{"id":42957,"date":"2014-04-11T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T17:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=42957"},"modified":"2014-04-11T14:03:38","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T19:03:38","slug":"the-gender-gap-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=42957","title":{"rendered":"The “Gender Gap”, Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Example 1<\/strong>:\u00a0 Take two electrical engineers; \u00a0both 32 years old, both in the industry at the same firm since graduating from the same college with the same BA<\/del> BS in EEE. \u00a0One – not naming names here – has worked at the company the entire ten years. \u00a0The other – again, not naming names – has taken about a year of parental leave, and also spent about a year working part-time while their kids were little. \u00a0 \u00a0So between an engineer with ten years’ experience and one with in effect 8.5 years’ experience, who, all other things being equal should<\/em>\u00a0get paid more?<\/p>\n

Example 2<\/strong>: Take two\u00a025 year olds. \u00a0One became an oilfield worker – a field involving a lot of brutally hard work, dominated by men, and with perennial shortage of workers with immense demand (especially in North Dakota), driving up wages. \u00a0One went into social work – a field involving significant work, sometimes a state license, dominated by women, and a perennial glut of workers, driving down wages. \u00a0With all other things equal, who should get paid more?<\/p>\n

Example 3<\/strong>: Take two accountants – one male, one female.\u00a0 They have identical qualifications, identical experience, identical job reviews.\u00a0 Who do you think makes more?\u00a0 Statistically, the difference is within the realm of statistical noise, nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Example 4<\/strong>:\u00a0 Take a low-income couple. He works as a security guard, doing his best to pick up 50 hours a week to make ends meet.\u00a0 To avoid having to pay daycare, she stays at home with the kids and is counting the days til their youngest is at\u00a0kindergarten so she can get a temp office job, or a part-time job at Target.\u00a0 This one’s a no-brainer, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Example 5<\/strong>:\u00a0 A female business analyst with ten years’ experience is working with a male business analyst working his first job.\u00a0 Who makes more?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Example 6<\/strong>: A brother and a sister – fraternal twins – graduate from high school.\u00a0 He\u00a0goes into car mechanics.\u00a0 She goes into daycare.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Now – compare the “men” in the above examples with the “Women”. In aggregate, the guys make about 50% more than the women.<\/p>\n

Is it because the men in the five examples are benefitting from sexism?\u00a0 Or because of the…:<\/p>\n