The Fight for Equal Pay
Women's participation in the work force steadily rose after WWII. In 1950, 56% of the nation’s households conformed to the traditional image of male breadwinner and female housewife. But by 1980 that figure had dropped to 27%. Between 1940 and 1970, the number of married women in the workforce (middle-class women whose children were in school) surpassed the number of single working women. Programs such as the University of Kentucky's Continuing Education for Women played a role in Kentucky women's ability to seek employment outside of the home.
But! There was a catch to this new involvement of women in the workforce. Although participation by women may have been on the rise, very few other indicators of economic success rose in tandem.
Despite small breakthroughs, women continued to work predominantly in stereotyped female jobs, especially in expanding areas such as clerical work and service jobs. Continuity, rather than revolutionary change, was the story of the late 1970s and 1980s regarding women and the workforce.
A similar trend was happening within the University of Kentucky.
In 1978, a report published on UK enrollment information revealed the pay differences between male and female professors. The report revealed that:
The highest paid male professor was paid $44,000 and the highest paid female professor was paid $28,000.
Clearly, difference in skill could not completely account for such a wide disparity between men and women's faculty salaries. Even worse, 191 male faculty were paid as much as, or more than, the single highest paid female faculty member.
It wasn't until the 1990s that the University of Kentucky faced serious criticism for the pay disparity between their male and female employees.
A "Kentucky Kernel" article summarized the issue: "The University of Kentucky employs more than 6,000 people on its Lexington campus, almost the same number of men as women. Examine the top salaries, though, and women are conspicuously absent...Few women work as senior administrators, and only one reports solely to the president. Hardly any women teach in the highest-paying colleges."
Even by 2001, only 10 women ranked in the top 100 salaries on UK's Lexington campus and only 91 women worked as full professors (compared to 554 men). Compare this to the 1,898 women who worked in secretarial and clerical positions.
In 2001, UK President Lee Todd committed his administration to fixing the gender gaps in employing university women. Todd created a commission to study and recommend policy about women's issues on campus. To head this committee, Todd appointed UK professor of Law Carolyn Bratt as chair. But, after months of working on the commission, Bratt resigned citing a "growing frustration with Todd's mostly male administration." Bratt also criticized the search process in hiring UK employees to key positions. "When President Todd was hired, he was called an out-of-the-box candidate. He was somebody different. But we have not seen an out-of-the-box hire of a woman. Women are where they have been...there's nothing new, innovative, or different," Bratt said.
This important fight for fairness in the workplace was taking place at UK not too long ago. Even in the 21st century, women must struggle with the question of true equality.
