Why are women still paid less than men?
CHINESE VERSION BELOW
Nowadays equal pay for the same job is a no brainer. However, even though women have access to the same education as men in developed countries, a pay gap still exists. According to Cornell Professor Lawrence Kahn's study, women who work full time make 77 cents for every dollar men make in America.
Here are some of the suspected reasons why:
Women choose different occupations from men.
It is argued that most women ‘choose’ to work in "high touch" fields, such as nursing, teaching, or assistant roles, while men ‘choose’ to work in “high tech” fields, such as surgical, architectural, or engineering roles. We could say those “high tech” fields have higher productivity, but the issue here is that we undervalue essential skills or occupations with a majority female working force.
Women around the world are more likely than men to work part-time.
Because of motherhood and family responsibilities, such as taking care of elderly or sick family members, women are more likely to switch to part-time, often in the middle of their careers. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), women account for about 57% of global part-time work, and the earnings gap between comparable full-time and part-time work is in the order of 10% in the same occupation and sector. There needs to be a discussion on why this responsibility often defaults to the female partner. While we have seen a rise in males taking on more family responsibilities and even “stay at home dads,” we are only just getting started in changing this stereotype.
There is still common workplace phenomenon of the “motherhood penalty” and the “fatherhood bonus.”
When men become dads, they are more likely to receive raises, in part because of old-fashioned notions that they are the family breadwinner. Meanwhile, when women become moms, they are more likely to be viewed as less committed to their jobs. According to OECD data, the motherhood penalty amounts to about a 7% wage reduction per child, while there is also evidence of a positive relationship between a man’s wage and the number of children he has.
Even though many women work full-time, there is a common assumption in the corporate world that senior jobs ‘naturally’ require long hours and constant availability, and so cannot be done flexibly or part-time.
As a result, more men are promoted to senior roles than women which exacerbates the perception.
Women are more of the “team player” and negotiate their needs less.
According to Joanne Lipman's new book "That's What She Said," a lot of time deserves a raise or bigger office, but “she won’t ask for It.” Men are four times more likely than women to ask for a raise—and when women do ask, we typically request 30% less than men do, says Carnegie Mellon University economics professor Linda Babcock, co-author of Women Don’t Ask. Through a quirk of biology and culture, we women tend to undervalue ourselves. Meanwhile, there are societal expectations that men need to be aggressive to fight for what they deserve. Women in IoT is committed to holding regular workshops to address this very issue and help mentor our community to ask for the salary you deserve!
As the world changes, some macro-trends may help women achieve equal pay as men, but we cannot sit idly and wait. Through our workshops and networking events, we hope to empower each other as a community and push for change, break existing barriers, and stop undervaluing ourselves.
∫現代社會，同工同酬是顯而易見的明智做法。但是，儘管發達國家女性與男性享有相同的教育管道，但薪資差距仍然存在。根據康奈爾大學教授勞倫斯·卡恩（Lawrence Kahn）的研究，當男性賺一美金的同時，全職工作的女性在美國只賺到77美分。
以下是一些可能的原因
女性的職業選擇
有觀點認為，大多數女性 “選擇” 從事護理，教學或助手等 “高接觸” 領域，而男性則 “選擇” 從事外科，建築或工程等 “高科技” 領域角色。我們可以說那些 “高科技” 領域具有更高的生產力，但是這裡的問題是，我們低估了擁有大多數女性勞動力的基本技能或職業。
世界各地的女性比男性更有可能從事兼職工作。
由於母親的責任和家庭責任，例如照顧年長或患病的家庭成員，女性在職業生涯中更有可能中途轉而從事非全日制工作。根據國際勞工組織（ILO）的數據，女性約佔全球非全日制工作的 57％，在相同的職業和行業中，可比較的全日制和非全日制工作之間的收入差距約為10％ 。有必要討論為什麼這種責任通常會自動落到女性伴侶身上。雖然我們看到越來越多的男性承擔起更多的家庭責任，甚至“全職奶爸” ㄧ詞的出現，但我們只是剛剛開始改變這種刻板印象。
在工作場所，仍然普遍存在「母職懲罰」和「父職獎勵」的現象。
當男人成為父親時，他們更有可能獲得加薪，部分原因是老式的觀念認為男性是養家糊口的角色。同時，當女性成為媽媽時，她們更有可能被視為對工作的忠誠度降低。根據經濟合作暨發展組織的數據，每生育一個孩子，母親就面臨7%的降薪，同時也有證據表明男人的工資與其所生子女數量之間存在正相關關係。
儘管許多女性全職工作，但企業界普遍認為，高階主管職位 “自然地” 被認為需要很長的時間和穩定的參與度，因此高階主管職務無法靈活地或兼職性地完成。
種種因素導致的結果，晉升為高級主管職位的男性多於女性。
婦女更多地是 “團隊合作者”，而較少協商自己的需求。
根據喬安妮·利普曼（Joanne Lipman）的新書《聽聽她的聲音》，其實很多時刻女性應該得到加薪或升職，但“她不會要求”。而卡內基·梅隆大學經濟學教授《不要問女人》的作者琳達·巴布科克說，男人提出加薪的可能性是女人的四倍，而當女人提出要求時，我們要求數目通常比男人少30％。受生物上和文化環境的奇特影響，我們女性傾向於低估自己。同時，社會上期望男人需要為自己應得的東西而奮鬥。
針對這個議題，Women in IoT 致力於舉辦定期研討會來解決這一問題，並幫助指導女生爭取應得的薪水！
隨著世界的變化，一些大方向的趨勢可能會幫助女性獲得與男性同等的收入，但是我們不能袖手旁觀並等待。透過 Women in IoT 的研討會和社交活動，我們希望藉由這個社群賦予彼此力量、推動變革、突破眼前障礙並停止低估自己。