Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace
             Since the beginning of time, women were regarded as inferior and treated unfairly. Their rightful place was considered their home and their occupation consisted of being a housewife, taking care of the children, and keeping their husbands content. They were not accepted by society when they tried to gain entry into the workforce until the United States entered World War II (Foner 339). The only reason women were finally accepted into the workforce was because all the men were off fighting the war and someone was needed to occupy the vacant spaces that were left by the men's departure. After the end of the war as the men started to come home, the women had to return to their jobs as housewives, but they eventually returned to the workforce to work alongside men. In the beginning, this return was difficult because they faced open discrimination.
             Discrimination is the process in which different people receive unequal benefits because of their different statuses despite identical qualification and merit (Cohn 3). Even though our society has come a long way since the beginning of discrimination against women, they are still devalued and face discrimination as evidenced by the wage discrimination and occupational segregation they continue to face.
             Many people believe that since women are entering the workforce in increasing numbers, discrimination against them no longer exist, but this has not been the case because wage discrimination continues to exist. In fact, the gender gap in earnings narrowed only slightly during the last decade despite the sharp rise in women's labor force involvement and their increased representation in high-status occupations (Tienda, Smith, & Ortiz 196). Sklar states that "women working year round, full-time earn seventy-one cents for every dollar men earn" (259). A study reported that 80 percent of the difference in men's and women's average annual ...