Gender Gap in the Wages in Australia - Assignment Example

Running Head: Gender Wages Gap in Australia A Study of Gender Gap in the Wages in Australia s Table of Contents Introduction 2. Methodology 3. Results 4. Interpretation 5. Conclusion Introduction The gender wages gap is a controversial issue that is often debated in the legal and economic context as well as social theoretical framework. It basically refers to the difference in the earnings of the males and females that indicates discrimination and inequalities in the labour markets (Tomaskovic and Skaggsm, 2002, p102). It is widely believed that a considerable gap between the earning of men and women radically exists almost in all the countries and despite several legislation amendments, implementation of certain rules and law and the efforts of advocacy groups, this gap is widening all over the world and has become a great challenge for the policy makers (Budig, 2002, p204). With no exception, the sixth largest country of the world Australia also encounters the problem of gender wages gap and the statistics clearly evident that this gap is continuously widening in the country (Lyons and Smith, 2008, p14). The research paper is intended to present the results and interpretation of a quantitative research study conducted among the Australian household. The statistical survey basically strives to investigate the difference in the pay scales of men and women in Australia in connection with their ages, educational level, working hours and town size. The research paper provides a general understanding of the trends in the gender wages gap and its consequences to present the conceptual framework of the study. The theoretical explanation of the issue is supported by the results of the primary research that further affirm the existence of the gender wages gap in Australia. The issue of gender gap in wages is great point of concern for the workers, labour unions and authorities. The difference in men’s and women’s salaries was intensely realized during 1970s and this consciousness was followed by wave of campaigns and protests that stipulate bringing fairness and balance in the pay scales of men and women (Budig, 2002, p204). The advocates of reducing gender gap put forward the notion that despite performing same duties and responsibilities, the women are mostly paid unfairly lesser than men. The gender gap is wages tend to draw strong impact upon the volume of lifetime earnings and pension of men and women. Most of the times, it badly affects the women as they are usually less paid than men. When women are paid low, they receive lesser pensions and ultimately the chances of poverty among the elderly women increases (Budig, 2002, p204). The difference in the salaries of men and women is often justified by the occupational location of men and women in the labour markets; however, the growing participation of women is every field rejects this explanation (Tomaskovic and Skaggsm, 2002, p102). In Australia, there have been many efforts done to reduce the gender gap in wages. There have been several legislative amendments, labour law measures and institutional reforms implemented at state level to address this issue. The government also introduced the centralized tribunal based industry level reward system to assure the pay equity (Lyons and Smith, 2008, p14). However, these efforts seem to fail in attaining considerable results and it is examined in the review of Australian Studies that up to 20 percent of gap exists between the salaries of men and women despite having analogous productivity characteristics (Kidd and Ferko, 2001, p71). The experts also believe that in coming years, there are little chances of decline in this gap (Kidd and Shannon, 2002, p161). A recent research study results show that the women executives get almost 50% lesser salaries as compared with the men executives employed in top 200 Australian companies. Likewise, many other research studies have also proved the inequity in the salaries of the men and women in Australia (Samantha, 2008, p2) Methodology The research study is conducted employing a qualitative research approach and the statistical survey is selected as the research method. A statistical survey is a quantitative method requiring standardized information from and/or about the subjects being studied. The subjects studied might be individuals, groups, organizations or communities; they also might be projects, applications, or systems. (Shaughnessy et al, 2006, p143) The survey sampling method for the study is selected as the full national probability of sampling of Australian household using multistage cluster sampling. The clusters were ABS census districts (30 were selected using probability proportionate to size) and within each cluster 50 households were chosen for the study, giving a total of 1500 households that were chosen for inclusion. Once a household was selected for inclusion, no replacements were allowed for non responding households. Up to 12 return visits were made for each household selected into the sample. The time period of four month was decided to collect the responses from the selected people. There could be various methods of data collection like via email, face to face, telephonic interview, online survey or polls etc however, for this study it was decided to conduct face to face interviews to get the questionnaire filled by the selected participants. There were actually 2048 individuals living in 1202 households selected and contacted for the study. Out of them 354 was found eligible for the study as they complied with the requirement of being non institutionalized, age 25-59, unmarried, and not living with their parents. Finally, the responses of 305 participants are included to calculate the study results because these people had data present for all the six variables used in the study; means that they fit to required categories for the selected variables of age, sex, educational level, employment FT, town size and income. Thus, the study results present the data collected from these 305 individuals. Results The data collected from the selected individuals during the decided time period is used for calculating the results of the study. The following codes are used to refer the variables studied. V214 (coded as "Sex - Female") V216 (coded as "Age - Years") V217 (coded as "Education Level") V220 (recoded as "Employment - FT" [employed 30 hours per week or more vs. all others]) V232 (coded as "Town Size") V227 (recoded as "Income" The questionnaire only gives incomes as 1-10 (the actual dollar amounts appeared on a show card). The income variable has been coded in the analyses to correspond roughly to the income levels represented on the show card, as follows: 1 => $18000.00 2 => $24000.00 3 => $34000.00 4 => $43500.00 5 => $54000.00 6 => $64000.00 7 => $76500.00 8 => $92000.00 9 => $115000.00 10 => $150000.00 The results of the study are calculated and arranged in the tabular form for better organization and understanding. The table incorporates the results of three different models. Model 1 is the base model reporting the regression of sex upon income; Model 2 included the educational level and employment FT, whereas model 3 presents the result of town size. Following table presents the study results. Interpretation The results of the statistical survey indicates that there are certain other important variables that play an important role in creating gap between the salaries of men and women and only the gender gap could not be regarded as the responsible factor behind this difference in the salaries. The mentioned above, the age of the workers also has an effect upon the salaries. This is because, the young and middle aged people have more stamina to work for long hours as compared with the elderly people and thus these people have chances to get higher salaries regardless of their gender. In the same way, the individuals with higher education level usually get employment as high positions and have been provided with handsome salaries and incentives. In this case also, the gap between the salaries is created in the basis of the educational level and not sex. However, it is an important point to notice there that the women with same qualifications often failed to reach higher positions of the organization, whereas, men are likely to get higher positions frequently. This employment inequity has great impact upon the salaries’ difference because when the women fail to reach higher level despite having appropriate qualification, they become unable to get high salaries. The employment hours also count towards the salaries differences among men and women and it is revealed from the study that more working hours an individual spend in working, more they can expect to receive in terms of money. Thus, the wages also depend upon the working hours. The town size is another important variable that seems to draw impact upon the salaries of men and women. The individuals belonging to big towns get more chances of better employment opportunities where they can get good salaries and incentives. The people of small towns comparatively get lesser opportunities of better working conditions and incentives. Thus, it implies that the gender does not alone make difference in the salaries level but there are certain other factors that count towards this difference. At the same time, the study also affirms that the men and women of same age, having same educational level, employment hours and town still got different salaries and in most of the cases, the wages of the women are lower than men’s. These results confirm the gender gap that exists in the wages of men and women in Australia. Conclusion The research paper presents the theoretical explanation and statistical evidences to prove the existence of gender wages gap in Australia. It is revealed from the study that variables like sex, age, educational level, town size and employment FT have the capability to affect the wages rates. The gender however appeared to be most important factor because the individuals with same age, educational level, employment FT and town size do not get equal wages due to the gender gap. The men successfully reach the higher positions and got high salaries whereas, women with same capabilities and skills work at lower level and got low salaries. In sum, the study affirms the theoretical suppositions of gender wages gap and concludes that gender wages gap considerably exists in Australia that is clearly visible in the statistical data calculated for the study. References Budig, M. J. & England, P. (2002) the Wage Penalty for Motherhood American Sociological, 204-225 Kidd, M.P. and Ferko, I. (2001), “The employment effects of gender discrimination in Australia 1994-95”, Economic Record, Vol. 77 No. 236, pp. 71-88. Kidd, M.P. and Shannon, M. (2002), “The gender wage gap in Australia – the path of future convergence”, Economic Record, Vol. 78 No. 241, pp. 161-74 Michael Lyons and Meg Smith (2008), Gender pay equity, wage fixation and industrial relations reform in Australia One step forward and two steps backwards? Employee Relations, Vol. 30 No. 1, 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 4-19 Samantha Hawley (2008), Study exposes executives gender pay gap, ABC News, Issue: Jan 25, 2008, retrieved online from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/25/2146334.htm Shaughnessy, J. J., Zechmeister, E. B., & Zechmeister, J. S. (2006), Research Methods in Psychology (Seventh Edition ed., pp. 143–192). New York, New York: Higher Education Tomaskovic-Devey, D. & SKAGGS, S. (2002) Sex segregation, labour process organization, and gender earnings inequality. American Journal of Sociology, 108, 102-128 Read More