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 both genders’ salaries 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 themselves, 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 pursue courses in mathematics or engineering. These choices have the capacity to create a wide gap between the salaries of men and women.
Apart from this, the professor observes that this difference may also result from 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 childcare and nursing the family. This could be due to pressure from society or their socialization. Prof. Horwitz attributes the differences in salaries to the expectations that people of both genders have from work. As mentioned above, women prioritize other things overwork, 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 lifestyles, while men prefer full-time jobs. Now it goes without saying that full-timers get paid more than 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 men’s and women’s roles, 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.