The Ceiling
Many girls my age have had to listen to their parents tell them of a glass ceiling, and how it is their destiny to help make a crack. Today thousands of women are taking the best of the best white-collar jobs out there. By snatching positions as nurses and secretaries, and now CEOs, two thirds of American women enter into the work force. That number is expected to increase by fifteen percent by the end of the year. These are great strides for women since the sixties; however, until our country sees and accepts more women into blue-collar jobs the glass ceiling will remain in tact.
In the early 1900s, only twenty percent of women were involved in the labor market. That number has more than tripled. Today a job has become a necessity. Yet, women still make less than men do. They tend to be higher educated, and due to the maternal instinct spend every dime they earn on their families. So why is it that for every dollar, a man makes twenty-three cents more? Many economists say that this gap is because women tend to work fewer hours than men, and choose lower paying jobs. This gap is closing as more women enter the workplace and fight for equal pay. The actual jobs women are choosing, now, also close this gap. Either women are now choosing higher paying jobs, or they are choosing blue-collar jobs both pledge to pay the same amount to each gender, dollar for dollar. Yet, women in specialty jobs are seen to have lesser pay as seen in a study by the New York Times. For example, a woman working as a physician or surgeon makes forty percent less than men do. Whereas, women working as data entry keyers or as social workers, make equal pay to men.
Women in higher paying white-collar jobs have to work longer than men to be promoted. Some studies contribute this disparity to gender based biases, and others refer to the fact that men and women take different strategies to gain higher positions. This begs the question, whether women are tough enough in today’s society to take the higher positions. Male CEOs still maintain as heads of the best Fortune 500 companies, but women employ thirty five percent more workers than those companies combined. It is expected that women are to take these higher paying jobs, but when women have to struggle more than men to reach them is it worth it? Absolutely.
Women have made great strides in the workplace for my generation and the next. However, a bigger obstacle stands in our way. The lack of acceptance for women to be employed as plumbers, electricians, and postal carriers. Women are more educated and have been on a quest since the beginning of time, to beat men at their own game. We have achieved that goal but it was in this quest that we ignored the male dominated professions.
The east coast is obsessed with the idea of women in blue-collar jobs. Two years ago “NBC Nightly News” spent a whole week following women in those professions, obsessing on how they could possibly manage it. That is the secret to why most of America is obsessed with women like Sarah Palin, women who are frontier like, clubbing halibut and hunting. In the meantime, women in the western states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, etc. are not impressed by her antics. Here from the very beginning women had to learn to stand on their own and take up the jobs that were necessary for living. Jobs in the utilities sector and the postal industry are part of our every day lives, and it is a shame there are not many women in those professions. They are good paying jobs with plenty of benefits and yet, men still dominate those careers.
My mother is a driver for the United Parcel Service. She has worked for UPS for over twenty years. She has seen the look of surprise on peoples faces when they open the door expecting a sweaty man and see my sweaty mother instead. She was shocked when after she told a New York driver that she was in the same profession he told her that there were only two female drivers at his hub. We cannot bring ourselves to accept that women are equal to men. That is why they are paid less and are in stationary jobs. They sit in cubicles and tell themselves that they need to accept this job even if it pays less than the guy in the office. Women can never be seen as equals until they treat themselves like equals. Then only then can we break through the glass ceiling with men and women working side by side for equal pay and equal opportunity to provide for their families. Women must accept these jobs with open arms.
I do not wish to be taken out of context. I am not suggesting that women should not try to become CEOs, doctors, or even secretaries and waitresses. I am saying that no one should assign a specific gender to an occupation. Men should not think they could not become nurses, receptionists, or bookkeepers because they seem too effeminate. Every job has a use. Every society needs people to seek out these careers to work. The ceiling is then sure to crumble.
Works Cited
"10 Surprising Statistics on Women in the Workplace - CollegeTimes™." CollegeTimes - College Blog, Reviews, Humor, Forum, and More! 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://collegetimes.us/10-surprising-statistics-on-women-in-the-workplace/>.
Hopkins, Jim. "USATODAY.com - Female-owned Companies Flourish." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. 05 May 2003. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/2003-05-05-women_x.htm>.
"USATODAY.com - Study Finds Women Largely Confined to 'pink-collar' Jobs." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. 04 May 2003. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-05-04-pink-collar_x.htm>.
"Why Is Her Paycheck Smaller? - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/01/business/20090301_WageGap.html?8dpc>.