Gender Wage Gap in the Health Care Field
Women are now pursuing occupations that were traditionally dominated by males and offered a higher pay. The pay disparity is more prominent within such jobs, possibly because of the fact that they are less flexible and more demanding. As a result, employees, mainly women, who seek alternative arrangements face a disadvantage due to such requests. This theory is further explored by investigating the trends found within the healthcare sector.
The path to becoming a doctor is demanding because it requires focus, dedication and hard work. Post-secondary graduates have to pass the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), achieve high scores and have excellent references in order to apply to a 4-year medical …show more content…
In addition, it is suggested that employment practices in the health care sector “are reaching a ‘tipping point’ in the flow of female physicians in the medical profession.” Hence, practices are trying to reduce the influx of female doctors, assuming that they are attracted to unpaid benefits more than their male coworkers, by offering flexibility in jobs. As a result, this suggests that females are satisfied with earning lower wages than males for the specific accommodations. So, the “tipping point” theory represents an invisible barrier, which prevents females from moving beyond a certain threshold: lower starting salary. Furthermore, the purpose of practices that provide more flexibility is to target females; this relates to the concern of gender discrimination, in which women are expected to be their families’ primary caretaker while males are expected to concentrate on advancing in their …show more content…
The studies presented above focused primarily on exploring factors that played a role in wage inequality based on comparing salaries, which is a direct financial measure. However, compensation systems also include non-monetary benefits, which the research on wage gap has not entirely accounted for while establishing the 79 cent pay ratio figure. Although males and females both value nonmonetary benefits, females tend to overestimate the worth of these benefits, causing them to willingly accept a lower income then necessary. If nonfinancial compensation aspects were weighted more heavily, then perhaps the pay disparity would appear less prominent than it presently is. Yet, this process would be hard to measure due to its qualitative
Women are now pursuing occupations that were traditionally dominated by males and offered a higher pay. The pay disparity is more prominent within such jobs, possibly because of the fact that they are less flexible and more demanding. As a result, employees, mainly women, who seek alternative arrangements face a disadvantage due to such requests. This theory is further explored by investigating the trends found within the healthcare sector.
The path to becoming a doctor is demanding because it requires focus, dedication and hard work. Post-secondary graduates have to pass the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), achieve high scores and have excellent references in order to apply to a 4-year medical …show more content…
In addition, it is suggested that employment practices in the health care sector “are reaching a ‘tipping point’ in the flow of female physicians in the medical profession.” Hence, practices are trying to reduce the influx of female doctors, assuming that they are attracted to unpaid benefits more than their male coworkers, by offering flexibility in jobs. As a result, this suggests that females are satisfied with earning lower wages than males for the specific accommodations. So, the “tipping point” theory represents an invisible barrier, which prevents females from moving beyond a certain threshold: lower starting salary. Furthermore, the purpose of practices that provide more flexibility is to target females; this relates to the concern of gender discrimination, in which women are expected to be their families’ primary caretaker while males are expected to concentrate on advancing in their …show more content…
The studies presented above focused primarily on exploring factors that played a role in wage inequality based on comparing salaries, which is a direct financial measure. However, compensation systems also include non-monetary benefits, which the research on wage gap has not entirely accounted for while establishing the 79 cent pay ratio figure. Although males and females both value nonmonetary benefits, females tend to overestimate the worth of these benefits, causing them to willingly accept a lower income then necessary. If nonfinancial compensation aspects were weighted more heavily, then perhaps the pay disparity would appear less prominent than it presently is. Yet, this process would be hard to measure due to its qualitative