Why the Gender Wage Gap Persists in Australia - Term Paper Example

? Why the gender wage gap persists in Australia?  Introduction “The gender pay gap is the best way to measure pay inequality between men and women”(Closing the Gender Pay Gap, 2008, p.13). Gender wage gap is a phenomenon in which males and females are getting different pay scales even though they perform similar duties. In other words, gender wage gap is a phenomenon in which females get lower salaries compared to their male counterparts in similar professions in the same organization. It is seen across the world and no country seems to be free from it. Even in advanced countries like Australia, America and Great Britain, gender wage gap is a fact rather than a myth. Gender wage gap is severe in Australia despite the fact that Australia succeeded recently in appointing its first woman prime minister. The gender pay gap is experienced at every level in the workplace in Australia, the land of the great Fair Go. In 2010, on average, women lag some 17 per cent behind in pay for equal work or work of same value and in some sectors, like finance and insurance this gender pay gap expands to a ripping 32 per cent. It is regularly reported that the top 200 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange pay their female Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officers on average 50 per cent less than their male equivalents (Dr. Stone, 2010). In Australia, any effort made to “decrease the gender wage gap would be significantly associated with an increase in women’s hours of work” (Vidyattama et al, 2009, p.13). In other words, organizations force the women employees to work more hours if they demand for more wages. Many of the Australian organizations are of the view that the productivity of men and women are different and therefore it is difficult for the women to deliver same results if they work same hours as that of men. There are many reasons cited for the widespread gender wage gap in Australia. However, gender factor and industry segregation are two of the major reasons for the gender wage gap in Australia. Gender factor as a reason for the persistence of gender wage gap in Australia An artifact of economic, industrial relations, social and cultural factors, combined with the biological and psychological attributes of all involved in decisions before and in the workplace. As much as action is taken in the legal and political arena to create equality, the players in the industrial relations system, consciously or not, both male and female, say that they have helped to (re)construct the gender wage gap (Christine, Ph.D, 2006). According to a report released by National Centre of Social Economic Modeling (NATSEM) in 2010, the gender factor accounted for 60 per cent of the wage gap between men and women (Australia's gender wage gap 'costs $93b', 2010). As in the case of other countries, one of the major reasons for gender wage gap in Australia is the wrong perceptions about the less productivity or fewer abilities of women employees compared to male employees. Biologically, it is believed or assumed that men are stronger both physically and mentally than women. There are many cases in which women succeeded in showing equal or more mental abilities than men. However, the general perception about women abilities in excelling in critical positions is very weak. That is why Australia forced to wait till recent times to have its first woman prime minister. It should be noted that countries like Israel, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had women prime ministers in the twentieth century. But Australia forced to wait till twenty first century to have its first woman prime minister because of the wrong perceptions of the Australian public about the capabilities of women. It should be noted that India has a woman president at present for the first time in its history. Moreover, Germany also has a woman chancellor at present. In short, other countries pushed Australia far behind in recognizing the abilities of women. It should be noted that even women CEO’s in Australia are not ready to pay equal salaries to men and women working in the same profession in their organizations. In other words, even the Australian women have lack of confidence in their abilities. “Social psychologists have demonstrated repeatedly that occupations associated with women or requiring stereotypically feminine skills are rated as less prestigious and deserving of less pay than occupations associated with men and masculine skills” (Lips, 2008). Even though male domination in Australian society is comparatively less, general public are not ready to equate the abilities of men and women in Australia. In other words, Australians are still conservatives in their thoughts when it comes to honor the duties performed by males and females. They believe that men have superior muscle and mental power and therefore males have superior abilities in performing tougher jobs than females. Because of the above perception, Australians do not find any difficulties paying lower amounts to the female employees even if they perform better than their male counterparts. Industry segregation as a reason for the persistence of gender wage gap in Australia It is a well-established fact that occupations and industries staffed mainly with female workers pay lower wages to both men and women compared to predominantly ‘male’ occupations and industries. The observed persistent concentration of women in low-paid groups of workers, coined gender segregation, is therefore a key explanation for the existence of the gender wage gap (Jurajda, 2004, p.1) “Industry segregation was the second largest factor, accounting for 25 per cent of the gap. Segregation shows that a number of industries are populated primarily by men, while other industries are served mainly by women” (Australia's gender wage gap 'costs $93b', 2010). For example, in real estate sector or construction sector, the labors are mainly from male community because of the hard nature of work. Same way, professions in which some kind of hard work is necessary, normally organizations appoint male employees only. On the other hand secretary post or receptionist post is normally reserved for female employees by the organization because of the superior abilities of women in behaving pleasantly with the customers compared to men. In other words, there is a perception that in some professions only men will excel whereas in some other professions only women will excel. In Australia also, same kind of perceptions prevail and therefore organizations segregate men and women while they appoint employees in some particular places. Even though the performances of women in certain profession are matching or exceeding the performances of men, the general perception is that the quality of certain work would be better only when it is performed by a male employee. In Australia, most of the people still believe that the abilities of men in handling pressure are more than women and therefore in critical positions, only male employees will succeed. Because of the above perception people often give more respect to men than women even if they work in similar professions. Conclusions Gender factor and industry segregation are two of the major reasons for the increased gender wage gap in Australia. Australian public have conservative view that some jobs can be performed well only by the males. Moreover they believe that women can excel only in comparatively easier professions. Because of the above perception, even if the females perform well in certain profession, Australians are not ready either to accept it or honor it. References 1. Australia's gender wage gap 'costs $93b', (2010). Online] available at: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/australias-gender-wage-gap-costs-93b-20100315-q9da.html [Accessed on 29 August 2011] 2. Closing the Gender Pay Gap, (2008). An update report for TUC Women’s Conference 2008. Online] available at: http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-14435-f0.pdf [Accessed on 29 August 2011] 3. Christine S. Ph.D (2006). Why and how does gender wage inequality persist?: perceptions of stakeholders in the Australian industrial relations system [Online] available at: http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=17267&local_base=GEN01-ERA02 [Accessed on 29 August 2011] 4. Dr. Stone S. (2010). Equal Pay for Equal Work. [Online] available at: http://www.liberal.org.au/Latest-News/Blog/2010/03/Equal-Pay-for-Equal-Work.aspx [Accessed on 29 August 2011] 5. Jurajda S (2004). Gender Segregation and Wage Gap: An East-West Comparison. [Online] available at: http://home.cerge-ei.cz/jurajda/jeea.pdf [Accessed on 29 August 2011] 6. Lips H.M. (2008). The Gender Wage Gap: Debunking the Rationalizations. [Online] available at: http://www.womensmedia.com/new/Lips-Hilary-gender-wage-gap.shtml [Accessed on 29 August 2011] 7. Vidyattama Y, Miranti R, McNamara J & Cassells R (2009). Estimating the Impact of the Gender Wage Gap on the Australian Economy. Natsem. University of Canberra. [Online] available at: https://guard.canberra.edu.au/natsem/index.php?mode=download&file_id=1096 [Accessed on 29 August 2011] Read More