Gender Women are getting college degrees at higher rates than men, so why are they still complaining?

Gender Individual Interactional Institutional Are individuals able to choose to escape gender?

Do men and women experience economic and political systems equally in the U.S.? Economy Labor Market Educational System Health and Illness Access to social institutions If not, how is gender inequality maintained? What data would we need in order to be able to say that men and women experienced economic and political systems equally in the U.S.? What would the data need to look like for us to conclude that men and women do not experience economic and political systems equally in the U.S.?

Gender Stratification: those social systems in which socioeconomic resources and political power are distributed on the basis of one’s sex and gender. Objective Indices Income Educational attainment Wealth Occupational status Mortality rates Access to social institutions In this section of the course, we are not talking about gender in personal relationships or in your own family experiences. Rather, we are focusing on stratification in social systems—the focus is on a structural level of inequality that relies on aggregated data to understand how inequality is a systemic problem. What assumptions are researches making when we examine these structures and institutions?

Education Sadker and Sadker (1994)—Failing at Fairness Boys receive more and better attention Girls invisible and praised for feminine traits, not for intellectual prowess NPR (2006)—Boys Falling Behind Boys continue to have greater payoff for education

Education and Earnings Ratio By Gender at specified earnings percentile 2000 10th 25th 50th 75th 90th Less than HS 34.5 .769 .704 .667 .658 .673 HS, no college 41.7 .674 .680 .686 Some College 44.9 .730 .700 .721 .694 .679 BA or more 39.5 .784 .751 .652 .551

Occupational Segregation Occupations are segregated by race and gender. This phenomena has its roots in the ideal of a two-parent family with a stay-at-home mom and a breadwinner father. Immigrants and/or non-whites function as a pool of cheap labor (split labor market creates racial tension and gender resentment)

Why Should We Care? Pay Status Freedom to Choose As a society, we want to realize our full potential. Inequality keeps us from tapping all available talent.

Occupational Segregation Pay Inequities Feminized occupations pay less. Women still suffer from the wage gap in predominately male occupations. Men also pay a penalty if they choose to enter feminized occupations Data

Feminized Occupations Pay Less Median Weekly Earnings Pre-K and Kindergarten Teachers 98.0 $455 Childcare 100 $251 Dental Assistants 97.8 $460 Construction Trades 13.7 $605 Engineer 11.5 $1,161 Mechanics and Repairers (except supervisors) 4.8 $666

Wage Gap in Predominately Female Occupations Men’s $ Women’s $ % General Office 69.6 $734 $594 80.9 Social Worker 73.4 $741 $632 85.3 Registered Nurse 91.1 $957 $870 91.0 Elementary School Teacher 82.3 $836 $750 89.7

Wage Gap in Predominately Male Occupations % F Men’s $ Women’s $ % Engineers 11.5 $1,180 $1011 85.7 Transportation and Material-Moving 7.9 $591 $449 76 Physicians 31 $1626 $947 58.2

Segregation Career Opportunities Glass ceiling Glass escalator Networks: Social Capital Status Gap over the life course

Responses Affirmative Action Equal Pay for Equal Work Comparable Worth Place economic value on unpaid household labor.

Problem All of these policy programs can accomplish a great deal both symbolically and effectively, however, as long as gender continues to be reproduced in ways that reproduce inequality, the struggle will continue. Gender inequality will change form, but not function.