Introduction
In the contemporary global labor markets, gender-based wage disparity has been persistent, with women getting less pay compared to men working in the same category. Despite the rise of feminism and other social groups advocating for women’s rights, the pervasive issue persists. Numerous industries, not only in the USA but also in the global landscape, have persistent gender wage gap issues. A mere opinion must not form the wage differences but be entangled within a web of intricate factors.
The primary aim of this paper is to delve into the intricate factors contributing to the wage difference based on gender through the lens of two theoretical frameworks: structuration and the world-system theories. Understanding the underlying issues in a problem is the prerequisite for developing a customized solution to overcome the challenge. An exploration of the pay disparity through the lens of the world system and the structuration theories shows that interconnected global and social factors cause the persistent earning difference between men and women.
The paper is organized into four major sections; the first part is the introduction, which provides an overview of the gender wage difference, especially in the global labor markets. The introduction further offers the thesis statement guiding the paper. The context section is the key summary where the social issue is explained based on its scope and social significance. The summary illustrates how the social issue has impacted women and how their quality of life has been jeopardized using gender differences.
The theoretical section is the core of the paper, where the underlying issue is explained using theoretical perspectives (Duncan et al., 2023). The insights provided by the theories are compared and contrasted to develop a broader view of how the issue affects people and how it may be resolved. Finally, the conclusion will summarize the key findings and the main insights into the social problem under investigation.
Context
The gender disparity issue in the global workforce has attracted numerous scholarly studies to investigate its cause and recommend tailored solutions. The extensive attention from scholars revealed that the gendered pay gap phenomenon transcends not only geographical but also cultural settings, with numerous women in the world having experienced the gender pay gap and other forms of workplace discrimination based on sex. It reflects both contemporary and historical inequalities that have constituted gender struggles since the early 20th century when women had to fight for their rights to vote in the USA.
Today, different waves of feminism have been at the forefront to ensure that women are accorded equal rights in the fight for their rights at the workplace. Research by Meara et al. (2020) showed that one in every four women working in the USA (25%) earns less than their male counterparts. Although the number of women joining the labor market is increasing, the wage disparity persists, signaling that the struggle for equal pay continues.
The issues are not confined to the USA labor markets alone but in other parts of the world. The persistence and severity vary among the nations depending on the containment measures practiced. For example, research conducted in 2020 showed that women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn in the contemporary global labor markets (O’Connor, 2020). The European Union had the most significant pay gap, with the highest gap being 22.3% in Latvia.
Luxembourg experienced the lowest gender pay disparity of 0.7%, showing that the issue may be contained when the appropriate measures are implemented to overcome it. The comparative studies for the nations with a low and higher wage gap posited that sociocultural contexts and patriarchal systems are the primary causes of the differences in the pay gap (Blau & Kahn, 2020). The pay difference has far-reaching consequences, such as women’s reduced quality of life.
Social Significance
The gender wage gap constitutes an economic injustice, and women are mostly affected. As a result of the perpetuated pay gap, poverty is feminized, therefore exposing ladies to unprecedented suffering. Further, the gap is a manifestation of gender inequality that has persisted in the patriarchal systems despite the transformation of gender roles due to modernization. A working society is determined by its effective capital utilization (Meara et al., 2020). When women are underpaid regardless of their efforts, they are demoralized, and their productivity and career aspirations are demotivated.
Further, when people in the workplace witness the gender gap in payment, the dynamics change, and other forms of discrimination emerge. For example, since people working under the same conditions are paid less, their male counterparts will consider them inferior to them. The phenomenon, therefore, causes immense distress among women and increases the trajectory of gender discrimination formulated by the superiority complex determined by the pay difference.
Scope
The scope of the gender wage gap is extensive and affects not only individual women but also the workplace and the entire community where women and men coexist. The global reach is also rampant in the research, and regardless of the nations or their key cultures, women earn less than their male counterparts. As a result of the demoralization, the number of women taking up higher-paying employment opportunities is constantly on the rise, indicating that there is an impending outburst of occupational segregation with women taking low-paying jobs and other non-competitive employment opportunities(O’Connor, 2020).
The social phenomenon has an extensive economic impact as women live in poverty, courtesy of the pay gap. Generally, the scope of the social problem is comprehensive with individual, national, and geographical dimensions, which may only be understood and addressed using elected theoretical frameworks. A theoretical analysis prefaces a multifaceted approach to understanding the social issue and providing tailored solutions.
Theory Application
Structuration Theory and the Gender Wage Gap
The saturation theory was founded and coined by British sociologist Anthony Giddens. The founder is known to be one of the most influential present-day sociologists. His main argument is that there is a duality of structures, and the structure created by the society determines how functions are conducted. He further argues that the structures provide the medium for action and form the basis on which a person gets resources to advise their goals. In gender orientation, the structures formed in the patriarchal society are the sex differences, where the different roles determine the people’s position in society (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2022).
Giddens uses structure to mean rules and resources that guide the interaction. In the social context, therefore, gender differences form structures that are guided by specific rules that must be followed for mutual coexistence. Since the impacts of the patriarchal systems are still being felt to date, they formulate a structure where the males are more privileged based on the rules and resources allocated.
The structuration theory forms the basis for the pay gap in the contemporary labor markets because structures formed by society dictate the actions. The dynamic relationship between the sexes in the place of work plays a significant role in determining the wage disparity. The gender roles set by the traditional patriarchal society that men are to be the breadwinners. At the same time, women are the homemakers, which invokes a discriminatory clause that women should earn less because they are not the traditional breadwinners.
Further, the agency used for negotiation where women have a chance to advocate for higher salaries may be compromised because of the bias present in the men who are patriarchal by nature. The structuration is relevant because a review can only be done when most women occupy leadership positions to vote for pay equality. However, research by Duncan et al. (2023) showed that women occupy only 21% of the executive and decision-making process, which is below the threshold to vote for a change in a democratic setting. However, the theory suggests reflexivity in advocacy, meaning that women can push to end gender wage disparity through policy change and affirmative action.
World Systems Theory and the Gender Wage Gap
The world systems theory was developed by an American sociologist, Immanuel Wallerstein. He was not only a sociologist but also a historian and a system analyst. He argued that the world may be considered a single unit for analysis and divided the country into three central positions: the core, the peripheral, and the semi-peripheral. The position defines the countries where the core is more economically developed. At the same time, the semi-peripheral have medium development and serve as a link between the core and the peripheral countries.
Finally, the peripheral countries are developed and provide raw materials cheaply to the developed world (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2022). Generally, Immanuel’s theory emphasizes the hierarchical structure of the world economy, with people having high hierarchies that determine the position of influence in the organization. As a result, since men have a high rank in the organizational structure, women often suffer inequality, such as the pay gap. Men dominate the employment realm in the global labor market; the pay policy favors them courtesy of their hierarchy.
Generally, the world systems theory offers a framework for understanding the hierarchical structure of the world economy. It provides an analogy that as the core countries are more favored compared to the peripheral countries, women also suffer economic inequality courtesy of the structures formed by the patriarchal society (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2022). The patriarchal system favors men and gives them more privileges compared to women, like how the core nations benefit from the periphery. Similarly, women offer labor in organizations but are paid less because of the hierarchy they occupy in society.
Similarities of the Insights Generated by the Theories
Both theories recognize the existence of social structures related to different hierarchies. For example, in the patriarchal system, there are gender structures where roles differ. Further, the structure plays a key role in a person’s opportunities and resources. The insights explain that men are more privileged than women because of their positions.
Both theories underscore the reciprocal relationships between individuals and their environment and state that they are not mere recipients of the structures but can construct different identities (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2022). They, therefore, interact with the feminist theory, indicating that relevant advocacy and policy changes may influence the power structures and enable women to gain better gender equality. Generally, both theories reject the concept of duality and state that the social position given to women which jeopardizes their rights may be eliminated.
Differences Between the Insights Generated by the Theories
The key difference between the insights is that while the structuration theory focuses on a narrow scope of the individuals placed in the sex categories, the world systems theory focuses on a broader scope and deals with the nation. As a result, a simple analogy between the core and periphery nations is made using the male and female gender and comparing the gender pay gap. Further, while the structuration reviews the differences within the societal norms in creating the differences in the pay categories, the world systems theory focuses only on the macro-level inequalities in the economic realm (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2022). Finally, the temporal dimensions differ because the structuration theory underscores the changing societal norms promoting gender disparities. At the same time, the world systems mainly focus on the patterns of the capitalist systems and how various people are affected by the historical development of the capitalist systems.
Conclusion
The gender pay gap is a global issue addressed through various civil actions. However, it persists because it is deeply rooted in the patriarchal systems where genders are given hierarchies, with men being favored in society. Based on the gender role, men are considered more viable than women who were traditionally homemakers. The issue has been dissected through different theoretical frameworks. This paper has leveraged the structuration and world systems theories. Although the approaches have differences and similarities, the key point is that constructivism may overcome the challenge where new societal systems are created to promote equality.
References
Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2020). The gender pay gap: Have women gone as far as they can? In Inequality in the United States 2(1), 345-362.
Duncan, P., García, C. A., & Jolly, J. (2023). Women are still paid less than men at four out of five employers in Great Britain. The Guardian.
Meara, K., Pastore, F., & Webster, A. (2020). The gender pay gap in the USA: A matching study. Journal of Population Economics, 33(1), 271–305. Web.
O’Connor, P. (2020). Why is it so difficult to reduce gender inequality in male-dominated higher educational organizations? A feminist institutional perspective. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 45(2), 207–228. Web.
Ritzer, G., & Stepnisky, J. (2022). Contemporary sociological theory and its classical roots: The basics. Sage Publications.