2. Women have made great strides in the workplace but inequality
still continues.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, ‘whereas
the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter
reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the
dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights
of men and women and have determined to promote social
progress and better standards of life in larger freedom’
(Universal Declaration of Human rights, 2008).
Women working full time receive 17%
less than males.
MEN AND WOMEN IN THE
WORKPLACE
3
3. GENDER WAGE GAPS ARE DECLINING BUT
STILL REMAIN SIGNIFICANT
Mean weekly
full time
earning in
main job
Men Women Pay gap (%)
Sales workers $1,196 $866 27.6
Community &
personal
service
workers
$1,191 $875 26.5
Clerical &
administrativ
e workers
$1,343 $996 25.8
Technicians
and trade
workers
$1,210 $903 25.4
Laborers $1,029 $775 24.7
Professionals $1,764 $1,376 21.1
Managers $1,764 $1,403 20.5
All
Occupations
$1,403 $1,130 19.5
Mean weekly
part time
earning in
main job
Men Women Pay gap (%)
Sales
workers
$297 $309 -4.0
Community
& personal
service
workers
$410 $427 -4.01
Clerical &
administrativ
e workers
$487 $552 -13.3
Technicians
and trade
workers
$550 $436 20.7
Laborers
$307 $325 -5.09
Professionals
$870 $766 12.0
Managers
$852 $784 8.0
All
Occupations
$455 $496 -9.0
(Workplace gender equality agency, 2013.)
4. Women are climbing the ladder in female dominant professions,
however their male peers glide straight passed them shooting to
the top.
Men that enter into female dominant professions seem to escalate
and be promoted at a faster rate. They typically receive more
promotions, work their way into higher levels in the organisation
and receive increased salaries.
PROFESSIONAL OBSTACLES
4
5. • Cost of childcare is keeping women from going back into the workforce
after having their child.
• There is desperate need for further government assistance.
• Over the past years there has been debates over which lifestyle is more
financially feasible – working and paying for childcare or not working and
staying at home.
• Although paternity leave is becoming increasingly common in families,
maternity leave is still more acceptable therefore the women are the ones
to stop work to care for the children.
• Power (2009) states ‘women are still expected to carry the majority of the
burden of childcare, regardless of whether the fathers want to be involved
and this conflicts with their roles as enthusiastic and fully-available
workers’ (p.19).
CHILD CARE
6. EDUCATION
Girls are outperforming boys in schools to date.
In Australia 87.8% of girls in comparison to 84.1%
of boys completed year 12.
In 2013 a commonwealth government report found
that a female graduate in her first year would be paid
on average $5000 less than a male graduate.
These statistics hold a deeply bias view.
(Lentin, A, personal communication, May 6, 2014)
5
7. Eastough, K., & Miller, P. (2004). The gender wage gap in paid- and self-
employment in Ausatralia. Adelaide: The university of Western Ausatralia.
Jacobsen,J. (2005). Choices & changes.Regional Review - Federal Reserve Bank of
Boston,14(3), 16-21. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/200767282?accountid=36155
Power, N. (2009). The feminization of labor: One-Dimensional Women. Zero Books
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (2008). Refugee survey quarterly. Retrieved
from http://rsq.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/content/27/3/149?cited-
by=yes&legid=refqtl;27/3/149
Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (2013). Gender pay gap statistics. Retrieved
from https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2013-02-
Gender%20pay%20gap%20statistics.pdf
REFERENCE LIST
8. 1. Jacki Zehner on Women, Money and the Changing World,
http://www.jackizehner.com/2010/08/26/womens-equality-day-reason-
to-celebrate-not-quite-yet/, 2014, May, 19.
2. 2. Bloombergbusinessweek,
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-30/gender-inequality-in-
the-workplace-what-data-analytics-says, 2014, May, 17.
3. 3. The Equal Rights Amendment,
http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/history.htm, 2014, May 21.
4. 4. SiliconIndia Women City, http://women.siliconindia.com/news/Why-
are-Women-Halted-from-Climbing-the-Corporate-Ladder-nid-
136561.html, May, 2014, 19
5. 5. Australian Businesswomen’s Network,
http://www.abn.org.au/blog/alarming-statistics-about-australia-and-
gender-equality/, 2014, May, 19.
PICTURE REFERENCE LIST
BY PICTURE NUMBER
Editor's Notes
In 1948 the United Nations had adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in turn indicated that everyone, regardless of sex would have the same rights and freedom. However in 1997 the Human Development report and other reports as followed has indicated that each country has fallen short of achieving this goal. Power (2009) states ‘ women working full time receive 17% less than male counterparts while part-timers are paid on average 37% less’ (p. 20). In 1969 a law was introduced called Equal Pay for Equal Work, this was introduced to rectify the discrimination that had been part of wage determination in Australia since the early 20th century, however this was not achieved. This was due to the highly segregated nature of the Australian labor market which meant that equal pay would only apply to women who do the same work as men, which only accounted for 18% of working women (Eastough & Miller, 2004, p. 262).
The Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership survey provided this data, which was released in April 2012. The highest pay gap between men and women working full-time is for sales workers. The occupation with the lowest gap is managers. For part-time workers, on average, women were being paid more than men with the average gap at -9.0%. The largest gap between men and women in part-time employment is for technicians and trades workers.
A number of factors contribute to the gender gap. These factors include women working in different industries than men which is known as industrial segregation, the over representation of women known as occupational segregation, and career breaks that women take to raise children. Additionally, a substantial proportion of the gender pay gap is yet to be explained and therefore discrimination is more than likely to play a part (Workplace gender equality agency , 2013).
Family characteristics can affect potential career growth for women and the conflict between family and career can be unavoidable. When women confront the stage of motherhood, which most definitely limits their flexibility, the employer/boss can turn around and say ‘you are not what we are looking for’ (Power, 2009, p. 19) this leaves it more difficult for women to climb the ladder. Women who do not have children or are not as involved in their child’s lives often see their opportunities and earnings increase. Therefore as long as you don’t spend much time with your family your career will not be affected (Jacobson, 2005, p. 19.)
Although girls are outperforming boys in schools and women are outperforming men in university studies, women continue to lag behind in employment, income, business ownership, research and politics. This occurring pattern of inequality implies that cultural norms and social expectations in regards to the roles of men and women as well as inherent biological differences between the sexes is limiting the benefits of women’s educational advantage. While men are seen to concentrate in sciences and engineering careers women gravitate towards less profitable careers such as health and administration.
