Why Are Women Paid Less? Our Readers Talk Back

A few Fridays ago, our CEO, Bob Brady, ignited a bit of a firestorm in this space with his column on why … and to what degree … women are discriminated against in pay. Basically, Bob pointed to a survey that showed 33 percent of married women now outearn their husbands, a huge jump from past decades, so he concluded there is progress.

As for women still paid less than men for the same jobs, Bob supported ABC-TV correspondent Tory Johnson’s argument that one reason is that women simply do not negotiate for more. “No employer has the obligation to whisper in the woman’s ear, ‘You just lost out on money because you didn’t speak up,’” Bob quoted Johnson as saying. In the end, Bob did say he was conflicted over the issue. (Read his column here.)

Our readers were not conflicted. They had strong views on the gender gap, and more than a few observations from personal experience. Some gave their names, but because some messages contained identifying data, we’ll just refer to them as Reader A, B, C, etc.

Reader A questioned the survey showing a third of women outearn their husbands. “This could be a flawed measure,” the reader wrote, “because [the study] is not controlled for education level or type of work. It’s common for women of higher education to be married to men in less professional positions.”

Reader B agreed with that and pointed out that the study was not reflective of women in general as it “only counted married women.” The reader did, however, point out that a recent Forbes article named 946 billionaires in the world, only 40 of whom are women. Now THAT is interesting,” she quipped. She said she does believe “men are … more likely to be viewed as leaders,” possibly because “they go play golf or get along with men already in that position.”

Reader C saw married life as possibly detrimental to earning more. “Women most often have primary home and family responsibility,” she reasoned. “This often means having a position of medium responsibility, so the project is not at risk should she need extended time off to deal with personal business.”

Reader D added another reason beyond discrimination that women may be paid less. “Women do not change jobs as often as men do. The only real way to move up is change employers every 3–5 years.” Why don’t they? “Women may not be as much risk takers, and they also tend to have greater loyalty when satisfied with their work.”

Reader E found that the reason a third of married women outearn their spouses is because it’s actually their husbands who have lost ground by being displaced from high-paying jobs. She blamed it on globalization, resulting in the disappearance of many skilled trades. “Let’s consider the economy, outsourcing, and politics,” she urged.

“Pay discrimination starts early in life,” Reader F pointed out. She learned this when her son and daughter applied for work at the same fast-food restaurant. The boy was hired as a fry cook, a position which paid more than the cashier job offered the girl. “Neither was told what jobs were available or what the jobs paid,” she reported. “In fact, no females were hired as fry cooks and no males as cashiers.”

As to whether women are willing to negotiate, readers were split in their thinking. Reader C noted that “women are more trusting in feeling that their efforts will be noticed and rewarded.” When that doesn’t happen, “they assume they were somehow not entitled to the higher amount,” she said.

Apparently that’s not the case for reader G. “In more than 25 years in HR, I’ve never detected a difference between males and females in expressing their wants and needs in the workplace,” he writes. “To the contrary, the female populations have been quite expressive.”

Bob thanks all who responded. You can add your views by using the Share Your Comments button, contributing to our forum on the subject at HR.BLR.com, or e-mailing RBrady@blr.com.