Equal Pay Act Cases In Higher Education

It is no hidden secret that there even in today’s day and age there are many companies which have gender gaps in wages and discriminate against women by paying them significantly less than their male counterparts. In news we hear about women fighting for their right of equal pay and trying to break the “glass ceiling” yet companies still continue to treat employees differently based on their sex. One key area in which this is seen as a reoccurring issue is in the higher education sector. There have been many cases of sex discrimination, in the form of a wage difference, through colleges and university across the country. Author Sandra Perry notes, in her article “Equal Pay Act Cases in Higher Education,” the statistics that “Although women’s …show more content…
The thing that is most surprising is that these discriminations are still present even though they directly violate federal laws. A major step in reducing the gender gap was the Equal Pay Act of 1963 passed by Congress. From the Salem Press Encyclopedia entry of “The Equal Pay Act of 1963” author David Paas writes, “Women in the 1960’s represented about 40 percent of the United States labor force. Historically, women in the labor force have earned a median average wage only about three-fifths that of men, and in the 1960’s…To remedy this situation, the administration of President John F. Kennedy sponsored equal pay legislation in 1962 to give women equal pay for “comparable” work. (Paas 1). It is extremely concerning that almost half of the working population earned less for the same amount of work. Especially after WWII when the number of women in the workforce sky rocketed, it is important that they be accounted for equally. Even Title VII has specifications prohibiting sex discrimination through gender wage