This week showed us beginning our group work to create our fact check brief. This stage is purely about research (which all fact checking is). Although we have been put into groups, Ruth has encouraged us to conduct our own research on a topic that appeals to us that has been fact checked by RMIT ABC Fact Check.
My group so far includes two lovely girls, Annie and Amaani. Today we discussed what topics we might be interested in researching together. We found we all had interest in the gender pay gap. We feel it is not only an issue that is very prominent in the world today, but also something that affects and will affect all of us in our lives.
I was excited to get my research underway, as I knew that the gender pay gap is an often misunderstood topic. It is a lot more complicated than many believe and there are a lot of factors that contribute to the gender pay gap. It is not as simple as unequal pay. Some of these factors include men and women working in different industries and different jobs, discrimination, women’s disproportionate share of unpaid caring and domestic work, ect. However, I found through my research that it is problematic to compare international gender pay gaps as the scale is never the same. Many places use different sources, definitions and methods to calculate the gender pay gap, meaning that it will never be a straight comparison.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the current gender pay gap stands at 14.1%, meaning women are taking home $239.80 a week less than men. Although depending on who you ask, this figure changes. I found this to be the most troubling thing in my research. There were many articles, youtube videos and opinion pieces stating that the gender pay gap does not exist or that women are to blame for “not working hard enough”. Although I did find an overwhelming amount of data that supported the presence of the gender pay gap, it did bring up issues for me regarding the spread of fake news.
Fake news is undeniably a problem that can have massive consequences, especially in modern times with advanced technology and social media. Specifically with the issue of the gender pay gap, there is so much misinformation and disinformation out there that often no one can agree. When I looked at the comments of the articles I was reading, or the youtube videos I found that they were full of arguments of whether or not the pay gap exists. Even in parliament you have people debating the issue. I find it an interesting and problematic notion, that even the leaders of this country can’t seem to agree on whether or not something that affects half the population is real or fake.
I found myself spending the majority of my time while researching making sure I trusted the sources that I was reading. I was glad that I did the RMIT Fact Check Cred before I began my research, as I feel I now have a much more critical eye than I did previously.
I look forward to discussing my findings with my group and seeing if they had similar issues and how they overcame them.
References:
RMIT ABC Fact Check https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/fact-check-women-education-gender-pay-gap/8760614?fbclid=IwAR3iz94-13RxHm-NPw24WGXRsg5nkJpt9XEB3MY2uwEmUs9-MbzxwxuT2F0
Parliament of Australia – History of Employment Law
Australian Government – Australia’s Gender Scorecard
https://www.wgea.gov.au/data/wgea-research/australias-gender-equality-scorecard
Australian Government Report – Gender Segregation in the workplace and its impact on women’s economic equality
Australian Bureau of Statistics – Gender Pay Gap Statistics
https://www.wgea.gov.au/data/fact-sheets/australias-gender-pay-gap-statistics
Workplace Gender Equality Agency – What is the Gender Pay Gap?
https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/gender-pay-gap
Australian Human Rights Commission – Face Facts: Gender Equality
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/education/face-facts/face-facts-gender-equality-2018