The gender pay gap continues to be a controversial issue due to the fact that many people continue to deny that this gap actually exists. I am interested in this research question because I am curious about how people differ on this issue. I want to know what makes people believe that the gender pay gap is not that big of a problem. The gender pay gap is also a personal topic because it is an issue that will affect me. At some point in my life, when I enter the workforce, I will be faced with the realization that I am being paid less than my male co-workers. I have yet to have any personal experience with the gender pay gap because I have yet to work at a professional level job. 

In Claire Roller's article, " Narrowing The Gender Pay Gap By Providing Equal Opportunities", she states that over the past ten years, the wage difference between men and women has rose from 5% to 12%. Roller relates this rise in wage difference to the fact that gender pay gap exists because of the underrepresentation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) jobs and how that causes an increase in women in lower paying jobs. Roller states that this increase of women in lower paying jobs increases the pay gap but also has other negative effects; such as, being more susceptible to being laid off and more likely to leave work to care for their family. The bias of Roller is that she is a woman writing this article and she continuously puts up more evidence that the gender pay gap does exist. For example, Roller talks about how whenever women try to enter STEM jobs they are met with discrimination and it becomes harder for them to achieve tenure status. Thus, showing how when women try to close the pay gap and get into higher paying jobs, it is the men who make it difficult for them. 

Thomas J. Billitteri also wrote an article on the gender pay gap called "Are Women Paid Fairly in the Workplace". In his article, Billitteri refers to June O' Neill, an economics professor at the University of New York's Baruch College, who agrees that the gender pay gap mainly exists because of the different lifestyles men and women live. She gives evidence to show that when you compare a man and woman who have similar work experiences, the gender pay gap decreases dramatically. Billitteri also refers to a study done by economist David Neumark, which showed that discrimination plays a key factor in the wage gap. Billitteri uses a lot of research and studies to get his idea across. Although Billitteri is a man, he is bias in the fact that he only uses studies and talks with scholars who believe that the gender gap does exist. Through the references of other scholars and by being published as a CQ researcher, Billitteri's credibility is strong. 

In a recently published article, studies show that another factor that plays into people not believing in the gender pay gap is pay secrecy. In Marlene Kim's "Pay Secrecy and the Gender Wage Gap in the United States" article, she notes that in 2010 a survey was done that showed 61 percent of workers are informally or formally forbidden to discuss their pay with fellow co-workers. Kim goes on to talk about how companies use this pay secrecy to their advantage because it can distort the unfair wages and claims of discrimination. Kim also discusses the double standard for women when it comes to negotiating salaries. When women try to negotiate for higher pay, it makes them seem demanding. Kim believes that allowing co-workers to discuss their pay may help narrow the gender pay gap. This article was just recently published in 2015 the journal of economy and society so the article contains up-to-date studies which helps the credibility of this article. 

"Does The Gender Pay Gap Really Exist?" is very much an arguable question. People will continue to argue over whether the gap exists or not and what is the true cause for this "gap". From the sources that I have found it is easy to see where certain scholars may agree and disagree. It seemed to be a common agreement that women tend to be found in lower paying jobs which could be a cause for the wage gap and that women were faced with discrimination in the workplace when they tried to fight for equal wages. However, the scholars disagreed when it came to whether women cause themselves to be paid less or whether discrimination and men cause women to be paid less. It was unique to see articles written by different sexes have the same ideas and the same perspective on the wage gap. I feel I could revise my research question to have more depth and be more focused on a certain aspect of the wage gap. After all this research, I feel I could have narrowed it down to "why people do not believe the statistics of the gender pay gap"? 

