Research Proposal
Considering the gender pay gap, scientists, government agencies, and business representatives agree that it exists in different organizations across the US for females and males. Nonetheless, gender discrimination and sexism that are usually named as the main reasons that hurt the issue might not be the significant variables when researching the topic. Thus, other factors, such as women’s personal and professional choices, should be further analyzed to identify the primary reasons that explain the gap in income between male and female workers.
Research Question and Tentative Hypothesis
According to statistics that were previously investigated, men and women working at the same company in the same position do not have a gap in the amount of money they earn (Phelan, 2018). At the same time, it is reported that males are likely to have more extended work experience in comparison to females in their positions at the same company, which reflects the possible difference in wages (Perry, 2017). The data is supported by the actual amount of time that women and men spend at work that accounts for 7.18 hours and 7.97 hours, respectively, according to The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020). Therefore, it can be suggested that there can be different reasons than sexism that influence the gender gap in earnings that should be further discussed.
Considering the previously gathered information, the following research question can be stated: What is the main reasons and factors that impact the salary distribution difference between men and women in the US? A hypothesis can be formulated as follows: despite it is proved that there is a gap in wages that males and females in the US get, I predict that the reason why the issue is present stems from different reasons rather than sexism. It can be hypothesized that many factors exist that impact the wage gap, and these reasons are primarily connected to women’s choices (Tyson & Parker, 2019).
Progress on Research Project
The topic of why the difference in salaries of men and women in the US occurs is exciting and controversial. It can be investigated because of biases and manipulation with data and opinions often due to this theme. The gender discrimination, sexism, and victimization of men and women are heated topics nowadays that attract many opinion leaders, politicians, and employees at the companies that debate on factors that influence the wage gap (Cozzi, 2017). I already know that there are more reasons than sexism that can be used as an explanation. For instance, according to a Glassdoor study, employees of a different gender who have the same job title, similar employers, locations, and educational background have a wage gap of 4.9% compared to data that women earn 22% less than men in general (Renzulli, 2019). Moreover, it is reported that politicians and media sometimes manipulate the data and claim that they can tackle the problem of wage gaps to demonstrate to people that they can stop the inequality in salaries that is a controversial statement (Phelan, 2018).
I hope to learn what are the primary reasons and factors that have an impact on the differences in salaries of males and females in the US and whether sexism is the primary reason or not as the hypothesis states that women’s behavior and choices are the most influential factors that define the issue. For now, the main problem that can obstruct the refinement of the topic and conduction of research is the necessity to divide major factors that impact the issue from the variables that are not essential and indirectly contribute to the aggravation of the salaries’ difference for males and females.
Plans for Argument
The research question and a tentative hypothesis lead to the following argument: the difference in salaries between males and females is explained by several factors that are related to women’s decisions, career paths, and possible changes in family state and not sexism that is usually named as the primary reason to of wages gap (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2020). The argument will be built upon the statistics and studies that uncover the main variables that impact the issue and exacerbate the difference in salaries of different genders in the US. The argument should be supported by reliable data that proves a scope of fundamental reasons that overweight sexism as the crucial factor should be investigated. To convince readers of my argument, I must explore all the aspects that are named as the reasons that contribute to the rise of the wage gap and prove that women’s choices and work-related issues, such as the amount of time worked and level of experience, are of more importance than sexism and gender discrimination when it comes to salaries difference (Meara et al., 2020).
The concepts that readers will have to understand include the gender pay gap and the wage gap, gender discrimination and inequality, gender bias, and other terms. The argument should be backed up by the data on the salaries differences and gaps in years of work experience; hours worked, jobs worked (Boesch, 2019). The argument should also be supported by the facts and research information that gender pay gaps arise even than sexism, overt discrimination, labor segregation, and inflexible work arrangements factors are controlled in the research (Litman et al., 2020).
Conclusion
To make a conclusion, one can state that to conduct the research on the topic of the gender pay gap, different studies and statistics should be gathered. To prove the argument that women’s professional and personal choices and behavior are among the main factors that influence the wage gap in the US, a research project should be conducted, including a comparison of work-related variables of different genders, such as work experience, job position, background, and others.
References
Boesch, D. (2019). Rhetoric vs. reality: Not all paid leave proposals are equal. Center for American Progress.
Cozzi, M. (2017). The Gender Wage Gap: Does it pay to follow the crowd? The Park Place Economist, 25, 1-15. Web.
Litman, L., Robinson, J., Rosen, Z., Rosenzweig, C., Waxman, J., & Bates, L. M. (2020). The persistence of pay inequality: The gender pay gap in an anonymous online labor market. PloS one, 15(2), e0229383.
Meara, K., Pastore, F. & Webster, A. (2020). The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study. Journal of Population Economics, 33, 271–305.
National Partnership for Women & Families. (2020). America’s women and the age gap.
Perry, M. J. (2017). There really is no ‘gender wage gap.’ There’s a ‘gender earnings gap’ but ‘paying women well’ won’t close that gap. American Enterprise Institute. Web.
Phelan, J. (2018). Harvard study: “Gender wage gap” explained entirely by work Choices of men and women. Foundation for Economic Education.
Renzulli, K. A. (2019). 46% of American men think the gender pay gap is ‘made up to serve a political purpose.’ CNBC.
Tyson, L. & Parker, C. (2019). An economist explains why women are paid less. World Economic Forum.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020). Employed persons working and time spent working on days worked by full- and part-time status and sex, jobholding status, educational attainment, and day of week, 2019 annual averages.