November 13 th

1. November 13th • Sign in • Lecture 9: Gender and the Economy • Homework: • Washington Post article 7/13/06 “Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist” (CR) • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071201883.html

2. Lecture 9 Gender and the Economy

3. My daily needs: • Think about all the things you need in a regular day that allows you to accomplish your daily tasks and goals – these can be physical, biological, and emotional. Make a list and next to each thing, write: • Who takes care of these needs for you (yourself, a parent, sibling, partner/spouse, government agency, etc)? • Why this person in particular fulfills this need for you. • If they are paid to take care of this need.

4. Free Riders? • The social relations of power inside and outside the home affect and interact with each other • Women's domestic labor in the home augments men’s work outside the home (male pattern of work) • Free Rider: Person that enjoys a benefit accruing from the work of others, but contributes little or nothing to the effort • Does society as a whole, and men as a group, ‘free ride’ off the labor of women in our society (and around the world)? • Look at Figure 8.1 on pg 203: Why do women work more than men?

5. The Gender Double-Bind • When the definition of an economy includes only activities that involve monetary transactions, much of women's productive and reproductive work is excluded • Double-bind: Women are disadvantaged in the labor market due to their domestic responsibilities, and their disadvantaged position in employment leads to a continuation of these domestic responsibilities

6. More women working for wages today • Paid work is an important institution because it carries power and influences much of our lives • Women have always worked in the labor force, but not as much as they do today • 1900 = 20% → 1988 = 50% →1998 = 65%

7. Occupational Segregation • The workplace is highly segregated by sex, which promotes gender inequalities • Pink collar occupations • Blue-collar/male occupations • More women are entering into “male occupations” than men into “female occupations” • Why?

8. Structural Barriers • Structural and social barriers largely explain sex segregation in the workplace, not human capital • Is education the great equalizer? • HS: men = $32K women = $22K • BA: men = $51K women = $36K • PhD: men = $77K women $56K

9. November 19th • Sign in • Finish Lecture 9: Gender and the Economy • Homework: • “The Globe Trotting Sneaker” by Cynthia Enloe (CR) • Research paper #3

10. Wage Gap:For Every White Man’s $...

11. Glass Ceiling • “Class Ceiling”: artificial barriers based on attitudes or organizational bias that keep women from being promoted • “Sticky Floor”: low wage positions with limited mobility • “Class Elevator”: men are often promoted quickly in traditionally “female” occupational sectors

12. Does Silicon Valley have a Glass Ceiling? • Of CA’s 400 largest companies only 11.6% of executive officers are women • Santa Clara county companies are last in the state for gender equality • What are the explanations? • Career confusion • Structural barriers • Networks favor men • Tech culture

13. The Last “Glass Ceiling” • United States (16%) ranks 69 out of a 135 countries for gender equality in politics • Behind…. • Sudan (18%) • China (21%) • Costa Rica (27%) • Sweden (48.8%) and Rwanda (47%) are the top two

14. Mommy Tax • $1 million “mommy tax” for college educated women • 30 year old American women without children earns 90% of men’s wages, but with children earns 70% • MBA’s who pulled out of the job market for 8 months earned 17% less than counterparts • Professional men with working wives and children earn about 20% less than single men

15. Should we try to make work more equal for men and women?

16. Personal Choices? • Feminist Linda Hirshman’s Three Rules: • Prepare yourself to qualify for good work • use your college education with an eye to career goals • Treat work seriously • Find the money, because money = power • Don't put yourself in a position of unequal resources when you marry • Marry down • Only have one child, if any

17. Public Policy Solutions? • Look to Sweden? • Lowest levels of gender inequality • Pro-family policies: • 1 year maternity leave at 75% of salary • Right to return at 80% schedule until child is 8 • Fathers get 10 days off and one month at 80% pay • Universal preschool

18. November 24th • Discuss Research #3 • Finish Lecture 9 • Homework: none – take a break

19. More than sex segregation… • Sex segregation and the wage gap reveals that women’s opportunities in the workplace are constrained because of their gender, however… • Women’s experiences in the labor force vary by ethnicity, race, age, and class • Historically women who worked were poor, Black/Latino, and recent immigrants

20. Women’s work and class • While, there are women working today, most growth has been among: • Families earning $20K or less a year • 67% single parents are working women • 65% of dual parent families have working women • Since the 1960’s women have entered to supplement family income as men’s earning power has declined

21. Feminization of Poverty • In 2004, 5.5% of all two-parent families in the United States lived in poverty, but 28% of families headed by single mothers did • Complicated by race and ethnicity • 46% of Latina single mothers • 44% of Black single mothers • 29% white single mothers

22. Work, Poverty, Gender, and Race • Working Poor: work fulltime in jobs that are less secure, low-paying, and deskilled • Women and single-mothers fill the ranks of the working poor • Poverty and Welfare Cycle • 90% women, 63% Black/Latino, 50% no HS diploma, disabilities, and domestic violence

23. Poverty and Single Motherhood • Different family forms are placed differently in the social structure • 63% of African American children are born to single mothers • Historical Legacy: Black Family and Slave-Economic System • No marriage • Strengthen female relationships, mother-child bond, valued women’s labor • Mothers makes choices based on their position in the opportunity structure • Marriage often offers women in poverty limited benefits

24. The Color of Opportunity • Economic opportunities for Black men are limited: • 2x the unemployment rate • More likely to be in low wage, less stable jobs • Lower educational achievement • 1 in 3 Black men with only a high school diploma will go to prison before turning 40 • Black men whose job applications stated that they had spent time in prison were only about one-third as likely as white men with similar applications to get a positive response • White men who are ex-felons are more likely to be hired that black men without a criminal record

25. Understanding the intersection of race, class, and gender • Different family forms are placed differently in the social structure • Why might their be a higher rate of poverty among single mothers? • Wage gap • Double-bind • Potential partners earning ability • Sex segregation • Lack of cultural and social support in society

26. Wage Gap:For Every White Man’s $...

27. What about gender IN the workplace?

28. Sexuality and the Workplace • Sexual orientation not included in the 1964 Civil Right Act • 2000 Bill Clinton signed an executive order that banned discrimination for all civilian employees in the executive branch • 17 states and 180 cities have laws • Many workplaces where open homosexuality is not accepted • Military: 1993 “Don’t ask, don’t tell policy” • Engaging in sex with a person of the same sex is grounds for discharge, however being gay is not

29. Does gender make a difference in how we understand the performance of individuals on the job?

30. Political Equality in India • India has significant gender inequality with only 9% of MPs being women • A 1991 law requires one-third of village council elections to female candidates • Study found that the villages headed by women invested in more services that benefited the entire community - schools, roads, and water pumps— than did those with gender-neutral elections, nearly all of which were won by men. • But opinion polls showed the women's governance got lower approval ratings than their male counterparts.

31. Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don’t • Study surveyed 1,231 senior executives from the United States and Europe • It found that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes — defined as focusing “on work relationships” and expressing “concern for other people’s perspectives” — are considered less competent. • But if they act in ways that are seen as more “male” — like “act assertively, focus on work task, display ambition” — they are seen as “too tough” and “unfeminine.”

32. Same Behavior, Different Gender • Study participants were shown videos of job applicants and asked to rate the applicant and chose their salary • Videos were identical, except for two variables • Gender varied • One video applicant gets angry and the other sad • The participants were most impressed with the angry man, followed by the sad woman, then the sad man, and finally, at the bottom of the list, the angry woman • Angry man got $38k, while angry woman got $23k

33. Too Sexy? • One study showed respondents a video of a woman wearing a sexy low-cut blouse with a tight skirt or a skirt and blouse that were conservatively cut. • The woman recited the same lines in both, and the viewer was either told she was a secretary or an executive. • Being more provocatively dressed had no effect on the perceived competence of the secretary, but it lowered the perceived competence of the executive dramatically.

34. What a difference a gender makes? “Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist”

35. Does the number of women matter? • “Men and Women of the Corporation”: study by Moss Kanter • Tokenism develops in organizations where there is a large preponderance of one type over another up to a ratio of 85:15, • Tokenism: the practice of hiring or appointing a token number of people from underrepresented groups in order to deflect criticism or comply with affirmative action rules

36. Tokens Reinforce Stereotypes • Tokenism does not change stereotypes of social systems but works to preserve them • Tokens get more attention and have higher visibility than those in the dominant group • Tokens are ironically, both highly visible as people different and yet not permitted the individuality of their unique, non-stereotypical characteristics

37. Am I doing a good job? • Token does not have to work hard to be noticed, but does have to work hard to have achievements noticed • Women had to put in extra effort to make their technical skills known • Fear of retaliation • Set up a dynamic that can make tokens afraid of being too outstanding in performance on group events and tasks • Response to performance pressures - must make a choice • Take advantage of publicity and risk being labeled a “trouble-maker” • Limit visibility and become overlooked

38. Symbolic Consequences • Performance could affect the prospects of other women in the company • Every act tended to be evaluated beyond its meaning for the organization and taken as a sign of “how women perform”

39. The Woman’s Slot • Once women began to occupy certain jobs, those jobs became known as “women’s slots” • Affirmative action and equal employment opportunity jobs were also seen as women’s jobs • Women were stereotyped into roles within the corporation

40. The Mother Role • The assumption that women are sympathetic, good listeners and easy to talk to • Unlikely that nurturance, support and expressivity will be valued

41. The Seductress • Should a woman cast as a sex object share her attention widely, she risks the debasement of the whore • Other men may resent the high status male for winning the prize and resent the woman for gaining an “in” with the high status male • Rewarded for her femaleness and her perceived sexuality blotted out all other characteristics

42. The Pet Role • Adopted by the male group as the cute amusing thing, mascot, cheerleader • Expected to admire male displays but not enter them • Shows of competence were treated as special because they were not expected

43. The Iron Maiden • Women who resist overtures that would trap them in a role • Stereotyped as tougher than they are and trapped in a more militant stance than they might otherwise take

44. Why a ‘few good women’ won’t work • Tokenism is a system rather than an individual construct • System phenomena require system-level intervention • In the absence of external pressures for change, tokenism is a self-perpetuating system