2008 Woodie Awards
Working to close the gap
Equal Pay Day celebrates the progess to equal wages between men and women
Sydney Elliot
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: News
This year, Earth Day was not only about how green the planet is, but also about how green people's pockets are.
The annual Equal Pay Day was on Earth Day this year, and four faculty members, from the departments of economics and finance, educational leadership, psychology and sociology and criminal justice, held a discussion about equal, or rather unequal, pay rates among university faculty.
"Equal Pay Day is celebrated by the American Association of University Women," educational leadership professor Laurel Puchner said. "(It is a) symbolic day, on which women's average wages catch up to men's wages from the previous year."
Sociologist and criminal justice professor Linda Markowitz said she and fellow panelists presented a topic Tuesday, relating to unequal pay between men and women and their area's of discipline. Students, faculty members and staff present were then allowed to ask questions of the four panelists.
"It's important to understand why women are paid less than men. Even for the same jobs that have the exact same type of work," Puchner said.
Educational leadership professor Linda Morice gave the historical reasons why women are paid less today. She talked about how teaching became feminized, and women, employed as teachers, were then paid less because people felt they could pay women less for the same position men held.
Morice said she also talked about the unfair regulations on teaching jobs held by women. Historically, districts would force women to leave their positions if they became pregnant or married, Morice said.
"They were forced out of the job market because school districts had policies to where they had to resign," Morice said. "If they came back in they would not get credit for the full amount of their experience."
Economics and finance professor Ayse Evrensel said instead it was a matter of choices women had made that led them to their positions.
"I tried to bring the economics point of view. Which involves choices … of men and women," Evrensel said. "I talked about those choices of women in terms of labor market participation, way back in their choices of majors."
The annual Equal Pay Day was on Earth Day this year, and four faculty members, from the departments of economics and finance, educational leadership, psychology and sociology and criminal justice, held a discussion about equal, or rather unequal, pay rates among university faculty.
"Equal Pay Day is celebrated by the American Association of University Women," educational leadership professor Laurel Puchner said. "(It is a) symbolic day, on which women's average wages catch up to men's wages from the previous year."
Sociologist and criminal justice professor Linda Markowitz said she and fellow panelists presented a topic Tuesday, relating to unequal pay between men and women and their area's of discipline. Students, faculty members and staff present were then allowed to ask questions of the four panelists.
"It's important to understand why women are paid less than men. Even for the same jobs that have the exact same type of work," Puchner said.
Educational leadership professor Linda Morice gave the historical reasons why women are paid less today. She talked about how teaching became feminized, and women, employed as teachers, were then paid less because people felt they could pay women less for the same position men held.
Morice said she also talked about the unfair regulations on teaching jobs held by women. Historically, districts would force women to leave their positions if they became pregnant or married, Morice said.
"They were forced out of the job market because school districts had policies to where they had to resign," Morice said. "If they came back in they would not get credit for the full amount of their experience."
Economics and finance professor Ayse Evrensel said instead it was a matter of choices women had made that led them to their positions.
"I tried to bring the economics point of view. Which involves choices … of men and women," Evrensel said. "I talked about those choices of women in terms of labor market participation, way back in their choices of majors."
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