Forget the Glass Ceiling: It’s Time to Redesign the Building

1. Forget the Glass Ceiling: It’s Time to Redesign the Building Ellen Bravo January 23, 2008 Women’s Faculty Council Medical College of Wisconsin

2. Percentage of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies? Percentage of women among top earners? Employment area where great gains in the last few decades? Women's earnings as % of men? Which professions have internal pay equity: Law Medicine Journalism Internet Professionals Financial Managers Retail Sales Poultry Workers Secretaries Corporate Managers How are Women Doing?

3. Bangladesh Botswana Brazil Cameroon Canada India Iran Mexico Mongolia Netherlands Norway Swaziland Sweden U.S. Zambia Which Countries Lack Paid Leave?

4. At the Top • Women CEO’s in Fortune 500: 2.6% • Women among top earners: 6%

5. U.S. Senate – 16% Governors – 18% U.S. Congress – 16% Tenured faculty – 25% Women in Government, Academia in U.S.

6. Area of Great Gain in U.S. • Moonlighting (holding more than one job) – women were 70% of new entrants, almost half of the category • A third of these women work two or more part-time jobs

7. Women’s Pay in U.S. • Women's earnings 77% of men's. • African-American women 72% • Latinas 58%

8. The Pay Gap • Law: 70% • Medicine: 77% • Internet Professionals: 88% • Financial Managers: 69% • Retail Sales: 64% • Poultry Workers: 71% • Secretaries: 90% • Corporate Managers: 68% • More than 90% of long-term low adult earners are female

9. Real Pay Gap Much Larger • Wage gap looks at one year, full-time workers. • Study of 15 years, all work hours, gap is 38% of men’s pay. Study by Stephen J. Rose and Heidi Hartmann, IWPR, “A Man’s Labor Market: The Long Term Earnings Gap.”

10. Realities about the Gap • Half the narrowing comes from loss of pay of men, particularly men of color • Gap is widest for women with highest education and longest hours • Mommy gap has increased

11. WHY DO WOMEN EARN SO LITTLE MONEY? Show of Hands

12. Explanations? • Women need less. • Women deserve less. • Women’s jobs require little skill or training. • Women do their jobs out of love. • Women trade income for flexibility.

13. Explanation? • Women are too shy – they don’t ask

14. Women earn less because: • Their employers pay them less • In “women’s” jobs • In same jobs as men • Fewer in top jobs • History – devaluing of women and work associated with women

15. Biased Job Evaluations • Female bindery workers get no points for binding skill - all women know how to sew • Nurses jobs unpleasant? “Do you work with grease? • Omitting a range of tasks related to women’s work - eg, dealing with the public, handling multiple tasks, consequence of error.

16. U.S. Laws Not Enough • Equal Pay Act of 1963 – by then most women and men didn’t do same jobs • Civil Rights Act of 1964 – gender added as a joke • Costs of sexual harassment. • Recent Supreme Court decision on pay discrimination.

17. Why Are So Few Women at the Top? Your views?

18. Good Old Boy Network • More than half of the chairs of the boards of Fortune 500 companies are sons of former board chairs of those companies. • 80% of job openings are filled by word of mouth with no advertising

19. Other Barriers • Work-family policies: family values too often end at the workplace door. • Fringe rather than core • Lack of reduced time – or penalty attached • Notion of success as face time • Lowest-paid, least flexible

20. 100% Pay: Bangladesh Brazil Cameroon India Netherlands Norway Sweden Zambia Partial Pay Canada – 50 weeks, 55% Botswana – 12 weeks 25% Iran, 16 weeks, 66% Mongolia – 17weeks, 70% No Pay Swaziland U.S. How the US Stacks Up: Paid Leave

21. Not So Family-Friendly • Most women in U.S. have no paid maternity leave • No federal law in U.S. requires paid sick days – half the workforce, three-fourths of low-wage, have none.

22. Problems with U.S. FMLA

23. Additional Reasons • Mommy penalty (even with stronger policies) – mothers 44% less likely be hired, paid $11,000 less (Correll study) • Part-time inequity • Lack of bargaining rights • Intersection with race discrimination. • Percent increases, what you made at your last job

24. Corporate Culture • Jack Welch: “People who publicly struggle with work-life balance problems and continually turn to the company for help get pigeonholed as ambivalent, entitled, uncommitted, incompetent – or all of the above.” • Problems even at many “best places to work.” • “Aha” moments

25. What’s at Stake • High cost of being poor • Well-being of children and families • highest child poverty, infant mortality rates in industrialized world • Public health • High costs for employers – turnover • 150% of salary; $5500 for low-wage workers.

26. Redesign the Building • Revalue women’s work • Make work-family core instead of fringe – related to how work is designed • Change concept success, what it takes to advance • Make formal, available to all • Make affordable, accessible • Quality part-time - equity in pay, benefits, advancement • Accountability for managers

27. Why: Not a Favor to Women • A better way to do business. • Talent • Retention • Customer Satisfaction • Fit with mission • Reputation in the community • Examples: • SAS • Costco vs. Wal-Mart

28. What are the Solutions: Employers • Get buy-in on what’s at stake • Conduct an audit: pay, training, advancement, use of policies • Team evaluate policies,recommend revisions • Look at practice, not just policies on paper • Change attitudes with training, role models • Affirmative action • Build skills – mentoring, scholarships, career development paths • Involve front-line staff.

29. Guarantee for All • Smart employers will do this on their own. • Not all – need public policies as well.

30. Public Policy Changes • Pay: • Pay equity - unbiased job evaluations • Equity for part-timers • Increase bargaining power • End family responsibility discrimination • Increase training • Gender equity on boards, management teams • Require policies, training re sexual harassment

31. Public Policy Changes • Value Families at Work • Expand access and affordability of FMLA • Guarantee paid sick days. • Expand definition family – same-sex, sibs, etc • Right to request flex. • End mandatory overtime. • Child Care • Public investment, quality • After-school care

32. How Do We Get There? • The best way to get what you need for yourself is to work with others on behalf of everyone.

33. Increased Collaboration • Connecting the dots: School nurses . Women . Seniors . Labor . Progressive employers . Moms Rising . Faith-based . Disabilities groups . Chronic disease . Alzheimers Association . AIDS groups . Mental health organizations . PTAs . Principals . School boards . Social workers . Cities/counties groups . Citizen Action . Welfare rights/anti-poverty groups . Children’s groups . Foster children . Work-family researchers . Legal groups . Parents of adult disabled . Adoption groups . Immigrant advocates . Racial justice groups . Human Rights groups . LGBT groups . Non-profit associations . Insurers . Women’s business groups . AAUW . YWCA . Planned Parenthood . Family Physicians

34. Making Progress in the States • Winning forms of paid leave • expanding TDI to include family leave: • California won! • New Jersey • New York • creating new form of social insurance: • Washington won! • Illinois • Massachusetts

35. Making Progress in the States • Making progress on guaranteeing protection: • Sick days: • San Francisco won! • DC will win! • Massachusetts. Maine, Milwaukee • Many planning. • Family Care: • Maine, Washington • Expanding FMLA to domestic partners: • California won, Maine winning • FMLA for school activities: • Georgia • Wisconsin

36. Within the House • Housework is work to be done by those who live in the house. • Equal relationships are best for kids, for couples.