How is wage discrimination manifested in real workplaces?
Hartmann: The Equal Pay Act, saying you cannot pay a man and a woman differently for the same job, has been on the books since 1963. But every day there are complaints filed at the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] saying, We were in the same job at the same workplace, and he got paid more than I do. Most people would like to believe that women now receive equal pay for the same job, but I dont think that is quite true. The second major way is promotion and assignment. When you are brought in and hired, are you brought in to a job that is stereotypically female or one that is stereotypically male, or an integrated one? They tend to have different wages. Jobs that are predominantly female tend to pay less. In a big corporation, the human resources office has a lot of discretion as to where to assign you. When you look at a large corporation, you will typically see different jobs for different groups. Front office workers will often be white women. Back office workers will o
