Friday, June 20, 2014
What We've Been Reading- Women's Rights and Success in the Workplace
On Wednesday, Politico reported in their congressional news
column “Huddle”
that Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Small
Business Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced legislation into the
senate to amend the Small Business Act to increase the opportunities for women
owners of small businesses to win federal contracts. Senator Shaheen, the sponsor of
the Women’s
Small Business Procurement Parity Act, is endorsed by the National Women’s
Political Caucus for re-election and has a history of sponsoring legislation
advancing women’s rights such as the Violence Against Women Act and the
Paycheck Fairness Act. The National Women’s Business Council released a statement
in support of the bill which advocated that “Women’s economic parity must
continue to be at the forefront of policymakers’ efforts to move our economy in
the right direction”.
Advocating for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, the
American Association of University Women published an article which
demonstrated the nuances of the pay gap through the personal experience of one
professional woman, a black mother. While the reported average for the gender
pay gap is that women make 77 cents, that ratio drops to 69 cents/dollar for
mothers, and 64 cents/dollar for black women. Despite advocating on behalf of
her own self-interest, the subject of the article has a salary that is $20,000
less than the median salary for similar positions in her area. The
discrimination against her is less explicit and justified by her employer
because of the fact that on occasion her duties as a mother conflict with her
career. Her situation demonstrates that
negotiation alone would be insufficient to close the gender wage gap.
Women’s
Voices Magazine tackles equal pay from both sides of the aisle. Alison
Jarris, author of the column View from
the Left points out how stereotypes and gendered expectations of behavior
in the workplace hold women back from being successful in “The
Surprising Way Stereotypes Rule the Workplace.” Among the list of common
gendered differences are that “men are likely to overestimate their
performance, while women generally underestimate that same measure,” successful
men are perceived as more likeable by both men and women while successful women
are perceived as less likeable by both, and the nurturing attribute expectation
for women which men don’t experience serves as a double edged sword in the
workplace, working against women both if they meet this expectation and if they
don’t. Thus, while sexism doesn’t have
to be overt or ever consciously done in order to impact the success of women in
the workplace.
On the other hand, Kelsey Budd, author of the View from the Right column discussed
equal pay in her article
“What Comes Along with ‘Equal Pay Day’… A Republican Woman’s Thoughts.”
Budd argues that the argument that the wage gap is discriminatory is
mythological and the reason women don’t make as much money as men is that they
choose to have children, citing a statistic that “42% of high-achieving career
women are childless”. She concludes that
instead of fighting for equal pay women should focus on supporting “the choices
all women make, whether it’s pursuing a coveted partner position or coming home
to become a full-time mom”. This view,
however, ignores the fact that if women and men were guaranteed paid parental
leave, women might not have to make an either-or choice when it comes to family
and career. For instance, long paid
parental leave for both parents makes it extremely easy balance
both work and family life in Sweden, among
other reasons. However, Budd does have a good point that it is important to
keep in mind how statistics are calculated when considering the gender pay gap.
-Allysha Roth
