01:920:101 Chap.8 Gender Inequality and the Wage Gap
Gender Inequality and the Wage Gap
Gender has the longest list on the Exam 2 review sheet, and the terms are easy to blur. This chapter first separates sex, gender, gender identity and gender expression, then defines intersex, transgender, the gender binary, doing gender, gender socialisation and patriarchy. Getting those right matters because the evidence on pay is collected by sex category while most explanations of the gap are about gender.
The evidence comes from the fact sheet assigned for this block. For 2025, women working full time were paid 82.1 cents per dollar paid to men, down from 82.7 cents in 2024. Women earned less than men in all of the twenty largest occupations for each sex, and in 112 of 132 occupations with enough data the gap was at least 5%.
The chapter charts the earnings ratio for selected occupations and shows why a higher ratio can coexist with lower pay. Then come the explanations the review sheet names: occupational segregation, human capital theory and caregiving, plus the glass ceiling and the share of Fortune 500 chief executives who are women.
The chapter tests each explanation against the data and shows that gaps inside the same occupation point beyond both segregation and human capital. Finally the review sheet asks for the key points of Shelley Correll's talk: a precise definition of bias, how gender stereotypes disadvantage women and what institutional solutions might work.
The chapter explains the logic of that argument and connects it to intersectionality and the cumulative effect of the gap over a career. Gender items on Exam 2 range from definitions to interpretation of data.
The review sheet marks some items as needing specific numbers, including the gender pay gap, the share of Fortune 500 chief executives who are women and how long the gap would take to close, so record those from the slides alongside the fact sheet figures. Interpretation items reward the within-occupation argument: if women earn less in the same job, segregation and human capital cannot be the whole explanation.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Sex, gender, identity and expression
- 02
Doing gender, socialisation and patriarchy
- 03
The 2025 earnings ratio by occupation
- 04
Occupational segregation and human capital theory
- 05
Caregiving, stereotypes and institutional solutions
Worked example · free
Reading a ratio against earnings
- 2Cashiers: $694 − $617 = $77 a week; ratio 88.9%.
- 2Chief executives: $3,098 − $2,325 = $773 a week; ratio 75.1%.
- 2Explain: low-paid jobs compress everyone's pay, so the ratio is closer to parity.
Key terms
- Doing gender
- The idea that gender is produced through everyday interaction and performance rather than simply possessed.
- Occupational segregation
- The concentration of women and men in different occupations, with jobs dominated by women tending to pay less.
- Human capital theory
- The theory that pay differences reflect differences in education, skills and experience.
- Glass ceiling
- An invisible barrier that keeps women and other groups out of the highest positions in organisations.
- Gender socialisation
- The process of learning gendered expectations from family, school, media and peers.
Gender Inequality and the Wage Gap FAQ
What was the gender earnings ratio in 2025?
For full-time workers in 2025, the assigned fact sheet puts women's pay at 82.1 cents per dollar paid to men. That was down from 82.7 cents in 2024, the second year of decline in a row.
Does occupational segregation explain the whole wage gap?
No. Segregation explains part of it, because jobs dominated by women pay less, but the fact sheet shows women earning less than men within the same occupations too. Those within-job gaps point to how work is valued and to bias.
What is the glass ceiling?
The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that keeps women and other groups out of the highest positions in organisations, even when they are qualified. It is visible in how few women lead large companies, a figure the lecture slides provide.
What is human capital theory, and why is it not a full explanation of the wage gap?
Human capital theory says pay reflects education, skills and experience. Women's education has risen sharply, yet the fact sheet still shows women earning less than men in the same occupations, so differences in qualifications cannot account for the whole gap.
Exam move
Memorise four numbers from the fact sheet with their meaning, then write one paragraph that tests human capital theory against them. Add one sentence on caregiving that separates biological from social causes. Finally, list the institutional solutions from Correll's talk.
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