Gender and pay policy seem to be two coexisting issues

The relationship between these two is always turning heads and bringing words into people’s mouths occasionally. Since gender to most, is the social category in which a better understanding of one’s behaviors, feelings, and attitudes are seen, it is from there that we can fathom what characteristic suits a male or a female. Nonetheless, the conceptualization between payments and gender cannot generally fall under this portrayal that most people have in mind.

Most people have the belief that a woman in the “right sense” should earn typically lesser than a man.

Society is living under this notion that the gender pay gap is presumptively a normal thing. Evidently, most people in these podcasts and articles are bringing out their frustrations about this elephant in the room. The problem here is clear that women are being viewed as the inferior gender and that is why most fall under so much discrimination. Regardless of the job selection or career choice, it is still clear that women will still go home with lesser change than men.

People are yet to understand who decides or where it is written that the woman is the inferior person making them the lesser paid people. The headline, “The gender pay gap is real and women still earn about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns for working the same job”, is the order of the day for most ads nowadays. In the first podcast, it is clear that even though women make up almost half of the workforce in the universe, there is still an underlying agenda about who takes home the higher pay.

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In the first podcast, the guest seems to believe that the underlying issues causing this gap are gender, perception by firms, inflexible hours, negligence, inflexibility, and arrogance. Additionally, the presenter continues to explain how this gap has widened from the 1970’s where the existing mantra was at 59.

She says that in the past most firms’ employees were men because they did not hire any women. However, in the society, we are living in we do not find that kind of discrimination because what is present is the “wage discrimination”. This is causing a major uproar among the people in the universe. Goldin, the presenter in the first podcast seems to believe that somehow women maybe have higher responsibilities when it comes to providing for their families. To her, women seem to have more needs than men and still get lesser payments after everything is constant.

The guest believes that the reason women are being paid less is that they somewhat remain in their comfort zone, unlike men who are competitive and value the growth of their incomes. Another writer, Anne-Marie Slaughter in the first podcast, says in her book that for women without children and no obligations, the payment is almost equal to that of men. So to her, when a woman gives birth, her responsibilities immediately increase. So she believes that, once a woman finds out that she has more responsibilities, the best solution is to move into a different work direction. She suggests that a woman like this should at least have a part-time job.

However, this also comes with different disadvantages. Sometimes, the boss might think you are not taking your work seriously and, therefore, will not give you a raise. So it is because of these disadvantages that men end up with higher salaries than women. On the other hand, to Goldwin, it is one’s personal desire that leads to this huge gap pay. The experts have seen that the actual reason most women earn lesser than men is that of their responsibilities. In the second podcast, which seems to be up-to-date, we can see the clarity of how to understand this gap and maybe, try and solve it. In this podcast, the three guests are trying to explain how their uber data ecosystem works.

They show us how they are trying to eradicate this gender gap because here any person can work at any convenient time without anyone knowing if a person is male or female. In this scenario, this uber company pays its employees on the basis of the miles the ride covers, demand, and possibly the hours the ride takes. The company also has an algorithm that pays the employee not according to their genders but according to the above factors. This algorithm is amazing because it is actually gender-blind.

And it shows that one’s effort and output is what get them on a higher payroll. These researchers after doing some further research have found out that the gender pay gap in the uber field is apparently less. They further explain how in this field passengers prefer working with women more than men. The favor falls on women because they tend to work fewer hours through the week and therefore get the chance to pick the convenient hours of the week. After their research on the nationwide rank, 27 percent of Uber drivers are actually women.

And even though this is the current percentage, both the men and women in this economical industry get the same amounts of payments. This is due to the fact that the algorithm is gender-blind. Gender is not an incorporation of this algorithm. However, as much the algorithm is gender-blind, some type of villainous discrimination will still occur. This occurs on the side of the riders. Each rider’s preference is what will determine who between the male and female gets a higher cut. Regardless, this kind of discrimination is quite rare because the rider’s agenda is to get to their destination and not to start showing bias to the driver who pulls up to pick them up.

It is evident, therefore, that there is more male dominance in almost all universal industries. This is sad because as much as women are the breadwinners and have more degrees than men, they still tend to earn lesser than men. Since most of the reasons leading to the gender wage gap have multiple aspects, this is where the government comes in. The government is capable of officially closing this wage gap once and for all. The two main junctures the government can use are; implementation of pay transparency and elimination of negotiations. In implementing pay transparency. This means that every employee will know what their colleagues are taking home. This will make women aware of where they stand with their male workmates. According to research, this is increasing productivity in firms.

Higher pay will therefore go to the person who has more motivation rather than the one in favor of the organization. Most organizations are per taking this strategy and are reducing this gap tremendously. The other strategy the government can use is to encourage firms to avoid negotiations. Two researchers, Sara Laschever and Linda Babcock bring forth evidence showing that the little bits of negotiations lead to lifetime disadvantages. This is men generally negotiate for raises while women settle for what is put on the table.

The government, therefore, needs to forego all criteria that can lead to any sought of negotiations. We can see how negotiations only lead to one gender getting more favor because the other does not know how to carry out a good negotiation. As found by these researchers, women have a hard time when it comes to negotiating. Psychologically, a woman knows what she wants but when a person suggests something beyond that they do not feel the need to ask or question anything. Other few ways the government can use to solve this pay gap include but are not limited to; providing better infant care, since most high positions require flexible hours and women end up accepting low-paying jobs to be comfortable.

Another way is by offering better recruitment for women that is, specifying in their adverts if the job in question is actually female-friendly. Giving out paternity leaves could also bring a change to this gender pay gap. Men should be given at least one or two months of leave so they can go and take care of their families. This will enable women to have more time in the workplace and to have a better experience of what men really do. The last but not least way the government could use is changing the culture and mentality at the workplace.

They can encourage the senior-most partners in firms to change the workplace culture. This will give each person the opportunity to experience a better pay day due to the opportunities the firm will offer. In conclusion, therefore, as much as eliminating negotiations and encouraging transparency is concerned, women also face other problems at work. Sometimes childcare issues are also an underlying problem. Also, the biases that favor the male gender while hiring will not be addressed by these two strategies.

So the government has to expand its boundaries and solve each problem from its root. If the government chooses to pursue all these factors, then the economic gender pay gap will soon become extinct. The government could also come up with algorithms like the ones the uber companies are using to enforce a gender-blind workforce. However, when all is said and done, the only way to have a genuine gender-blind community is by organizations taking matters into their own hands. If these organizations decide to be leaders and bring equality between women and men, they will become role models to other organizations. This bold move will help achieve gender parity within all workplaces and ensure everyone is treated right.