Sep 15, 20203 min read

Gender Inequality in the Workplace

By: Nidhi Padmanabhan

Women constitute nearly half of the workforce and despite the fact that that there have been several gains over the past few decades pertaining to inequality in the workplace, women today continue to face setbacks. There are several reasons for these setbacks which can see seen through statistical data: unequal pay, sexual harassment, fewer promotional opportunities, and more.

Currently and in the past, women as a whole have been proven to be, on average, more educated than men. They have earned more bachelor’s degrees than men since 1982, more master’s degrees than men since 1987, and more doctorate degrees than men since 2006. In the years 2015 and 2016, women outperformed men in terms of educational degrees across all races and ethnicities. However, despite these academic advantages, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that as of 2018, women only receive 81.1% as much as their male counterparts in full-time jobs. While this data shows an improvement from 1979, when women only earned 62% of what their male counterparts did, there is still a long way to go. A primary factor that contributes to this pay gap is the lack of a federally mandated paid maternity leave in the U.S. As a result many women make less money compared to their male counterparts during pregnancy. New policies for parental leave and child care need to be put in place in order for this wage gap to be further reduced, as women are often forced to take a step back from the workplace to meet the demands of a newborn. However, while unpaid maternity leave is still a major cause for the gender wage gap, discriminatory ideals in the workplace remain a predominant factor.

Sexual harassment, another unfortunate result of these discriminatory ideals, is still very prevalent today for women in the workforce and is a major reason why women are often afraid to demand what they deserve for the work that they accomplish. A survey conducted by a nonprofit known as Stop Street Harassment in January of 2018 concluded that 38% of women have experienced encounters of sexual harassment in the workplace. The results of this survey show much larger percentages of sexual harassment encounters compared to other polls, as it is more inclusive in its definition of sexual harassment itself. The survey took experiences such as verbal sexual harassment, physical harassment, cyber harassment, and sexual assault into account. The fear of physical and verbal abuse is something no one should have to experience, especially when it can affect the advancement of one’s career.

While more than half of management occupations are fulfilled by women, there still remains a substantial lack of representation for women in higher positions on major corporate boards. In 2018, men held 76% of S&P 500 board seats and 77.5% of Fortune 500 board seats, while women held 24% of S&P 500 board seats and 22.5% of Fortune 500 board seats. This leadership gap is prominent across the board in a wide range of fields including law (45% of associates but only 22.7% of partners and 19% of equity partners), medicine (40% of all physicians and surgeons but only 16% of permanent medical school deans), education (on average receive more doctorates but are only 32% of full professors and 30% of college presidents), and politics (represent only 24% of members in Congress). While this data may be an improvement in comparison to decades past, there is still so much more representation needed for women in positions of power to give them a much needed voice.

The viewpoints and statistics provided above are only a few among those that support the understanding that gender inequality is continually present in the workplace. These factors contribute to the inhospitable atmosphere in the workplace that many women face and should remain a topic of discussion until proper regulations are put in place at a federal, state, and company level to break down the barrier women face when advancing in a career.

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Gender Inequality in the Workplace

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