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ERIC Number: ED325021
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1990-May
Pages: 29
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Explaining the Gender Wage Gap: Pay Expectations for Self, Others, and Perceptions of "Fair Pay."
Gardner, Philip D.; Jackson, Linda A.
This study was conducted to investigate the pay expectations of graduating seniors, and specifically, the relationship between gender and pay expectations for one's self and others. The main purpose of the study was to determine if women and men differed in their initial pay expectations. Surveys were received from 447 college seniors, including 100 pretest surveys. Respondents were majoring in Agriculture, Business, Engineering, Social Sciences, and "other" composed of Nursing, Education, and Human Ecology. Except women in Social Sciences, respondents expected their starting salaries to be higher than the starting salaries of others. Compared to males, females expected lower peak salaries for themselves and lower peak salaries for the "best" others in their fields. Engineering reported the highest salaries. Females in Agriculture also expected higher peak salaries for themselves while females from "Other" majors had lower salary expectations. Across all colleges except "Other," women expected fairly comparable salaries. Additionally, females in Engineering, Business, and "Other" majors expected lower initial salaries for themselves; they also believed lower starting salaries were fair salaries, compared to males in those same fields. The study concludes that the differing meanings of money are a possible explanation for the gender wage gap. Contains 33 references. (GLR)
Collegiate Employment Research Institute, 113 Student Services Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1113.
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Administrators; Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A