As women continue to break barriers across industries, the fight for equal pay remains an enduring struggle for those who work in male-dominated fields every day, according to a National Park Service (NPS) summary of the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
“During the first decades of the 20th century, women made up less than 24 percent of the U.S. workforce,” but in the midst of World War II, labor shortages brought 37 percent of women into the workplace, according to NPS.
Sergeant Samaria Cooper has worked for the Ball State University Police Department for a decade and said she has never faced any issues related to her gender within her department, but rather, through interactions with the public while on duty.
Cooper said one of the hardest parts of her job is getting people to recognize her point of view as a police officer.
“The public, especially with true crime documentaries, see that stuff, and they think that they know a lot more than they do,” she said.
Cooper said she does not believe in the wage gap since she has never dealt with it and is thankful for how Ball State has treated employees of any gender.
“I'm happy to say that Ball State hasn't fallen into that trap [of] not treating women as equals,” Cooper said.
For women who want to join law enforcement, Cooper mentioned an initiative called 30 for 30, an organization that helps women in law enforcement succeed.
According to 30 for 30, “Women make up less than 14 percent of sworn officers and 20 percent of recruits in state and local law enforcement agencies.”
Another male-dominated field is music production, according to a March 2022 article from National Public Radio, over the past decade, women only made up 12.7 percent of songwriters, but that doesn’t stop women from making music and breaking barriers.
Bella Myers, a first-year music media production student, feels “anxious” about going into the male-dominated career path.
“I am scared there will be discrimination against me and other women,” she said. “I am afraid some men may look down on [women] and may be misogynistic.”
Myers said this is a real problem that women face every day, from past to present.
“Women should have better equality and rights when trying to make a living. Us women have had voices since the very beginning,” she said.
Emma Fowler, a first-year legal studies student, worked in the mortuary field throughout high school. She said she often feels “intimidated” by the male-oriented nature of the trade.
“Families themselves are somewhat intimidated by female funeral directors from what I’ve seen directly working in a funeral home, but it’s really important for families to have connections with a whole variety of funeral directors … to make them feel safe and heard,” Fowler said.
Unlike other industries, a career in mortuary is growing with women. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, nearly 65 percent of graduates from funeral director programs in the United States in 2017 were female.
According to the Insurance & Risk Financial Facility Global Organization, only 35 percent of participating, working group members were women in 2024. Natalie Yoder is a first-year finance and risk management and insurance student who is trying to uptick that percentage.
As Yoder continues her studies, she said she has made it a goal of hers to try to focus on what she brings to the table, rather than outside negativity.
“If I dwell on the negative parts of entering the [business] field, I think it may hinder me more than help,” she said.
Yoder believes there is a pay gap between men and women, but it varies by profession, citing the pay disparity between men and women’s basketball.
According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, the NBA has paid its players between 49 and 51 percent of the league’s revenue, but WNBA players have received a maximum of 22.8 percent.
“To be honest, I think the whole thing is kind of dumb. However, I do understand the frustration, as women are working the same job as men and getting paid less,” Yoder said.
There have been things done to try to manage the wage gap, such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 signed into law by then-President John F. Kennedy. The act prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women.
In a March 2025 study, the Pew Research Center updated the change in the pay wage gap.
“In 2024, women earned an average of 85 percent of what men earned, [an] analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. In 2003, women earned 81 percent as much as men,” according to the center.
This statistic reflects a trend from years past.
Yoder feels that while women have come a long way, the future is still uncertain.
“[Women] have made a lot of progress, and our voices have been heard, [but] I would be wary of getting cocky. There is sexism in the workplace, [and] if we are going to keep making progress and not take steps backward, we must have the mentality to be the bigger person,” she said.
Contact Shelby Anderson via email at sanderson9@bsu.edu.
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