Men Join Women in Pink-Collar Jobs as Male-Dominated Jobs Scarcity Grows - Essay Sample

Introduction

Men prefer white-collar jobs to pink-collar jobs, mostly dominated by women. The pink-collar jobs examples include teaching and nursing and society has an assumption that these jobs are meant for women and not men. However, previous studies show that men earn more money than women in these pink-collar jobs, including nursing, where almost 90% of the workers are female. The male-dominated are becoming flooded and scarce, and men resort to joining women in pink-collar jobs. It is evident as there is a steady increase in the number of men in nursing rising to 13%, as society's stereotype against these types of jobs is slowly fading (Arroyo-Laguna, 2020). Previous studies show that with the rising number of males in the nursing industry, so is the pay gap increasing, and men are holding even more valuable jobs at the workplace. Women should be earning equal to men, but there are valid reasons why they are making more.

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Nursing is one of the many professions where women do not get the same salary as men. It is discriminatory, and it is not fair to women as they do the same job as men. Nursing is the same all health professions, and men and women should earn the same. The main issue, therefore in the wage gap is the gender difference. Women have been dominant in numbers in the nursing professions for the longest time, until recently, when the number of men is steadily increasing, but not yet the level to challenge women. Men earn more than their women counterparts, even when they have the same roles in the health facility. Previous research shows that the wage gap is as significant as 8.2 %, and it shows that women face gender discrimination in nursing (Yao et al., 2018). Much pay inequity should be an essential topic in the nursing profession. The wage gap is too huge to ignore, and reforms in the nursing profession are needed as soon as possible. Gender discriminations should be past, and wage packets should be based on the level of education and the certifications that a person has regardless of their gender. The government health institutions should address the issue immediately. The wage gap is consistent in many other professions, and nursing is becoming one of them, and it is now constant. The health profession should wholly address the issue and not in nursing alone. The other reason besides discrimination for the wage gap in nursing is that men switch between jobs more than women. It allows men to have more leverage when negotiating their salaries, unlike women who tend to stick to the same position for a long time, meaning their pay is likely to stagnate for long. However, during negotiations, men always have the upper hand as a result of discrimination. Women do not also have excellent negotiation skills to match, disadvantaging them more. It is as a result of the shy nature of women than men, meaning that they are less likely to push for their priorities, and they would submit to the demands of the employer (Wilson et al., 2017). It is unfair for women to be victims of the pay gap despite the considerable contribution to the nursing profession.

It is a general statistic for all professions that men earn more than women. There are both biased and logical reasons why men make more than women in the nursing profession. Men earn up to 8% more than women in nursing according to recent statistics across the globe, but some countries are doing well in removing the disparity. Still, the majority are yet to address the issue. It is more surprising that men earn more than women despite nursing being a female-dominated profession. It is even more disturbing given that men seem to get pay hikes every time, while women continue to stagnate. One of the main reasons for the vast disparity is gender bias. Society breeds the notion that men are more productive than women; therefore, they should earn more (Arroyo-Laguna, 2020). It is also a belief that women do not entirely focus on their job, especially if they have children at home. There is the glass escalator effect, that explains that as women increase in numbers in a profession, they do not get the recognition with rewards (Muench et al., 2015). Still, minority men get advantages as they get more focus. It shows that gender discrimination is still a huge issue, and men are riding the wave, as they are favoured in almost any profession. Men have a huge advantage, as they almost always negotiate their pay packages. Women rely on compensation and reward policies to get more money when, in reality, it is not as much compared to the larger salaries than men are receiving. Women do not realize that negotiating salaries is possible, no matter how desperate they are for the same (Baazeem & Yates, 2018). Another reason for the massive disparity in pay is that men specialize in higher-paying branches of the nursing profession. Women may be shy when venturing to more challenging divisions of nursing and men take advantage, and they grab the opportunity. The more challenging divisions of nursing fetch more wages, meaning that men continue to earn more. Men also venture into more lucrative higher education programs that bring more fees in nursing, including LPN and RN programs (Greene et al., 2017). Men work more shifts than women as they have natural endurance compared to women. More changes mean more wages and the higher the rates per hour. Men also tend to develop their career faster than women. The rise in the profession quickly and offer more lucrative positions in the job.

There is no valid reason really why men should be earning more than women. Women are dominant in numbers, justifying the influence that they bring to the nursing profession. Women hold the same certifications as men, and they should get more or less the same wages as men. Women are equal to men, and by gender, they should not face discrimination as they have a fair chance of performing in the profession. Women in the nursing profession account for about 90% of the workforce, showing their love and commitment for their work, meaning they should be rewarded with higher wages like men, who until recently were very few (Bacon & Stewart, 2016).

Conclusion

To sum up, here is a massive disparity in the wages of men and women in nursing, and it should be addressed. The main reasons for the difference in salaries are biased, and that men specialize in more challenging divisions in nursing. Men have better negotiation skills than women, meaning that women are submissive to the first proposals in job offers. Women deserve to be in the same wage brackets as men as they have the numbers and that they show commitment in their work.

References

Arroyo-Laguna, J. (2020). Redistribution of salary or professional recognition? The difficult construction of a profession, the Peruvian nursing. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 25(1), 223-232. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232020251.25972019

Bacon, D. R., & Stewart, K. A. (2016). Results of the 2016 AORN salary and compensation survey. AORN Journal, 104(6), 486-501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2016.09.013

Greene, J., ElBanna, M. M., Briggs, L. A., & Park, J. (2017). Gender differences in nurse practitioner salaries. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 29(11), 667-672. https://doi.org/10.1002/2327-6924.12512

Muench, U., Sindelar, J., Busch, S. H., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2015). Salary differences between male and female registered nurses in the United States. JAMA, 313(12), 1265. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.1487

Wilson, B. L., Butler, M. J., Butler, R. J., & Johnson, W. G. (2017). Nursing gender pay differentials in the new millennium. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 50(1), 102-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12356

Yao, C., Xu, H., Yuan, J., Fu, X., Sun, J., & Wang, F. (2018). Research on the reform of hospital salary system based on problem orientation. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Economic and Business Management (FEBM 2018). https://doi.org/10.2991/febm-18.2018.70

Baazeem, M., & Yates, C. (2018). Job Satisfaction amongst nurses in the Arabian Gulf Region- A systematic review of the literature. Saudi Journal of Nursing and Health Care, 1(4), 248-257. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mazen_Baazeem/publication/328199224_Job_Satisfaction_amongst_Nurses_in_the_Arabian_Gulf_Region-A_Systematic_Review_of_the_Literature/links/5bbe128a92851c4efd541e50/Job-Satisfaction-amongst-Nurses-in-the-Arabian-Gulf-Region-A-Systematic-Review-of-the-Literature.pdf