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by Rachel L. Hooper '02 Co-Coordinator of Feminists for Change Here in the United States, where discrimination is outlawed, all workers regardless of sex or race should be guaranteed equality in the workplace. However, every few years when the American workplace is surveyed, economic inequality is found. The National Committee on Pay Equity's study in 1993 revealed that on average white women earn 70.8% of the salary of white men, black women earn 53.9%, and Hispanic women earn 53.9%. Also, women now compromise 45.4% of employed workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics). This means that although women are a significant percentage of the work force they do not share in a significant percentage of the wage earnings. Pay differential is not only evidence of social discrimination and prejudice, but is discrimination in itself. Two factors which contribute to women earning less on average are the low paying jobs that women typically occupy and the 'glass ceiling' that keeps women from ascending the corporate ladder to higher paying jobs. According to the National Organization of Women, 99% of secretaries are women, 93% of bookkeepers, 93% of nurses, 91% of textile workers, and 82% of housekeepers. However, other blue-collar jobs that employ a majority of men earn higher salaries than jobs employing a majority of women. In fact, men working full-time with a high school degree still earn more on average than women working full-time with a college degree (http://www.now.org/). Women are often kept in these low paying jobs below a 'glass ceiling', which allows them to see up the corporate ladder but blocks them from reaching the top. The staff and support jobs that women are clustered around in the business world offer little or no opportunity for them to reach the top. A 1996 Wall Street Journal survey found that "The highest ranking women in most industries are in non-operating areas such as personnel, public relations, or, occasionally, finance specialists that seldom lead to the most powerful top-management posts." Even women who are in positions with the potential for advancement find that they often lack connections and face discrimination and harassment. In order to give women a chance to compete in education and business,the government instituted Affirmative Action, which is intended to allow equally qualified women and minorities access to jobs that they have not historically had access to. The hope is that Affirmative Action can givewomen and minorities entrance to these jobs so that they can open doors and gain connections, and eventually decrease discrimination and prejudice as the workplace becomes more diverse. Yet, even with Affirmative Action in place, white men still hold 95% to 97% of high-level corporate jobs (Federal Glass Ceiling Report 1995) and only 25% of all doctors and lawyers are women and women are only 8.4% of engineers (Census Bureau). Why don't women have a stronger presence in these fields? Why are women clustered around lower paid jobs? Why do certain fields such as electronic repair, plumbing, and auto mechanics, which require as much or less formal education that nursing or bookkeeping but employ a majority of men, receive higher pay? Can our country say that it is guaranteeing equality to all citizens if there remains a substantial pay differential? Is Affirmative Action an effective solution, or is there a better one? These questions will become even more important as the United States becomes more diverse. The majority of households now rely on two incomes, so these issues concerning the pay differential and what is being done about it affect us all.
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