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Bridget Greene
Race and Ethnicity in American Politics
Professor Smith
Issue Brief: Final Draft
Due Date: 21 April 2015
Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Key Terms:
Women, Discrimination, Pay Gap, Equal Rights Amendment, Paycheck Fairness Act
Description: (1-2 Sentences)
Although the women's rights movement took a great leap forward with the passage of the 19th
Amendment, females still face discrimination in the professional world. This discrimination can
take several forms, including exclusion from specific industries and lower pay for hours worked.
Key Points: (4-6 Points)
1. The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 and granted suffrage to women, For the first time,
they were able to directly participate in the American political system as fully fledged citizens.
2. The Equal Rights Amendment was proposed in 1923 in order to more clearly enumerate legal
protections from gender-based discrimination beyond the ballot box. The Amendment has
been brought before every congress since 1982, but it has yet to be ratified.
3. Working women experience occupational segregation across multiple industries, and in many
cases a glass ceiling persists, which excludes women from the upper echelons of leadership.
4. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s 2015 report, women make 78 cents
on the dollar when compared to male full-time workers.
5. The Paycheck Fairness act has been proposed to remedy this inequality be eliminating sex as a
factor in determining pay scales.
The fight for women’s suffrage in the United States can be seen as a major flashpoint in
the ongoing campaign to increase female visibility in the American public sphere. In 1848, the
Seneca Falls Convention provided a platform that allowed for a larger movement to coalesce
around charismatic female leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott (History
Channel 1). The delegates to this convention ultimately produced the Declaration of Sentiments,
which asserted the importance of gender equality and argued that women should enjoy the full
privileges of American citizenship, namely the right to vote in local, state, and federal elections
(History Channel 1). The women’s suffrage movement continued to gain momentum during the
Progressive Era and became more unified with the creation of the National American Woman
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Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Beginning in 1910, some western states, including Idaho, Utah,
and Wyoming, began extending the vote to females. The 19th Amendment, which granted
women the right to vote at every level of government, was ratified on August 16, 1920. (History
Channel 1).
Image Source: National Institute for Women’s Policy Research
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However, the right to vote did not necessarily mean that women could forever escape sexism and
discrimination in American society. In order to ensure constitutionally-mandated protections
from gender-based discrimination, Alice Paul proposed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923.
The text of this amendment is broad and simple: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (Alice Paul Institute 1). Despite
the many well known activists who supported the amendment between 1972 and 1982, including
household names such as Gloria Steinem, it was never ratified. The Equal Rights amendment has
been brought before every congress since 1982, still to no avail (Alice Paul Institute 1). This
fight for complete legal equality demonstrates that women still face challenges in the public
sphere, and these challenges can be seen quite clearly in the American workplace.
According to its 2015 report on the status of American women, the Institute for Women’s
Policy Research reveals that occupational segregation persists across various industries,
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including the lucrative fields of engineering, technology, and medicine (Paquette 1). For
example, women are much less likely to hold positions in the field of science, technology,
Image Source: Justin Wolfers, The New York Times
engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Only 4.6% of women work in this rapidly growing, as
compared to 10.3% of men (Institute for Women’s Policy Research 21). Additionally, the field
of banking and finance remains profoundly masculinized, with women constituting only 16% of
all banking executives in 2014 (Enloe 277). Justin Wolfers, in an article for the NY Times,
created a “Glass Ceiling Index” which yielded an score of 1.03 for S&P 1500 directors. This
number means that meaning that for every one woman, there were 1.03 men named James,
Robert, John and William holding leadership positions on the boards of some of America’s most
lucrative Image Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research
corporations (Wolfers 1). This lack of gender diversity extends to decision making roles in the
political sphere. Although women have made strides, especially within the Democratic Party
leadership, they are still underrepresented in all three branches of government (Wolfers 1).
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The gender wage gap is also a glaring quantitative reminder of the gender-based
discrimination that women face in the American workplace. In 2014, women still only made 78
cents on the dollar in comparison with male full time workers in the same level positions
(Institute for Women’s Policy Research 9). On average, 2058 is provided as the projected year
when women will reach pay parity with men incomparable full-time positions. However, While
this figure varies depends upon the present wage gap in a given state. For example, in states with
lower levels of urbanization and higher gender-based income disparity (such as Wyoming and
Lousisiana), the projected date of equal pay is even farther in the future (2159 and 2106,
respectively) (Paquette 1).
The Paycheck Fairness Act has been proposed in an attempt to ameliorate this glaring
inequality by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination based
upon gender in wage payments. In doing so, this legislation would ensure that employers are
blind to sex as a factor in determining wages, instead forcing them to set payment rates on the
basis of legitimate differentiating factors such as education, experience, and quality of work
(Congress.gov 1). Despite the vocal support of influential figures such as Elizabeth Warren and
President Obama, this bill remains in legislative hearings as of April 1, 2014 (Congress.gov 1).
Therefore, the status of increased legal protection for women in the American workplace remains
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unclear. However, if the legacy of activism left by the Sufragettes who pushed for the passage of
the 19th Amendments persists, the debate over the presence of gender based discrimination will
surely remain robust.
Works Cited
The Alice Paul Institute. The Equal Rights Amendment: Unfinished Business for the Constitution.
20 February 2015. Online. http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/history.htm
Choksi, Niraj. Where Women Have the Most Economic Opportunity and Security, in 5 Maps.
The Washington Post. 8 April 2015. Online.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/04/08/where-women-have-the-mosteconomic-opportunity-and-security-in-5-maps/
Enloe, Cynthia. “Women’s Labor is Never Cheap.” Bananas, Beaches, and Bases. University of
California Press, 2014.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “Employment and Earnings.” The Status of Women in
the States: 2015. Online. http://statusofwomendata.org/app/uploads/2015/02/EE-CHAPTERFINAL.pdf
Paquette, Danielle. “At This Rate, Women Won’t See Equal Pay Until 2058.” The Washington
Post. 16 March 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/16/at-thisrate-american-women-wont-see-equal-pay-until-2058/
The United States Congress. Congress.gov: S. 84-Paycheck Fairness Act. 20 Fenruary 2015.
Online. https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/84
Warren, Elizabeth. “It’s Time to Adopt Paycheck Fairness Act.” Elizabeth Warren: U.S. Senator
for Massachusetts. 10 April 2015. Online. http://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=op_ed&id=156.
Wolfers, Justin. The Upshot: Fewer Women Run Big Companies than Men Named John. 2
March 2015. Online. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/upshot/fewer-women-run-bigcompaniesthanmennamedjohn.htmlsmid=fbnytimes&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&b
icmp=AD&smtyp=aut&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&_r=1&abt=0002&abg=0