Blog Format #3

Elliot Trejo

In the working world, a salary is one of the top concerns that recent graduates have when deciding on whether to work for a certain company or not. Recent studies have shown that on average, women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. While there is much debate with this topic, is does beg to question whether or not women are truly treated fairly in the workplace. In my experiences working for several companies through internship programs, all but one of my supervisors were women and they were incredible at what they did. As a young professional, it really upsets me to see that human beings are not being treated as fairly as they could be solely because of their gender. I personally believe that if you are good at what you do, you deserve to get paid the wages that you deserve.

I feel that topics such as this really resonate with “The Awakening” in the sense that no matter how hard Edna tried to be a better person or to help discover herself, she was constantly put down by society rather than gaining support. Granted, the time in which Edna lived was much different than that of today, but some of the “traditional” undertones still remain in today’s modern world. I understand that the connection between the workforce and the society of Edna seems a bit obscure, but the idea remains the same. It almost seems that Edna, along with many women in the modern day workforce, have lower expectations than that of men.

As a young professional, it is very frustrating to know that many of my friends, coworkers, family members, and even supervisors are being paid because of their gender. However, it comes with some reasoning. According Joann Weiner of The Washington Post, women still get paid less than men based on a couple of factors: Occupation and kids. Of course, someone who chooses to work in the engineering field will get paid more than someone who is a schoolteacher. Weiner also states that over 80 percent of elementary and middle school teachers are women, while only about 14 percent of engineers are women. Children also play a factor since many women usually do not return to work soon after giving birth.

While there are statistical numbers to back up the claims and reasons as to why women get paid less, it is still a sad fact and cannot be ignored. Maybe one day, women can finally receive the wages they deserve, much like how Edna wanted to finally discover who she really was.

You may find Joann Weiner's article here.