There are always differences in the lives of men and women. Most of them are said to be the result of discrimination. Does salary come in this category?
Professor Steve Horwitz disagrees! He says that the difference in the salaries of both the genders is more a result of life choices than a result of discrimination. He throws more light on this aspect through an interesting video, in which he describes the choices made by most men and women in the contemporary world.
These choices begin to change from the academics itself, which later affect the salaries they receive. Human beings are now seen as human capital, and human capital depends on investments people make in the knowledge and skill required for the job of their choice. Prof. Horwitz observes that women tend to go towards humanities, psychology or nursing while men show interest in pursuing courses in mathematics or engineering. These choices have the capacity to create a wide gap between the salaries of men and women.
Do Women Earn Less than Men?
Apart from this, the professor observes that this difference may also be a result of the kind of life men and women choose to live. Though most of the women today have a successful career, they prefer giving most of their time to activities like child care and nursing the family. This could be due to pressure from the society or their socialization. Prof. Horwitz attributes the differences in salaries to the expectations that people of both the genders have from work. As mentioned above women tend to prioritize other things over work, while men work without a gap in their careers.
Another observation of the professor is that women are likely to go for part time jobs, again because of their chosen life styles, while men prefer full time jobs. Now it goes without saying that full timers get paid more than the part timers. To prove the same, controlled studies were conducted which showed that women earn 98% of what men do, if they make identical choices in life. And in some cases women even earn more than their male counterparts.
Prof. Horwitz strongly believes that reversing the roles of men and women that is, getting women to take up jobs relating to mathematics or engineering and making the men attend to household needs will show you how women can rise to equality with men. He says it’s all about the choices you make in life.
The true is true and I completely agree that for some days the men should get into the household work and the women should hold up the jobs related to engineering and mathematics and then lets c who rises. Thank u for the wonderful post.
I’m glad you liked it. Thank u for the words of appreciation. I hope we can see the exchange of roles one day :)
True , in India at least girls are encouraged to follow careers that are family friendly , which means do not take much time away from your family life .In this competitive world ,when family is your priority then career is bound to take a back seat .
:) because women don’t ask ….
Both deserve equal pay. It is upto their intellectual capabilities and contribution towards industrial growth. Women get paid less and this should definitely change .
Well , the time is not far where women would be getting paid more than their counterpart ;)