The media loves to talk about the gender wage gap and construct a narrative that women in America are oppressed and discriminated against in the workplace.
In reality, the gender wage gap is more accurately described as a gender earnings gap. It is mostly caused by the career choices men and women make on aggregate. The statistics showing women earn less than men on average are not comparing apples to apples. When that is done, controlling for field, type of work and hours, the gap virtually disappears (or, in some cases, flips in favor of women’s earnings). And the remaining gap can’t be conclusively linked to discrimination.
That’s not to say discrimination never happens. It certainly does, but it is not at the epidemic levels the mainstream media would have you believe.
Part of the gap is caused by full-time working women putting in fewer hours than full-time men. Some of that is due to family considerations, which can prompt some women either to take time off or even just to work normal 9 to 5 jobs instead of the kind that will require 60 hours. In the long run, either choice can mean slower run-ups in pay.
There’s a solution out there that could help some women work more hours, or work fewer hours but be compensated for performance, rather than hours. This solution also wouldn’t just benefit women, but all workers.
In a word, “flexibility.”
Gallup suggested employers stop caring so much about the number of hours in the workplace and focus more on the actual work that they do — that is, rewarding productivity instead of mere prolonged presence. The polling firm also called on employers to “create a flexible work culture” and allow employees (within limits) to set their own hours, so long as the work gets done.
While the Gallup article focused on women, this kind of flexibility would help men as well. Men aren’t machines, after all. And maybe men would help out around the house more (a chief complaint among women these days) and bear more of the child care responsibilities if they, too, could set their own hours.
Further, Gallup said that leaders within a company should step up and show employees that flexible work schedules are okay by taking advantage of them.
“A flexible work culture starts at the top. Employees have to see executives and managers living the behaviors they tout,” Gallup wrote. “Employees need to see managers leaving work early to attend their children’s soccer games and jumping back on email at night. They need to know that their sales director works from home one day a week.”
These changes shouldn’t cost a company any money, but they could make their employees — both men and women — much happier and more productive, which could end up benefiting a company’s bottom line.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
