Kathleen Mauck

Professor: Adam Padgett

10/17/16
English 102
The Gender Wage Gap an Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: Does the gender wage gap exist more in some professions
than others, and why?
Proposed thesis: I argue that yes, some professions have a larger
gender wage gap issue than others do. However, the reason for this is
unclear. For example, education cannot be used as a reason because it
has been proven that professions that require higher levels of
education actually tend to have higher gender wage gaps than
professions where less education is needed. In other words, my paper
will research the reasons why the gender wage gap exists.
Introduction
Throughout history there has been a difference in the way women
and men are treated in the workplace. Women are consistently treated
as if they are less worthy than men are, and the wage gap is one of the
most observable examples of this phenomena. Many people argue
that the gender wage gap no longer exists, or they argue that it exists
for reasons such as women being less qualified, or having less
education. However, statistics show that the gender wage gap is more
prominent in present day than people think it is. Also, the growing
amount of research that has been done on this topic shows
consistently that there is no logical reasoning behind the fact that

women are still getting paid less than men. Studies and research show
that even though the gender wage gap is shrinking, women are
actually starting

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to achieve more education than men. As well, women who are more
qualified and efficient than men doing the same job are still getting
paid more.
Baer, Drake, and Andy Kiersz. Here Are The Only 9 Jobs in America Where Women
Out-earn Men. Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Sept.
2016.
This article discusses research that involves 342 professions in America, and in
only nine of those professions, do women earn more than men. Another main piece
of information that comes out of this article is the fact that in these nine professions,
the difference in annual salaries between men and women is not that large; however,
in jobs where men out-earn women, it is usually by a much larger amount. Business
Insider is a credible source, even though it is a source that works on the basis of
gaining profit. Two men wrote the article so there should not be any bias
present in the information, especially because most of the claims that they made are
immediately followed by statistics or other forms of evidence to support them. This
article is advantageous for my paper because it provides statistics and specific
examples of jobs where women earn more than the men doing the same job as them.
Baxter, Emily. How the Gender Wage Gap Differs by Occupation. American Progress.

Center for American Progress, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.

This article goes into detail by giving examples that validate the argument that the
reason women earn less is because of life choices they make is no longer a valid
argument. For example, women earned 47% of all the law degrees in 2011, and
male surgeons earn 37.76 percent more than their female counterparts. This article
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has a high level of credibility because the website that published these statistics is
funded by the government. Also, even though the author is a woman and people could
argue that this makes her biased, Baxter supports every claim that she makes with
factual evidence. This article is relevant to my paper because it provides me with
statistics that prove that women in todays society are just as qualified for their jobs as
men are, and this still does not eliminate the gender wage gap from existing.
Covert, Bryce. Female Lawyers Can Work Longer And Harder But Will Still Be Paid
Less. ThinkProgress. ThinkProgress, 06 May 2014. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.
This article is important because it specifically goes into detail about the profession of
lawyers, which is the profession that is of most interest to me in this research. The
article provides statistics from most of the top law firms in the country, and it shows
that even if women female lawyers had been in their firm longer, they would still be
paid significantly less than the men in their firms. Coverts article is also important
because it goes into detail about how being a lawyer is one of the least flexible
professions because it lacks understanding about women having to work irregular
hours in order to reproduce and keep our species alive. This article was also written
by a woman, and again people could argue that this would make her biased, but she

also provides evidence for every claim that she makes. Also, this article was written
only two years ago, which adds to its credibility and makes the timing of it appropriate
to the present.

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Covert, Bryce. "The Gender Wage Gap Is Ugly. So Is the Right-Wing Effort to Deny It."
New Republic (29 Apr. 2014). Rpt. in Income Inequality. Ed. Nol Merino.
Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.
This second article by Covert focuses on ways to make the gender wage gap smaller.
The author also focuses on arguments against people who claim that the gender
wage gap does not exist. She states that one of the main reasons that the gender wage
gap has been paused in its rate of getting smaller is because of the conservative partys
stance on this issue. They often make claims that the statistics provided about the
gender wage gap are wrong. Covert even states, Conservatives were not at all happy
when President Obama issued executive orders to close the gender pay gap earlier this
month. This article is peer-reviewed so that makes it more credible, and the bias less
relevant. It is relevant to my paper because it provides me with examples to prove that
the gender wage gap exists.
"Data Catalog." City of Seattle Wages: Comparison by Gender. City of Seattle, 4 Feb.
2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.
Dinovitzer, Ronit, Nancy Reichman, and Joyce Sterling. "The Differential Valuation of

Women's Work: A New Look at the Gender Gap in Lawyers' Incomes." Social
Forces 88.2 (2009): 819-64. Web.
This article focuses on the gender wage gap in lawyers incomes. It does this based
off of four main categories: work profiles, opportunity paths and structures,
credentials, and the legal market. It also provides statistics about the gender wage gap
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in the lawyer profession specifically, with statements like: to examine the salaries
of lawyers working fulltime in private practice, we find a gender gap of about 5
percent. This article is peer-reviewed, so the fact that it is written by women is not a
valid argument. Also, since it is peer-reviewed this makes it a lot more credible too.
This article focuses on lawyers, and that is why it is relevant to my argument.
Kim, Marlene. "Policies To End The Gender Wage Gap In The United States." Review
Of Radical Political Economics 45.3 (2013): 278-283. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 17 Oct. 2016.
This final article is relevant because it discusses recent legislation that has been passed
to try to eliminate the issue of the gender wage gap. The article states some of these
political changes as, unionizing women, comparable worth, pay secrecy legislation,
affirmative action, stronger non-discrimination legislation, and family friendly
policies. It also provides further statistics to prove that the gender wage gap exists,
and theories about the cause of its existence. This article is peer-reviewed which
makes it more credible and makes it seem less biased.