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Gender Differences in Executive Compensation and Job Mobility (2010)
- roymurdock 11y agoAbstract: Fewer women than men become executive managers. They earn less, hold more junior positions, and attrit faster. We compiled a large panel data set on executives and formed a career hierarchy to analyze promotion and compensation rates. Given executive rank and background, women are paid more than men, experience less income uncertainty, and are promoted as quickly. Amongst survivors, being female increases the chance of becoming CEO. Hence the gender pay gap and job rank differences are primarily attributable to female executives attriting at higher rates than males in an occupation where survival is rewarded with promotion and higher compensation.
- elthran 11y ago(Admission - I've only read the abstract) I wonder if there is any/what the correlation is between the attrition rate of these females and pregnancy - is becoming pregnant a significant blocker to their survivorship rate?
- Zikes 11y agoFrom the conclusion: It is most implausible to suggest that giving birth and caring for young children is the predominant reason why female executive managers, who average 50 years old in our sample, quit. Other unobserved factors leading managers to attrit could include more un-pleasantness, indignities, and tougher unrewarding assignments at work, examples of factors that reduce the attraction of work without necessarily affecting productivity or human capital acquisition. Perhaps women are subject to this form of gender discrimination. Another hypothesis is that women acquire more nonmarket human capital than men throughout their lives, and hence find retirement a relatively attractive option.
- facepalm 11y agoWhy shouldn't women quit at age 50 because of children? If they sacrificed family time for their career before, they might realize that suddenly there is not a lot of time left with their children before they will leave the house. Maybe at 50 they have secured enough money as well to be comfortable working less. Older men seem to be taking time off for family, too. It's a shame that they have to discredit their paper by ending it with pure speculation ("could include...").
- Zikes 11y agoAt 50 years old, most people's children would be having children of their own, let alone be out of the house. Retiring to spend more time with your adult children wouldn't make much sense when those children are likely just ramping up their own careers.
- efaref 11y agoMy mother semi-retired in her fifties to care for her grandchildren (providing free childcare so that my sister could continue her career). Perhaps this is a factor.
- Zikes 11y agoDefinitely a possibility, especially since two incomes are becoming so necessary.
- oldmanjay 11y agoNot necessary, just desirable because people like buying things. Considering it 'necessary' is actually part of what makes this a problem. If people knew how to want instead of need, they might next learn how to delay gratifying those wants. Instead, desire becomes confused with necessity and suddenly you can't live without an HDTV right now.
- 11y ago
- bigethan 11y agoSo if a woman can "survive" the business environment, she's more likely to become a CEO. To me that says: if she can survive through the bias/discrimination, she's probably much more qualified than her male counterparts. That women are driven away by bias/discrimination is the true failing of our workplaces.
- x1024 11y agoYour logic involves quite a few jumps to conclusions that aren't remotely proven by the contents of the paper.
- zo1 11y agoSorry, down-voted you by accident. Just so you know.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- wutbrodo 11y ago> How else can you explain the higher attrition rate Um, the very next sentences in the paragraph you just excerpted from? Not all of those are about discrimination.
- roymurdock 11y agoIt is most implausible to suggest that giving birth and caring for young children is the predominant reason why female executive managers, who average 50 years old in our sample, quit. Other unobserved factors leading managers to attrit could include more un-pleasantness, indignities, and tougher unrewarding assignments at work, examples of factors that reduce the attraction of work without necessarily affecting productivity or human capital acquisition. Although this does not support the "more qualified" argument, the study was specifically tailored to control for attrition from pregnancy, and the authors conclude that they are not entirely sure why older female executives quit at a higher rate than comparable male executives. It's not unreasonable to assume that it could be due to "discrimination" in the form of indignities and unfair assignment of tough/menial work, as the authors suggest.
- mcguire 11y agoActual title: "Gender Differences in Executive Compensation and Job Mobility"
- dang 11y agoYes. We changed it back to that from "Gender gaps in promotion and pay due to female attrition". To cherry-pick one detail to highlight from the article is a form (actually the leading form) of editorializing, which is against HN's rules about titles.
- marrone12 11y agoAh, gender analysis by authors who are all men. Very refreshing.
- roymurdock 11y agoLimor Golan is a woman.
- fennecfoxen 11y agoAh, quantitative results. Very refreshing.
- totony 11y agoHow does their gender matter? Are you implying that men are less capable than women?
- d0lph 11y agoClassic ad-hominem.
- beachwood23 11y agoIs there a specific problem with the actual analysis?
- ssijak 11y agoJudging the results of the studies by the genders of the people who have done the study is pretty basic case of discrimination. And I am certain that you are that kind of people who think that you can not discriminate against men, white people, etc.
- dang 11y agoPlease don't do this here. Your comment was factually wrong, but even if it weren't, provocative snark is something to avoid in HN threads. When commenting here, please make your point substantively.
- skizm 11y agoHey, if you haven't seen it before, this article by Scott Adams (the Dilbert guy) is a great summary of gender bias in the workplace: http://blog.dilbert.com/post/114055529676/my-verdict-on-gender-bias-in-the-workplace http://blog.dilbert.com/post/114055529676/my-verdict-on-gend... If you're going to read it, don't just skim it; read it from end to end.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y agoIsn't that the same Scott Adams who said that if he didn't get hugs on the regular he'd start killing people.
- skizm 11y agoDoesn't make the content of the article any less valid.