Gender, Race, and Inequality

Part 1: Defining Wage Inequality

Overview Gender and Racial pay discriminate is real The gender pay gap is far more complicated than direct discrimination In every state in the U.S., men make more than women Women of color are hurt the most by the pay gap

Comparing Women to White Men

Education and Gender Wage Inequality Education Level Median Annual Income for Women Median Annual Income for Men Ratio Less than High School Diploma $21,100 $28,600 73.8% High School Diploma or Equivalent $30,000 $40,000 75.0% Some College $34,800 $46,000 75.7% Associate’s Degree $50,000 80.0% Bachelor’s Degree $70,000 71.4% Graduate or Professional Degree $65,000 $94,000 69.1% All Workers Median Annual Earnings and the Gender Earnings Ratio for Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Educational Attainment, Aged 25 and Older, 2013 Source: IWPR analysis of American Community Survey data (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Version 5.0).

Income Inequality by Race and Gender

Women’s Median Annual Income Men’s Median Annual Income Ratio of Women’s Earnings to White Men’s Earnings White $40,000 $52,000 76.9% Hispanic $28,000 $30,900 53.8% Black $34,000 $37,500 65.4% Asian/Pacific Islander $46,000 $59,000 88.5% Native American $31,000 $37,000 59.6% Other Race or Two or More Races $38,000 $45,000 73.1% Source: IWPR analysis of American Community Survey data (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Version 5.0).

Racial Pay Discrimination

Part II: Why Wage Inequalities Persist

What about women’s choice of employment? Women make up a disproportionate amount of lower paid jobs. A study from Cornell found that as women enter a field in greater numbers, the pay declines (see NYT article).

Implicit Bias Defined: “the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner” (Kirwan Institute, Ohio State University).  Implicit biases can be about gender, race, or sexual orientation Studies have shown implicit bias to be prevalent in most hiring processes.

Experiments on Implicit Bias in Hiring In an experiment, a researcher sent about 5000 resumes to various jobs in Chicago and Boston Systematically varied names on identical resumes between common white/African American names (see Bertrand and Mullainathan 2003)

Same Results with Gender Bias Identical CV’s were sent out to a random sample of university faculty Randomly switched the names between common male/female names. See Steinpreis, Anders and Ritzke 1999

Social Factors behind the Gender Pay Gap The perception of gender roles and norms Social pressure and career/ major choice Women carry out a disproportionate amount of “Unpaid” Work Women are “penalized” on the job market for having children, Men are rewarded See John Green’s video “Is the Gender Pay Gap Real?”

Part III: How to Address Inequalities Mostly, Running for Office

Source: http://www. pewresearch

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