Women,
men staff at CSULB differ in income and
position
By
Elysse James
On-line Forty-Niner
A
recent study by Cal State Long Beach President's
Commission on the Status of Women has shown
that female staff at CSULB experienced difference
in pay and leadership positions from their
male counterparts during the 2002-03 academic
year.
"It
is demoralizing for women on the faculty
and staff to perceive that they are not
being treated fairly." said Julie Van
Camp, professor of philosophy. "That
unhappiness cannot help but infect the overall
environment for students."
Two
previous studies reinforce this finding;
the Gender Equity Task Force of the College
of Health and Human Services examined the
period of 1955-94, and Michelle Saint-Germain
examined 1993-96, both documenting inequality
in salary and status of women at CSULB.
"In
the '70s, the women of the baby boom, then
in their '20s, were given standard advice:
work twice as hard as men, be twice as well-prepared,
and perhaps you'll be taken seriously,"
Van Camp said. "I wish that were no
longer necessary, but I fear it still is."
Nationwide,
wage inequity is still the case, as proven
by a 1999 study by the Institute for Women's
Policy Research. Women in the United States
earn 76.2 percent of the average earnings
by men, according to "The Status of
Women in the United States."
"It's
about what kind of job you get and how quickly
you move up the ladder and who gets chosen
for different opportunities," said
Robin Ladd, lecturer in the women's studies
department. "There is a significant
difference between what women and men are
paid."
Asian
American women are the highest paid female
subgroup, closer to the wages of white men,
and the most likely to work in managerial
or professional jobs.
"If you come from a lower class, you
are less likely to get a higher education,"
Ladd said. "Class and education go
hand in hand."
Women
can change this pattern by learning to negotiate
and not settling for less than they deserve.
"It
is important to research the job position
and learn to negotiate. That's how you make
money. We don't teach women how to negotiate,"
Ladd said. "Women think they have to
take what [businesses] offer and men know
they don't. Women must have self esteem
and know the value of the job and themselves."
Women
have made headway since the 1955-94 study.
There are more women in managerial and professional
jobs and more women with higher education.
With
29 percent, women are catching up to the
33.2 percent of men in authoritative positions,
but women in top positions are still stopped
from being among the highest earners. Women
account for only 5.2 percent of the highest
earning executives at Fortune 500 companies.
"There
is still a long way to go. It's certainly
much better than it was just a few decades
ago. But it's not enough to have a few token
women in managerial and professional positions,"
Van Camp said. "We need a critical
mass of women to do a better job of changing
attitudes and managers need support and
back-up from top-level administrators to
ensure that old biases are not allowed to
undermine their work."
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