Read-Connect-Reflect #26

Read

Why women can’t overwork themselves out of workplace inequality (Forbes)

This article summarizes a new academic study that examined the disparate payoffs of increased work hours for men and women. When study participants were asked to evaluate hypothetical employees for potential promotion opportunities, they found that the candidates who worked 60 hours a week were disproportionately rewarded with advancement opportunities, even when presented with evidence that these workers were less efficient than the hypothetical employee who worked 40 hours a week.

Furthermore, when the hypothetical candidate was a woman, they attributed her increased work hours to incompetence—in short, they assessed they needed more time to get the job done—whereas men’s increased work hours were attributed to their career dedication.

This finding suggests that even when a woman completes the same amount and quality of work in 40 hours as a man does in 60 hours, the man will receive greater rewards. So women are disadvantaged not just because they tend to work less hours than men. Women are disadvantaged because face time gets valued more than efficiency.

Birthrates are plummeting worldwide. Why? and The deep conflict between our work and parenting ideals (New York Times)

This two-part podcast series, produced by The Ezra Klein Show, is well-worth a listen. In his interviews with Professor Jennifer Sciubba and friend-of-the-newsletter Professor Caitlyn Collins, Klein surfaces several important issues, ranging from just how difficult it is to raise children in the US, to the limited impact of policy interventions on raising the birth rate, to the unsustainable pressure of intensive parenting. It’s an important listen and I guarantee you will find yourself empathically shaking your head in agreement with much of what’s said.

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US salaries are surging for fully in-office jobs (BBC)

US companies want their employees back in the physical office, and they’re willing to offer employees financial incentives to get what they want. According to data cited in this article, “workers who swapped from fully remote to fully in-office set-ups in the US through 2023 received a 29.2% pay bump – nearly double that of those moving the other way.”

This trend has potentially alarming repercussions for women, particularly working mothers, who prioritize flexibility and prefer remote and hybrid work environments. If in-person workers are paid a premium for doing the same job, the gender pay discrepancy will almost certainly widen, and morale will take a significant hit.

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For families that need the most help, child care costs are about to drop (19th News)

Here’s a little bit of good news on the child care front… Beginning April 30, the Administration for Children and Families is capping childcare co-payments at 7% for families at or below 150% of the federal poverty line (as well as other key groups). This means that childcare will become more affordable for the most vulnerable families. This new change also allows centers to be reimbursed based on enrollment and not attendance (under the current system, centers aren’t currently paid if a child misses a day due to various causes, even though the cost of running the center remains the same). This increased stability in funding is seen as a huge win for providers.

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Women end up doing the academic housework (KifInfo)

This article may seem incredibly niche (it’s a summary of a study of Danish academics), but don’t scroll past just yet, because I would bet that their findings are widely applicable across fields and countries. A new study found that male academics are much more likely to avoid doing service work than their female counterparts (in academia, “service” refers to often uncompensated, relational work like serving on committees, mentoring students/junior faculty, etc.) Though the content of this relational work may be different in your industry, I’d invite you to reflect on who—in your organization—plans the goodbye parties? Who is responsible for your mentorship programs? And who performs small acts that boost morale like brings in birthday donuts? My guess is that it is disproportionately female employees.

The men in this study are transparent about the fact that they evade doing this work because it doesn't advance their career. The women, on the other hand, expressed feeling a much greater obligation to do what’s expected of them. This intentional avoidance seems closely related to weaponized incompetence—both strategies used to perpetuate an unequal distribution of labor.

Connect

If you’ve spent any time online this past month, you’ve probably heard a lot of buzz about Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. I’ve read it, and I recommend it (you can also get the gist by reading his Atlantic article), and though headlines usually stress his argument for withholding of smartphones from kids, his thesis is more nuanced. His fundamental assertion is that while we’ve been under-protecting kids in the online world, we’ve also been overprotecting them in the real world—and this double whammy leaves them vulnerable.

With his book in mind, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about fostering a greater sense of independence in my kids. In the book, Haidt directs parents to his website LetGrow, and I found the Independence Kit to be a useful jumping off point for ideas on promoting autonomy (you’ll need to create an account to access the PDF document).

I’ve also been thinking of ways to add to his document, and I’d love to hear ideas from readers about how you’re fostering independence in your kiddos. Some things we’ve tried include:

• Having our kids navigate us when we’re driving somewhere familiar (the key here is building in extra time so that it’s not a big deal if they suggest a wrong turn).

• Asking our 8-year-old to navigate us through the airport (looking at signs to find security, looking at the board to find our gate, etc.)

• Expecting our kids to order their own food (while using their manners) when we go out to eat.

I’d love to get a list going in the comments of other ways you encourage your kids to be more autonomous!

Reflect

I’d like you to reflect on the past month and think of two or three times when you felt like you were really thriving—meaning that you felt fully engaged, productive, inspired, and fulfilled in that moment. Now, consider the following:

• Break down what, precisely, you were doing that gave you energy in these instances.

• What skills, mindsets, or strengths were you drawing on?

• How do these examples resonate with your core values?

• How can you commit to infusing more of these experiences into your life this next month?

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