Section 1
A social problem in the United States is the gender wage gap, in which women make significantly less than men. In truth, I’d never really thought about the gender wage gap prior to this paper. However, as a bioengineering major working hard to earn her degree and start a successful career, I would like to know where my efforts will go. I know that engineering is mainly male-dominated, so I am curious to learn why that is and how it can relate to my future career. Although I have a mild interest in gender inequality, I don’t know much about the gender wage gap. I’d always thought that it was perhaps due to sexism and prejudice against women, and only that. However, after enrolling in this class I realized that there has to be more to the picture.Therefore, I want to use this research opportunity to my advantage. Through the research for this paper, I hope to make connections between what I learn and how I can apply it to my future endeavors.
Section 2
The gender wage gap continues to hinder gender equality in the United States, something that women have been striving to achieve in various feminist movements over the past century. In 2013, women working full time in the United States earned an average of only 77 percent of what men earned (AAUW 2014:3). The inequality in pay is a great concern towards families, especially for single mothers and for women whose spouses are out of the workforce. One-third of employed mothers depend on their salary alone in order to support them and their children, indicating the increasing reliance on women’s earnings (AAUW 2014:4). Moreover, women making less than men contribute to the feminization of poverty. The construct of gender roles in the United States contributes to occupational distribution and inevitably the gender wage gap as a whole.
The gender roles in the United States set up a construct as to what a man and a woman should be, how they should act, and what interests they should pursue. Without realizing it, many men and women actually “do” their gender on a daily basis (Schneider 2012:1029-1030). For example, when tackling housework women would commonly do the cooking and cleaning while men would work on house repairs and the lawn (Schneider 2012:1045).In addition, studies have shown that men and women tend to deviate little from their designated household jobs(Schneider 2012:1048-1047).These small but crucial acts of “doing” a gender may actually have unintended effects. Men may grow a different type of skill set compared to woman, one based on strength and instrumentality. In comparison, women may be more gentle and expressive due to their domestic responsibilities. These different skill sets influence the types of jobs that a man or woman might want to pursue.
In American culture it is considered a “natural” goal for women to become mothers, in addition to being in charge of children and domestic duties (Lynch 2008:586). Due to this cultural norm, women are viewed as what a mother is ideally thought to be: nurturing, caring, compassionate, and expressive (Lynch 2008:586). As a result, women would more likely have the suitable skill sets to work in jobs that call for caring and nurturing, such as education and nursing. In 2012, women made up 75 percent of all workers employed in education and health services (BLS 2014:2). Women are especially highly represented in teaching jobs, making up 81 percent of elementary and middle school teachers in 2012 (BLS 2014:2).
Meanwhile, in the United States men are expected to be strong, independent, and instrumental (Reyes 2013). In addition, the expectation that men have to be the breadwinners of the family also contributes to the construct of men being masculine and dominant (Schneider 2012:1033). Instrumentality would account for the higher concentration of men working in STEM related jobs, since they deal more with tasks rather than nurturing. In 2011, 74 percent of STEM workers were men (Landivar 2013:5). Additionally, women only made up 21 percent of science professors, and 5 percent of engineering professors (Shen 2013:22). Although times are changing and more women are in the science and medicine department, studies show that the concentrations of men in stereotypical feminine occupations such as nursing and teaching preschool remain relatively low (Reyes 2013). This is also seen in the major choices between men and women from 1971 to 2011. An analysis by the University of Maryland, College Park showed that although the number of women is increasingly growing in biology and business majors, the concentration of men has hardly budged in the education and art departments (Reyes 2013). Jobs like nursing and teaching have a feminine connotation because it involves nurturing, something that is more attributed to woman than men according to gender roles. In addition, women only made up 13 percent of mining jobs and 9 percent of construction jobs in 2012, indicating the male dominance in jobs consisting of strength and labor (BLS 2014:2).
In the United States, men and women are distributed across occupations that suit the gender roles in society. As a result, occupations have male and female dominated sectors, and the jobs with a higher concentration of men tend to pay more. STEM and blue-collar occupations for example,are mainly male-dominated. STEM occupations in 2013 had an annual average wage of $79,640 (Jones 2014). Meanwhile, teaching jobs had a median pay of $53,090 in 2012 (BLS 2014). Women are underrepresented in STEM occupations, which are approaching wages that are nearly twice as the U.S. average. There are stark differences between the average wages in male-dominated and female-dominated occupations, as well as clear gender segregated work fields.Based on gender roles, there is a construct as to what interests men and women should pursue based on what is deemed ‘manly’ or ‘womanly’, such as construction and teaching.Certain skill sets can also be obtained as a result of simply conforming to gender roles. In addition, occupational distribution shows that more women tend to work in certain fields than men and vice versa because of these constructs.
Section 3
Gender roles in the United States influence the interests that men and women are more likely to pursue based on suitable skills. In turn, this influences occupational distribution, resulting in gender segregated work fields that have clear differences in pay. The gender wage gap is a problem in society regarding gender inequality, as well as the feminization of poverty. A solution to the problem would perhaps be to start promoting the idea that men and women should and can share equal roles in society.It is not wrong for men to pursue ‘womanly’ jobs or ideals and for women to pursue ‘manly’ interests. The media could be of great use in promoting this idea. Many TV shows nowadays portray gay and lesbian couples in the hopes to gain acceptance. The same can be done regarding gender roles, where TV shows, commercials, and books can portray a woman wanting to be an engineer or a man wanting to be a teacher, and that it is okay to think that way despite the gender roles.
I have learned a lot about research itself through this paper, such as using library resources, periodicals, and databases. I have also learned that the more research and statistics, the better. This paper had been the source of my stress and frustration for at least a month, but I am glad that it was such a challenging task because it really did teach me much. I will definitely use the research skills that I had acquired through this paper in my future papers, and the knowledge that I had gained to better my community. Society can be frustratingly dynamic and complex, but fixable with an open mind.
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