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 to find out how people differ on this issue. I have witnessed conversations where one person would argue how unfair it is that men and women receive different earnings and the other person would simply state, "that gap is just a myth". 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. Personally, being paid less is not something I agree with and I believe that the gender pay gap does exist and should be dealt with. 

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%. This provides evidence that a gap does exist and it continues to grow. 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 the increase of women in lower paying jobs increases the pay gap but also has other negative effects; such as, causing women to be 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 throughout her article she gives reasons that the wage difference exists. For example, Roller talks about how whenever women try to enter STEM jobs they are discriminated against and it becomes harder for them to achieve tenure status.  There should be more women in these high paying jobs to help alleviate the income difference. 

I believe that some men do not acknowledge that a wage gap exists because they live a different lifestyle than most women do. Thomas J. Billitteri 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 believes 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. Discrimination against women plays an extensive role in the reason there is a division. Billitteri refers to a study done by economist David Neumark, which showed that discrimination plays a key factor in the wage gap. His studied showed that women were 40% less likely to get the job than a male. 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. It is also agreed upon that women are 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 as if I could revise my research question to have more depth and be more focused on a certain aspect of the wage gap like by age or by jobs. 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"? 

