Women Prefer Soft Jobs; Hence Paid Less

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 10 October 2011, 23:45 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Women Prefer Soft Jobs; Hence Paid Less
Bangalore: "Men are paid more than women in a workplace" the phrase itself raises a lot of questions. The classic answer to it is there is no assurance from them sticking to the job as they get married and carry babies in future. But the new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research says women are not well-paid as they prefer non-challenging jobs and position. Therefore attractive salary for women is has not been a priority for them. "People have suggested that men are more attracted to competition than women and that accounts for the differences," John List, professor of economics at University of Chicago, who authored the study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, explained in a press release. For the study, the researches posted internet job ads for administrative assistants in the 16 largest cities of U.S. and is very common among U.S. citizens. The first ad as was gender neutral i.e. the nature of work is to prepare news reports and accomplish usual office tasks. The secondary ad mentioned that the designation was sports reporter and the nature of work was to write sports stories. Once they got the response from people they revealed the salary offer. To some people they said it will be $15 per hour. To another set of people the salary was mentioned as $13.50 and $3 as bonus according to the performance and the third set was offered with pay of $12 with the bonus pay of $6 if they top in their work quality. The final group of people's job is task oriented and highly competitive so the pay will be determined according to the output they provide. Totally 6,779 people responded to the advertisement. In fact 2,702 applied for the job consisting of 1,566 women and 1,136 men the moment they knew the salary structure. The salary was said to be more attractive in the final offer and men were in maximum number to apply for this job. The study also revealed the women working in cities like San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston and earning good money have less inclination for the challenging or competitive jobs. In competitive arena the income is far higher but women are not ready to move on. So the study says that women have a lower inclination when it comes to hardcore career in their life. The social norms in their life are also acts as a major barrier for them. It also shows that women are ready to compromise on the salary whereas men are very particular about the salary that they earn and what designation they hold. The list explains that men are more interested and involved in sports activities whereas girls are learn to be very supportive and subtle in nature.