WASHINGTON (AP) — About 75 percent of young women believethe U.S. needs to do more to bring
about equality in the workplace, anew study finds, despite a narrowing pay gap and steady employment
gainsfor women at higher levels of business and government.Thosewomen remain as pessimistic as their
mothers and grandmothers regardinggender equality in the workplace, according to the report
releasedWednesday by the Pew Research Center.The study finds that womenunder 32 now make 93 percent of
what young men earn, aided by women’shigher rates of college completion. But the analysis of census and
labordata also shows the gender pay gap will widen for women by theirmid-30s, if the experience of the
past three decades is a guide.Thatwidening gap is due in part to the many women who take time off
orreduce their hours to start families. Other factors cited in the reportare gender stereotyping,
discrimination, weaker professional networksand women’s hesitancy to aggressively push for raises and
promotions,which together may account for 20 percent to 40 percent of the pay gap.Even so, just 15
percent of young women say they have been discriminated against because of their gender."Thereport
shows that we have made substantial progress on gender equalityin the workplace," said Andrew
Cherlin, a sociology professor at JohnsHopkins University. "But our progress has shown us more
clearly whatstill needs to be accomplished.""More doors are now open to women, but they can
now see how far they are from equality in high-level jobs," he said.KimParker, associate director
with the Pew Social & Demographic TrendsProject, also attributed young women’s negative
assessment of workplaceequality in part to the slow movement of women into top job positions."They
feel empowered in many ways, yet when they look at the workplace,they see it as a ‘man’s world’ with the
deck stacked against them," shesaid.Women are increasingly moving into higher positions both
ingovernment and business. They make up nearly half the workforce, and theshare of women in managerial
and administrative occupations is nearlyequal to that of men — 15 percent compared with 17 percent.
Anothermilestone occurred Tuesday, when General Motors picked Mary Barra, a33-year company veteran, as
the first female head of a major U.S. carcompany. Still, women currently hold just 4.5 percent of
Fortune 1000CEO positions, the Pew report said.The near-equal pay for youngwomen is being driven in
large part by their educational gains. Some 38percent of women ages 25-32 now hold bachelor’s degrees,
compared with31 percent of young men. As a result, 49 percent of employed workerswith at least a
bachelor’s degree last year were women, up from 36percent in 1980. That means more women in
higher-skilled, higher-payingpositions.The current ratio of hourly earnings for young women toyoung men,
now at 93 percent, is up from 67 percent in 1980 and is thehighest in government records dating back to
at least 1979. Across allage groups, the median hourly wage for women last year was 84 percent asmuch as
men — $14.90 vs. $17.79, up from 64 percent in 1980.Atthe same time, the Pew study indicates that a
woman’s job advancementoften will hit a ceiling, due in part to competing demands of work andfamily.
Women remain twice as likely as men to work part-time and aremore likely to take significant time off
from employment during theirlives to care for children or other family members.Among youngwomen, 59
percent say that being a working parent makes it harder toadvance in a job or career, compared with just
19 percent of young men.Across all age groups, 22 percent of women and 9 percent of men reporthaving
quit jobs for family reasons at some point during their workinglives.Fewer young women than young men
aspire to become a boss ortop manager. Some 34 percent say they’re not interested, compared with24
percent of young men. And the vast majority of adults of all ages whoreduced their work hours to care
for family members — 94 percent — saythey are glad they did it."This report shows that we are
stillvery much in a ‘stalled revolution’ when it comes to gender equality inthe workplace — and young
women see it," said Pamela Smock, a sociologyprofessor at the University of Michigan. "When we
see our male CEOstaking off a day to care for a sick child, then we will be working in amore
gender-equal workplace — and a more gender-equal world."ThePew study was based on interviews with
2,002 adults by cellphone orlandline from Oct. 7-27. The Pew poll has a margin of error of plus orminus
2.7 percentage points.___Online:www.pewresearch.orgCopyright 2013 The
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