The $.77 Gender Wage Gap Stat IS Misleading—For Reasons That Should Concern Feminists

This past year has seen plenty of efforts to combat the gender wage gap — most recently, in California through a strong in-state Equal Pay Act. It’s a piece of legislation meant to minimize sexist discrimination through requiring employers to justify different salaries for men and women by citing skill or seniority, and bans employers from punishing women who inquire after others’ pay.  Any government acknowledgement of the gender wage gap unfailingly attracts criticism from people who correctly point out that the disparity (0.77:1) almost disappears when we block factors like field of work or background, shrinking to about 0.93:1. However, the cultural attitudes that subtly enforce gender gaps in certain lucrative fields, and the different salaries and societal respect these fields receive, should concern feminists as much as the discrimination behind different pay for equal work does.

Gender ratios in some careers reflect the enduring existence of historical gender roles, sexist perceptions of who is more qualified, and the tendency for once historically male-dominated fields to receive less respect — and pay — when greater numbers of females become active in the field.

Gender role assignment in labor emerged as early as the beginnings of classical civilizations with the rise of labor specialization that placed women in domestic, care-taking roles, and men in more dominant and public positions. In the 19th century, men were paid more than females working the same or comparable factory jobs. In some cases, women were granted safer labor conditions through what was known as “protective legislation,” but even for grueling work in coal mines or textile factories, women were paid about a third what men were.

Wage inequality inspired the Equal Rights Amendment in the early 20th century, which ultimately was unable to garner enough support. But while it addressed equal pay, the ERA didn’t consider gendered perceptions of fields in society. This was ultimately problematic because the wage gap became more a result of how fields of work were assigned by ingrained gender roles than through explicit discrimination. In fact, until the 1960s, job ads for women were listed separately from those for men, casting women into fields of work paying less than fields of work advertised for men. Gender roles have cemented in gender gaps in fields with dramatically different pay, resulting in the dramatic 77 cent median wage statistic.

The median wage gap statistic is even more dramatic between women of color and men, dropping to about $0.54 for Hispanic women, $0.59 for American Indian women, and $0.64 for African American women. These even greater disparities can be attributed to historical attitudes and prejudices as well. An entire series of articles could be dedicated to the historical disenfranchisement of their racial groups in America, which resulted in limited resources and means to pursue certain careers. But ultimately, even more limited cultural expectations have arguably contributed to the lower numbers of women of color in executive positions or careers in the STEM field, and as a result, a drastically lower median wage.

Ultimately, it remains debated whether women enter fields that are already lower-paying, or if these fields undergo devaluation upon becoming female-dominated. However, a bit of research seems to indicate that these forces work together. Males continue to be cast into bread-winning, dominant positions, and women, into perceived “softer” professions. Simultaneously, while young and impressionable boys will be exposed to plenty of male figures they can identify with working in executive positions, young and impressionable girls lack the same privilege, and it’s often more likely the people in their lives they will be able to identify with will work in lower-paying fields. And when women defy norms and over time, enter a field in large numbers, these fields begin to both pay less and receive less respect in society. Believe it or not, men working as secretaries or nurses used to be a norm, and a better-paying norm, too.

But cultural attitudes don’t merely affect which fields women will enter: They also limit women in the workplace. The lower wages of women could arguably be attributed to a limited ability to negotiate due to different social factors. In her recent essay about sexism and the wage gap, Lawrence discussed the reluctance of co-workers to work with women who negotiated their salaries, while they took no issue with men doing so. Lawrence also discussed how our culture which emphasizes female modesty and arguably pressures women not to “ask for more,” the few who attempt to negotiate can hardly expect society to be on their side. Working women are nearly trapped in a vicious cycle that both assigns them into lower-paying fields, and limits their ability to seek fairer wages within these fields. This is arguably why even in female-dominated fields, men are often still paid more.

The most common myth cited to deny the wage gap’s existence is that women would be hired in greater numbers than men so companies could save money. But the wage gap is so much more complex and rooted in our culture: It’s less a product of conscious decision-making than gendered perceptions of who is more cut out for a certain field, or more deserving of higher pay. In any field, there’s also the idea that women will be less active due to their family situations, which emerges from historical association of women with domestic roles. Of course, maternity leave and the everyday prejudice working mothers are subjected to could merit a whole other post and then some.

Even at 93 cents on the dollar, the significantly reduced wage gap is measured at such a large sample size that it remains indicative of some overarching, sexist discrimination. Cultural attitudes and historical gender role assignment play a much greater role in the current median wage gaps between women and men, and women of color and men, than blatant discrimination. But fighting discrimination through legislation is so much easier than attempting to uproot what’s been ingrained in our culture for centuries, although, granted, trying to actually enforce this legislation is often a whole other battle. Still, there’s a few different routes to approach this issue, and raising awareness about the real forces that shape the wage gap is arguably the most important.