November 1, 2021

Gender Bias Adds Up

       

In 2021, hiring and pay discrimination based on gender are at least on people’s radars, not to mention illegal. But what if the discrimination is more subtle and quotidian? The everyday kind of discrimination that doesn’t add up to a lawsuit can be just as damaging to women’s careers as any landmark hiring settlement, but is ignored by the law and marginalized by HR. This is Jessica Nordell’s argument, which she lays out in a recent New York Times op-ed describing the research for her recent book The End of Bias.

Nordell contends that, although much of the discrimination women face in the workplace would never lead to formal complaints on their own, the effects are the same, marginalization, being frozen out of decision-making, and being passed over for promotions.

In the op-ed, Nordell describes a model she and several computer scientists developed to simulate what would happen to cohorts of workers over a 10-year period based on a set of rules that incorporate the kind of gender bias discussed in the research literature Nordell reviewed. Her findings, while not surprising, are certainly dismaying, with women less likely to make it to the highest level in her workplace simulation and more likely to spend more time getting there than male counterparts.

Unfortunately, what is to be done is not entirely clear. Generally, Nordell says that leaders need to be fully committed to overhauling practices and culture, but the specific interventions, unlike in her simulation where they imposed quotas which had some effect on bias, are still so dependent on the profession, social pressures beyond the workplace and who is actually involved in the decision-making process.

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Women Leaders Weigh in on the Pandemic and Beyond

November 23, 2020
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As part of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, New York Times reporters and editors sought the perspectives of some of the leading executives in the business and finance world about the role women have and can continue to play in the post-pandemic work world.

As President, Joe Biden Can Protect Workers

November 19, 2020
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In a new blog post at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, professors David Michaels and Gregory Wagner lay out an 11-point overview of a longer policy paper that they believe president-elect Joe Biden can enact on day one in office to protect workers

Historic Victory for Paid Family Leave in Colorado

November 12, 2020
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While much of the post-election attention has been focused on the presidential race, there has been little said about what looks to be a historic victory for working Coloradans, who have chosen to join eight other states, including New York, and Washington D.C. in providing paid family leave for new parents as well as those dealing with a family emergency. This is the first paid family leave law to be won through a ballot initiative, rather than implemented by elected officials.

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