gender pay gap still persists due H u m a n i t i e s

Identify an injustice or inequity in (y)our community (broadly defined — your own life, your neighborhood, your city, etc);

The world has been facing injustices and inequities of all manner and this has negatively affected the marginalized groups. One of the injustices or inequities that I have witnessed in my community is the gender pay gap. Being a woman, I have experienced a situation at my previous job place where a male colleague with whom we held the same job position received higher pay and bonuses than I did and it did not feel fair. The gender pay gap entails a situation where women’s earnings tend to be lower than men’s earning when both hold the same job position. The difference in how much women make relative to men has been a topic of political interest and ideological agendas but leveraging the issue in our communities has been taking longer than required. This gap has been persistent over the years and it has been hurting the nation’s workers as well as the economy in general.

Provide a brief synopsis of the issue and include background/statistics from at least one legitimate source;

As of today, the gender wage gap in most states in the United States stands at 83% which can be interpreted as, women working on a full-time basis earn 83 cents to a dollar earned by men. The consequences of such inequality have negative impacts on women and future generations since it follows them into retirement by receiving lower pensions and social security. According to AAUW (2021), the source of the gender wage gap has been linked to historical injustices relating to slavery and the deprivation of Black women of their wages where the aftermath was the disparities in educational opportunities, health care, among other opportunities. The gender pay gap still persists due to factors relating to educational attainment between men and women, occupation segregation, and work experience (Barrosso & Brown, 2021).

Using terminology from our course (and defining those terms!), discuss how you the issue is related to our course materials in some way

The issue of the gender wage gap is highly fueled by cultural institutions and political ideologies that also try to define gender roles even at the workplace which results to gender discrimination. This issue of societal inequality thrives even at the current age because society still believes that the woman belongs to the kitchen and the man is the provider of the house. Such ideologies suppress women who seek empowerment by denying them the space to thrive even when they deserve it. Also, men are privileged over women in promotion opportunities and even if women are promoted, they still receive lower pay than what a man earns when holding the same position.

Provide details (who, what, when, where, etc) of the “grassroots action” plan you will take to address the injustice.

There are some of the grassroots actions that I plan to undertake in addressing the situation of the gender pay gap in my community and I will start by participating in the leadership of championing for gender equality. Within the next two weeks, I will look for leadership groups that champion gender equality at the workplace in my county. Secondly, I will raise awareness about the existence of inequality by communicating with the community through efficient channels. This communication campaign will objectively raise the awareness of the effects of gender inequality in the areas of work after con=ming up with an infographic that clearly shows how the gender pay gap and its negative consequences to the community as well as how it can be tackled. Through proper campaigns, I will cover a range of communication methods such as direct messaging, writing articles in the local newspapers and periodicals, and semi-academic articles. Thirdly, I would also consider a partnership with relevant external parties such as banks and other financers that influence growth in companies because I cannot solely manage the whole responsibility of progressing the gender inequality campaign. I will solicit funding that will finance my campaign. I would also collaborate with the local consumer bodies to help me boycott products from companies that practice gender pay inequality.

What did I do to address my chosen social injustice? Provide relevant details like who, when, where, how. Is your “action” one of advocacy, information-sharing, self-education, or…?

What barriers or frustrations did I face, and how did I overcome them? Given the limits of COVID-19 and the inability to attend events or gather with others physically, how did you manage to create a meaningful “grassroots” project?

What would I do differently next time I seek to address social injustice? You might answer by asking what you would have done if COVID-19 hadn’t been a factor.

To what degree did my grassroots activism make a change? How do you know? If it didn’t make a change, why not?

1. If your action involved creating an artifact (infographic, resource list, etc) or generated any sort of proof of completion (certificate, email, etc), you will want to add that as well.
2. Tips for success
3. This isn’t writing a whole new essay! Just take your earlier assignment and add to it in a way that builds on it. Be sure to answer the posted questions specifically and with enough detail and explanation that anyone off the street could pick up your submission and understand it completely. (You might consider answering each prompt separately, using headings, and/or using bold font to organize your submission. Try to complete this as if it was an assignment at your first job after graduation! What would you submit to impress your new boss or supervisor and demonstrate your skills and talents? Apply that approach here.