Choose three, non-discrimination explanations of the gender wage gap. Describe the extent to which each helps to explain the wage gap, the evidence in favor of each, and its limitations.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may descriptions of any three of the following: occupational segregation, occupational feminization, salary negotiation, relocations and career interruptions, or overwork. For example:
Three potential, nondiscrimination based explanations of the gender wage gap include occupational segregation, salary negotiation, and overwork. Occupational segregation suggests that part of the gender wage gap may be due to men’s increased likelihood to go into higher-paying occupations. For instance, studies of career aspirations of US high school valedictorians reveal that females plan to pursue careers with median salaries significantly lower than male valedictorians. Women are also disproportionately concentrated in the lowest paying professions and men tend to be more highly concentrated in the highest paying professions. However, the wage gap exists in both male-dominated and female dominated jobs with almost no exceptions. Even within the same low paying occupations, men make more than women do.
Another possible explanation is that men are more likely to negotiate for higher salaries than women are. Studies of MBA graduates, for example, reveal that higher proportions of men negotiate their job offers than women. Experimental research also reveals that women are less likely to push for more money interactions framed as negotiations. However, salary negotiation alone still does not account for the gender wage gap.
Finally, recent research indicates that men are more likely than women to work more than 50 hours a week, moreover, overwork is on the rise, especially among men. It occurs even more often in managerial occupations, perpetuating the gender wage gap in management. Researchers argue that sex differences and overwork are largely due to the male role norm of devotion to work. Considering overwork does explain a sizable amount of the variance in the gender wage gap (about 10%), but still leaves much of it unexplained.