC, 2022). Secondly, “In the United States, significantly
more women than men are sexually assaulted. In 2022, about 442,754 women were raped
or sexually assaulted in the U.S. - an increase from the previous year. In that same year,
89,053 men were raped or sexually assaulted.” (Statista Research Department, 2023)
Fortin (2008) investigates the impact of four noncognitive traits on wages and on
gender gap, those are: self-esteem, external locus of control, the importance of
money/work and the importance of people/family. Underlying the importance of
money/work, the percentage of men who say that ‘‘The chance to be a leader’’ and that
‘‘Having lots of money’’ is especially important exceeds that of women by close to 10
percentage points. As for the importance of people/family composite, the percentage of
women who state that ‘‘Opportunities to work with people rather than things’’ and that
‘‘Opportunities to be helpful to others or useful to society’’ is very important exceed that
of men by more than 10 percentage points. Concluding that noncognitive factors do account for a small, but not trivial, part of the gender wage gap. Adams and Funk (2012)
private sector study concluded that male managers were more interested in power and
achievement than female managers (as cited in Bishu; Alkadry, 2017).
However, Fortin (2008, p. 911) analysis also presents evidence that the gender
differences in the importance of money/work have decreased by a third. “Women have
closed the gender gap in educational attainment and are beginning to close the gap in
some noncognitive factors”.
4.3 ROLES IN SOCIETY
4.3.1 Pregnancy and family
Childcare and household labor are considered women's responsibilities in all societies. These responsibilities have basically been seen as the role of women in society
since medieval times. The motherhood and domestic role stigma still affect women nowadays and, especially, non-upper-class women's ability to engage in demanding careers.
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“When women's proper roles are seen as centering around home and family, women may
be viewed as unsuited for authority positions (Weiss et al., 1976 as cited in Moore; Shackman, 1996, p 277).
Moreover, non-upper-class women that have less access to higher education earn
a lot less than less-educated men (Tamborini et al., 2020). This can happen, by childbearing and the weak labor force attachment of less-educated women, especially in their 20s.
The disproportionate responsibility women assume generates a huge conflict between work and home. It becomes clear when: “Compared to women without children,
those with children are more likely to be unemployed or to work fewer hours, whereas
men show the opposite pattern such that those with children work more hours and are
more likely to be employed” (Kaufman; Uhlenberg, 2000 as cited in Hoyt, 2010, p. 488).
Since women need to juggle a lot more work-home conflicts, they end up having
to take leaves of absence, sick days, finding a part-time employment or leaving the labor
force completely (Hewlett, 2002; Nieva; Gutek, 1981, as cited in Hoyt, 2010). This affects
non-upper-class women more, because of the lower resources to help take care of the
child. In general, those responses women might have to be able to manage all their responsibilities make them be seen as less hirable by companies.
Iceland and Redstone (2020) examined the gender earnings gap and the impacts
of marital status and presence of children from 1979 to 2018 period among full-time
workers between 25–29 years old. Notably, they found an earning parity among one
group: men and women who were unmarried and childless, where the ratio of women’s
earnings to men’s went from 0.82 in 1980 to 1.00 in 2018.
The negative effects of children on women’s earnings did not change over time.
Iceland and Redstone (2020) study found a gap between married and childless men and
women, but the greater gap was among those who are married and with children. It suggests that family living arrangements play a key role in the remaining gender disparity.
Childbearing is associated with lower earnings (Juhn; McCue, 2017 as cited in Iceland;
Redstone, 2020).
Nevertheless, the same study also shows a progression on the thoughts about
childcare, it is still a pressing matter, but it is getting better over the decades. Based on
the dampening of the overall positive association between parenthood and earnings for
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men, the study suggests that men are spending more time caring for their children than in
the past. This means more men prioritize family over work as a function of changes in
gender norms and cultural values toward childbearing (England; Srivastava, 2013; Raley
et al., 2012; Sayer et al., 2004 as cited in Iceland; Redstone, 2020).
4.3.2 Color and race
The average logarithms of the hourly wage from Oaxaca (1973, p. 702) analysis
were: “1.0806 ($2.95) for white males, 6499 ($1.92) for white females, 7721 ($2.16) for
Black males, and 3732 ($1.45) for black females”. That evidence shows how there is a
wage gap for people of color as well, still women are more affected than men, especially
black women. Oaxaca (1973) further explains that this gap cannot be related to schooling,
since Black women complete on average almost a full year more than black men.
Elliott and Smith (2004) in a multisector study about workplace power confirmed
that there are gender and race differences in authority. In addition, it reports that Black
women were among the most disadvantaged in the system, coinciding with the information provided in the earlier paragraph (as cited in Bishu; Alkadry, 2017).
As proved before in this paper, there is a huge gap regarding women in top leadership positions and that matter gets even more concerning when it is discussed about
Black females in positions of authority. Hannum et al. (2014) found that “women of color
are not offered leadership opportunities and are more likely to experience scrutiny and
criticism than their white counterparts” (p. 73). In the same perspective McGuire and
Reskin (1993) study, reports that Black women were the most disadvantaged in access to
workplace authority (as cited in Bishu; Alkadry, 2017).
4.3.3 Discrimination
Discrimination is not the only cause of the wage gap, but certainly affects deeply
the way society thinks and acts. Discrimination can be recognized as the root cause of
many of the other factors mentioned before in this paper. Because of discrimination
women joined the workforce later, because of discrimination women are seen as fully
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responsible for taking care of her child, because of discrimination women are doubted
about their capabilities and society made them believe they deserved less. This insecurity
most women have, exists because society keeps on questioning them, way more than they
question men. They need to constantly prove themselves and it all affects their career
choices for more “safe” types of jobs and/or to careers that are gender-typical for women,
so they can have better acceptance and opportunities.
Hoyt (2010, p. 489) present data about 2007 Gallup polls where is clear how people underestimate women’s capabilities:
“14% indicated that it would be undesirable for the next president to be a
woman and 10% of the U.S. population indicated that they would not vote for
a qualified woman nominated by their party for president. Even among the
89% who would vote for a woman, 14% were not completely comfortable.”.
Extending this bias, on the 2006 Gallup polls people indicated a preference for a
male boss (37%) than a female boss (19%) (Hoyt, 2010). That question was unrelated to
any form of qualification, being just based on gender. Another visible example of discrimination is the remarkable increase in women at male-dominated orchestras after applicants were asked to audition behind a screen, as a result, excluding any effects of gender stereotypes in the process (Goldin; Rouse, 2000 as cited in Hoyt, 2010).
Bishu and Alkadry (2017) analysis cited two interesting papers that gathered data
about hiring and promotion decision outcomes. Bagues and Esteve-Volart (2010, p. 83),
found that “female candidates are less likely to be hired when the majority of recruiting
committee gender composition is female”. Moreover, Williams (1992, p. 87), concluded
that “men did not face discrimination in predominantly female occupations. In the contrary it finds that men experience advantages in female dominated occupations”. Both
studies assumed that this happens because of the “glassescalator” phenomenon, where
women overestimate the qualification of men.
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5 CONCLUSION
As aforementioned, the current research adopts a bibliographic approach, and it is
grounded in the works of various researchers. Consequently, it presents certain limitations. The methods employed for its execution may vary, posing challenges to the analysis
of the obtained data. Moreover, as a qualitative study, this work aims to contribute greater
insight into a sizable portion of the factors responsible for the gender wage gap that persists in contemporary society, considering only the surveyed population.
It is important to emphasize the difficulty in conclusively addressing the effectiveness or comparative impact of these strategies. Different research methods may have
been applied across various sectors and diverse organizational cultures. However, based
on the results derived from the current research and the referenced articles in the subsequent section, an examination and elucidation of the underlying causes of the wage gap,
the factors exerting the greatest influence on its existence, and how these factors can be
identified in various sectors and work models are possible.
The findings presented in the "Data Analysis and Results" section substantiate
several key information regarding the persistent nature of the wage gap between men and
women. Firstly, it is evident that this gap remains significant, in accordance with existing
literature, this highlights its ongoing significance within the UNDP's goals framework.
Secondly, while there has been a decrease in the wage gap over time, a deceleration is
noted compared to previous decades, indicating a subtle shift in the pattern of genderbased income disparities.
Furthermore, the research confirms the wage disparities experienced by Black
women compared to their white counterparts, highlighting the intersectional nature of
inequality within labor markets. Notably, multiple factors contribute to the wage gap,
with discrimination remaining a significant element as corroborated by existing literature.
Additionally, the influence of gender-typical roles and traditional family dynamics on
wage differentials is acknowledged, although recent studies indicate a positive shift in
societal perceptions, particularly regarding childcare and women's attitudes towards work
and financial independence. Moreover, the underrepresentation of women in top leadership positions within organizations contributes significantly to their lower earnings,
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accentuating the importance of equitable access to career advancement opportunities.
While increased educational attainment is associated with reduced wage gaps and higher
salaries across societal groups, the declining benefits of education over time present obstacles to effectively addressing income disparities. Lastly, despite legal mandates for
equal pay for equal work, disparities persist, reflecting the multifaceted nature of the gender wage gap outlined in this study.
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