Diversity: Humanities and History Lenses
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Institution
Diversity: Humanities and History Lenses
Lens of History
Diversity in the workplace has been an issue that has been tackled by many organizations over the years. More concern has been the gender pay gap that has existed, in that women have always been paid fewer wages for the same amount and type of job as their male counterparts. In this discussion, the focus will be reflecting on diversity under the history lens by looking at how the problem started, the fight for equal gender pay has evolved, and the impact of laws that have been employed to ensure equal pay among employees in the same job category within the workplace.
During World War II, a large number of American women were forced to enter employment to cover the void that had been left by the massive number of males who were involved in the war. Employers were urged voluntarily by the National War Labor Board to adjust their payment methods to ensure that women received equal wages for comparable quantity and quality of work that males took. This request to employers to make adjustments as suggested by the National War Labor Board in 1942 (Rowen, 2020). However, the employers failed to comply with this request by the National War Labor Board. Furthermore, at the end of the war, most women who had just entered the job market were pushed to make room for the males returning from war (Rowen, 2020). Those few females who remained in the job market did not receive equal pay as their male counterparts.
Moreover, newspapers in the United States did not advertise for female jobs uniformly with male jobs. The majority of job opportunities around the country were categorized and advertised based on gender or sex, with the majority of higher-level job opportunities classified under “Help Wanted – Male” (Rowen, 2020). In addition to the differences in advertising for job opportunities, the wages offered to employees within the workplaces were different based on gender. Women who had managed to secure full-time jobs between 1950 and 1960 received an average salary of 59-64 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts undertaking a similar job. This was the trend till June 10, 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was passed.
The Equal Pay Act stated that it was illegal for employers to pay women lower wages than their male counterparts undertaking a similar task within the workplace (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2020). The act also stated that pay gaps were allowed based on quantity and quality of work, merit, and seniority. As a result of implementing this act, there have been notable changes in the gender pay gap over the years. According to Rowen (2020), in 2012, women in the working industry earned 80.9% of their male counterparts’ wages, whereas, in 1963, women were offered 59% of what their male counterparts earned. These difference in gender pay gap has decreased gradually due to the implementation of the Equal Pay Act. In more specificity, women under the age of 25 years, working on a full-time job earn 93.8% of the wages their male counterparts receive, while those aged 55 to 64 and working on a full-time job are offered 75.2 % of the wages earned by their male counterparts in 2010 (Rowen, 2020). The representation of the gender pay gap under the history lens has significance on how gender equality has been perceived and represented in the workplace.
Over the years, women were not perceived to be equals to the male gender. This was also reflected in the workplace through the wages offered to employees from these genders. However, the changes that have been experienced in this field have had an impact on society by portraying women as being equal to their male counterparts. It has also promoted diversity in the workplace by enhancing the acceptance of all genders within organizations. Acceptance and appreciation of workers from all genders have also been reflected by administering equal pay to all workers working on similar quality and quantity work under a given institution.
The Lens of Humanities
Diversity in the media has also been a topic of discussion over the years, focusing on gender representation in the media. Over the years, women have been under-represented in the media. According to Macharia & Burke (2020), women have been under-represented in decision-making, media ownership, and information production. Besides, women have also been under-represented in the qualitative and quantitative perspectives within the media. The issue has raised concerns on gender representation in the media and how gender equality can be restored. In this section of the discussion, the focus will be on how women have been under-represented in the media and its impact on society.
Over the years, women have been under-represented in the media. According to Macharia & Burke (2020), approximately 17% of people read, heard, or seen in broadcast and print news media in 1995 were female. Two decades later, the number of news sources covering women rose to 24% in 2015 (Macharia & Burke, 2020). This indicates how women have been under-represented in the media in our society. Moreover, research shows that 24% of women represented in the media appeared majorly eyewitnesses, primarily based on their personal experiences and popular opinion. The news topics that majorly covered women are also given the least coverage. Furthermore, research indicates that women are under-represented in the media in political and government fields, science and health, economy, sports, arts and media, and celebrity (Rattan et al., 2019). According to Macharia & Burke (2020), approximately 16% of pollical and government news had their coverage based on women, compared to 84% that their emphasis on men.
Such under-representation in the media has impacted the perception of the female gender in society. The under-representation of women in the media has distorted reality by representing the male gender as being of cultural significance and the female gender unimportant. The majority of societal members lean on the media for information and updates on current events. The aspect of under-representing women in the media in aspects of politics, government, economy, sports, among others, presents perception to the large population that majorly depends on media for guidance as the female gender being incapable of being leaders and taking positions in these major institutions. This translates to the gender imbalance in these fields due to the perception fed to the people from the media.
References
Macharia, S. & Burke, M. (2020, March 02). Just 24% of News Sources are Women. Here is Why that’s a Problem. World Economic Forum, Retrieved, November 21, 2020, from, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/women-representation-in-media/
Rattan, A., Chilazi, S., Georgeac, O., & Bohnet, I. (2019, June 06). Tackling the Underrepresentation of Women in Media. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved, November 21, 2020, from, https://hbr.org/2019/06/tackling-the-underrepresentation-of-women-in-media
Rowen, B. (2020, June 25). The Equal Pay Act. Infoplease, Retrieved, November 21, 2020, from, https://www.infoplease.com/us/society-culture/gender-sexuality/equal-pay-act
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2020). The Equal Pay Act of 1963. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Retrieved, November 21, 2020, from, https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/equal-pay-act-1963#:~:text=To%20prohibit%20discrimination%20on%20account,Equal%20Pay%20Act%20of%201963.%22