Why Men Earn More
Warren Farrell lays it out in the IHT:
Nothing disturbs America's working women more than the statistics showing that they are paid only 76 cents to men's dollar for the same work.
When I was on the board of the National Organization for Women in New York City, I blamed discrimination for that gap. Then I asked myself, "If an employer has to pay a man one dollar for the same work a woman would do for 76 cents, why would anyone hire a man?"
Perhaps, I thought, male bosses undervalue women. But I discovered that in 2000, women who own their own businesses earned only 49 percent of male business owners. Why? When the Rochester Institute of Technology surveyed business owners with MBAs from one top business school, they found that money was the primary motivator for only 29 percent of the women, versus 76 percent of the men. Women put a premium on autonomy, flexibility (25- to 35-hour weeks and proximity to home), fulfillment and safety.
After years of research, I discovered 25 differences in the work-life choices of men and women. All 25 lead to men earning more money, but to women having better lives.
High pay, as it turns out, is about tradeoffs. Men's tradeoffs include working more hours (women work more around the home); taking more dangerous, dirtier and outdoor jobs (garbage collecting, construction, trucking); relocating and traveling; and training for technical jobs with less people contact (like engineering).
Is the pay gap, then, about the different choices of men and women? Not quite. It's about parents' choices. Women who have never been married and are childless earn 117 percent of their childless male counterparts. (This comparison controls for education, hours worked and age.) Their decisions are more like married men's, and never-married men's decisions are more like women's in general (careers in arts, no weekend work, etc.)...And sometimes discrimination against women becomes discrimination against men: In hazardous fields, women suffer fewer hazards. For example, more than 500 marines have died in the war in Iraq. All but two were men. In other fields, men are virtually excluded - try getting hired as a male dental hygienist, nursery school teacher, cocktail waiter.
There are 80 jobs in which women earn more than men - positions like financial analyst, radiation therapist, library worker, biological technician, motion picture projectionist. Female sales engineers make 143 percent of their male counterparts; female statisticians earn 135 percent.
I want my daughters to know that people who work 44 hours a week make, on average, more than twice the pay of someone working 34 hours a week. And that pharmacists now earn almost as much as doctors. But only by abandoning our focus on discrimination against women can we discover these opportunities for women.
What the heck is a "Sales Engineer"?
Just askin'.
Although I'll probably not the the woman to break the "Trailer Barrier" and do the kind of stuff Don LaFontaine does, I'm glad to know I get paid well for the work I do.
Deirdre at September 7, 2005 2:52 AM
To paraphrase the title of an old Waitresses album, "We could rule the world if we could only get the childcare."
The thing is, most women aren't making career choices in a vacuum. Childcare options for a lot of us are pretty abysmal, which is going to limit how many hours some women can work or how much travelling or relocating they can do. Women also end up being the caretakers of elderly or sick parents or other family members. Now, yes, technically those are "choices", but I think until the cultural expectations change and men are expected to take an equal role in caretaking (not just parenting, but when Mom has the stroke, it's son Jimmy who takes care of her, not daughter Jane).
I've also seen a lot of direct and indirect pressure on middle and upper-middle class (white) women to scale back on their careers or stay home full-time once they have kids. I still don't hear the question being asked much of men "how do you balance career and family", though I do see more men asking themselves that question.
And yeah, what the heck is a "Sales Engineer"???
deja pseu at September 7, 2005 7:33 AM
A Sales Engineer supports the technical aspects of
the sale. Where the sales weasel will promise the moon,
the SE is the one who figures what the company can
actually deliver for the customer. They may also help
the customer in the installation and use of the product
and, depending on the company, may provide post-sales
technical help.
Ron at September 7, 2005 8:23 AM
Heh...Sales Weasels. As someone who regularly has to pick up after Sales weasels and try to deliver what they've promised (or to explain to them that pigs will fly before we'll be able to accommodate what they've requested), I guess I could be considered a Sales Engineer of sorts.
deja pseu at September 7, 2005 4:57 PM
This Op-Ed was also in the New York Times.
Deja, if you want to back off the child care and get more into your Sales Engineer career, it's pretty easy: find yourself a man (or woman, if you prefer) who wants to hang out with your brat all the time and work something out. You're a free person, and you can do this if you want.
And you don't have to wait until the world has changed, you're only looking for one willing party and they do exist. They're weird, I'll give you that, but they exist; watch out for Michael Jackson and anybody who used to be a Catholic priest, of course.
Richard Bennett at September 7, 2005 5:46 PM
Hey Richard, no worries. I'm happily married, have been for 10+ years, am very successful in my chosen field (as is Mr. Deja), and make enough to be able to afford good childcare. I'm one of those "selfish" women conservatives love to hate. :-)
deja pseu at September 7, 2005 7:10 PM
I hadn't heard that conservatives were targeting you for a hate campaign, pseu, but I'll check on it and call you names if it's on.
Richard Bennett at September 7, 2005 7:18 PM
The Onion makes a funny:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40300
deja pseu at September 8, 2005 6:35 AM
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