Discrimination Exists
I won't suggest that women are never discriminated against in hiring, promotion, and salary decisions. Sometimes they are. They are not alone. Ample studies document workplace discrimination against men and women because of their weight and against men (and seldom women) based on height. Racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination still exists as well. Farrell's book, however, documents the much greater role that choice plays in maintaining the pay gap between men and women and it provides a roadmap for women who want to close the pay gap with men rather than simply complaining passively about that pay gap.
Why Can't Women Be More Like Men?
Farrell claims, "It's all about trade-offs. You earn more money, you usually sacrifice something at home." His research into jobs data found that higher-paying jobs are more likely to require longer commuting times, safety risks, frequent travel, long hours and other factors that, in his tests, men are more likely than women to choose.
In the book, he identifies 25 different choices men and women make in their careers that affect their income. To each of these 25 choices he attaches specific ways women can earn higher pay and includes the research to support the claim.
"The purpose of the book is not just to determine whether or not there was a real a pay gap, but also to be able to direct women to having better lives," said Farrell. "If you are making personal decisions, then you can choose to change them if you wish to. The great news is that there are 90 fields that pay women more than men and there are 39 fields that pay 5 percent more than men." Fast Company provides this list of ten of those areas in which women earn at least 5% more than men.
Why Can't Men Be More Like Women?
So if a woman can close the pay gap and even earn more in some professions than her male counterparts, is there an upside for men to be learned from Farrell's book? Perhaps it is in learning the benefit of balance.
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