Women in the Workplace
Women are entering the labor market in greater numbers and are staying in it longer and for a larger proportion of their work lives (Looking 1996). When asked what they want, women respond in survey after survey" "pay equity," "better wages," or "more money" (Looking 1996). In other words, women believe they are not being paid what they are worth (Looking 1996). This is a common response up-and down the income spectrum, "women from the executive suite to the factory floor, from the office to the washroom," all feel that they are underpaid (Looking 1996). During the 1970's, women earned 59 percent of what men earned, and today they generally earn approximately 72 percent of what men earn (Looking 1996). However, although women's earnings have risen, about 3/5 of the narrowing of the gap is due to the fall in men's real earnings (Looking 1996). Moreover, the wage gap grows as women and men age, the gap is relatively small for young women and men, but thereafter men's wages increase sharply while women's do not (Looking 1996). In fact, the average woman in her working prime, in her early forties, makes only about the same as a man in his late twenties (Looking 1996). About fifteen years ago, it all seemed possible, to "bring
In the Bem Sex Role Inventory, researcher Pamela Butler focused questions on real problems women face in changing stereotypical perceptions (Merrick 2000). According to Butler, there is intense pressure for professional women to conform to stereotypical roles such as "cheerfulness," "tenderness," and even "gullibility" (Merrick 2000). As women move into management in increasing numbers, it has become more apparent that these stereotypical beliefs ten to limit their advancement (Merrick 2000). The 'Catch 22' is that when women try strategies of gender-reversal and adopt the so-called male characteristics, they often find that they face another set of problems, that of alienation and hostility, because as Butler points out, becoming one of the boys is harder than it looks (Merrick 2000). According to Butler, it takes cooperation from peers on the job to make strategies work, because research shows that attitudes held by those around a woman, even herself, hinder working relationships between women and men, and these attitudes ultimately are realized in losses of productivity and of real dollars to organizations (Merrick 2000). The U.S. Census data reveal an increase in stay-at-home moms who hold graduate or professional degrees, these are the very women who seemed destined to blast through the glass ceiling, yet 22 percent of them are home with their children (Wallis 2004). A study by Catalyst found that one in three women with M.B.A.s are not working full-time, compared to one in twenty of their male peers (Wallis 2004). Sylvia Ann Hewlett, economist and author at Columbia University in New York City, who sees a brain drain throughout the top 10 percent of America's labor force, says "What we have discovered in looking at this group over the last five years is that many women who have any kind of choice are opting out" (Wallis 2004). According to a new study released in March 2006 by Accenture, a global management consulting company, women executives around the world still face an uphill battle in workplace equality, despite significant gains during the past ten years (Most 2006). The study, entitled "The Anatomy of the Glass Ceiling: Barriers to Women's Professional Advancement," is based on a survey
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