Analyze Brenda Major’s (1994) theory that explains how social structural factors and psychological factors interact to perpetuate the wage gap.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Brend Major’s (1994) theory explains the process of how social structural factors and psychological factors interact to perpetuate the wage gap. The process begins with inequities in the social structure in the United States, such as occupational segregation by gender, the chronic underpayment of women and of women’s work, and the lack of equal opportunities for women. These inequalities in the social structure then lead women and men to have different standards of comparison. The result is that women compare their pay with that of other women and with others in their typically female-dominated occupation. Women see other women and those in their own occupation as the appropriate comparison group because of a proximity effect. The average administrative assistant is unlikely to have information on what electricians earn. Self-protective factors may also play a part. For example, an underpaid female librarian who is a college graduate may not want to know what a male high school graduate working in a skilled trade earns because it will make her feel bad. Her tendency will be to compare her pay with that of other female librarians, and then she won’t be doing so badly.