The Cost of Being Female: Critical Comment on Block

Women currently earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Explanations abound for why, exactly, this wage gap exists. One of the more potent justifications attributes this pay differential to the unequal effects of marriage on the sexes: the marital asymmetry hypothesis. However, even when marit...

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Autore principale: Sayers, Rachel C. (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
Verificare la disponibilità: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Pubblicazione: 2012
In: Journal of business ethics
Anno: 2012, Volume: 106, Fascicolo: 4, Pagine: 519-524
Altre parole chiave:B Discrimination
B Feminism
B Sexism
B pay gap
B Marital asymmetry
B Wage differentials
Accesso online: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Riepilogo:Women currently earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Explanations abound for why, exactly, this wage gap exists. One of the more potent justifications attributes this pay differential to the unequal effects of marriage on the sexes: the marital asymmetry hypothesis. However, even when marital status is accounted for, a small but significant residual gap remains. This article argues that this is the result of social factors. Entrenched societal sexism causes all of us to harbor unconscious bias about the capabilities and proper gender roles of women. This bias, in turn, leads us to discount work completed by females, especially in professional environments. Employers are not immune from this effect, and the undervaluation of female ability affects hiring practices, leading to the residual wage gap.
ISSN:1573-0697
Comprende:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-1017-4