Ignoring Women's Choices Advocates of comparable worth argue that women are not treated fairly because they receive less money than men. They show themselves to be materialistic by attributing excessive importance to monetary compensation as a standard of personal worth in society. Ironically, comparable worth would strengthen the boundary of traditional female and male jobs. By paying women dominated professions more, even fewer women will be willing to take traditionally non-women jobs because pay incentives will disappear. Women are concentrated in lower paying professions, but not because of rampant discrimination, as the feminists charge.
Women voluntarily choose such professions for a variety of reasons.
Women have the opportunity to earn as much as men but they often have different goals and values. They are much more likely to leave the work force to raise a family and therefore have less seniority. Also, the average man has been on the job much longer than the average woman. These figures are misleading because they don't take into consideration individual preferences and choices. Since they are more likely to move in and out of the job market, women are riskier for employers to hire and train.