Equity Report: Women in the Workforce

Originally Published:
Planet S Magazine
March 1 - March 14, 2007 Volume 5: Issue 14
Page 14

It's 2007, and the battle for equality has been won, right? Well, no. Regardless of what Bev Oda, the federal Minister for the Status of Women, might say, we're not there yet - and in many cases, we're not there by a long shot.

In terms of the Canadian work force, a quick scan of the most recent statistics shows that, although there has been some progress in moving towards equality in recent years, women still face some very real problems.

According to Statistics Canada, as of 2003 women aged 16 and older took in a pre-tax income that was substantially lower than their male counterparts: while men earned an average of $39,000 women made $24,000 - or roughly 62 percent of the men's earnings.

It only gets worse once unpaid work is considered, as the inequality becomes much more pronounced. According to Status of Women Canada, men undertake only about two-thirds of the unpaid work women do - although the "Department of Small Comfort" would point out that this is actually an improvement. It was much worse in the mid-80s, when men worked only half the amount of unpaid hours that women did. But obviously, this is still a glaring problem - with less time to devote to paid work, women can't help but have a lower average income than men.

But while income inequality exists between men and women in terms of the averages, at least the incomes of men and women performing similar jobs must be the same, right? Wrong again, unfortunately. Statistics Canada shows that women working in the natural sciences, for example, earn about 80 percent of what men in the same field earn on average, while women employed in teaching or the social sciences make 70 percent of the male average; women in managerial positions and those working in business and finance make 60 percent; and those in health-related fields make about 50 percent.

True, even these sorry figures are a significant improvement considering the history of income inequality between the sexes. Since 1997 the income of women has gone up by about 13 percent, while that of men has risen only 8 percent, meaning that women are at least gaining some ground in terms of relative wages. As well, the number of women in the workforce has been steadily increasing. As of 2004, 7.5 million Canadian women had jobs - roughly twice the number with jobs in the mid-70s.

Moreover, while only 42 percent of Canadian women were employed [in the workforce] in 1976, that figure now sits at approximately 58 percent. Perhaps most importantly, women currently make up 47 percent of the overall workforce, in contrast to only 37 percent in 1976.

Theoretically, this increase in the number of women in the workforce - and the increase in the number of women working relative to men - should lead to a reduction in income inequality, as employers will be forced to raise the wages for women in order to keep an increasingly sizable portion of their staff happy.

Unfortunately, conditions in the world of academia would suggest this optimism may be misplaced. In an arena that supposedly prides itself on both openness and progressive thought, women account for only about a third of university faculty members in Canada - far less than the 47 percent share they have in the overall Canadian workforce. Indeed, according to a report comparing Canada to the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand (entitled Women in the Academic Workforce released by the Canadian Association of University Teachers), Canada has the lowest share of women in the academic workforce. Furthermore, only 19 percent of those female faculty members are full professors - and those women that do become full professors have salaries that average roughly $6,000 less than their male counterparts.

So, the facts show a bit of progress for women in the workforce - and a much, much longer way to go. Inequalities in both gender representation and earnings are still marked, and no simple declaration from any federal minister is going to change that.