Gender Pay Inequality- A Prevalent Global Issue

One of the pertinent issues of concern in the global scenario, which have been much discussed and thought about by the global policy makers and activists across the world, is that of the problem of gender discrimination in almost all the major domains of human life. Though in a general sense, the term “Gender Discrimination” refers to the discrimination or partiality done among different persons on the basis of their genders, thereby preferring one particular gender over another, however, the term is mostly used to describe the sexism and discrimination which are done against women in general, in every domain of their life across the world (Oakley 2015). Gender discrimination includes grave offenses like harassment, rape, violence against women as well as biased actions which affect them in their personal and professional domain. One of the form of discrimination against women, which have remained in almost all parts of the world and over the years have experienced various dynamics and modifications is the problem of gender inequity in pay, in the professional domains of many women across the world (Connell 2014).

Gender pay inequity, is one of the significant issues of concern in the global scenario and has changed its form, nature and magnitude with time and changes in the dynamics of workplaces. Gender pay inequity is not only existent in an individual level but is also many a times a problem spread in the institutional levels too (Dipboye and Colella 2013). The main notion of this problem is that there often exists significant difference between the pay scales of employees of different gender with the negative bias being inclined more towards the females. There are robust empirical evidences across the globe and over time which suggest that though over the years female employment has significantly increased in almost all the sectors of professional domain, however, one of the primary decisive criterion for the determination of professional positions of people in their workplace has been their gender (Nadler and Stockdale 2012).

It has been often observed that women employees, including the full time as well as part time workers, in many sectors across different parts of the world earn significantly lower than their male counterparts. Keeping this into consideration, the concerned report focuses on the phenomenon of inequity in payment based on gender which is prevalent in the global framework, analyzing the possible reasons behind the existence of the same, with special emphasis on the economy of Australia (Heilman 2012). The latter section of the report tries to suggest several rectifications and steps which can be implemented in the micro as well as macro level to combat the concerned problem.

Gender Pay Inequality in Australia

The inequity in pay based on gender, being one of the most prominent forms of economic inequalities existing in the contemporary periods, is in the broad sense the discrimination between men and women workers in terms of their earnings and is usually computed as a ratio earnings of women to that of their men counterparts, expressed in the form of a percentage. In the earlier periods, the overall labor force participation rate of women in almost all the sectors of economy had been significantly low as compared to the men (Lips 2013). However, this scenario has changed considerably in the last few decades, with more and more women participating in the employment sector, with a general increase in their education and skill level, in the global scenario.

As can be seen from the figure showing the changes in the labor force participation over the years (Refer to Appendix 1), the share of females in the labor force (Seasonally Adjusted Rates) has increased significantly over the years which can be mostly attributed to the increase in the skill levels, education, awareness generation among women and their liberation which came with time and with a more integrated and inclusive global economic environment. For example, in the current scenario, out of 100 of employed people in France, 47 are women workers, whereas the same number was as low as 34 in 1962 for France. This shows a positive side of the overall employment statistics in the global framework (Economic Policy Institute 2017).

However, though the rates of participation of females in the work force has considerably increased over time, the problem of gender inequity in pay and in income has been long persistent in the global employment scenario and most shockingly the problem is not only present subjective to the developing countries but is also significantly eminent in the developed and economically progressive countries as can be seen from Figure 2 (Refer to Appendix 2).

It can be asserted from the evidences of the above figure that the problem of gender inequity in pay is an issue of equal concern in the developing, less developed as well as economically robust countries, which includes the USA, Germany, Canada and Australia, the problem being visibly acute in these countries. The problem has been widely talked about and with increase in the global awareness regarding this issue; several steps have been taken to combat the situation (Dailymail.co.uk, 2018). However, from the present empirical evidences it is clear that these corrective measures have not been fully successful to address the issue of concern as the problem of inequity in wages based on gender still persists in many corners of the world.

Reasons behind Gender Pay Inequality

One of the primary aspects which partially contribute to this inequity and to many other discrimination against women is the stereotypical notion that women are more vulnerable and weaker gender than their male counterparts. This notion has not only been present in different social and personal domain of human lifestyle but also in their professional domains (Atkinson and Bourguignon 2014). In the employment scenarios also it has been often observed that the employers prefer to empower their male employees and bestow them with prospective and progressive positions and entrust them with bigger and more important job responsibilities much more than what they do for the female employee population. This can be highly attributed to the notion itself. This in turn stalls the progress, economic welfare and mobility of the female workers, thereby indicating towards the fact that it is about time to discuss and sort the issue of gender pay inequity (Mishel, Schmitt and Shierholz 2013).

The global population consisting of almost equal share of both the genders, one of the primary tenets of overall development of human beings in all the spheres of life is the presence of equality of opportunity and treatment for both the genders. However, this hypothetically optimal situation is often violated by the presence of stark inequalities and discriminations in many spheres of human life, with the females bearing the brunt of sufferings (Neal 2018). Gender pay inequity being one of the primary forms of such discrimination against women, stalls their economic progress, empowerment, morale and motivation, as they get less remuneration than their male counterparts for the same work. This is extremely adverse to the development of not only women but also the societies as a whole as development cannot be successfully done by keeping one half of the society behind in crucial aspects like income, freedom and welfare (Korpi, Ferrarini and Englund 2013). The gender gap in earnings has been taken into account by some nations who have taken steps to reduce the same. However, the gap still visibly persists in many countries across the world, especially in Central Asian and European countries, thereby making it an issue of global concern.

The disparity in wages and opportunities based on gender in the professional domain of  human life has however two interconnected faces. On one hand the talent and skills of women are not rewarded at per their male counterparts in many places and on the other hand the women are often denied the positions and privileges in the organizations which their male counterparts get more easily, thereby hampering their progress significantly. In spite of the earnings of women workers being increasing in many places of the world, however the practice is not globally observed (Mueller, Ouimet and Simintzi 2017).

Impact of Gender Pay Inequality on Women and Society

For instance, Australia, in spite of being one of the predominant economies in the world, scores a shocking 0.666 (Where 0.00 means perfect inequity and 1.00 means perfect inequity), in the inequity indicator and also ranks ninth in terms of wage equity based on gender. The inequity is even more when measures in terms of mean wages in the country. In the current period, the average gross earning of men has been $9065, whereas the same for female workers has been $5673 (Khadem 2018).

The situation is same in many other developed economies like the USA and Germany, thereby indicating that gender is still one of the primary factors in assigning wages in many parts of the world.

The problem of wage inequality in professional domain, based on gender, is far more deep rooted than it actually can be seen. The problem is not only present in the job positions but also in the disparity in training and job related skill development programs in which also men gets extra advantages in getting higher preferences for higher salaried and high profile jobs with greater responsibilities. The unjustified bias in the training and education providence enables the men workforce to get better jobs than their female counterparts and the same also looks absolutely justified. This problem is not only prevalent in the private and informal sectors but is also present in the public sector as well, thought the magnitude of the same can be expected to be less in some countries (Acker 2012).

The above discussion, asserting the presence of significant gender discrimination, makes it important for the relevant authorities and policy makers to take the problem into account. It also becomes important to analyze the reasons behind the gender pay inequity in different corners of the world as well as in different domains.

The global issue of concern regarding the prevalence of inequity in gender has been observed to be present in every corner of the world and in countries irrespective of their development  status. There are several deep rooted reasons behind the occurrence and long term existence of such an inequality based on gender, even in the contemporary period, the primary ones being discussed as follows:

Mindset and Notion regarding gender characteristics

The primary and one of the most important reasons behind the existence of gender pay inequity in different professional domains of the world, is the basic notion of difference between the capabilities and vulnerabilities of the two genders. There has been a long existing stereotypical notion that the corporate shelf life of women is in general lower than that of their counterparts. This notion exists due to the fact that till very recent periods, women were majorly bestowed with the responsibility of tackling domestic duties and household chores and duties of motherhood and child rearing, which have been always seen to be something that is supposed to be done by women only (Card, Heining and Kline 2013). This in turn restricted their domain of operations and job life to a great extent, thereby leading to the stereotypical thought of treating them as the weaker gender in the aspects of jobs and employment. The average number of female workers has also been significantly lower than that of the male workers in the market, as women have been long bound by family responsibilities and commitments.

Steps to Combat Gender Pay Inequality

Over the years, this picture in the labor market has significantly changed with more women workers participating in the job sector, with this increase being attributed to the increase in the expansion of education and skill development facilities for the women. However, though this has shown positive reflection in the increase in the number of women workers across the world, little change has come in most of the places with respect to the inequality which prevails in terms of wages received by male and female workers. Thus, the stereotyping notion about different genders play a vital role in creating discrimination among the two genders in different aspects of life, of which gender pay inequity is a crucial one (Ridgeway 2014).

Secrecy of Wage

One of the primary factors present in the contemporary corporate world, which contributes significantly in the creation of inequality in wages, is the policy of secrecy regarding wage related information, which the employees need to abide by. This is sometimes deliberately done by the employers to create disparities in payments across genders. Under this policy, women often do not come to know what salary and privileges their male counterparts are receiving for the same level of work which are done by them. This also leads to problems for women while negotiating the salary scale for a newly applied job as they often undervalue themselves and tend to settle for less.

Need for more leave

The main hurdle in the path of progress of women, which is still relevant even after significant progress in the mentality and awareness among people in a worldwide scenario, is mainly biological. Women are responsible for child birth and also most of the times for raising the children. This, being at the peak time of their career building, stalls their growth massively as they need to take long maternity leaves and are often compelled to leave their jobs for the purpose of taking care of their children and their families. This in turn makes them less worthy, in the aspects of getting more important job roles, than their male counterparts, thereby leading to the existence of inequality in wages.

Lower quality jobs

Women, in many cases, are assigned with jobs which are seen to be of lower quality than that of their male co-workers. In fact, the types of jobs which have more women workers then men are often looked down upon as inferior quality, safe and tedious ones. This often leads to the prevalence of low pay for women while their male counterparts earn more. This is present in many countries including Tasmania, where women are severely underpaid (20% less than men in average) in spite of having equal scores in the system of job evaluation.

Market Inefficiency in eradicating inequality

In spite of the development of many policies catering to the facilitation of equal pay for both the genders, in many countries, often the free market also fails to address the problem efficiently. This is primarily because of the legal loopholes and the ways found by the dogmatic employers who discriminate between these two genders in such a way that cannot be observed or addressed many a times by the market mechanism.

Intangible Discrimination present in employment scenario  

In many cases, the discrimination among men and women are very apparent among the business organizations. However, in many cases these discriminations are pervasive and not observable with naked eyes. Often women in employment sectors often feel the brunt of gender discrimination on them, in terms of wages and other privileges but they cannot complain about the same as they do not have substantial evidences to prove the same (Fortune.com, 2018).

Restricted jobs for women

In the contemporary periods too, in spite of extreme expansion of the professional domains of women from all part of the world, there still remains several jobs which are massively male dominated and in which women in general have very less scope of entrance. In Australia, for example many companies, especially in domains like hardware, wood works pay compensations to women for not recruiting them for these jobs (David 2014).

Legislative loopholes

The problem being subtle most of the times, often there remains lack of provisions and loopholes in the legal system of the countries which prevent the women most of the times from complaining and taking legal actions, much of which is attributed to the fear of misjudgment and retaliation on part of the organizations they are working for.

Given the gravity and magnitude of the above discussed problem, there can be several steps which can be taken by the organizations across the world and in countries like Australia and USA specifically, where the problem is acute:

Unbiased empirical evidences

To eradicate the problem in different countries, it is of immense importance for the relevant officials and policy makers to know the extent of pay inequity present in the economy, sector-wise and their causal factors, which may help in proper evaluation and designing of corrective measures (Razavi 2012).

Caring conundrum

The main problem which working women face in their work tenure is the trade off between the job and pregnancy, especially in their late twenties to mid thirties, which often compel them to choose the latter over the former. It is therefore, crucial for the organizations to develop operating frameworks in such a way that they can retain their female workers without compromising their health and motherhood responsibilities as well as progress in their career.

Changing mindset

The problem of wage inequity can be considerable solved with the change in the stereotypical mindset which is often found to be present regarding the capabilities of women in climbing the ladder of success diligently. Acceptance of their capabilities and providing them with equal opportunities and facilities to develop their skills and capacities can help to combat the problem considerably (Livsey 2017).

Conclusion 

The extensive discussion in the above section asserts the presence of the malpractice of gender discrimination in terms of wage inequities in the contemporary professional framework. The issue is found to be present in developing as well as developed countries and till now in spite of several steps taken to address the same, not many countries could actually reduce the gap, which includes immensely developed ones like Australia, Germany and the USA also. This gives rise to the need of proper policy regulations and modifications of work culture and mode of business operations and also calls for a change of the long existing stereotypical mindset for combating the same. The rectification policies include empowerment of women by providing them with relevant trainings, considering their hurdles and making provisions for the same and accepting them as equally capable like their male counterparts, in all arena of life.

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