Discuss the obstacles American women continue to face at the workplace and theacts passed to protect their rights.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. An ongoing challenge for American women is to obtain equal pay and equal opportunity in the workplace. In spite of federal legislation and programs to promote equal treatment of women in the workplace, women continue to face various forms of discrimination. In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act. The act requires employers to pay an equal wage for substantially equal work-males cannot be paid more than females who perform essentially the same job. The following year, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, and religion. Women, however, continue to face wage discrimination.?It is estimated that for every dollar earned by men, women earn about 77 cents. Although the wage gap has narrowed significantly since 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was enacted (at that time, women earned 58 cents for every dollar earned by men), it still remains. This is particularly true for women in management positions and older women. Notably, when the workers in a particular occupation include a disproportionately high number of women, the wages that are paid in that occupation tend to be relatively low. Recent research suggests that wage inequality is concentrated in fields in which staff members are expected to put in very long hours. Finance, where long hours are expected, may have the most unequal pay structure of any industry. In contrast, pay differentials are zero among dental hygienists and advertising salespeople. In effect, women may be penalized because child-care responsibilities make it hard for them to work for more than forty hours a week.?Even though an increasing number of women now hold business and professional jobs once held only by men, relatively few of these women are able to rise to the top of the career ladder in their firms. They are held back by the so-called glass ceiling-an invisible but real discriminatory barrier that prevents women and minorities from rising to top positions of power or responsibility. Today, less than one-sixth of the top executive positions in the largest American corporations are held by women.?Title VII's prohibition of gender discrimination has also been extended to prohibit sexual harassment. Sexual harassment occurs when job opportunities, promotions, salary increases, or even the ability to retain a job depend on whether an employee complies with demands for sexual favors. A special form of sexual harassment, called hostile environment harassment, occurs when an employee is subjected to sexual conduct or comments in the workplace that interfere with the employee's job performance or that create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment. The Supreme Court has upheld the right of persons to be free from sexual harassment on the job on a number of occasions.