Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site phri.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!harvard!talcott!panda!genrad!decvax!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!vax135!timeinc!phri!lonetto From: lonetto@phri.UUCP (Michael Lonetto) Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Re: A new form of institutionalized bigotry(really underpaid secs) Message-ID: <379@phri.UUCP> Date: Tue, 6-Aug-85 18:36:03 EDT Article-I.D.: phri.379 Posted: Tue Aug 6 18:36:03 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 12-Aug-85 01:48:41 EDT References: <3420@decwrl.UUCP> Organization: Public Health Research Inst. (NY, NY) Lines: 39 > >What I'd rather see is the sex-bias for jobs broken down--it should be just as > reasonable to see male secretaries and female construction workers and so on. > It's hard to say whether this would be encouraged by more reasonable pay for > female-heavy jobs or if it would rather encourage more even pay distribution. > I'm willing to try to up the secretarial jobs money to more fairly reflect >their value to the company, and see if we can't lure men into the positions as > careers. > > L S Chabot ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot chabot%amber.dec@decwrl.arpa I've been wondering for a while WHY secretaries are so underpaid, yet there is never a shortage of secretaries. It's not an easy job (I couldn't do it), it doesn't pay well enough to support one person, in many places there is virtually no hope for advancement. Added to that they are practically indispensible. Why do so many women stay in the field? More important, why do so many women go into secretarial work? I can't help wondering how many secretaries derive part of their support from other sources (husband, parents if living home), and how many are older women returning to the work force and don't wish to spend time preparing for another career when they don't expect to work much longer. How does such an important job rate such a flagrantly low wage? In the city there is no way a secretary can pay an apartment rent. Do high school guidance counselors channel women into secretarial programs or do they choose them themselves? Just a few questions to see what people think/know about this. Of the three former secretaries I know well one is an EE techie, one is a bookeeper (doesn't pay much more) and one is getting ready to start programming school, while the secretaries here all seem to have been here forever. -- ____________________ Michael Lonetto Public Health Research Institute, 455 1st Ave, NY, NY 10016 (allegra!phri!lonetto) "BUY ART, NOT COCAINE"