Are Women in the United States Still Discriminated Against in the Workplace?

Unfortunately, women are still treated as less than when compared to males, especially when it comes to the workplace. Not only are many paid less for doing the same job as their male counterparts, but women in general "remain underrepresented at every level in corporate America" (Krivkovich). The 'glass ceiling' is a very real epidemic that does not receive nearly enough attention. Although I do believe in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes, I still don't dub myself a “feminist”.

I just simply think of myself as a human being with discernment of what is fair and what is not.

It's nice to think that the United States has made progress when it comes to women's rights, but truth be told, we still have a long way to go. A phenomenal feat for women was when we officially gained the right to vote in 1920. Creating the 19th amendment, this will forever be a part of history, but this 'feat' wasn't even 100 years ago.

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The advancement of women being prevalent in the workplace has improved slowly but surely and some of the beneficial results have been diversity of thought and different perspectives.

In fact, studies have shown organizations with more gender diversity within the management ranks have outpaced their peers in percentage increase and profits. "Making gender diversity a business priority can lead to financial benefits and help a company realize its full potential," (Bharadwaj Badal). Having women present in the workplace is a big deal coming from women strictly staying at home and taking care of the domestic responsibilities.

Luckily, the housewife phenomenon was a 20th century phase and it is not nearly as enforced.

"In 2016, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80% of what men were paid..." (Miller) making the wage gap a staggering 20%.

Although the gap is steeper in other places, this is still an issue that needs to be taken care of. It shouldn't matter one's gender, everyone deserves the pay that coincides with the work they produce and that is pretty straightforward. When comparing the average wages of women versus the average wages of men, one really has to make sure they are comparing 'apples to apples' so that all of the statistics are accurate. Getting background information on the sample of people where the statistics resulted from is imperative.

When comparing information, it would be wise to ensure that you look at both sides of the argument and all of the inclusive statistics of the subject.

If the importance of gender equality was emphasized more in the workplace, it could possibly necessitate and encourage females to get more involved in male-dominant departments. Areas that lack female presence more than others, such as STEM, would become more gender diverse. With "women hav[ing] seen no employment growth in STEM jobs since 2000," (Huhman), there absolutely needs to be an encouraging change of habit. Although in some departments, like education, women dominate the field, women are still very much less represented in more fields of study, career paths, and professional positions as a whole.

At the end of the day, everyone should take part in the responsibility of ensuring that the workplace is more gender diverse and the inequalities of pay for same work is eliminated. I strongly believe this change would make a huge difference in the pursuit of a variety of male-dominant occupations. With this, the workplace would simply be a better place. Why not reap the benefits that gender diversity sows?