American Dream Shot Down
Despite what some people believe, gender inequality is alive. Specifically , the difference between what a person is paid if they’re male or if they’re female--the gender pay gap. A woman with the same education and job as a male will only make seventy-seven cents for every dollar the man makes. Not only that, but a women with a higher position can be making the same amount of money as a less important male employee.
“Pay Inequality Threatens College Student’s American Dream” by Elizabeth Owens talks about Reshma Daniel’s struggle with pay inequality before she had even started a job. Daniel’s parents and brothers moved from India all the way to America with only 20 dollars. Her family worked really hard, but didn’t pay off, so they ended up moving to Canada, where Daniel was born. Later, they moved back to America, in hopes that Daniel and her brothers would live the “American Dream.” To Daniel, this meant going to law school. Daniel worked hard throughout high school, and ended up going to law school, only to get told that it wasn’t worth it. A fellow female lawyer told her, “You won’t get paid. As a woman and of color, you’re going to be underpaid, so there’s really no point. It’s already really hard for myself. First off, I’m a woman, and I don’t get paid that much compared to my male counterparts, and then I’m Vietnamese. You’re going to waste all of this money. You’re just going to go to law school and you’re going to waste all this money.” Daniel started rethinking herself, but ultimately stayed with going to law school.
American Association of University Women (AAUW) is an organization that focuses on many different aspects of women's inequality. The organization headquarters are located in Washington, DC, and their program was founded in 1921. They raise money online to pay reporters, who go out to find stories on various gender inequalities, one of them being the pay gap. Not only that, but they use some of the money they raise to empower young women in the science and mathematics department by teaching them science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). They have many different categories of where one can donate to in order to help them teach and empower girls in STEM. Some of these categories are: American fellowships, Career Development Grants, and International Fellowship.
In conclusion, gender inequality is still a problem, but there are many organizations that are trying to help make a difference. Anyone can help bring us one step closer to gender equality by donating to AAUW or a similar cause. We can close this pay gap once and for all.
Works Cited
Reshma Daniel’s story: "Pay Inequity Threatens College Student’s American Dream." Career and Workplace.
N.p., 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://www.aauw.org/2013/04/23/pay-inequity-threatens-american- dream/>.
"What We Do." AAUW. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016. <http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/>.