FACULTY OF PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY WEST UNIVERSITY OF TIMISOARA MASTER PROGRAM: ORGANIZATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

Current Approc e! "n Or#$n"%$t"on$& $n' Occup$t"on$& He$&t P!(c o&o#(

ARTICLE CRITICAL REVIEW

STUDENT: Gu&er Co'rut$ Ye$r o) !tu'(: II

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On Pay Equity Day, Why Women Are Paid Less Than Men

Today, April 9th, is celebrated as Pay Equity Day as it marks the number of extra days into !"# that the a$era%e &oman must &ork in order to earn as much as the a$era%e man earned in !" ' (aysayers ar%ue that &omen earn less than men because of the )choices* they make in their li$es + choosin% to &ork in less lucrati$e careers, to &ork less hours, and to take more time out of the paid labor force to stay home &ith children or care for elderly relati$es' ,ut there is a preponderance of e$idence indicatin% that somethin% more complicated is happenin% than -ust &omen $oluntarily self.selectin% into lo&er payin% careers' /omen on a$era%e make only 00 cents to e$ery dollar earned by men' 1ome of that &a%e %ap is the result of &omen bein% more likely to &ork in certain industries or occupations, but about 2! percent of the difference in mens and &omens &a%es cannot be explained by any measurable factor' And the &a%e %ap is e$en hi%her for &omen of color, pointin% to social factors that %o far beyond the choices that &omen make' The truth is, the choices &omen 3and men4 make do not occur in a $acuum' The fastest %ro&in% sectors of the economy are female dominated, but they are also -obs &ith lo& &a%es and lar%e %ender &a%e %aps' These are the occupations that are addin% the most ne& -obs, so one can hardly blame &omen for takin% them + especially as our economy continues to slo&ly reco$er' And &hile it is true that some &omen choose to take time out of the &orkforce to care for children or other relati$es, the preexistin% &a%e %ap is often the reason they do so' 5n a married couple it often makes the most economic sense for the parent &ith the lo&er salary to be the one to take time off, and if a &omans &a%es barely 3or do not4 co$er the extremely hi%h costs of childcare it make not make economic sense for her to keep &orkin%' ,ut takin% time a&ay from &ork lo&ers &a%es in the lon% run and helps some employers -ustify discriminatin% a%ainst &omen &orkers in terms of pay and promotions, contributin% to the $icious cycle that is the %ender &a%e %ap' 6nfortunately, re%ardless of &hat some &ould like the public to belie$e, the %ender &a%e %ap is real and has si%nificant impacts on &omens li$es in both the short and the lon% term' E$en &omen &ho )do e$erythin% ri%ht* still feel the impact in the end' /hile the &a%e %ap is not as lar%e as it once &as, pro%ress has stalled in recent years' 7e%islation like the Paycheck 8airness Act, &hich &ould protect &orkers &ho discuss their salaries and impose %reater sanctions a%ainst employers &ho discriminate, and policies to pro$ide paid family and medical lea$e and expand access to preschool and childcare &ould %o a lon% &ay to help rectify this inequity'

I. Critical Re ie!

Soc"et( $! cre$te' $ /or&' / ere *$n0! / o )ro* t e 1e#"nn"n# $!!u*e' t e ro&e o) po/er $re o1&"#$te' to 1e t e *one( *$2er!3 $n' /o*$n ou!e o&'3 c&e$n"n# $n' c$r"n# )or t e c "&'ren It ! ou&' 1e no re$!on )or t $t /o*$n $re p$"' &e!! t $n *$n ") /o*$n $re e4u$&&( !2"&&e' $! *$n5 M$n $re 2no/n $! t e( o)ten 2eep! t e"r c$reer $! t e"r pr"or"t( !$cr")"c"n# !pen'"n# t"*e /"t t e"r 2"'!3 / "&e /o*$n con!"'ere' $! t e pr"*$r( p$rent3 !een $! !en!"t"6e3 c$r"n# $n' *ore re!pon!"1&e /"t c "&'ren $n' 1ec$u!e o) t e *ot er ro&e /ou&' !$cr")"ce c$reer )or c "&'ren3 $n' not 1e e4u$& "n6o&6e' $! *$n "n t e"r 7o15

II. Di""erences #et!een $trate%ies o" Pre enti e O&timi'ation and $trate%ies o" Im&ro ement O&timi'ation

One o) t e !tr$te#( $ct"on to pre6ent t e "!!ue t $t /o*en $re p$"' &e!! "! t e Paycheck 8airness Act, t e "*pro6e*ent con!"!t "n pro6"'"n# 8paid family and medical lea$e, expand access to preschool and childcare* to rect")( t e "ne4u"t(5
Women should not be paid less than they're worth, pay rewards should be based on performance to a uniform the scale. To improve the idea of the payment using a performance scale woman should underline more their quality of work. Also woman should negotiate their salary as equal as man desire for a specific position. To improve their negotiation skills women should underline more their school background and their skills, because usually woman having equal school background with man are paid less.

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