Keeyon M. Weathersby, MBA
MGT 556
07-17-2013
Reaction Paper

Women's Pay Still Lags Behind Men's

After reading this article " Women's Pay Still Lags Behind Men's " I was disappointed to find out in 2013 that women and men of color are still not being paid correctly is just wrong. Women at all levels of education still earn only 75 percent as much as their male counterparts, according to a new report issued by the White House. In the state, women working full time are paid 80 cents for every $1 their male counterparts make. As sad as that sounds, they’re better off than their sisters working in other places. Statewide, full-time working women are paid 77 cents and nationally 78 cents for every buck men receive. These are the latest figures in a long, slow journey toward pay equity that’s been going on for generations. Don’t chalk it all up to bias, though. Women tend to choose lower-paying careers and don’t push for bigger raises, experts said. Some take time off to raise families. Women are more likely to take a year or two off to raise children, which can hurt their earning potential. They’re less likely than men to negotiate aggressively for a raise because they’re more concerned with maintaining good relationships than pushing into a better pay bracket. Even companies that tout their female executives sometimes raise up one individual as a token, but their statistics on hiring, promotion and turnover show give a fuller picture of how they treat women. I think most businesses evaluate people and pay people based on their value and it’s not based on gender, for a number of reasons. If you want good people, you pay good people. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a man or a woman.” The pay gap is closing But I think we’ve made a lot of progress and, like everything, the recession has slowed things down.”

References Login. (n.d.). SHRM Online - Society for Human Resource Management. Retrieved July 18, 2013, from http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/FederalResources/Pages/Equal-Pay-Act.aspx