As 2008 ends — and I am glad to say good riddance to it — I’ve come across one more study about men and women that has left me dumbfounded. In September
The Journal of Applied Psychology published a study called
"Is the Gap More Than Gender?". The results of the study conducted by Timothy Judge and Beth Livingston, organizational psychologists at the University of Florida, showed that men who believe women should stay home in traditional roles earned $8,549 more per year than men with more egalitarian values (and, of course, more than women who are traditional or egalitarian). The authors of the study, profiled in "The Year in Ideas" published by
The New York Times on December 14, think that perhaps egalitarian men don’t negotiate salary as strongly as their less enlightened counterparts or perhaps employers unconsciously discriminate against “egalitarian men who don’t conform to stereotypes.” Wow. It just shows me how much progress still remains to be made in the workplace. What’s it like at your company, are the stereotypical chauvinist males in charge, making more than everyone else, and promoting and rewarding others just like them? Here’s hoping 2009 has some good news to report about equality between men and women. And here’s hoping that the global economy fares better in 2009 than in 2008. Happy New Year all.
