tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13623730.post114083499511785291..comments2008-02-24T21:41:05.264-05:00Stellar1noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13623730.post-55807520557712764652008-02-24T21:41:00.000-05:002008-02-24T21:41:00.000-05:00Well said. As a male believer in equity, this is a disturbing trend to me, which hasn't really been given serious consideration. I could tell stories of elementary school education by almost exclusively female teachers, and what message (and expectations) that sends to male students. <BR/><BR/>But I would like to comment on a particular 'throw-away' line with which I have some more recent personal experience. You said, "Even in countries where women are considered equal, there are still significant gaps in political representation and pay rates for the same jobs held by a man." I beg to differ with one assumption of this statement.<BR/><BR/>As I'm sure you know, there are not a lot of women in engineering. While that's changing, the fact is that in my 12-person department, there is only one female engineer. I have been trying to hire more, but I have a problem. We offer entry-level graduate engineers in the range of $50k-55k, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or other inherent factors. I have interviewed several female engineers, and we have made a few offers. They have all turned us down, because they receive offers of $60k-65k elsewhere. I can't afford to pay any PERSON that amount as entry-level, because it would distort the pay rates of the entire department. (BTW, I have been able to hire several male entry level engineers at the offered salary.) So, in some (admittedly local and very narrow) circumstances, the assumption of a pay rate differential favoring men over women is just as erroneous as the assumption that male students are, by virtue of the system, more apt to succeed in school.<BR/><BR/>(note-I didn't really intend to post this anonymously, but I'm having problems with authentication and posting. I apologize for any inconvenience. -willie74)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13623730.post-1141243162129822562006-03-01T14:59:00.000-05:002006-03-01T14:59:00.000-05:00Good to see you back.Zoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10133929643552080823noreply@blogger.com