Carlsbad, Calif. — Nothing disturbs working women
more than the statistics often mentioned
on Labor Day showing that they are
paid only 76 cents to men's dollar
for the same work. If that were the
whole story, it should disturb all
of us; like many men, I have two daughters
and a wife in the work force.
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 without bosses - who own their
own businesses - earned only 49 percent
of male business owners. Why? When
the Rochester Institute of Technology
surveyed business owners with M.B.A.'s
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 trade offs. Men's trade
offs 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.)
Does this imply that mothers sacrifice
careers? Not really. Surveys of men
and women in their 20's find that
both sexes (70 percent of men, and
63 percent of women) would sacrifice
pay for more family time. The next
generation's discussion will be about
who gets to be the primary parent.
Don't women, though, earn less than
men in the same job? Yes and no. For
example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
lumps together all medical doctors.
Men are more likely to be surgeons
(versus general practitioners) and
work in private practice for hours
that are longer and less predictable,
and for more years. In brief, the
same job is not the same. Are these
women's choices? When I taught at
a medical school, I saw that even
my first-year female students eyed
specialties with fewer and more predictable
hours.
But don't female executives also make
less than male executives? Yes. Discrimination?
Let's look. The men are more frequently
executives of national and international
firms with more personnel and revenues,
and responsible for bottom-line sales,
marketing and finances, not human
resources or public relations. They
have more experience, relocate and
travel overseas more, and so on.
Comparing men and women with the "same
jobs," then, is to compare apples
and oranges. However, when all 25
choices are the same, the great news
for women is that then the women make
more than the men. Is there discrimination
against women? Yes, like the old boys'
network. 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, speech-language pathologist,
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.
Warren Farrell is the author of "Why
Men Earn More: The Startling Truth
Behind the Pay Gap - and What Women
Can Do About It." |