Economics of Gender

Category: Fall 2022 (Page 3 of 3)

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

WNBA Gender Inequality

November 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Jack Mathews and Bennett Teceno

Athlete Compensation

On April 24th, 1996, the WNBA was founded and eight teams were immediately created in the league. Since that day the association has been a strong tool for several social campaigns concerning all human rights. The league has been around for over 26 years, having several Hall of Fame careers on and off the court, giving solid aid for causes concerning women in all levels of athletics. The WNBA’s image started as a place where heterosexual females were competing at a high level, but in recent years the league has pushed for a diverse population of elite female athletes. Despite the constant, gradual growth of the league, the players’ salaries are proportionately lower than that of their male counterparts in the NBA. 

Title IX was institutionalized in 1972 giving rights to all female athletes, allowing them to participate in all levels of a sport, from high school to professional, and earn a salary adequate for their work. Although Title IX has given women a ground to be equal to men’s athletics, their climb to equality has been a steep one. Since 1972, Male athletes have dominated all forms of media and funding. Only 2-4% of all college sports coverage is focused on female sports, with a steady decline in recent years. Men’s college sports also receive far more funding than women, Men’s coaches are paid vastly more than women’s coaches, and there is a difference of over 60,000 opportunities between men and women athletes in college. Once you get to the professional level it is a similar story. The first pick in the NBA draft commonly makes around $5 million as their signing bonus on top of a large contract. Comparing this to the WNBA, a woman will make around $40-50,000 for theirs. Attendance rates are also significantly lower in the WNBA than in the NBA where an average of 18,000 people come to watch the men compared to the 7,000 who attend the WNBA games.

Currently, the NBA shares a much larger portion of its revenue with its players. The NBA generates $7.4 Billion annually, giving an average of $3.6 billion to all players combined while the WNBA generated $60 million, it only distributed $12 million to their players. There should be a policy that ensures that the NBA and WNBA pay out the same percentage of the league’s respective revenue, to its players. The NBA has such a policy, they must give 53% of the league’s revenue to their players.

The consequences of the WNBA’s resistance to raising salaries could cause the players to leave the league. The players have demanded pay proportionate to the WNBA for many years now and with little to no change they could possibly cause a lockout similar to the NBA’s a few year ago. If they don’t continue to be proactive in increasing the player’s pay, the image of the league that has been so positive since it has been founded could be diminished. 

As basketball fans and people who stand for equality in sports, the controversy over the WNBA’s problem with its salary is an ongoing issue that frustrates many players and fans. This is an issue that must be solved in the future and must continue to be publicized to the public as so. Personally, this issue also impacts our lives, because we have sisters and other family members that take sports like basketball very seriously. We recognize how much hard work female athletes put into their sports and undoubtedly believe that they should be rewarded on the same basis as male athletes. 

The most interesting fact that was found while researching this topic was the amount of exposure that women’s sports receive from television carriers. Channels like ESPN and NBS Sports only show women professional and college sports around 3% of the time. Watching sports my whole life I never thought about the amount that women’s sports were on television, after learning that women were only being shown 2% of the time, I would have thought that the big carriers would be proactive in growing their sports but I was wrong; they continue to be part of the problem.

How is it possible in today’s society to obtain an equal distribution of revenue between both the NBA and WNBA?

How can the NBA help publicize the WNBA through social media in order to provide another source of revenue?

What do women need to do in order to receive higher pay in the WNBA?

 

Sources 

 

Cronin, M. (1970, January 1). Filling the stands factors determining NBA and WNBA attendance. Institutional Scholarship Home. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/handle/10066/6952 

 DeBord, R. (2017). The representation of women and gender in Warner … – augustana college. digital commons. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=wollstonecraftaward

Ettienne, lerae. (2019). It’s Time to Pay Up, The Justification for Higher Salaries for WNBA Players: An Analysis of the WNBA’s Success and Employing Mediation between the WNBA and NBA to Leverage Future Success. Hein Online. Retrieved 2022, from https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=true&handle=hein.journals/pepds19&div=13&start_page=175&collection=journals&set_as_cursor=0&men_tab=srchresults#:~:text=Success%20and%20Employing-,Mediation,-between%20the%20WNBA 

Feldman, Torrey M. “Bet You Didn’t Know She Could Get Paid for That: Using Sports Betting and the Right of Publicity to Address the Gender Wage Gap in Professional Sports.” UCLA Women’s LJ 27 (2020): 249.

Kosofsky, Syda. “Toward gender equality in professional sports.” Hastings Women’s LJ 4 (1993): 209.

Leano, Aileen. “The Inequality in Female Professional Sports.” (2020). Unpublished Manuscript

Runcie, David Streeter. “The Gender Wage Gap in Sports: Explaining the Pay Gap in Sports.” (2019) Unpublished Manuscript

Terry Adams & C. A. Tuggle (2004) ESPN’s SportsCenter and Coverage of Women’s Athletics: “It’s a Boys’ Club”, Mass Communication and Society, 7:2, 237-248, DOI: 10.1207/s15327825mcs0702_6

Trolan, Eoin J. “The impact of the media on gender inequality within sport.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 91 (2013): 215-227.

 

 

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