The Gender Pay Gap (Upper-Intermediate Lesson)

ESL/EFL Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2/C1)
Lesson Topics: the gender pay gap, discrimination, parenting
Skill Focus: Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: gender-pay-gap-upper-intermediate-052023.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • After warm-up activities, students conduct a pre-listening debate on whether they believe the gender pay gap exists. Afterward, students pre-read comprehension questions and then watch a 6-minute YouTube video from the "Devil's Advocate" Series by BigThink on the Gender Pay Gap.
  • Post-reading activities include a read, recall, and retell activity, follow-up questions, vocabulary matching, and a pair-work activity in which students use vocabulary from the passage to ask each other questions.
  • Next, students role-play two situations related to managing children while working, determine which statements are myths, and practice playing devil's advocate.
  • The lesson ends with a review of collocations and discussion questions.

A woman holding a laptop with a clock behind her

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) EFL Lesson Plan on the Gender Pay Gap

Warm-up Questions

  1. What does the phrase “gender pay gap” mean?
  2. How do you feel that your gender has affected your pay in the jobs you have done?
  3. When you hear the below job titles, what kind of person do you think of? If you had to draw them, what would they look like (gender, age, ethnicity, etc.)? Why is that?[1]

pilot      nurse    receptionist       scientist            hairdresser       teacher             professor          CEO    

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-- Lesson plan on The Gender Pay Gap written by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). ChatGPT was used to help with some idea generation, particularly for the myth section. Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author.

Comprehension Question Answers

  1. The gap has gotten smaller now (I assume he is referring to the West, specifically in the U.S.). He gives an example that 40% of women now earn more than median men. This figure was only at 13% in 1979.
  2. He believes the pay gap exists. He just doesn’t believe that it’s mainly due to discrimination.
  3. One reason is the fact that women tend to be in occupations that have lower pay. Having children is one key factor that is causing a pay gap. However, the biggest one is differences in child-rearing responsibilities.
  4. These patterns tell us that the gap begins when children are born. Prior to childbirth, the earnings of both sexes are quite similar.
  5. He suggests the following: 1) reducing the impact taking time out of the labor market (for mothers) has on career development, 2) redesigning career ladders (assumingly to make career growth more accessible for workers who take leave for maternity), and 3) encourage fathers to do more work at home with their children.
  6. He has learned that raising children takes much more than five years. The adolescent years are hugely important as well.

Vocabulary answers: 1-myth, 2-discrimination, 3-decline, 4-median, 5-career ladder, 6-labor market, 7-leave policies, 8-impact, 9-to rub salt in the wounds, 10-critical, 11-shrink

Myth answers: The myths are A, C, E, G, H, and I

Collocation Answers: 1-d, 2-b, 3-c, 4-a, 5-e

Endnotes:

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