Equally Wrong
Civitas, 1 February 2011
In October last year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggested that progress to close the gender pay gap was grinding to a halt. That December, the Office of National Statistics inconveniently noted ‘the biggest fall in the gender pay gap since the measure was first produced using the ASHE methodology in 1997’. This renders the EHRC’s predictions as reliable as the Met office’s in recent years. Curiously, this tremendous news has yet to penetrate very far into the consciousness of those calling for more Government intervention and legislation to close the gap. Could it be that our relatively flexible labour markets are already doing a great job at breaking down barriers to employment, at the very least for those women who want and choose to engage in full time work?
Interviews with 80 female faculty members at a research university — the largest qualitative study of its kind — have found that many women in careers are deeply frustrated by a system that they believe undervalues their work and denies them opportunities for a balanced life. While the study found some overt discrimination in the form of harassment or explicitly sexist remarks many of the concerns involved more subtle deeply entrenched inequities.While the study was conducted with support from the National Science Foundation at the University of California at Irvine the reports authors and most of those who were interviewed for the research state that they dont believe the problems discussed are unique to Irvine.