ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY - Essay Example (2002, p. 163) argued that micro-level theories of social psychology are helpful. Another perspective that was offered was from Ridgeway and Correll (2004, p. 510) who argued that cultural beliefs about gender are the key components that maintain and change the gender system. The International Trade Union Confederation reported in 2009 (p. 16), that the gender mean pay gap in the United Kingdom is 19.8% in favour of males. In the United States, based on the National Educational Longitudinal Survey data, Bobbitt-Zeher found that college-educated men in their mid-20s earn on average about $7,000 more than college-educated women on an annual basis (2007, p. 1). Bobbitt-Zeher (2007, p. 1) pointed out that the gap is still substantial at $4,400 per annum if the men and women have the same or similar credentials, scores on tests, specialization, and degrees from similar colleges. Bobbitt-Zeher elaborated (2007, p. 1) that â€Å"gender differences in fields of study continue to disadvantage women.† Further, â€Å"gender differences in work-related factors are more important than are educational differences for understanding income inequality among young workers† (Bobbitt-Zeher 2007, p. 1). Bobbit-Zeher cited that several studies have articulated t hat education may have realized an important role in reducing gender wage gaps over the past few decades. According to Bobbitt-Zeher (2007, p. 3), the following are the sources of gender-income gap: (1) the tendency for certain college majors to be associated with gender; (2) alleged link between standardized tests and gender; (3) the link between gender and amount of education; and (4) the selectivity of the college attended. Cohen and Huffman (2007, p. 681) reported that women representation in management can be a source of gender-wage gap at the workplace. Cohen and Huffman (2007, p. 681) made the conclusion based on statistical results from three-level hierarchical models on data drawn from the