A University labor studies expert and a U.S. Census Bureau analyst dispute a magazine study suggesting that female graduates entering the workplace this year may see pay equity achieved for women in their lifetime, according to a recent study.

According to a Working Woman magazine report, federal and state government's and the private sector's responses to wage discrimination based on sex will finally have affected a complete change in women's pay status by 2019.

Earl Miller, a Census Bureau statistical analyst for the Census Bureau, described Working Woman's figures as "reckless statistics."

Though he cited the increase in women's relative earnings, from 62.5 cents for each dollar earned by men in 1979 to 70.2 cents in 1988 as valid evidence indicating that women's financial status has undoubtedly improved, Miller suggested that there is not enough evidence to predict a certain date.

"We wouldn't do it," Miller said about the Working Woman prediction. "It's a mathematically dangerous prognostication."

Freida Rosen, a University labor studies instructor, said many differences in responsibility and training between traditionally female jobs and predominantly male jobs are ignored.

As a result, women in professions such as nursing receive less pay than men who work in jobs such as truck driving which demand considerably less responsibility and training, Rosen said.

In 1979, the salary for a University of Washington secretary with two years experience earned $847 to $1,085 a month while the starting salary for a university truck driver was $1,168 to $1,289 a month.

"This undervaluing of women's jobs then creates significant pay disparities," said Rosen.

Pay equity first came to national attention in 1983 when a federal district judge ordered the state of Washington to raise salaries for state employees in female-dominated jobs, Working Woman said.

Federal District Judge Jack Turner ruled that the evidence was "overwhelming" that the state had been practicing sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Judge Turner said the discrimination was "persuasive, intentional, and in violation of the law."

When Congress passed the Civil Rights Act 26 years ago, it also passed the Equal Pay Act, which prohibited sex-based discrimination within identical jobs in the same business, company or institution. However, it did not require that salary comparisons be made across job categories.

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) also reports that progress since 1963 in helping women achieve pay equity has been slow.

The federal government is unable to enact legislation that would require pay evaluations or comparisons because pay inequity occurs in different jobs that would be impractical to evaluate at a national level, the AFSCME report said.

With the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, pay inequity became easier to overlook since its call for and acceptance of "equal pay for equal work" standards seemed to be alleviating the problem.

The AFSCME report cites recent court cases that reveal pay disparities. For instance, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981 let stand an Appeals Court decision finding the Westinghouse Corporation guilty of perpetuating past discrimination when it combined the male and female wage schedules.

However, jobs traditionally occupied by women remained in the lowest pay grades and jobs traditionally held by men stayed in higher pay grades, the AFSCME report said.

"Women are getting the impression that they are getting paid more, but we're recovering from the downswing," said Lauren Rosenberg (senior-biology). "(Pay equity for women) decreased during the 70s. Now it's on the upswing."

According to an AFSCME report, The Equal Pay Act covers only those cases in which men and women are doing substantially similar work.

"The average cost to state and local governments of establishing more equitable pay systems has been only 2 to 5 percent of total payroll," said to Nina Rothchild, commissioner of employee relations for the State of Minnesota.

AFSCME also reported that in 1985, women earned only 62 cents for every dollar men earn because the two sexes traditionally have been segregated into different kinds of jobs.