‘Women’s liberation seems to be only for the rich’,

a discussion from Political Economy

“La liberalización parece ser sólo para las ricas”,una discusión desde la Economía Política

Karen García Rojas

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Nº 17Febrero 2012

Econografos

Econografos Escuela de Economía N° 17

Enero 2012

Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Bogotá - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

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“WOMEN’S LIBERATION SEEMS TO BE ONLY FOR THE RICH”, A DISCUSSION

FROM POLITICAL ECONOMY

Por: Karen Andrea García Rojas.1

Abstract

On average women are paid less than men for equal work in every country in the world. In

Colombia, the average of the wage gap seems to be between 10% and 13% although women have

surpassed men in average years of education. A part of these gap can be explained because of

men are greater represented in better paid disciplines, but the main explanation, 'the subjective

one', relevant with gender wage discrimination, could explain more than the half of the gap.

Historically, the female has had to cope with the existence of a stereotyped division of work,

which has assigned her, specific roles with deep traditional roots. For women it has not been easy

to get rid of these cultural patterns, which not only involve employment discrimination by

employers, but also involve, in general, doubts and dilemmas that make them less competitive in

a world dominated by men during centuries.

There are several papers about the gender wage gap in Colombia. But this field only considers

women professional workers, it means, high and middle classes. If they are in that situation, what

happen with the lower classes‟ women? This essay constructs a discussion since a political

economy critical view, around the difficult situation of labor gender discrimination and particular

situations of female workers in all social classes, making a comparison between the roles and

dilemmas of women workers of different classes; under the recognition that low class women

face a deeper and more dramatic discrimination. In the lower classes, women's situation is far to

be „liberation‟, although in some social circles there is the wrong idea that work gender

discrimination „is over‟. In general, lower classes‟ women do have a low possibility of

independence, autonomy and gender consciousness, because of the difficult access to quality

education and formal jobs. Moreover, there is evidence which proves that executive women and

women in leadership jobs have been decisively supported by the domestic work to get 'success' in

their careers; which shows that in our society there is a gender gap by social class: the dynamics

of modern capitalism has allowed, in general, the improved of the welfare, independence and

equality for women in upper class (although there remains a gap with their male counterparts),

but has not brought the same benefits to lower class women.

Keywords: gender wage gap, subject of degree, gender identity, social classes, domestic work,

informal work, double workday, gender patterns and dilemmas, patriarchal capitalism.

JEL Classification: A14, J16 J24, J31, J71

1 Research product of seminar: Political Economy of class, gender and race guided by Stanley Malinowitz.

1 Economic student. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. E mail: kagarciar@unal.edu.co

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“LA LIBERACIÓN PARECE SER PARA LAS RICAS”, UNA DISCUSIÓN DESDE LA

ECONOMÍA POLÍTICA

Resumen

En promedio, las mujeres reciben salarios más bajos que los hombres por igual trabajo en todos

los países del mundo. En Colombia, el promedio de la brecha salarial parece estar entre 10% y

13%, a pesar de que las mujeres han superado a los hombres en los años promedio de educación.

Una parte de la brecha puede explicarse debido a que los hombres están mayormente

representados en disciplinas mejor pagadas, pero la principal explicación, la „subjetiva‟,

correspondiente a la discriminación salarial por género, podría explicar más de la mitad de la

brecha. Históricamente, la mujer ha tenido que hacer frente a la existencia de una división

estereotipada del trabajo, que le ha asignado roles específicos con profundas raíces tradicionales.

Para las mujeres no ha sido fácil deshacerse de estos patrones culturales, que no sólo implican

discriminación en el empleo por parte de los empleadores, sino que implican además, en general,

dudas y dilemas que las hacen menos competitivas en un mundo dominado por los hombres

durante siglos.

Existen varias investigaciones sobre la brecha salarial por género en Colombia. Sin embargo,

estas sólo consideran a las trabajadoras profesionales, es decir, mujeres de clases altas y medias.

Si ellas están en esa situación, ¿Qué pasa con las mujeres de las clases bajas? En este ensayo se

construye una discusión desde un punto de vista de economía política crítica, en torno a la difícil

situación de la discriminación laboral de género y las situaciones particulares de las trabajadoras

en todas las clases sociales, realizando una comparación entre las funciones y los dilemas de las

mujeres trabajadoras de distintas clases, bajo el reconocimiento de que las mujeres de clase baja

se enfrentan a una discriminación más profunda y dramática. En las clases bajas, la situación de

las mujeres está lejos de ser una „liberación‟, aunque en algunos círculos se tiene la idea

equivocada de que la discriminación laboral de género „ya no existe‟. En general, las mujeres de

las clases bajas tienen baja posibilidad de adquirir independencia, autonomía y conciencia de

género, debido a la dificultad de acceso a educación de calidad y puestos de trabajo formales. Por

otra parte, existe evidencia que demuestra que las mujeres ejecutivas y en cargos directivos han

sido decisivamente apoyadas por el trabajo doméstico para alcanzar el éxito en sus carreras, lo

que demuestra que en nuestra sociedad existe también una brecha de género por clase social: la

dinámica del capitalismo moderno ha permitido, en general, el mejoramiento del bienestar, la

independencia y la equidad para las mujeres de clase alta (aunque sigue existiendo una brecha

con respecto a sus pares masculinos), pero no ha traído los mismos beneficios para las mujeres de

clase baja.

Palabras Clave: brecha salarial de género, carrera profesional, identidad de género, clases

sociales, trabajo doméstico, trabajo informal, doble jornada laboral, patrones y dilemas de

género, capitalismo patriarcal.

Clasificación JEL: A14, J16 J24, J31, J71

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS ECONÓMICAS

CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES PARA EL DESARROLLO - CID

·1952 - 2012·

Escuela de Economía

RectorMoisés Wassermann Lerner

Vicerrector Sede BogotáJulio Esteban Colmenares

Facultad de Ciencias Económicas

DecanoJorge Iván Bula Escobar

Vicedecano AcadémicoJuan Abel Lara Dorado

Centro de Investigaciones paraEl Desarrollo CID

DirectorJorge Armando Rodríguez

SubdirectorGerman Nova

La Colección Econografos considera para publicación manuscritos originales

de estudiantes de pregrado de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la

Universidad Nacional de Colombia, que hayan sido propuestos, programados,

producidos y evaluados en una asignatura, en un grupo de estudio o en otra

instancia académica.

Documentos FCE Escuela de EconomíaISSN 2011-6292

La serie Documentos FCE puede ser consultada en el portal virtual:

http://www.fce.unal.edu.co/publicaciones/

Diretor Centro Editorial-FCE

Álvaro Zerda Sarmiento

Profesor Asociado - FCE

Equipo Centro Editorial-FCE

Sergio Pérez

Juan Carlos García Sáenz

Diego Felipe Gutiérrez Bedoya

Maria del Pilar Ducuara López

Contacto: Centro Editorial –FCE

Correo electrónico: publicac_fcebog@unal.edu.co

Este documento puede ser reproducido citando la fuente. El contenido y la forma del presente

material es responsabilidad exclusiva de sus autores y no compromete de ninguna manera a la

Escuela de Economía, ni a la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, ni a la

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FCE Econografos

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“WOMEN’S LIBERATION SEEMS TO BE ONLY FOR THE RICH”, A

DISCUSSION FROM POLITICAL ECONOMY

Por: Karen Andrea García Rojas

Women earn less than men in every country in the world. The Global Gender Gap Report

2011 found that in Colombia the situation is very serious: the country ranks 94 in the

index of wage equality for similar work in a sample of 135 countries (Hausmann, Tyson

& Zahidi, 2011).

In Colombia, working women earn 7.1% less than men, according to the BID‟s study

“Gender and Ethnic Wage Gaps in Latin America” published in October 2009. The

average gap in Latin America is of 17.2%. The study found that in Latin America, men

earn more than women in all age groups, all levels of education, all types of employment

(independent, employer or employee) and all sizes of business.

This happens even though women have surpassed men in average years of education: the

education gap between women and men has almost disappeared, and according to the

conclusions of several researchers, such as the BID‟s economist Hugo Ñopo, Latin

American women have exceeded the average time of men‟s education.

The same result was found in a study by the economist Ximena Peña, a Colombian

expert on the labor market. This study revealed that in Colombia the gender gap in

education has not only closed, but on average women have exceeded men in the level of

studies conducted and completed.

Between 25 and 40 years old, there are more women than men with college degrees: for

every four men with higher education there are five women in the same condition.

Despite this, the researcher found that the wage gap between men and women with

university education in Colombia amounted to 19% in 2008.

But there is also the idea that those differences can be explained because of the greater

representation of men in higher paying careers, such as engineering. Baron and Cepeda

(2012) found interesting results by using information for recent college graduates in

Colombia in 2007 and 2008. They found that those differences by careers do exist, but

they only explain just a part of the gap:

First, from early on in their career, women earn lower wages compared to their male

counterparts; this gap is on average 10.7%. Second, gender differences in subject of degree

explain at least 34%, and up to 41% of the average wage gap. Finally, the gender gap for

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recent graduates exhibits glass ceiling effects, as women at the top of the distribution face

higher wage gaps (12% at the median and 15% at the top). A smaller proportion of the gap

can be attributed to field of study at the top, 31%, than at the middle of the distribution,

42%. On average, thus, field of study explains 3-4% higher wages for men relative to

women (p. 10).

It suggests that the subjective „gender factor‟ could explains more than the 50% of the

gap in recent professional graduates. In general, according to PNUD, no country in the

world has ensured that women earn the same as men for equal work and equal levels of

skills. There are several formal papers about wage gap and gender issues for

professionals and formal women workers, it means, women of high and middle classes.

Baron and Cepeda (2012) found that the gap is even deeper in high levels of income, and

less explained by the career election. But these „educated‟ women are the fortunate

portion. But women of lower classes suffer a special degree of inequity, not only because

of wage differences, which are difficult to measure in those classes, where the informal

employment is predominant, but for the fragility of their degree of access to education,

access to a formal job, autonomy and independence.

Why the gap?

Ximena Peña suggests that since the persistence of a clear pay gap is not due to

limitations in the training of women, it may respond to the traditional problem of

discrimination.

However, many sectors have the misperception that in Colombia, job discrimination

against women has almost ceased to exist. A survey of the company Yanbal, for example,

found that women between 18 and 25 years of age in general do not feel that there is

gender discrimination at work in Colombia.

The truth is that although the inclusion of women in the labor market has improved

markedly over recent decades, the differences in gender-based employment are still very

disturbing.

The existence of more jobs for women of course implies that there are fewer housewives

and more women in employment. For most middle-class women in general this is

something positive, because they are more likely to go to work and earn a proper wage.

Thus women reduce their economic dependence, which is positive for women in

Colombia, where domestic violence against them exhibits high rates.

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While capitalism has resulted in the inclusion of women among income workers, the

situation for workers in general is not satisfactory: "As good economists, we can say that

the effect for women has been positive if we keep all else constant" (Stanley Malinowitz,

Phd., Interview)

Professor Malinowitz points out that the increased volume of female employment has

occurred because the rise of Neoliberalism causes a dynamic where men are paid less

than in the past. Consequently, a single wage is not enough to sustain the whole family,

so it may be noted that wage labor for some women is more a necessity than a right.

This is in agreement with research by Peña, who points out that a woman‟s salary is still

perceived in some circles as income 'complementary' to that of men, using this to justify

the lowest wages.

This is compounded by the fact that women exhibit lower bargaining power for their

wages, a fact which has been proven in publications like the book "Women Do not Ask"

by Linda Babcock, professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Historically, the female has had to cope with the existence of a stereotyped division of

labor, which has assigned specific roles with deep traditional roots. For women it has not

been easy to get rid of these cultural patterns, which not only involve employment

discrimination by employers, but also involve special persistent doubts and dilemmas

that make them less competitive in a world dominated by men during centuries.

The expert in gender studies María Consuelo Cardenas has found in her research on the

characteristics of women in management positions that personal factors, such as lack of

confidence in her own capabilities in the context of education in terms of a role assigned

by society, constitute a consensual limitation for women in their jobs and to negotiate

fair wages.

An interesting finding from a study of the psychologist and professor at Los Andes, is

that most executives analyzed were female college graduates. "When you identify in the

literature the benefits of female education in schools versus co-education, it is mentioned

that women can better express their leadership qualities when they are against women

than when they have to compete with men, and that then facilitates performance."

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Additionally, as suggested by Professor Malinowitz "Women in general are still in charge

of childcare and domestic chores organization, so in most cases seek a more flexible job,

being at a competitive disadvantage in terms of job performance."

Because of this, companies choose not to hire women or to pay them less, providing a

way to limit the cost of absences of women due to addressing domestic and family

commitments, and for situations such as maternity leave. Malinowitz indicates that

unlike wage labor, in domestic work the distribution has changed very little: "In this

way, women must bear an additional burden of working hours at home in which the man

participates usually very little."

A gap within women

While for all social strata, the trend is that women remain the most responsible for

childcare and housework, for women workers of the high strata, especially those who

hold leadership positions, it seems more to be work that mainly deals with the logistics.

Cardenas and Durana (2009) developed a study on a sample of 94 Colombian executives,

whose careers were predominantly of Business Administration and Economics. They

found that the vast majority of women in leadership positions at the first, second and

third levels have managed to be promoted in their careers thanks to the significant help

of domestic service. "Most respondents (93.4%) have domestic workers: 96.3% in the

first, 91.7% in the second and 90% in the third level" (p. 37, translation by the author).

Cardenas and Durana concludes: "The participants who had exercised a position on the

first level are characterized by having left school or having studied primarily female

careers such as engineering, law and administration, having postgraduate master's

predominantly, being or having been married and having children, considering helpful

the cooperation of domestic service. Most have reached the highest positions in

organizations across the spectrum of financial or commercial areas and has achieved this

thanks to their outstanding performance and personality characteristics" (p. 38,

translation by the author)

This shows that the higher in the hierarchy is the position held, the greater is the use of

domestic service. It is thanks to this invaluable support, which is not so common in

developed countries, that the most successful executives have been able to devote full

time to the work activities required of them.

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However, women of lower strata who are far from senior management, which provide

women as domestic servants, usually are subjected to a double workday: the work at

home and working for monetary income. In these sectors of the population, it is common

to assign the woman the housework and childcare, while pressing economic needs require

them to also enter the labor market.

To this extent, poor women who decide to enter the job market, whose bargaining power

is even lower, in general have not been able to access higher education and are forced to

seek informal or subcontracting work that carry very high levels of exploitation,

including sometimes excessively long days. This is the known case of women workers in

flower farms in the savannah of Bogota.

Other women, in search of flexibility that allows them to take care of their homes, decide

to work from home, even under extreme exploitation, as is the case of women workers in

the so-called satellite companies, especially in the textile sector.

The struggles in high classes are extremely different of the ones in low classes. As

Abbassi and Lutjens (2002) argue, in the last decades there has been a feminization of

some kinds of waged workforce; some examples are the „maquila‟ production, the

creation of Export Processing Zones (EPZs), and employment in the tertiary sector. These

dynamics have in common extremely bad remuneration. This tertiary sector includes

sometimes work related to the increasing informal sector. Franko (1999) identifies 3

categories in women‟s informal work: domestic labor, own-account employment and

micro-enterprises.

Benería and Roldán (1987) find evidence about women workers in maquilas in Mexico,

who are meaningfully lower paid and are subjugated to a continuous working day. The

articulation of necessity and cultural patterns, they say, seems to make women suitable

for that kind of work. This conclusion works Colombia. By doing a comparison with the

case of domestic maquilas in Colombia, we can ask the same questions: “What role do

women play in the articulation between the formal and the underground economy? Why

is it an overwhelming majority of homeworkers are married women with children?” (p.

14)

The answer is that for these women, who have to do all the domestic work, to care for

children and to earn money too, this work becomes the only choice. In Colombia,

maquilas exist for the following brands: Victoria's Secret, Levi Strauss & Co., Nautica,

Adidas, OshKosh, Eddie Bauer, Polo Ralph Lauren, Timberland, Tommy Hilfiger, Pierre

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Cardin, JC Penney, Limited Brands , Jockey, Vanity Fair, Sara Lee, Liz Claiborne, Mast

Industries Inc., Hanes, Leggs, Oxford Industries, among others (Proexport, 2007).

Companies like Didetexco (a subsidiary of Success) produce using 300 clothing

sweatshops and intermediate processes (printing and embroidery).

These women workers have to work without any contract, and that means without any

guaranty as to social security and the right to unionization. They work at home, making

clothes for those big brands, paying all their services, putting their own sewing machines,

and being terrible paid. They may work from seven in the morning of Friday to eleven

in the morning of Saturday to comply with the requests (interviews). This shows an

extremely deep form of precarization of work, and a very special type of working,

because there are not „bosses‟ and there are not workers in the common sense.

Domestic services can be compared in Colombia with the notions exposed by Grace

Esther Young (1987) in “The myth of being like a daughter”. This dynamic of rural young

women working in domestic services in the cities is really similar in Colombia. They have

great difficulties to study and are paid very badly. In general the psychological and

ethnic origins of that kind of workers are very similar in Peru and Colombia. This kind of

domestic work has certainly helped women of middle and high classes to perform with

more flexibility and tranquility, and to be „successful‟ in their professional roles, at the

expense of the exploitation of the domestic workers.

These small examples prove that in fact, poor women have a worse dynamic of inclusion

in the labor market. They don‟t have the consciousness of gender and they have fewer

tools to play the „new roles‟ that the modernity requires for them.

The difficulties of integration into working life, however, are a common denominator for

women of any kind. The study by Cardenas, whose information was obtained through

some executive workshops known as 'feminine consciousness forums', found that

participants have achieved success in the workforce, often to the detriment of the

aspirations of their personal and family life. Some have chosen to quit their jobs to

address this dilemma.

The obvious imbalance between the dimensions of these women respond to a traditional

division of labor that is becoming more dramatically transformed, but in which life's

conflicts have more impact on women than on men.

Not surprisingly, these dilemmas become more severe the lower the stratum. Poor

women, by necessity, cannot quit their jobs; most of the jobs require long hours and they

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have no domestic service to look after their children and their homes. Nor do they have

in general access areas to help them acquire gender awareness and strengthen their

training and self-esteem.

While disparities exist for all women, they are worse in the case of poor women who are

the majority. According to researcher Ximena Peña, only 15% of Colombian women have

higher education. Additionally, those women with college degrees earned 2.37 times what

a woman at the high school level earns.

An investigation by this professor revealed that the gap to the lower strata is about 35%

"which means that in the poorer sectors if a man earns $ 425,000, a woman earns $

318,750 for the same hours worked." In the case of average wages, the gender gap

seemed to be reduced, but at the highest wage levels the difference becomes higher and

reaches up to 30%."

Although it is evident that the wage gap is very high at both ends, it appears that while

the quality of the inclusion of poor women in the labor market is quite poor, for women

with senior executive positions, this implies a greater inclusion and a certain level of

independence and increased equity of participation of women in the dynamics of society.

According to Isabel Londoño, PhD from Harvard and director of the NGO Women for

Colombia, "the greatest form of discrimination in the country is precisely that of class." If

one looks at the top executives in Colombia, are all strata 5 and 6 ... although all have

their own merits, the 'oil' of the upper class gave them access to the best positions.

Positions which still being men‟s fields”.

It becomes urgent, then, not only the adoption of practices such as quotas in hiring, but a

profound cultural change, which among other things implies a modernization of

organizations: "There should be an alternative that allows women to continue working in

the company and keep their children, as they would have to choose between two options

giving up one of them ... the two roles can enrich each other and become allies instead of

being polarized," suggests Cardenas (2007).

She makes a suggestive invitation: "Let's change with our practices, the design of full-

time work as an expression of loyalty and dedication to the organization and develop

flexible working arrangements that respect diversity and individual interests." At the

level of women, the introduction of a female consciousness which recognizes the

difficulties involved in implementing solutions is a priority in moving towards equity,

without the cancellation of identity and the denial of difference.

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[11] LOURDES, Beneria and ROLDÁN, Martha (1987), The Crossroads of Class and

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[13] QUIJANO, Aníbal (2000). “Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Latin America”.

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