Comparable Worth Theory and Policy

During the last 25 years, the wage gap between men and women full‐time workers in the United States has commanded much attention. Comparable worth theory asserts that sex segregation in the workplace has unjustly depressed wages in female‐dominated jobs. Comparable worth policy is designed to eliminate pay differentials between male‐ and female‐dominated jobs for which the skill, effort, responsibility, and risk are equivalent. Social scientists have important contributions to make to public debate over the theory and practice of comparable worth. Social psychological theorists and labor economists provide models of wage determination. Industrial‐organizational psychologists and compensation administrators evaluate jobs for the purpose of setting pay and serve on management–labor negotiating teams. Measurement specialists use their skills to reduce bias in job evaluation. All these professionals sometimes serve as expert witnesses, assisting attorneys in their presentation of evidence in pay litigation. This journal issue examines the theory and the implementation of comparable worth from all these perspectives. The presentation acknowledges the importance of social structural factors that perpetuate discrimination in wages, and it aims to clarify the strengths and weaknesses of comparable worth as a tool for overcoming that discrimination.