Blog posts

New research published by McKinsey & Company reports on five benefits of paternity leave for families and employers and three ways to make paternity leave more attractive. For this study 130 new fathers and their partners were interviewed in depth across ten countries. The authors note that while heterosexual fathers … Read more

The European Space Agency has set a goal of recruiting more diverse astronauts into its training program. Monika Pronczuk, writing for the New York Times, reports that currently only one woman, Samantha Cristoforetti, is ready to be sent on a mission to the International Space Station. Pronczuk points out that … Read more

New research from the Eos Foundation’s Women’s Power Gap Initiative reveals a dramatic gender and race wage gap for professionals in higher education. This study examined publicly available information for 2,300 employees regarding the total compensation data of top earners in public institutions and private higher education institutions in 2017. … Read more

Ben Casselman of the New York Times writes that a body of evidence has been building for awhile that shows a deeply ingrained gender discrimination in the field of economics. Casselman notes that studies in recent years have shown that Women are less likely than men to be hired and … Read more

Being the first woman to do something seems to be happening more frequently now across a wide spectrum of roles and industries. It is important to take this moment to notice and mark them. We know there is no guarantee that opportunities will stay open to women unless we stay … Read more

I had the good fortune to spend a week at the Highlander Institute in New Market, Tennessee, as part of my graduate education. Attendance at a Highlander program was required to complete of my doctorate degree specialization in transformative learning for social justice. At Highlander I learned the truth about … Read more

Early in the pandemic I wrote a post about the potential long-term impact of the pandemic on working mothers in the United States. Now, several months later, new studies reveal the following bad news for working mothers: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the first ten months of … Read more

A long time ago I worked as a bookkeeper for several small restaurants. As I prepared payroll checks, I often wondered why servers were paid less than the minimum wage—a lot less. The current hourly wage is still very low: $2.13 per hour for restaurant servers. I never heard or … Read more

Several recent important moments in history for women in other countries stand out and seem important to highlight. Here are a few. France This headline in the New York Times caught my attention: “City of Paris Fined Nearly $110,000 for Appointing Too Many Women.” It seems that the first-ever woman … Read more

Let’s mark this moment. As of this writing, President Joe Biden has officially nominated the most diverse cabinet in US history. If members are confirmed, this will be the first-ever gender-balanced US cabinet with 50 percent of positions (eleven positions plus Vice President Kamala Harris) held by women. Of the … Read more