Nine Shift

Will the Internet close the gender pay gap?

 Just like 100 years ago, today’s transition from one economic age to a better one will help narrow the gender pay gap. But will it close the gap?

 Women earn about 73% of men. There were steep advances in pay for women for most of the 20^th century. But the current 73% glass pay ceiling has not cracked for the past several decades.

 The web will narrow the gender pay gap for these Nine Shift reasons: 1) when women work from home, they can spend more time with their family with less sacrifice to work. 2) when men work from home, they can spend more time with their family with less sacrifice to work. 3) women working from home, like men, will find a global knowledge workplace, where employers at a distance pay based on output, not office or gender politics.

 Will the Internet close the gender pay gap? Tell us what you think. 

 

Major university association attacks boys again

 The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), a leading education association, has attacked boys again in another attempt to decrease the percentage of males graduating from higher education.

 Its latest effort is to urge faculty to replace multiple choice tests with essay exams. As males do better on multiple choice tests than essays, and females score significantly better on essays than males, the impact would be to further bias grading against males, widening the GPA gender gap.

 Why males do better on multiple choice tests and females do better on essays is a function of neurology and has been documented for decades. In a follow up interview with Wm. Draves, College Board testing officials confirmed there is “tons of research and evidence” that multiple choice tests are a legitimate form of testing.

 The AAC&U recommendations come from a study of only 300 employers, none of whom were reported to have any knowledge or expertise in testing. Asked to provide the survey questions,  the AAC&U refused. The lead researcher, f Peter Hart Associates, initially offered to provide the survey questions, and then ominously fell silent online and did not follow up on her offer.

 Boys currently learn as much as girls in higher education, but receive much worse grades, are flunked at a higher rate, and forced out without graduating at a higher rate than females. While males have the same level of academic achievement as females, colleges allow a decreasing percentage of graduates to be male, now below 40%. Colleges have kept males as a minority of graduates for almost 30 years now. The AAC&U gender policy is a major cause of the scientist shortage, food supply veterinarian shortage, and computer scientist shortage.

Gen Y and authenticity

Some great new evidence about Gen Y and their demand for authenticity.

Four out of 10 young people watch the actual candidates (Obama, Clinton, McCain) speeches, substantially higher than older people, according to a Pew study quoted in NYT March 27.

Some 50% of older people (50 and up;  39% of people 30-40) watch tv news, listen to commentators, and read "about" speeches.  But only 25% of Gen Y watches campaign coverage; instead they listen to the actual campaign speeches.

Co-author Julie says is part of their demand for authenticity and "realness."  In a related topic, Julie says that when fake YouTubers (e.g. lonelygirl15) are outed, that Gen Y shuns these fakers.  Fascinating.