Table 4.1 Percent of lower-status, lower- paying positions held by women.

I equal

Women won the right to vote in the United States in 1919, but they are still struggling for equality in the workplace.

One of the reasons that women work in a narrower range of occupations than

men is their commitment to the family. Schwartz (1989) has identified two types of women in the workforce - "career-primary" and "career and family" women:

The majority of women . . . are what I call career-and-family women, women who want to pursue serious careers while participating actively in the rearing of children . . . most of ihem are willing to trade some career growth and compensation for freedom from the constant pres­sure to work long hours and weekends.

Many of these women, as a result, take jobs that are primarily clerical (for example, secretaries), operative (for example, machine operator), and service (for example, sales clerk). The pay is low and the opportunity for advancement is limited. The benefit, however, is that they can quit at any time, take care of their families as long as neces­sary, and then get another job when family demands decrease.

In recent years the participation of women in jobs traditionally held by males has increased. However, the number of women making their way up to higher management positions is still relatively small. A 1994 study, for example, found that women make up about 24 per­cent of officials and managers in industry. At the higher, vice-presi- dential level, women make up an even smaller proportion - less than 5 percent (Reskin and Padavic 1994; Kilborn 1995).

Female wages as percentages of male wages

90%

Source: United Nations

Figure 4.1 The

gender gap in earnings: a global view.

Even when women hold the same jobs as men, or have equal skills, training, and education, they tend to earn less. The state of Washing­ton has tried to solve this problem by introducing a policy of compa­rable worth. This means that women are paid the same as men for doing different but equally demanding work. For example, office cleaning may be paid the same as truck driving. Some other states have followed Washington's lead with similar programs. Even so, among industrial nations, the United Slates has nearly the worst record in women's earnings, as Figure 4.1 shows.

After you read

Task 1 the sqr3 system (part ii)

The SQR3 approach to reading also includes two strategies to use after reading: Recite and Review.

Recite When you recite, you say aloud from memory what you have read about. You can do this while reading, stopping after each paragraph and asking yourself: Now what did I just read? Do I understand the main ideas? Did the text answer my questions?

• Choose a paragraph from the text. Re-read it and then tell a partner what your paragraph was about. Listen to your partner tell you about a different paragraph.

Review Reviewing means going back over the text and thinking about how much you understand. You can put a check (/) next to the parts you understand and a question mark (?) next to the parts that are still unclear.

• Review the text now and put checks and question marks where appropriate. Discuss with a small group the parts you did not understand.

Task 2 building vocabulary: collocations

When learning English it is a good idea to be aware of collocations. Collocations are combinations of words that often occur together. For example, some verbs are often followed by certain nouns. The more collocations you are aware of, the easier reading becomes.

Scan the text and find the nouns that occur with these verbs.

to deny the right- to pass to take

to enter to hold to solve

to fight for to pursue to follow

Task 3 summarizing

Reciting and reviewing, as in the SQR3 system, is one way to help you understand a text. Writing a summary is another good way. It also helps you to remember what you have read.

Write a one-paragraph summary of the text. Include only the main ideas and omit very specific details or supporting evidence. Include these words in your summary:

sexism inequality workplace

lower status lower pay "career and family"

Preparing to read

examining graphic material

It is important to study any data presented in charts and tables. These often give additional information about the research reported in the text. Looking at them before you read can also give you an idea of what the text is about.

1. Read the questions in the first paragraph of the text and then look at Tables 4.2 and 4.3. Which question does each table answer?

2. Tell a partner one interesting or surprising thing you learned from each table.

thinking about the topic

Read the following remarks made by a married male boss to a single female office worker. Check (/) if you think the remarks are OK, Somewhat inappropriate (SI), Sexual discrimination (SD) or Sexual harassment (SH).

	OK	SI	SD	SH
1 Hey, you're really looking great, today. I love that dress.
2 I'm starving. How about getting some lunch? We could go to the coffee shop on the corner.
3 Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I'd really hke to get to know you better.
4 Here, I've bought you a little present. I hope you don't mind. Its just a pair of earrings. Why don t you tiy them on?
5 This is completely wrong. I knew I should have asked a man to do the job if I wanted it done right.
6 Come on. Give me just one kiss. No one will ever know.
7 Be a honey, would you and look this up for me? I'm really busy and you know I'm hopeless with computers.
8 I'm sorry I didn't give you the promotion, but I didn't think you could cope with the job because of your home commitments - especially now with your new baby.
9 Let me open the door for you.
10 In our company, we expect female staff members to look like females. So the rule is that you wear a dress or a skirt every day.

2 Compare your answers in a small group.

Now read

Now read the text "Sexual Harassment." When you finish, turn to the tasks on page 94.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

What is sexual harassment? How often does it occur? And what are the consequences for the individuals and organizations involved? Sexual harassment is difficult to define. Its meanings range from telling a sex­ual joke to a co-worker to one individual putting pressure on another for sex (Mazer and Percival 1989). Here, we define sexual harassment as unwanted sexual advances.

Sexual harassment affects both men and women, but in general, women repoit that they have experienced sexual harassment more often than men. In a survey of 1,232 women and men in Los Angeles County, researcher Barbara Gutek (1985) provided the data shown in Table 4.2.

Have you ever experienced sexual harassment? Women: 53.1% Men: 37.3%

Have you ever talked to a co-worker about sexual harassment? Women: 22.5% Men: 5.5%

Have you ever transferred to another department because you were sexually harassed? Women: 5.1% Men: 0.2%

Is the woman in this picture being harassed by her boss? Sexual harassment is not always easy to define.

о

Have you ever quit a job because you were sexually harassed? Women: 9.6% Men: 1.2%

Have you ever lost a job because you refused sex? Women: 6.9% Men: 2.2%

Table 4.2