Comparable Worth

How Much Change Has There Been?

Based on complaints and lawsuits filed during the 1970s and early 1980s using comparable worth arguments, often carried forward by unions in the public sector, job evaluation systems no longer blatantly dismiss skills that women acquire outside the job market or belittle skills based on who practices them. For example, AT&T was forced to revise its job evaluation system because it awarded managers points for “customer contact” but gave no points to telephone operators for their “customer contact.” Still, occupations dealing with children or predominated by women remain undervalued and underpaid. Childcare workers and school bus drivers still figure among the lowest paid occupations, especially when compared to workers who care for machines or drive semis. As more men have entered occupations once considered traditionally female, they have often found special niches that are valued and paid more. This has been the case among nurses and teachers. Often, market arguments are used to account for wage differentials within an occupation. For example, allegedly to attract more men into teaching science and math, schools have argued that they must pay more to compete with the private sector, even when private sector demand has not been substantiated. In addition, nursing shortages have not led to any substantial increases in salaries because the shortages have been dealt with through increased immigration levels for trained nurses. What stands out in studies done over the past two decades is how little occupational segregation has changed. Close to 80 percent of women in the workforce still hold jobs considered traditionally female, from teachers to nurses and community relations directors to administrative assistants.

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