GENDER STRATIFICATION SYSTEM
GENDER STRATIFICATION SYSTEM - MEANS THAT THERE ARE NOT ONLY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN - THERE ARE ALSO "STATUS ISSUES
ATTACHED" TO THESE DIFFERENCES [THERE IS AN UP AND DOWN RANKING SCALE BASED ON GENDER].
THERE ARE TWO OVERRIDING QUESTIONS HERE FOR
SOCIAL RESEARCH: (1) WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF GENDER INEQUALITY OR THE “GENDER
WAGE GAP” IN CANADA?, AND (2) HOW IS “OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION” RELATED TO THE PAY GAP?
THE GENDER WAGE GAP
THE WAGE GAP REFERS TO THE DISPARITY BETWEEN
WOMEN'S AND MEN'S EARNINGS. IT IS CALCULATED BY DIVIDING WOMEN'S
EARNING'S BY MEN'S TO YIELD A PERCENTAGE – "EARNINGS RATIO".
MALE-FEMALE WAGE DIFFERENCES REVEAL THAT GENDER IS A MAJOR
SOURCE OF INEQUALITY IN THE WORKFORCE.
WOMEN'S OVERALL PAY RELATIVE TO MEN'S HAS INCREASED BY ABOUT A PENNY A YEAR
FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS, WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT MOVE UPWARD – HOWEVER:
AT THE TURN OF THE 21ST CENTURY, WOMEN WHO WORKED FULL TIME FOR THE WHOLE YEAR STILL EARNED
ONLY 73 CENTS FOR EACH DOLLAR EARNED BY THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS (STATS
CANADA, 1999)
SINGLE WOMEN EARNED
93 CENTS FOR EVERY DOLLAR EARNED BY A MARRIED MAN. MARRIED WOMEN, ON THE OTHER HAND, EARNED ONLY 69 CENTS FOR EVERY DOLLAR
EARNED BY A MARRIED MAN (STATS CANADA, 1998).
[CONSIDER THAT] THE GENDER WAGE GAP EXISTS FOR ALL LEVELS OF EDUCATION č ALTHOUGH HIGHER EDUCATION CLEARLY NARROWS THE WAGE GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, A WOMAN WITH A UNIVERSITY
DEGREE EARNS APPROXIMATELY $13,000 LESS THAN A MAN WITH A UNIVERSITY DEGREE – THE GAP IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO "OCCUPATIONAL
SEGREGATION" – [THE MAJORITY OF FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ENROL
IN DEGREE PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION, HEALTH PROFESSIONS, FINE ARTS, AND THE HUMANITIES, WHILE MALES CONTINUE
TO DOMINATE IN FIELDS OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.]
EVEN WITHIN OCCUPATIONS THAT REQUIRE
SPECIALIZED EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS, THE WAGE GAP DOES NOT DISAPPEAR – FOR EVERY
DOLLAR EARNED BY MEN, WOMEN EARNED: 66 CENTS AS DENTISTS, 68 CENTS AS LAWYERS, AND 77 CENTS AS UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
(STATS CANADA, 1998).
GENDER CHARACTERISTICS AND DIFFERENCES
IN THE WORLD OF WORK
[AGAIN] THE GENDERED DIVISION OF LABOR IS A CENTRAL ASPECT OF
THE GENDER INEQUALITY THAT EXISTS IN SOCIETY. THE FACTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
(1) IN CANADA TODAY, A SPLIT LABOR MARKET EXISTS, WITH WOMEN
PRIMARILY IN JOBS THAT HAVE LOWER INCOMES AND LOWER STATUS. IN THE HOUSEHOLD,
WOMEN DO THE MAJORITY OF THE WORK. MOST WOMEN WORK IN THE PAID LABOR FORCE OUT OF
ECONOMIC NECESSITY.
(2) IN THE WORLD OF WORK, MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOT EQUAL. SINCE 1960S, WOMEN IN CANADA HAVE ENTERED THE PAID LABOR FORCE IN
LARGE NUMBERS, WITH THEIR PARTICIPATION RATE NOW VERY CLOSE TO MEN
(3) IN TERMS OF EDUCATION, MORE WOMEN THAN MEN NOW EARN UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES.
NONETHELESS, WOMEN HAVE NOT ENTERED THE PAID LABOR FORCE ON AN EQUAL FOOTING
WITH MEN.
(4) IN FACT, THE WAGE GAP IS EVEN GREATER IN THE MORE
PRESTIGIOUS OCCUPATIONS -- WOMEN AVERAGE ONLY 61% OF MALE EARNINGS.
(5) IN THE LOWER RANGE OCCUPATIONS, WOMEN ONLY
EARN 73 PER CENT OF WHAT MEN EARN.
(6) THREE-QUARTERS OF THOSE IN THE TEN LOWEST-PAYING OCCUPATIONS ARE WOMEN.
(7) ALTHOUGH "GENDER-SEGREGATION" IS
THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF LOWER WAGES, THE WAGE REMAINS LOWER THAN MAN'S EVEN WITHIN MALE-DOMINATED
OCCUPATIONS.
(8) OF
THE TEN HIGHEST-PAYING FULL-TIME, FULL-YEAR JOBS, ALL ARE MALE DOMINATED, WITH WOMEN
ACCOUNTING FOR LESS THAN 20 PERCENT OF WORKERS IN THOSE OCCUPATIONS.
1) [SO] WHAT IS THE
CAUSE OF GENDER INEQUALITY IN CANADA? [DISCRIMINATION OR PERSONAL MOTIVATION AND CHOICE? IS IT CLASS EXPLOITATION [INVERTED PYRAMID THEORY]? IS IT GENDER
DISCRIMINATION [HORIZONTAL PYRAMID THEORY]?
OR IS IT THE INEVITABLE RESULTS OF A FREE MARKET SYSTEM [VERTICAL PYRAMID THEORY]?
GENDER INEQUALITY RESULTS FROM ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
WOMEN. IN
MOST WORKPLACES, JOBS ARE EITHER GENDER SEGREGATED OR THE
MAJORITY OF EMPLOYEES ARE OF THE SAME GENDER.
WHILE THE DEGREE OF GENDER SEGREGATION IN THE PROFESSIONAL WORKPLACE
HAS DECLINED SINCE THE 1970S, RACIAL AND ETHNIC SEGREGATION REMAINS DEEPLY
EMBEDDED.
2) HOW IS OCCUPATIONAL
SEGREGATION RELATED TO THE PAY GAP?
MANY WOMEN WORK IN LOWER-PAYING, LESS PRESTIGIOUS JOBS
THAN MEN. THIS OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION LEADS TO A DISPARITY, OR PAY GAP, BETWEEN WOMEN'S AND MEN'S EARNINGS.
[HOWEVER] EVEN WHEN WOMEN ARE EMPLOYED IN THE SAME JOB AS MEN, ON AVERAGE THEY DO NOT
RECEIVE THE SAME, OR COMPARABLE , PAY.
***HOW DO WOMEN
SOCIAL RESEARCHERS č “FEMINIST SCHOLARS” č INTERPRET THIS SITUATION?