The median earnings of women in the American workforce are only 68 percent of the median level of the earnings of men.1 Advocates of the concept of comparable worth contend that this disproportionate ratio results from the crowding of women into specific occupations and from other forms of discrimination against women.2 Opponents of the comparable worth concept contend the difference results from free choices by women in selecting lower paying occupations.
One of the most significant examples of social development has been the quest for equity in employment.3 The National Labor Relations Act became law in the United States in 1935. The Act gave employees the right to form, join, or assist labor organizations to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing. For the first three decades of the Act's existence, however, it was used primarily to promote the interests of equity in employment for white men. By the end of the 1960s, most of the overt discrimination against women and members of ethnic and racial minorities, both men and women, had been eliminated. Discrimination in employment remained, however, as women and members of ethnic and racial minorities, both men
1George R. Gray, and Darrel R. Brown, "Comparable Worth Updated," Compensation & Benefits Management, 8 (Winter 1991), 1-7.
2Barry Gerhart, and Nabil E. Cheikh, "Earnings and Percentage Female," Industrial Relations, 30 (Winter 1991), 62-78.
3Nancy E. Burns, "Institutions and Social Movements: The Case of Comparable Worth," International Journal of Public Administration, 14 (September 1991), 773-798.and women, continued
to encounter significant barriers to entry into the most lucrative and prestigious fields and the most lucrative positions within those fields.
Wage differentials have existed for as long as there has been industrial societies. These differentials are generally perceived by the gen...