The Pros And Cons Of The Gender Wage Gap

Emma Stone and Mark Wahlberg, both well-known actors within society and have been labeled as the highest paid male and female actors; however, they do not make the same amount of money. One would believe that they both would make the same amount of money given they share the same occupation, but Wahlberg’s annual income is $42m more than that of Stone’s (Dean, et al.). Acting requires the same skills and the same level of credentials between both genders yet somehow, the wage men earn outweighs the amount women might ever earn. Even within other occupational fields such as medicine or business, men earn more income. This can be defined as gender wage gap, the difference in income between both genders. The wage gap remains prominent in the world

One can discern that discrimination in the workplace does not cause the gender wage gap, but the choices women make, such as working less hours (Jarosek). For instance, both male and female pharmacists make approximately the same wage per hour; however, women work fewer hours than men, hence the extensive gap regarding their wages (Devani). If an individual works more hours and possibly overtime, this implies that their income per hour would increase, resulting in a larger income compared to others that work less hours. Although, this “choice” many argue women make simply does not explain why women that work the same amount of hours as men with the same educational level get paid significantly

Census American Factfinder, women physicians and surgeons earn about $120,971 and men make $190,726. Men within that occupation make almost $70,000 more than women who have the same level of experience, work hours, and education. Studies have proven that for a woman’s yearly income to equate to a man with a high school degree, she must receive a college degree (Chemaly). Even for women to make nearly as much as men, they need to have a higher education. Discrimination is described as a means of bias or prejudice toward an individual or group of people and clearly, within these circumstances men, are favored in the eyes of employers of being worthy for a larger income than women; which is a prime example of discrimination within the workplace. Society and employers are no strangers to this prejudice nature. Many attempt to justify this discriminatory nature because of the biological differences between men and