Founded in 1974, the Women’s Center was established to:
Dismantle, from a feminist perspective, all forms of oppression, including but not limited to those based on ability, age, class, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexual orientation.
Advocate for an equitable environment free from violence and harassment based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.
Create an anti-racist, non-sexist, queer-affirmative space where all people can feel valued and safe.
Facilitate and strengthen connections among people across lines of difference through programming and educational campaigns.
Integrate an appreciation of Women's Gender and Multicultural Studies across the disciplines.


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Unequal Pay for Equal Work

We all know the phrase, "equal pay for equal work", an issue, that in this day and age, should not be an issue any more. Let's face it, one individual who does the same work as another individual should receive the same amount of pay, no matter what gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc, etc, that they identify with. On average, a woman makes 78 cents (give or take a few) to every man's dollar. And that statistic does not take into account race or other characteristics of a person, which can often raise the difference.

Sitting in my Health Care policy class this week, my professor discussed this topic in the context of my future profession. A DNP or Doctorate in Nursing Practice is a terminal degree in nursing, whose program teaches even more in-depth about the clinical aspects of nursing. Currently, there is a huge debate in the field that nurses who hold these positions do equal the amount of work, but are paid less than an MD, simply because they are not considered a "doctor". It is also no secret, that in our society, women tend to become nurses, while men tend to become doctors. And while this climate is slowly changing, where more men are enrolling in nursing school, and more women are enrolling in medical school, I wonder if this pay inequity somehow translates to this obvious gender difference among the two professions.

I think this will be an interesting argument to follow, especially considering nursing and nursing education is constantly changing and adapting. Also, if I ever consider getting my doctorate in nursing, this will be something I will have to be constantly aware of.

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