你受到性別工資差異對(duì)待了嗎？

你受到性別工資差異對(duì)待了嗎？

國(guó)際勞工組織的研究表明，過(guò)去十幾年，全球性別工資差距逐漸有所縮小。但自2008年全球經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退后，這種進(jìn)步似乎已經(jīng)停滯，甚至倒退......

測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí)：

illustrate ['?l?stre?t] 闡明

stagnate ['st?gne?t] 停滯

persist [p?'s?st] 留存

transparency [tr?n'sp?r(?)ns?] 透明

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Gender gap narrows in a world in which men still rule（807words）

by Sharmila Devi,March 5, 2015 12:01 am

* * *

Ripa Rashid is highly educated, has worked at some of the world’s top blue-chip companies, and is an expert in workplace diversity and talent management, but even she got caught out by the gender wage gap.

Ms Rashid, senior vice-president at the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) in New York, recalls working at a think-tank in Malaysia.

“It took me six months to realise I was being paid 30 per cent less than a male colleague. By that time, I had already made the decision to leave.”

Her experience illustrates the secrecy that exists in many companies and cultures around wages. It allows managers to treat people unequally, even where legislation exists, and makes it hard to get timely data.

Research by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) shows that the gender wage gap has gradually narrowed over the past few decades, for example in Latin America.

However, progress appears to have stagnated, or even reversed, since the 2008 global downturn. Even in senior ranks, disparities persist and range from a few percentage points in Panama, to almost 20 per cent in South Africa, and more than 50 per cent in Azerbaijan, says an ILO report Women in Business and Management: Gaining Momentum, released in January.

“The world assumes that managers earn more but there’s still a pay gap when we know women are often more educated than men,” says Linda Wirth, one of the authors of the ILO report. “The Brics [Brazil, Russia, India and China] have seen greater growth and reduction of poverty but they also have growing inequality in many areas.”

The pay gap with men often only reflects women who work as employees, not the self-employed, who make up about 60 per cent of the female workforce in Latin America and the Caribbean and closer to 50 per cent in Asia, says Kristen Sobeck, an ILO economist.

“A smaller gender pay gap is only part of the picture and may in some instances not even necessarily reflect positive changes in the status of women in a given country,” she says.

But, according to a World Bank report Gender at Work, women are less likely to be in the labour force and more likely to earn less than men in the 10 most populous developing countries: India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Vietnam, the Philippines, Egypt and Turkey.

Working women are less likely than working men to be employed in wage jobs in all these countries except Brazil. The report also confirms that the gap in earnings tends to be larger in the informal than in the formal sector.

Henriette Kolb, head of the gender secretariat at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank, gives the example of Turkey, where “the divergence between what men and women are paid appears to be small, yet there are large gender disparities in labour force participation and employment in wage jobs”.

However, some women might be paid more than men in developing countries that have invested heavily in health and education. Top jobs in these sectors can command a premium and often employ many women, explains Sheila Wild, a British equality consultant and a former director at the Equal Opportunities Commission.

“I would expect the wage gap to be lower in some emerging markets, because the gender gap is not just about what women are paid, but how much they get in relation to men and often they are all paid less,” she says. “There is also less part-time work, which is a dangerous area if it’s just treated as a cheap labour pool as it is in Britain.”

Several factors have contributed to the small progress made so far. More women than men are graduating from university in, for example, Brazil (60 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (65 per cent), CTI research shows.

The working week may be much longer, with more than 60 hours common, but a majority of women in Bric countries had “shoulders to lean on” using family members or paid domestic help. The public sector is also seen as an attractive alternative to the private sector, with 65 per cent of women in Brazil.

A broad mix of legislation and private sector action tailored to individual markets is needed to achieve faster progress in wage parity, say experts.

“The private sector can take action by providing targeted training and skills-development by creating flexible, family-friendly working environments, and by using global business certification standards for gender equality, says Ms Kolb.

Uschi Schreiber, chairwoman of the global accounts committee at EY, the professional services firm, calls for greater transparency around wages in the private sector. “If you look at how governments do it, they have visibility around what people can earn, so we should be able to use bands at least. Pay rates are often hidden from negotiators and not everyone has the full picture.”

請(qǐng)根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測(cè)題目：

1. What can be inferred from Ms Rashid’s experience？

a. Most companies keep wages under secrecy.

b. Her wages are 30% higher than male colleagues.

c. The gender wage gap problems have been solved.

d. She is always treated equity in her job.

2. According to the World Bank report,which of the following statements is true？

a. Male pursue more rights when holding a job.

b. Working men are easy to get high salary.

c. Female have low competitive edge at work.

d. The gap in earnings has gradually narrowed.

3. As CTI research shows，which two of the factors have affected pay gap？

a. Intelligence and abilities.

b. Nationalities and industries.

c. Educations and working hours.

d. Experiences and achievements

4. What's the theme of this passage？

a. The labor disputes in international organizations.

b. The gender ratio differences in Malaysia.

c. Some researches about the gender wage gap.

d. How to raise the women social status.

[1] 答案a. Most companies keep wages under secrecy.

解釋：文章第四段，Rashid的經(jīng)歷揭示了存在于許多企業(yè)和文化中的工資保密制度。這種制度下，管理層可以不公平地對(duì)待員工，即使在有相關(guān)立法的國(guó)家，并且使得人們難以獲得及時(shí)的數(shù)據(jù)。

[2] 答案c. Female have low competitive edge at work.

解釋：第十、十一段，世界銀行的報(bào)告指出在10個(gè)人口最稠密的發(fā)展中國(guó)家，女性找到工作的可能性更小而比男性收入低的可能性更大。并且在除巴西外的9國(guó)里，勞動(dòng)女性找到有薪工作的可能性要低于男性。體現(xiàn)出女性在找工作時(shí)擁有較低競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。

[3] 答案c. Educations and working hours.

解釋：第十五、十六段，CTI研究顯示，女性大學(xué)畢業(yè)生數(shù)量比男性多并且女性每周工作時(shí)間可能更長(zhǎng)，都成為了影響性別薪金差異有所縮小的因素。

[4] 答案c. Some researches about the gender wage gap.

解釋: 本文主要涉及一些國(guó)際組織對(duì)性別薪金差異的研究。