6 Gender Wage Gap Myths - Debunked
As a major proponent of equality and women getting paid what we’re worth, I hear from my fair share of gender wage gap deniers. These are people who either believe that the gender wage gap doesn’t exist or that there are logical and fair reasons to explain why it does.
I’ve found that many cases of wage gap denying are due to misinformation or lack of information. Regardless of whether you’re reading this because you have your own doubts or you want to get armed with stats to stand up to your sexist uncle during the annual holiday party, I have you covered.
What’s the gender wage gap?
Before we dive into what it’s not, let’s start with what the gender wage gap is. The gender wage gap is the difference between what women and men are paid. The numbers we most commonly hear about are calculated by taking the median income of women who work full time compared with (divided by) the median income of men who work full time.
The gender wage gap is very real and harmful to women, men, and our world as a whole.
What is the current gender wage gap?
In 2018 the gender wage gap was 82% for all women, meaning women were paid $0.82 for every $1.00 a white, non-Hispanic man earned. This gap is much worse for women of color. Black women earned $0.62, Native women earned $0.57, and Latinas earned $0.54 for every $1.00 a white man earned.
The Equal Pay Day movement put together a calendar to quantify this in a different way. We observed Equal Pay Day on April 2nd this year which means that’s how far into 2019 the average woman would have to work to earn what a white man earned last year.
Equal Pay Day for Black women was August 22nd and Latina’s Equal Pay Day is November 20th. That means Latinas almost have to work two years to earn what a white man earns in one.
Onto the gender wage gap myths.
Still, many people reach out and are adamant that the gender wage gap is not real, or they try to defend why it exists. Here are some of the most common arguments against the gender wage gap, debunked.
1. Men earn more because they choose higher paying industries.
I get this one a lot. Women choose lower-paying jobs like being teachers, social workers, and nurses, while men choose high-paying tech and finance jobs. Doesn’t it make sense that they’re paid more?
This isn’t actually the case. Studies show that when women migrate to high-paying, male-dominated industries, the pay of that industry decreases. What?! This happened when more women started working in human resources, as biologists, and as designers. If jobs in education were dominated by men, they’d get paid more.
2. Becoming a mom will take women away from their jobs. Don’t men deserve to get paid better because they prioritize their jobs over fatherhood?
This one really strikes a chord with me. Imagine a world where fathers were expected to be as engaged in parenting as mothers? What a wonderful world that would be - for all of us.
The motherhood penalty is real. A large part of the wage gap is due to motherhood and the ensuing unequal division of labor in the home and in childcare. Women are a lot less likely to be hired, promoted, and given raises as mothers, and this is happening in the prime of their careers. The craziest part about this is that it’s all perception. Studies show that engaged parents (mothers and fathers) actually become better employees. Yes, that’s right. Better!
3. Men negotiate more. It makes sense they’d earn more if women aren’t negotiating.
This one is really infuriating. Studies show that women are actually negotiating as much as men, despite the fact that women are penalized for doing so. This is what is called the double bind. Women who don’t negotiate don’t have the opportunity to get raises or promotions but even when we do, there’s career and social backlash that can hurt their careers in the long term.
4. If women are so underpaid, wouldn’t companies hire them to save money?
You’d think! Some smart people are saying women are the best investments we can make, for a lot of reasons. Just because women are paid less doesn’t mean they are being hired more. It’s all about the bias we face.
This argument assumes companies are rational and bias-free, but companies are made up of employees who make decisions. An applicant named Jennifer is assumed to be much less competent than an applicant named John, even with the exact same qualifications. The study also showed that if Jennifer did get the job, she’d be paid less and would also be less likely to be mentored.
Many symphony orchestras started using “blind” auditions where musicians auditioned from behind a curtain or screen. They saw a 30% increase in female orchestra members. While companies can remove names from resumes to reduce bias in the initial round of the hiring process, they can’t conduct completely blind interviews for the job. Here are some ways to reduce bias in the hiring process.
5. Isn’t it illegal to pay a woman less for the same job? If this is happening, why aren’t companies getting in trouble?
Yes, it’s illegal to pay someone less for the same work. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. A lot of things are illegal and continue to happen. Many women don’t even know they are being paid less. Workplace cultures often frown upon talking about compensation and some employees fear and see retribution for talking about what they earn (even though it’s completely legal to talk about what you earn with coworkers). Income transparency is a big part of the solution.
More and more companies are paying the penalty for discrimination, but it’s been the responsibility of the women internally to bring them to justice, not an external governing body.
6. Men are willing to work more.
This is an interesting one because this is also all about perception. Studies show that women work 10% harder than men in today’s offices. Why? Both men and women complete 66% of their assigned work but women are assigned 10% more work. They are completing more work than men.
Women also have to be better at their jobs. Research shows that women have up to one-and-a-half year's extra education, and nearly a full year's extra workforce experience, than what is required for their job. Women are more than twice as overqualified as men in similar positions.
In Conclusion
The gender wage gap is the difference between what women and men are paid. The numbers we most commonly hear about are calculated by taking the median income of women who work full time compared with (divided by) the median income of men who work full time.
The gender wage gap is unfortunately very real and has major negative implications for women, men, and our economy as a whole.