Equal pay! - teachers page

Secondary activity

Equal pay!

Curriculum links

NCEA Mathematics Achievement Standard AS90193

• use statistical methods and information
   

Mathematics: Statistics strand – level 6

• formulate statistical questions about situations involving possible relationships
  between variables
• make and justify statements about relationships between variables in a sample as a result of a statistical investigation
• suggest improvements in the investigation, design, data collection or display, where possible inferences are inconclusive. 
   

Background

This activity uses the SURF for Schools dataset to explore whether males and females are paid equally. It is designed to give students practice in using data to answer a question, as required for AS 90193 – using statistical methods and information.

You may want to use a subset of the dataset where students are analysing the data manually.

The sample answers below are to show one way of answering the question about what defines equal pay and what sorts of comments are expected for justifications. It is not the only, or necessarily the best, way of doing the activity. The answers use the whole dataset.

Sample answers

Part 1

1.   

3. Median female earnings are below the lower quartile for males. This indicates a large difference between the earnings of females and males. In addition, the mean earnings for males are much higher than they are for females.

Part 2

1.

Medians and quartiles are shown in the graphs below.

3. Comments will differ but all graphs show males with a higher income than females. The mean calculations support this. A comment of whether the gap is wider or narrower would be useful.

4. A comment justifying or criticising their choice of qualifications.

Part 3

A variety of responses are possible.