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 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
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 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%
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 Over 80% male

 Secretaries, stenog 98% Mechanics & repairs 97%
 Health care 85 Construction labor 97
 Financial Records 91 Engineers 92
 Priv hshld maids 90 Health diagnosing 83
 Hairdressers, child care
workers 83 Protective srvs 85
Farm operators&mgr 85
BLS (1990). Employment & Earnings,
37(1), Table 20.
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 $25,790 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
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
2000-01 Faculty Salaries
Public 4-yr universities

Male Female
Asst Prof $46,859 Asst Prof $43586
Assoc Prof 55,384 Assoc Prof 49,185
Full Prof 78,083 Full Prof 65,614

ACHE Survey Salaries.

http://www.ache.state.al.us/00Abstract/
TABLE38.pdf
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