Wednesday, March 23, 2005

So, why DO men earn more than women?

In honor of Women’s History month, I thought I’d start a dialogue about a pretty controversial topic. I’m really interested in hearing your thoughts on this one!

Dr. Warren Farrell, PhD argues in his new book Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap -- and What Women Can Do About It that 25 different workplace choices that men make lead to the fact they earn more than women. The workplace choices he identifies include:
  • Putting in more hours
  • Taking on more hazardous assignments
  • Moving overseas or to undesirable locations
  • Training for jobs with less people contact

He contends that women’s choices are driven by their desire to achieve a balance between their lifestyle and their career. Therefore, he argues that women tend to pursue jobs that offer this balance, and are lower on the pay scale. Dr. Farrell suggests that women actually earn equal pay (or more) for equal work – i.e. in jobs with the same level of responsibility and hours.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2003” (September 2004) “women’s median earnings for full-time wage and salary workers in 2003 were $552 compared to $695 for men.” Women’s earnings in management, business and financial operations occupations were 69.9% of men’s in 2003. [Data provided by Catalyst]

So, what do YOU think?

Is it different workplace choices or are there other factors that lead to the earnings gap between men and women? What has been your experience? What have you observed in your industry?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Colette:

In response to your question -- "why do women get paid less?" -- a recent report in Harvard Business Review indicated that women often don't get what they want and deserve because they don't ask for it.

The studies reported in the Harvard Business Review (Babcock, et al., October 2003) found that women were less likely than men to negotiate for themselves for reasons of socialization (taught not to promote their own interests and to focus instead on the needs of others), "penalization" (women who assertively pursued their own ambitions and promote their own interests may be labeled as bitchy or pushy), and frustration (having become disenchanted with the situation, women tended to quit their employment situations, rather than use a better employment offer as a negotiating tool).

In short, the squeaky wheel gets oiled, and the ones doing the squeaking are not women.

Nina Kaufman, Esq.
Paltrowitz & Kaufman LLP
NYC