- August 21, 2008
- 12 Comments
Should Women in the Work Force be Outraged? Battle of the Sexes Rages On…
It’s Wednesday, and it’s been a hellish week already. You’re sitting at a swank bar in town (read: cheesy chain establishment that’s conveniently located across the street from your office) with the usual happy hour crew, and the waitress is giving you looks while desperately trying to swipe your second – or is it your fifth? – vodka tonic from your hands. But what you lack in size you make up for in strength, and you win the Absolut battle. She glares and shuffles off.
After the usual diatribes from Bob and Katie about everything from the boss’s poor tie choices to proper water cooler etiquette to the last-minute project no one was given advance notice of, Judy takes a sip of her beer and leans in. She then utters two words that make the entire table of co-workers shudder.
Glass ceiling.
We’re gonna promote like it’s 1999.
What’s that you say? Glass ceilings in the workplace are soooo ten years ago? Not so, according to over a third of female workers recently surveyed in CareerBuilder’s “Workplace Equality” survey (read the full press release here).
Survey questions were posed to 7,960 full-time U.S. employees (4,328 male workers and 3,632 female workers), and 34 percent of female workers surveyed say they are paid less than their male counterparts with the same skills and qualifications.
In comparing salaries, 40 percent of men reported making $50,000 or more, compared to only 21 percent – roughly half the amount – of women.
It’s not just about the money.
*More than a quarter of female workers (26 percent) report having fewer career advancement opportunities than their male counterparts
*Eighteen percent say they don’t get the same level of training and learning opportunities
*Seventeen percent say they don’t have the same amount of workplace flexibility
“The number of women reporting that they receive less pay than their male counterparts has changed little over the last two years,” says Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. “While companies have taken great strides to address equality in the workplace, there is still a lot of work ahead.”
But before you hit the ceiling, ladies…
It may come as a surprise to learn that it’s not all women complaining about equal opportunities in the workplace. Eleven percent of men surveyed say they feel they are paid less than their female counterparts. Industry-wise, 21 percent of men in hospitality and 16 percent of men in banking or financial services say they are paid less than their female counterparts with similar qualifications.
Do our perceptions match our reality?
When asked what they attribute workplace inequalities to, 32 percent of female workers said that men are still perceived as needing to have more money in order to be the breadwinner and support the family, and 23 percent said that men are more aggressive in their compensation negotiations, leading to higher pay.
Almost half (48 percent) of female workers say that management tends to show favoritism toward members of the opposite sex. Which brings up an interesting point: If women are reporting management favoring the opposite sex as a reason why they are receiving less pay and fewer opportunities, aren’t we assuming that the manager in question is, well, a woman? Overseeing the duties of a man?
Are we missing the bigger picture here, or are in fact women still experiencing the glass ceiling effect? On the flip side, are any male workers out there feeling shorted in terms of pay or opportunity?
Workplace experiences on either side?
- Have a response? Join the discussion.
- Categories: Survey Results
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I am fortunate enough to work for a man who considers performance above all else. If you perform your job well and with exceeding skill, you advance. Period. I;m not sure if I’m just one of the lucky ones, but I’m staying!
It’s a man’s world and I don’t expect ever to see equality in either wages, job descriptions, benefits, etc., at least in my generation. An absolute true, but sad fact.
Funny I should read this while working on my hostile work environment / unequal pay documentation.
There’s a fundamental error in this and similar articles while making these gender earnings comparisons. Saying the “same skills and qualifications” throws the focus off of what matters most. Jobs are evaluated on responsibilities, scope, impact, and accountability. Beyond that, job-related performance, professionalism, and continued growth are all that matters. Everyone should be paid for the job they do and how well they do it. Degrees and experience should only help get you in the door. What you do with that knowledge is up to you.
I agree with Bretchen, I too work for a man and company who look primarily at skill level and not gender.
In my line of work…err…being the bartender of one of these “sawnk bars”, I have to say that many younger women are given an opportunity that many men are not.
Gretchen – you are one of the VERY lucky ones. Not only is it still a man’s world, but it’s also about the old boy’s network to the 9th degree!
Why women’s wages and job classifications will ALWAYS remain low – the white male system! Example – A woman acting as an office manager -handling everything from payroll to invoicing to budgeting, her title will be ’secretary or admin asst’. A male with the same responsibilities, his title will be ‘Manager’.
This is the reality of the WMS.
After reading this, I think that the reader is left with doubt as to what the phrase “the same skills and qualifications” mean. Responsibility and performance in relation to responsibility are what wages should be based on. Employees whom perceive unfairness in the workplace to include wages, should address this with their supervisor or the HR Manager. A lot of companies conduct wage surveys to preclude this type of perception. Any HR manager worth their professional title should research wages of their company and what the area pays. If there are disparities in male/female wages for the same responsibilities, duties, and level of performance the supervisor and HR manager should rectify this in order to retain loyal employees. Employees that know that they have the same responsibilities and are performing and not being paid equally, can always address this in a professional manner or seek alternative employment. That is the beauty of our system.
I work for a medium-sized, family-owned distribution firm in a rural community. The glass ceiling and unfair practices are demonstrated here everyday. While it may appear that the pay is equitible–the distribution of accounts and opportunities are allocated according to gender.
My boss is a pig. With all the office employees, he will only interview women, and what’s more he will only hire them based on their looks. There’s more, lots more.
At my place of business it is not money that is the problem. The problem is that women are seen as not equal to men in position. The men have all the power and make all the decisions. All the owners are men and they only want women who are non-emotional to work for the company.