Gender †Wage Gap Essay

Within Australias takerforce history, on that point has been a steadfast presence of the sex wage gap amid workforce and wo custody. The differences in bribe between men and women mum seem to persist in todays society (Sap 1993). A study by van Wanrooy (2009) suggests that even though there is an increase of women in the fatigue market, they still collect the caring responsibilities, looking to juggle work and family. Throughout the workforce, there is still a authoritative barrier present which suggests that the male breadwinner is still the evident employment model in Australia (van Wanrooy 2009).Women seem to have a people and family get-go approach to work, while men lam to respect their work breeding and value money much (Pon and Nyhus 2012).Womens struggle within the labour market often results from the insufficiency of bargaining power within their chosen occupation and their accomplishments (Preston and Jefferson 2007). Firstly, this essay entrust discu ss the relationship between bargaining power and the current wall socket of the gender wage gap within Australia. This essay will explore the reasons as to why women struggle to bargain with their employers on the issue of stipend and fair functional conditions. Secondly, this essay with explore why the difference in personality traits between men and women contribute to the gender wage gap.A striking definition for the present gender wage gap within the Australian workforce is the lack of bargaining power that women currently hold in their workplaces. Within Australia, women generally work in number 1 paid and dispirited skill occupations. This in turn limits their access to representation and strong bargaining power when it comes to negotiating devote outcomes, particularly in part time jobs (van Wanrooy 2009). As introductoryly stated, women tend to work in low masterly jobs which then disadvantages their bargaining power. Van Wanrooy (2009) states that those people with high skill levels within their occupation are seen to have more confidence and motivation towards bargaining for more coveted pay and work conditions. Furthermore, thissuggests that men have a higher bargaining power over women.This is callable to the fact that 46% of women are more likely to be given work in a begin skilled job compared to the low 36% of men that are employed in low skilled jobs (van Wanrooy 2009). This then gives men a greater opportunity to bargain for better wages, while fall womens contingency to narrow the gender wage gap through bargaining power. The segmentation of women into low paid jobs and occupations has clearly limited access to bargaining power, and resulted in women relying on minimum wages distributed through the reward system (van Wanrooy 2009). In a study by Frino(prenominal)and Whitehouse (2003) , it is alike seen that with the over representation of women in the award only sector, this clearly disadvantages women in seeking higher bargain ing power and doesnt accrue the persistent gender wage gap. As female workers are more likely to work in industries with 100 employees or slight, this jeopardises the chance to gain bargaining power to negotiate wages through conglutinations.This is collectible to the fact that there is a lower chance of unions to be present in smaller businesses (van Wanrooy 2009). This creates an issue for women as they are the ones that need protection and the bargaining power of the unions. While women in low skilled occupations are less(prenominal) likely to be union members, union membership is almost doubled when it comes to men in the same occupation (van Wanrooy 2009). With women in low qualified jobs, less likely to be union members, this impacts their ability to collaborate with their employers over the issue in the wage gap between genders.Within the labour market, it is demonstrated that because of the difference in personality traits between genders, women are often less rewarded th en men (Pon and Nyhus 2011). In the labour rmarket, earnings, employment, promotion and productivity buttocks all be influenced by personality traits (Linz and Semykina 2010). As employees, personality traits determine the amount of effort and productivity brought forward in the workplace, influencing the way they act towards incentives (Pon and Nyhus 2011). fit in to Pon and Nyhus (2011), women tend to be more cautious and less competitive compared to men. The lack of competitiveness by women can then lead to women staying in a particular job for longer, accepting the lower salary, not lacking(p) to compete for other high paying jobs. As women are found to be the most concurring(a) in the workforce compared to men (Pon and Nyhus 2011), this reflects upon women negatively as they are more willing to agree to first offers by employers, most often resulting agreeing to a low paid job.Personality difference and behaviours between men and women could potentially grow to wage differen ces and could partly explain the gender wage gap (Pon and Nythus 2011). Interesting findings from a study conducted by Hogue, Singleton and Yoder (2007) identified that women are found to hold beliefs about themselves that include having a lower self worth and a depressed entitlement. This is then reflects a lower social office, but when their status is lifted, their wage entitlement also lifts. Whereas men believe that they deserve higher wages even though their abilities and consummation may not reflect worthy of a higher wage (Hogue, Singleton and Yoder 2007). On average, women are less emotionally stable compared to their male counterparts, with emotionally stable people predicted to earn more than those that are emotionally unstable (de Jong and Need 2008).This could begin to explain why women are being paid less and why the gender wage gap is still prevalent in todays society. De Jong and Need (2008) also found within their study that people who class themselves as sociable expect to earn less than those that are more career orientated. On average, women tend to be more sociable then men (de Jong and Need 2008). It is also evident that those who are more intellectual receive higer wages, with men tending to be more intellectual than women (de Jong and Need 2008). These three personality traits that affect a persons earning and wages could be linked to the gender wage gap as women who are emotionally unstable and more sociable would be less career focused and motivated compared to men in their workplace.In summary, there are many explanations for the current gender wage gap in Australia. This essay has revealed two in depth explanations as to why the gender wage gap still persists. From the use a previous research, this essay has identified those two explanations, the lack of bargaining power of women and the influence of personality traits on income, as accurate explanations of why the gender wage gap is still evident in society today. from each one a rguments are valid within Australias workforce and suggest that further researchshould be conducted to tell further trends of the gender wage gap, and possibly enforce new rules and regulations to help combat the gender wage gap and promote equity between male and female employees.REFERNCESFrino, B & Whitehouse, G 2008, Women, wages and industrial Agreements, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 579-596, viewed twenty-seventh April 2012, via InformitHogue, M, Yoder, JD & Singleton, SB 2007, The Gender Wage Gap An explanation of mens elevated wage entitlement, Sex Roles, vol. 56, no. 9-10, pp. 573-579, viewed 01st May 2012, SpringerLink, DOI 10.1007/s1119-007-9199-zJefferson, T & Preston, A 2007, Trends in Australias Gender-wage ratio, Labour and Industry, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 69-84, viewed 27th April 2012, via ProQuest CentralLinz, SJ & Semykina, A 2012, Analysing the gender pay gap in transition economies How much does personality matter, Human Relations, vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 447-469, viewed 30th April 2012, judicious Premier 2012, DOI 10.1177/0018726709339094Need, A & de Jong, U 2008, Personality traits and gender-specific income expectations in Dutch higher education, tender Indicators Research, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 113-128, viewed 30th April 2012, SpringerLink, DOI 10.1007/s11205-007-9104-8Nyhus, EK & Pons, E 2011, Personality and the gender wage gap, Applied Economics, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 105-118, viewed 27th April 2012, Taylor & Francis Online Library, DOI 10.1080/00036846.2010.500272Sap, J 1993, Baragining power and wages A game-theoretic model of gender differences in unions wage bargaining, Labour Economics, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 25-48, viewed 27th April 2012, Science Direct database, DOI 10.1016/0927-537(93)90004-2Van Wanrooy, B 2009, Women at work in Australia Bargaining a Better Position?, Australian Bulletin of Labour, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 611-628, viewed 27th April 2012, via ProQuest Central