Will the wage gap issue ever be resolved? For decades women have been fighting for the right of equal pay in the workforce. A woman working full-time still does not make what a man makes in the same field. According to the Institute For Women’s Policy Research, women are paid as little as 20 percent less than their male coworkers. If this is still true today, then what chance does a newly graduated college woman have at equal pay in her field of study?
I am set to graduate within a year’s time. With graduation comes the uncertainty of whether or not I will be able to get a job in my field. If I do find a job in this uncertain era, the question then becomes what kind of pay will I be receiving? Most likely I will be working the same full time job as a male coworker but he will still be paid more than me. That does not make me want to enter the workforce and do the same amount of work or more, knowing I may still get paid less than someone with the same education status and the same amount of experience.
The gap has certainly closed over the years, but who will close it completely? The millennial generation looks to be the answer to closing the gap. According a to Pew Research Center study, women 25 to 34 are starting to earn close to 90 cents for every dollar the men make. Pew’s study noted that this is mainly because more women than men are graduating and entering the workforce. Millennial women will become the top earners’ in their career field if the trend continues, but this could still take some time.
Women are closing the gap, slowly, and college graduates are the key to this movement. According to a study by Lendingtree, women overall are have better financial skills than men. Although women have more debt than men, they have better credit scores from paying off their debt from school, credit cards and other expenses. Women are also thought to be more financially sound of mind than men. A female college graduate will most likely have the upper hand when it comes to finances but still be short changed when it comes to being paid at her job.
The hope is the wage gap will soon be a thing of the past. But for now women, will have to fight for their equal wages at work. I know that I will be fighting at my future job for equal pay; the only question is, will you?