Economics of Gender

Month: December 2022 (Page 2 of 2)

Women in Politics

December 8, 2022 /

By: Cole Berglund, Owen Mcdermott, Roshan Syed

Summary:

Gender equality causes difficulties for women in the political world. Not only are women vastly outnumbered in politics, but they receive harassment from voters as well as their peers.[1] Being a minority in politics, women are put under a microscope for their political actions. In some cases, women are extensively recognized for their success but also blamed severely for failures.[2] Men are more encouraged by the public to run for office than women. Women exemplify that they can succeed in political positions, as they are equally represented in positions such as city council and congress.[3] Despite frequent success in local political positions, women are rarely considered for state and federal roles[4]. The gender gap in political support is most notable for elected offices. Margaret Conway discusses the drawbacks women face in the political world, particularly entry into elected offices. Theories that suppress women from elected offices include the confining social norms of domestic life for women, the acquired skills gathered from non-political activities that are geared towards men, and gatekeeping who can acquire sufficient endorsements, finances, and staff to successfully run for office.[5]

Policy

While there are many challenges in specifically combating the generational discrimination against women in politics, implementing required courses that inform children at a young age about politics and the steps necessary to make a career in government could help level out the numbers. More importantly, societal acceptance of women in government is the most crucial point, after all, these are elected positions, and without change, the current discrimination trends will continue. To combat gatekeeping, a policy should be enacted that requires a political party to put forth a man and a woman during the selection phase. This will solve the internal issues of gender inequality and give women equal opportunity to be voted into federal positions.

How this impacts you

These issues impact us personally because men and women are different; half of society is female, so women should account for half of these positions. It does not make sense for leadership positions to be predominantly male if society is not predominantly male.  

What have you learned/Questions

Research has shown us that women are unfairly and unjustly treated in politics- female representation needs to increase if we want to strive for a more balanced and equal society.

  1. As women fight for equal representation, what can students like us do to help aid this process?
  2. What are the steps we can take to break down the negative stigma around women not just in politics but in all places of work?

Sources

[1] Mona Lisa Krook (2020). Violence Against Women in Politics (In: Sawer, M., Jenkins, F., Downing, K. (eds) How Gender Can Transform the Social Sciences. Palgrave Pivot) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43236-2_6

[2] Lovenduski, Joni. Feminizing Politics. Polity, 2005

[3] Conway, Margaret. Women and Political Participation. PSOnline, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1350210

[4] Mona Lisa Krook (2020). Violence Against Women in Politics

[5] Conway, Margaret. Women and Political Participation. PSOnline, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1350210

Women’s Participation In Politics

December 8, 2022 /

By Angela Clark & Alyssa Gazivoda

Throughout our nation’s political history, evidence of women’s political participation has increased and yielded striking results. Even with rising participation, women still remain far from equal and continue to struggle, which is why this needs to change. As of 2022, there were 148 women sworn in at the beginning of the 117th Congress, which surpassed the 130 women that were serving in the 116th Congress (Women in Congress: Statistics and Brief Overview, 2022). In 2021, a record-high for women serving in the U.S. Senate was 26 of 100 seats (Women in Elective Office 2022, 2022). In the same year, 30.6% of 310 seats of statewide elective executive officials were women (Women in Elective Office 2022, 2022). As illustrated in our infographic, the data has shown slight improvements over an astounding 200-year period (Women in Congress: Statistics and Brief Overview, 2022). Due to less female participation in politics, how can political institutions aid in promoting women’s voices being heard when they insert their concerns into political discussions? 

A policy intervention that would encourage more participation of female candidates would include creating public campaign funding and support programs that boost female candidates’ fundraising potential (Rothschild, 2020). Changing our electoral rules so that each voice has equal weight will bring us closer to a perfect union (Rothschild, 2020). It would be interesting to see more programs and organizations put in place to inspire political ambition in young women. This could include webinars for them to engage in and workshops about the political system. 

The lack of women in politics has troubling consequences and limits our country’s potential. This country is built on the foundation of democracy and everyone’s voices being heard. When women face significant barriers to becoming the face of their communities, the very basis of representative democracy is weakened (Rothschild, 2020). Despite gender-based obstacles, female politicians have been shown to govern in more democratic ways, to be more effective at improving the health of their constituents, and to be more successful and adaptive in pursuit of issue specialization and consensus building (Rothschild, 2020). 

On a personal level, this issue has impacted us significantly in regard to experiences from our adolescent years. In grade school, when we learned about politicians, there were only ever lectures or depictions of male representatives. We cannot remember a time when a discussion around a female politician was ever a focal point of the lecture, which served as a norm that we have been accustomed to since. 

Additionally, a factor that played a role in deterring us from a career in politics as women is due to the negative media portrayal of female politicians. We have seen women politicians be discriminated against and negatively valued under stereotypes in media coverage, even with less coverage of female politicians overall. After discussing our research and past experiences, we believe that exposing young women to female politicians and how they ended up pursuing a career in politics can bring about change and inspire adolescent females to want to consider pursuing a profession in politics. With that being said, how can institutions do their part to implement change into their curriculum or class structure in efforts to increase exposure to women in politics to help empower and improve confidence for their female students?

Throughout our research, we have learned that although there have been strides to improve female participation in politics, there is still a long way to go. Aside from what the data entails, even in sectors across all careers, women have key contributions to make to leadership and should have a seat at the table. Diverse leadership in politics benefits all, and an upward trajectory of women’s political participation can enhance this notion. Understanding this has shifted our worldview to having optimism in that policy intervention and sustainable implementation can aid in the continued efforts to close the gap. 

Sources:

Rothschild, L. E. (2020). “The Gender Gap in American Politics: How Money in Politics Affects Female Representation.” Inquiries Journal, 12(10).

(2022). Women in Congress: Statistics and Brief Overview. Congressional Research Service. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43244.pdf.

(2022). Women in Elective Office 2022. Center for American Women and Politics. https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/current-numbers/women-elective-office-2022

Women in Professional Sports

December 8, 2022 /

By Johnny Cowdrick and Andrew Fearey

Summary of Issues:

The main issue that women face in sports is the significant gender differences in pay that male and female athletes receive. Information and data from Taylor Gerch’s article are depicted in our infographic below. These large differences are rooted in discrepancies within the media gap as women’s sports are often neglected on a national stage, as well as certain verbiage in the Equal Pay Act that prevent women in sports from receiving the benefits that they deserve. The disadvantages that women are at in sports is also related to the lack of opportunity women are given in respect to job opportunities and sponsorship deals.

Policy Recommendations:

In order to create equality, policy changes need to be made. As male professional sport leagues have much more funding they have the ability to help support female leagues as well. For example, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Women’s Association (WNBA) pay their players a considerable difference. The average salary from the NBA is more than one hundred times larger than the average of the WNBA. Policies such as salary restrictions and revenue sharing rules could be introduced to ensure a more equal distribution of funds among leagues. As Nicole Zerunyan presents in her research as well, changes to the Equal Pay Act such as eliminating the “same establishment” requirement and adding a sports specific clause could go a long way as well.

Consequences Without Intervention:

If we continue to neglect the issue of equal pay for female athletes, the pay disparities and overall respect for the athletes will continue to dwindle. It is very common for these female athletes to acquire a second job outside of their respective leagues as a way to pay their bills and support themselves. Without active change and salary reconsideration, women will begin to part ways with female professional leagues as the time commitment may not necessarily be worth it. If this pattern continues and women are not able to justify their involvement in sports, the gender differences will become even larger.

Research Questions:

  • How have women in professional sports created awareness regarding the attention to their ongoing injustice?
  • How can male professional leagues help support the funding and activate change for female athletes?

Personal Impact of These Issues:

These issues have impacted me on a personal level as I have been able to better understand my sister’s career as a collegiate athlete. The way both professional media and universities dedicate more time and attention to men’s sports makes it difficult for women to have opportunities in the sports world. I am also now more aware of the sports media I am consuming and how I can be a better fan by supporting women’s sports.

What We Learned:

We learned the true impacts of the gender inequalities that are present in our sports world. The sports world needs to develop a common middle ground for the benefits of both the leagues and the athletes. Players need to be represented correctly in comparison to those of the male counterparts while the leagues are also able to make a profit. This has opened my mind to a better understanding of how significantly businesses revolve around money, and how the problems women face in sports and other professional domains are institutionalized in all facets of business.

Infographic:

Sources:

Baker, E. (2020). A Comparison of NBA and WNBA Player Salaries. Kennesaw State University.

​​Gersch, Taylor (2021). The Gender Pay Gap: Seeking Fairness for Women in Professional Sports. Oregon Review of International Law, 22, 147-196.

Zerunyan, Nicole (2017). Time’s up: addressing gender-based wage discrimination in professional sports. Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review, 38(3), 229-258.

Who Run the World? Not Girls…yet

December 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

By Sarah Williamson & Tara Castelino

Women have historically been underrepresented in high-level positions as CEOs or owners of companies. While the increase in the percentage of women in these positions has increased greatly over the past couple of decades, men still dramatically outnumber women at this level of management. According to a 2022 study, there are still more than ten times as many companies with a male CEO or owner than a female CEO or owner (Catalyst, 2022). This suggests that while we’ve seen progress since the early 2000s when female CEOs made up less than 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs, there is still work to be done as women now make up only 15% of Fortune 500 CEOs (Buchholz, 2022). It should be noted that this number has doubled since it reached 7.4% in 2020, suggesting an increase in how quickly female representation in leadership is growing (Pew Research Center, 2018).

To continue seeing female representation in leadership roles grow, there may be a need for policy implementation. Some recommendations include mandatory training on how to eliminate bias in hiring processes and more family-friendly policies that cater to women (Sanchez & Frey, 2020). Several European countries have also implemented quotas for corporate boards, requiring that women make up a specified percentage of the board membership (Sanchez & Frey, 2020).

If women continue to be left out of high-level positions, firms will suffer as well as women. Studies have shown that when women are in leadership roles, firms are more productive, and women are paid better and have better working conditions (Sanchez & Frey, 2020).

These issues impacted us on a personal level as we are both women studying economics who want to enter the competitive finance realm and hope to be successful in our field. It was disheartening to learn about the reasoning behind why women don’t earn executive positions in businesses. With the leading reasons being women are held to higher standards and employers are just not ready to hire/elect women leaders it became clear that the lack of women in executive positions is mainly based on preconceptions. This proves that even if women were to be tougher, had ample connections and didn’t have family responsibilities, they still wouldn’t be elected to leadership positions. Overall, we’ve garnered from our research that women don’t lack sufficient skills to be in executive positions but rather face a lack of confidence in their abilities from employers and peers. Learning this has shifted our worldview to be a bit more pessimistic and hopeful that policies will be put in place to encourage women in executive positions. One research question of interest we wanted to ask based on the patterns we observed is what is the reasoning that women are given when not hired for executive board positions. Another research question based on the issues studied is what skills do men typically have that women don’t that would make them more successful in leadership roles. Finally, we hope this blogpost sheds light on the true reason women aren’t hired as CEOs and raises awareness that they are as capable as men to handle the job.

Buchholz, K. (2022, March 10). How has the number of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies changed over the last 20 years? https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/ceos-fortune-500-companies-female/#:~:text=2022%20is%20seeing%20a%20new,and%20only%207%20in%202002.  

Catalyst. (2022, March 1). Women in Management (Quick Take). https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-management/?utm_source=pocket_mylist 

Pew Research Center. (2018, September 13). The Data on Women Leaders. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/the-data-on-women-leaders/?utm_source=pocket_mylist  

Sanchez, D. V., & Frey, E. F. (2020). Where do females rise to leadership positions? A cross-sector analysis. Applied Economics Letters, 27(15), 1252-1255. 

United States Women’s National Soccer Team’s Fight for Equal Pay

December 8, 2022 /

By: Jake Leonard and Tyler Colditz

Summary with support 

Despite winning the 2019 World Cup, the US Women’s National Team had a more significant and strenuous challenge ahead. The team earned and fought to achieve equal pay to their male counterparts. Even though the WNT was much more successful than the men, they still earned a fraction of what the men did. When brought to court, it was ruled that under the Equal Pay Act, there was no proven wage discrimination. Under their current bargaining agreement, the women were paid based on salaries and received bonuses on game appearance and wins. Within this same agreement, the men were given more opportunities to receive money which is why they were paid more. Since the women signed this agreement, changes could not be made until the 4-year cycle is over and a new agreement is reached. The fight for equal pay continues. 

This chart displays how, under the current bargaining agreement, the men still earn substantially more over the span of 20 games whether the teams win or lose all of them. If the men lose all 20 games they still receive $100,000 while if the women win all 20 of their games they only earn $99,000. This clear pay disparity further shows the problem and large gap in equal pay. 

Policy Recommendations

A policy recommendation that could counter this would be to cap the total amount a player on the men’s team could make, and give the excess money that goes over the cap to the women’s team. Another recommendation is to create a policy that gives the men’s and women’s teams the same base salary per game and the same potential bonuses per game based on wins and losses.

Consequences

A consequence without intervention would be women continuing to make significantly less than their male counterparts, despite performing better, having more success than men, and having the same job as men. Another consequence that could come without intervention is that some women would be turned away from attempting to play professional soccer for the US national team, or professional women’s sports in general, knowing this inequality of pay between the two gendered teams. 

Research Questions

Research questions based on the patterns we saw: 

  1. Has the WNT’s fight for equality sparked a movement for all women sports/athletes? If so, has it been successful?
  2. Once a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, is it able to implement an opt-out option if the current situation shifts from equality?     

How issues impact us on a personal level

While neither of us plays soccer, we believe the women’s team should be paid equally to the men’s because of their continued success in their sport. We understand just how difficult it is not only for women in professional sports, but women all over the country. This unjust fight for equality has opened our eyes to the current situation and we will do whatever we can to achieve it. 

What we learned and how our view of the world has shifted

We learned that the US Women’s National Team is making significantly less than the men’s team, despite performing better. We learned about the women’s fight for equal pay, and the current bargaining agreement on which they are being paid. This has shifted our view of the world because the women’s team is being treated in such a negative manner regarding this situation. Even with the Equal Pay Act existing, there was no proven discrimination, but looking at the numbers it is clear there is.

Sources 

Adams, V. (2021). The End” Goal” to the US Women’s Soccer Team Equal Pay Lawsuit: Proposing a Resolution for Gender Equality by Examining the Equal Pay Laws for Male and Female Sports. U. Miami Bus. L. Rev., 29, 22. 

Campbell, H. (2017). Superior play, unequal pay: US women’s soccer and the pursuit for pay equity. USFL Rev., 51, 545.

Das, Andrew. (2016). Pay Disparity in U.S. Soccer? It’s Complicated. The New York Times.Kimbell, J., Macy, A., Hammer, E. E., & Philpot, D. (2018). Yellow card: US Women’s Soccer seeks pay equity. The CASE Journal.

Kimbell, J., Macy, A., Hammer, E. E., & Philpot, D. (2018). Yellow card: US Women’s Soccer seeks pay equity. The CASE Journal.

Consequences of Covid-19 on Women

December 7, 2022 /

By James, Nick, and Charlie

Throughout our research, we learned that women were evidently mistreated during the pandemic and have continued to face lasting consequences in some cases. For instance, throughout the uncertainties of COVID-19, the world saw a significant increase in domestic violence cases against women. Women also were tasked with more responsibilities than men and suffered consequences as a result. Increased conformity to traditional gender roles became evident as kids could not attend schools during lockdown; women were tasked with taking care of their families, cooking, clean, while also working and helping provide for their families. Due to this, women saw a more significant increase in job loss than men as they had additional duties at home, unlike most men. Furthermore, our research demonstrated that women faced enduring consequences such as depression due to the extensive workload forced upon them.

As a solution to this injustice, we recommend gender-responsive government policies that address the increasing gender inequities during the pandemic. Specific policies could be an implementation of tax and budget aid for women-led businesses or proportional aid for the disproportionate amount of women who work in fields more heavily affected by covid such as education, hospitality, hotels, and leisure. 

If no intervention is exercised, we will continue to see conformity to gender roles that have subjugated women for centuries. Women will persist with taking up caregiver roles and unequal gender opportunities within the workforce at a higher rate than men. Additionally, we will see women revert back to traditional gender roles during future crises. However, we encourage the adaptability and resilience of women during times of crisis to be celebrated and encouraged within households and society as a whole. While it does seem that modern-day society is shifting in the right direction, unprecedented times such as the COVID-19 pandemic show that fear can revert people’s thinking back to conservative ways. This type of research is the exact type of intervention that can spread awareness and eliminate any further steps backward. 

Throughout our research, we were left with a couple of questions that would provide more clarity on this topic:

How has the US birth rate been affected by the decrease in women’s desire to get pregnant during COVID?

Why are more women working in areas more affected by COVID than men? 

This issue of inequality affects more than just one gender. We all have women in our lives that are important to us. Whether it be mothers or sisters, family members or friends, it is essential to educate ourselves about these issues and work to level the playing field for all demographics. 

We learned that during times of crisis, fear and uncertainty can cause society to take steps backward. Not only for gender roles within the home but the expectations and treatment of women within the workforce. Through this course, we have seen many examples of the unfair treatment women experience in the labor market, and now we understand those issues through the lens of covid. Knowing what we know now, we understand there is a lot more to be done to help eradicate this unfair treatment. Promising steps are being taken, but its education through classes such as this one that will truly help shape the future for the better.

Sources

Croda, E., & Grossbard, S. (2021). Women pay the price of COVID-19 more than men. Review of Economics of the Household, 19(1), 1-9.

Koltai, L., Geambasu, R., Bakacsi-Saffer, Z., Barna-Petróczi, A., & Zsár, V. (2020). COVID-19 and female entrepreneurs throughout Europe. Budapest: Hetfa Research Institute Ltd

Laaraj, N. (2022). FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS IN THE COVID 19 ERA: A RETURN TO TRADITIONAL ROLES. Journal of Management Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), 15(1), 1-10.

Power, K. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the care burden of women and families. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 16(1), 67-73.

Reichelt, M., Makovi, K., & Sargsyan, A. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on gender inequality in the labor market and gender-role attitudes. European Societies, 23(sup1), S228-S245.

Women of Color and Completion of Undergraduate STEM Studies

December 7, 2022 /

By: Ava Boloyan and Isabella LaBonia

In reviewing the previously published literature surrounding Women of Color and their persistence in completing a STEM degree at the undergraduate level, it was found that such women often felt unwelcome and uncomfortable in the classroom setting. These feelings of discomfort were often associated with enrollment in a predominantly white institution (PWI), as such environments had lower percentages of students of color enrolled. Additionally, data, as shown below, highlights that women of color tend to earn the least at the same position as a white man, making completing a STEM degree appear as an insufficient investment for their future. Furthermore, studies found that these women also found it helpful to have a mentor who was also a woman throughout their undergraduate studies. One efficient policy amendment could be to instill early orientation programs for women who are prospective STEM majors entering college. Programs like these could match women with mentors and connect them to other students to create a sense of community on campus. If this topic is ignored in higher education, women of color will continue to lose interest or fail to complete their STEM degrees. However, with such policy amendments implemented, women of color will feel welcomed and connected with their peers and professors, making it more accessible for women to complete their STEM degrees. Throughout the research, two major questions come to find based on the patterns and issues observed within the topic. Our focus is on women of color in their undergraduate education experience, but the first pressing question is whether or not these results differ between specific races. With that as well, it would be interesting to discover how results differ from men of color, white men, and white women. The second question of interest would be how availability and quality of mentorship play a role in results.


These issues don’t impact either of us personally because we have not experienced them in our education as we are not women of color and also not focusing on STEM majors. However, we have seen the impacts it can have on some of our close friends and peers, and the general results mimic what we’ve observed in our institution and others.


Overall, some of the most interesting findings relate to how despite the higher likeliness of women of color in pursuing a STEM major, there’s a higher likeliness of dropping out. It is also evident the differences in the experiences of undergraduate education. This reveals discrepancies and societal barriers that we hope to work towards eliminating in the future.


The bar chart, featuring statistics from the Pew Research Center, highlights the earnings discrepancies between women of color, men of color, and Caucasians in the workplace. Black women tend to make only $57,000 compared to white men earning $90,000 for the same position. This infographic can be tied to the fact that many women of color fail to complete their STEM degree, as it provides lower earnings and may not view attaining a STEM degree as worthwhile.

Works Cited

Espinosa, L. (2011). Pipelines and pathways: Women of color in undergraduate STEM majors and the college experiences that contribute to persistence. Harvard Educational Review, 81(2), 209-241.

Ong, M., Smith, J. M., & Ko, L. T. (2018). Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success. Journal of research in science teaching, 55(2), 206-245.

Nadeem, Reem (2021). “STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity.” Pew Research Center Science & Society (blog).

Tate, E. D., & Linn, M. C. (2005). How does identity shape the experiences of women of color engineering students?. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 14(5), 483-493.

Johnson, D.R. (2012). Campus Racial Climate Perceptions and Overall Sense of Belonging Among Racially Diverse Women in STEM Majors. Journal of College Student Development 53(2), 336-346. doi:10.1353/csd.2012.0028.

Viveka Borum, & Erica Walker. (2012). What Makes the Difference? Black Women’s Undergraduate and Graduate Experiences in Mathematics. The Journal of Negro Education, 81(4), 366–378. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.81.4.0366

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