The Smoke Signal

Senior Allamaprabhu Pattanashetty was interviewed in our November issue for our “Voices: Gender Wage Gap” story answering the question, “Do you believe there is a gender wage gap? Why or why not?” His full quote is included below.

“I do not believe a wage gap exists between women and men in the workforce. If women were indeed paid less than men, then employers would hire more women for a cheaper wage. Employers do not do this. The problem with the gender roles in the workplace does not arise from the how much each gender is being paid but which genders are hired for certain jobs. More men are hired over women when applying for the certain high-paying jobs. When a hard-working, qualified woman applies for a job, certain employers see an arrogant, unlikable woman. This is caused by a stigma in society that dictates what characteristics men and women should have. The solution to such a problem is not to assign roles to genders. Women and men should be allowed to pick whatever field interests them instead of choosing what society deems fit for them. Teaching everyone that there are no gender roles (certain ways that men and women need to live their lives) will limit ideas concocted about a certain gender. An employer will not see a strong, capable female applicant as overpowering and arrogant if they are taught not to assume certain things about women. We must realize, however, that the problem is a social one, not one that can be fixed by mandates and regulations. By propagating the “77 cents to a dollar” argument, we believe we can fix the problem by arguing with the right people in the right places when this is not the case. To truly have gender equality in the workforce and everywhere else, we need to change the definitions of gender roles in our society.” Allamaprabhu Pattanashetty, 12