Comparable Worth
Comparable Worth

Author: Elaine Sorensen

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2019-01-15

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 0691656304

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For decades women working as nurses, librarians, and secretaries have argued that they are paid less than men in jobs requiring comparable skill and effort. By the late 1980s, the notion of "comparable worth" had become a familiar one, and comparable worth initiatives were being developed to counteract the persistent disparities between male and female pay. In a comprehensive assessment of this policy, Elaine Sorensen lays out the various approaches states have taken, identifying the most and least successful among them. The author attributes part of the gender pay gap to economic discrimination and suggests theoretical models that best explain this discrimination. She examines the usefulness of comparable worth policies as a means of reducing male/female wage disparities. Minnesota's policies are examined in detail as an example of promising efforts in this regard. Sorensen ends by examining comparable worth's likely future fate in Congress and the courts. Elaine Sorensen is Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. Originally published in 1994. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Women, Work, and Wages
Women, Work, and Wages

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1981-02-01

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 030903177X

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In order to determine whether methods of job analysis and classification currently used are biased by traditional sex stereotypes or other factors, a committee assessed formal systems of job evaluation and other methods currently employed in the private and public sectors for establishing the comparability of jobs and their levels of compensation. A review of sociological and economic literature shows that some differences in the characteristics of workers and in jobs do form a legitimate basis for wage differentials. Nevertheless, there exists a pervasiveness of occupational and job segregation by sex. Given the current operation of the labor market and the existence of a variety of factors that permit the persistence of earning differentials between men and women (e.g., labor market segmentation, job segregation, and employment practices), it would seem that intentional and unintentional discriminatory elements enter into the determination of wages and are not likely to disappear. Use of a job evaluation system is one possible remedy to this situation. While the subjectivity of job evaluation makes job evaluations less than perfect vehicles for resolving pay disputes, they can serve to identify potential wage discrimination. (MN)

The Comparable Worth Controversy
The Comparable Worth Controversy

Author: Henry Aaron

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2010-12-01

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 0815707053

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The well-documented gap between men's and women's earnings has aroused intense debate over the concept of comparable worth, that is, equal pay for work judged to be of equal value. Government, business, labor unions, and the courts have been forced to consider whether workers in dissimilar jobs of comparable worth—measured by such criteria as working conditions, degree of difficulty, and knowledge and responsibility required—should receive equal wages, and how wage adjustments can be implemented.The issue has provoked inflated rhetoric, litigation, and considerable confusion. In this concise study, Henry J. Aaron and Cameran M. Lougy review the conditions that have sparked the debate and unravel the implications of comparable worth for employers in public and private sectors, for labor union agendas and employer-employee negotiations, and for the administrative and and judicial burdens of the nation's courts. The authors conclude with general guidelines for implementing wage adjustments in ways that would not seriously disrupt society or have a major impact on overall economic efficiency.

Between Feminism and Labor
Between Feminism and Labor

Author: Linda M. Blum

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1991-02-07

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780520072596

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"Working from grass-roots cases, Linda Blum develops an astute and groundbreaking analysis of the comparable worth strategy for gender pay equity. Her intelligent, lucid book makes an incomparable contribution to scholarly and public debate on one of the most significant labor issues in late twentieth-century America."—Judith Stacey, University of California, Davis

A Woman's Wage
A Woman's Wage

Author: Alice Kessler-Harris

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2014-10-17

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 0813158532

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In this pathbreaking book, Alice Kessler-Harris explores the meanings of women's wages in the United States in the twentieth century, focusing on three sets of issues that capture the transformation of women's roles: the battle over minimum wage for women, which exposes the relationship between family ideology and workplace demands; the argument over equal pay for equal work, which challenges gendered patterns of self-esteem and social organization; and the current debate over comparable worth, which seeks to incorporate traditionally female values into new work and family trajectories. Together these issues trace the many ways in which gendered meaning has been produced, transmitted, and challenged.

Doing Comparable Worth
Doing Comparable Worth

Author: Joan Acker

Publisher: Temple University Press

Published: 1991-02-21

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0877228345

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Doing Comparable Worth is the first empirical study of the actual process of attempting to translate into reality the idea of equal pay for work of equal value. This political ethnography documents a large project undertaken by the state of Oregon to evaluate 35,000 jobs of state employees, identify gender-based pay inequities, and remedy these inequities. The book details both the technical and political processes, showing how the technical was always political, how management manipulated and unions resisted wage redistribution, and how initial defeat was turned into partial victory for pay equity by labor union women and women's movement activists. As a member of the legislative task force that was responsible for implementing the legislation requiring a pay equity study in Oregon, Joan Acker gives an insider's view of how job evaluation, job classification, and the formulation of an equity plan were carried out. She reveals many of the political and technical problems in doing comparable worth that are not evident to outsiders. She also places comparable worth within a feminist theoretical perspective. In the series Women in the Political Economy, edited by Ronnie J. Steinberg.

Lean In
Lean In

Author: Sheryl Sandberg

Publisher: Knopf

Published: 2013-03-11

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0385349955

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#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A landmark manifesto" (The New York Times) that's a revelatory, inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth that will empower women around the world to achieve their full potential. In her famed TED talk, Sheryl Sandberg described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which has been viewed more than eleven million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can. Sandberg, COO of Meta (previously called Facebook) from 2008-2022, provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career. She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment, and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women both in the workplace and at home.

Comparable Worth
Comparable Worth

Author: Paula England

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

Published: 2011-12-31

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0202364968

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This volume provides a detailed description of the situation of women in employment in the early 1990s and considers how sociological and economic theories of labor markets illuminate the gap in pay between the sexes.