Gender Inequality Essay
Our society has given us the cultural capital with which we make generalizations about different groups of people. Michael Spence argues that when these generalizations are made in the workplace, statistical discrimination occurs. Employers tend to make assumptions about an individual worker based on the average characteristics of the group they belong to. These characteristics act as signals that allow the employer to determine the potential productivity of the worker. While there are many signals that lead employers to their decisions, gender is one of the most crucial. Society has assigned certain characteristics to women and others to men, leading employers to believe that one gender is better suited for a job than the other. Women are restricted by the belief that they will leave their job once they decide to start a family, making them a more risky hire for a company. However, it has been found that men are more likely to leave their jobs, moving on to bigger and better opportunities as they arise. Thus the main issue with statistical discrimination is that it allows employers to generalize a person based on the stereotypes that are associated with the group they belong to, failing to see that the individual standing in front of them may possess the exact attributes needed for the job. Our society has led us to believe that women are less capable of performing a certain task than their male counterpart, creating a clear gender divide in the workforce.
Shelley Correll would argue that the biggest issue for women is not the stereotypes associated with their gender, but the stereotypes associated with motherhood. Through her study she found that, in the workforce, mothers are faced with a motherhood penalty, making them less desirable employees than non-mothers. Mothers are characterized as less committed to their jobs, likely having to drop their work to care for their child. Because of this, employers discriminate against mothers when making choices regarding hiring, promotions and salaries. On the other hand, non-mothers are left at an advantage over mothers and even men. Non-mothers are seen as highly committed to their work, willing to forego a family for their career. Because of this they are thought of as competent workers and are more likely to get hired, however not offered higher compensation. Nevertheless, the main issue here isn’t gender discrimination, it is the discrimination between women with children and those without. While a wage gap exists between men and women, the more staggering statistic is the wage gap that exists between mothers and non-mothers. Our society has instilled in us the idea that it is impossible for a woman to balance both a family and a career. Moreover, we have become accustomed to a culture where it is solely the mothers responsibility to care for the family. The norms that we have come to accept shape the stereotypes with which employers make decisions in the workforce, leaving mothers not only disadvantaged by their gender, but also by the qualities associated with motherhood.