Gender Discrimination

Allowing Girls to Hold up Half the Sky: Combining Norm Shifting and Economic Incentives to Combat Daughter Discrimination in China

by Lesley Wexler

Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2006

The related problems of missing women and daughter discrimination plague contemporary China. Although statistics... more The related problems of missing women and daughter discrimination plague contemporary China. Although statistics predict only a slightly greater male birth rate and a slightly lower female mortality rate in the first few years after birth, sons substantially outnumber daughters in modern Chinese families. This article assesses the mechanisms by which families effect daughter discrimination: sex selective abortions, female infanticide, child abandonment, underinvestment of family resources in girls, as well as secondary reinforcing practices like lineage societies and patrilocal living arrangements. Rather than developing legal proposals to counteract each of these individual practices, this paper suggests ways that law can help ameliorate the root causes of the widespread son preference.

China's rapid shift away from the once-prevalent custom of footbinding provides a helpful lesson for those seeking to use law to change social practices. Both footbinding and modern daughter discrimination rest on a belief trap, a set of incorrect but self-reinforcing perceptions, about the economic and social value of girls. In the context of footbinding, the combination of anti-binding associational societies and laws supporting the anti-binding position helped foster a norm cascade in opposition to footbinding, leading to the rapid elimination of that practice. This historical success suggests a template for approaching daughter discrimination in modern China. Specifically, this article proposes: (1) the creation of modern associational societies that eschew daughter discrimination; (2) the provision of financial incentives to family planning workers and doctors to promote female births; and (3) the development of targeted economic reforms to erode support for patrilocal and patrilineal traditions.

Passive Discrimination: When Does it Make Sense to Pay Too Little?

by Lesley Wexler

University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 76, p. 797, 2009

Economists have long recognized the ability of employers to construct benefits packages to induce workers to sort... more Economists have long recognized the ability of employers to construct benefits packages to induce workers to sort themselves. For instance, to encourage applications from individuals with a highly valued but largely unobservable characteristic, such as patience, employers might offer benefits that patient individuals are likely to value more than other individuals. By offering a compensation package with highly valued benefits but a relatively low wage, employers will attract workers with the favored characteristic and discourage other individuals from applying for or accepting the job. While economic theory generally views this kind of self-selection in value neutral terms, prejudiced employers could exploit this mechanism design framework to systematically discriminate against individuals on the basis of observable characteristics that the law prohibits employers from considering in their hiring decisions. As long as groups systematically differ in their preferences for various employment terms and conditions, employers can generate sorting in the application and employment acceptance stages, leading to the desired segregated outcome in a way that regulators will find difficult to prevent without dictating uniformity in benefits packages.

We develop a formal model as well as an intuitive discussion of the phenomenon. We provide a number of representative illustrations of how a prejudiced employer could exploit preference heterogeneity for discriminatory ends.These mechanisms include wage and benefit packages such as (1) high pension, low wages, (2) commission-based salaries, (3) Sundays off policies, and (4) free school tuition. We also note that some employers might end up with a segregated workforce even when they have no intention to sort workers or when they intend to sort for a non-discriminatory characteristic.

Finally, we conclude that current federal antidiscrimination law inadequately addresses either intentional or unintentional passive discrimination. Neither disparate treatment nor disparate impact frameworks are well suited to grappling with this form of structural discrimination. Passive discrimination facilitates rather than impedes employee choice and thus, might not be viewed as discrimination per se, even if it results in workplace segregation or means that individuals with protected characteristics who fail to self sort are least likely to value the form of compensation and fringe benefits they receive. We discuss some possible judicial and legislative approaches that may ameliorate passive discrimination, though many raise serious questions of their own.

Wal-Mart Matters

by Lesley Wexler

Wake Forest Law Review, Vol. 46, 2011

Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the United States, with more than one million current employees. Its... more Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the United States, with more than one million current employees. Its employment practices directly affect over one percent of the American workforce. Moreover, other retailers often strive to replicate Wal-Mart’s practices. If employment discrimination is pervasive at Wal-Mart, it may thrive throughout the retail market. Assuming the empirical evidence supports the claim that Wal-Mart engaged in widespread pay and promotion discrimination against female employees, what could explain the persistence of such a practice in a company known for its devotion to efficiency principles? In answering this question, this Article builds on an earlier coauthored paper that created a model to demonstrate how employment discrimination could persist even in a highly competitive market. In this Article, I add to the criticism of unregulated markets by analyzing a real-world example in which a seemingly competitive market allegedly allows discrimination to flourish. This Article suggests that the reasons why the market may have failed to eliminate sex discrimination at Wal-Mart are of both theoretical and practical importance. Regardless of whether the Wal-Mart plaintiffs ultimately prevail in a lawsuit, this analysis of the retail labor market speaks to the justification for, if not the efficacy of, government regulation in this area. In other words, Wal-Mart matters.

Vrouwen hebben te maken met een kleverige vloer, lekkende pijplijnen, vertraagde treinen, én een glazen plafond.

by Katinka Quintelier

Forthcoming in Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies

Çalışma Yaşamında Kadın İşgücüne Yönelik Cinsiyet Ayrımcılığı Uygulamaları

by Volkan ISIK

Sex Discrimination and New Media in Italy: An analysis of the Abuse of the Female Body and Role in TV and Political Advertisements

by Nicla Rossini

accepted, Fifth ISGS Conference, Lund (Sweden).

The question of sex or gender discrimination in society is a wide topic that has been addressed within diverse... more The question of sex or gender discrimination in society is a wide topic that has been addressed within diverse frameworks and fields of enquiry ranging from psychological (see e.g., Davison & Burke’s study on sex discrimination in employment) and sociological studies to law (see e.g. Rhode, 2001) and economics (see Lahey, 2008; Grove, Massey & Jetter, 2010). However, careful study of verbal and nonverbal aspects of gender discrimination in new media, and in particular in television advertising, is singularly lacking. This is unfortunate, since television remains a powerful medium both as a conveyor of artefactual encapsulations of societal mores, and as medium of large audience manipulation. (see e.g. Harris & Barlett, 1994).This work presents an analysis of both verbal and non-verbal cues of segments taken from television advertisements broadcast seen in Italy in order to reveal strong gender discrimination both as a reflection of and an influence upon social attitudes. Some political advertisements and official communications are also taken into consideration, with particular emphasis on a well known video campaign in support of the ex Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Prime Minister Mario Monti’s official press release published on the Government’s website on Janury 2nd 2012 is also taken into account.

2011-12-14-Recommendations Diversity Panel for the Police

by Rey Ty 鄭文華 (郑 文华)

Issues and Recommendations for
Police Officers for Cases Involving People of Diverse Backgrounds:
Diversity Panel for
Training Police Officers of the Department of Police and Public Safety
Northern Illinois University
Barsema Hall, 300, Northern Illinois University
December 13, 2011

© 2011 Dr. Rey Ty
International Training Office
Division of International Programs

Issues and Recommendations for
Police Officers for Cases Involving People of Diverse Backgrounds:
Diversity... more Issues and Recommendations for
Police Officers for Cases Involving People of Diverse Backgrounds:
Diversity Panel for
Training Police Officers of the Department of Police and Public Safety
Northern Illinois University
Barsema Hall, 300, Northern Illinois University
December 13, 2011

© 2011 Dr. Rey Ty
International Training Office
Division of International Programs

Internal Compensation Structuring and Social Bias: Experimental Examinations of Point Factor Job Evaluation

by Daniel Martin

Martin, D.E. (2011) Internal Compensation Structuring and Social Bias: Experimental Examinations of Point Factor Job Evaluation. Personnel Review Vol 40 (6)

Purpose – Research regarding pay inequities between the sexes is well established; however, internal compensation... more Purpose – Research regarding pay inequities between the sexes is well established; however, internal compensation strategies and perceived labor pools (percentage of gender/minority applicants) have not been explored in depth. This paper aims to address this issue.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A total of 381 business students and 101 compensation specialists/managers participated in two experimental studies to establish the impact of perceived labor pools’ ethnicity and gender on compensable factor weighting.

Findings – Results supported hypotheses that significant discriminatory weighting of compensable factors would be established by the perceived ethnicity of the labor pool, the perceived gender of the labor pool, and participant gender.

Research Limitations/Implications – A limitation of study one could be the population (business students) who may reflect a lack of knowledge of and/or a potential lack of interest in strategic compensation. Many of the students are likely to have had work experience but their exposure to compensation concepts was potentially limited. Accordingly, study two was conducted with experienced compensation specialists/managers in a real-world setting. While study two was methodologically stronger, evaluators were from an area with high proportions of technology occupations where compensation specialists may be more familiar with external compensation surveys due to rapid changes in jobs.

Practical Implications – The ramifications of potential discrimination at the compensable factors weighting stage of defining compensation internal alignment are tremendous. The implications for pay structure, perceived fairness, and motivation can have an immense impact on overall organizational productivity and success. Internal equity discrimination can also have ramifications for vast litigation (the author was consulted by the EEOC in the use of the research for the purposes of class action lawsuits).

Social Implications – As business students generally aspire to become members of the managerial cadre, the dangers of potential explicit or implicit bias in the weighting of compensable factors (and their interactions) can reduce the efficiency of the compensation plan, hamper motivation of those hired to work within its structure, and potentially set the stage for class action litigation. Accordingly, those tasked with teaching job evaluation (be they business professors, consultants, or human resources managers) need to address issues of social bias and encourage the committee to challenge the biases of which they may or may not be aware.

Originality/Value – After a groundswell of interest in comparable worth and sex-related errors in job evaluation in the mid-1980s, research failed to establish perceived incumbent, applicant, and labor pool ethnicity and ethnocentrism on internal compensation structuring. This study builds on past research by establishing the impact of ethnocentrism on internal compensation structuring in point factor job evaluation, extending workplace ethnocentrism theory by applying it to Title VII in implementation, data collection and interpretation of job evaluation and, most importantly, establishing the impact of perceived labor pools’ demographics (and subsequent proportions of racial/ethnic group members associated) on differential compensatory factors weighting.

Machado and Mata Decomposition with optional Sample Selection Correction

by Sami Souabni

Stata program that simulates (counterfactual) distributions from quantile regressions. Based on Machado & Mata... more Stata program that simulates (counterfactual) distributions from quantile regressions. Based on Machado & Mata (2005). An option to correct for sample selection has been added, using an adaptation of the procedure described in Albrecht et. al (2009). Multiple options available for different references groups, following Oaxaca (1973), Blinder (1973) Oaxaca & Ransom (1994) and Jann (2008). After simulation of distributions, the differences between these predicted earnings distributions are decomposed and graphed into explained and unexplained components, at different points across the earnings distribution (Every 5 percentiles).

To keep working directory clean, the program creates four directories (tmp, results, logs, data) which contain all the files needed for troubleshooting and/or analysis.

WARNING - Depending on options selected, may take days to run - test using sample 10 or other low number (uses 10% of sample).

To install this program, issue Stata with the command:

"ssc install mmsel"

And use

"help mmsel"

for usage instructions.

Good Luck!

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* Requires pid variable *
*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*

Perceived discrimination and women's psychological distress: The roles of collective and personal self-esteem.

by Ann R. Fischer

Fischer, A. R., & Bolton Holz, K. (2007). Perceived discrimination and women's distress: The roles of collective and personal self-esteem. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 154-164.

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/cou/54/2/154/

In the spirit of counseling psychology's social justice mission (e.g., L. A. Goodman, B. Liang, J. E. Helms, R. E.... more In the spirit of counseling psychology's social justice mission (e.g., L. A. Goodman, B. Liang, J. E. Helms, R. E. Latta, E. Sparks, & S. R. Weintraub, 2004), the authors examined perceptions of discrimination against women as related to women's views of the group women, their views of themselves as individuals, and their psychological distress. Path analysis was used to test an extended chain of mediation from perceptions of discrimination to public collective self-esteem, private collective self-esteem, personal self-esteem, and finally to psychological distress. Data (N = 235) were consistent with hypotheses and indicated a good fit for the model. Results were in accord with feminist theorists' assertions of the harmful nature of sexist discrimination, as the model accounted for substantial proportions of variance in depression and anxiety. Furthermore, these findings on mechanisms by which harm may be induced offer important clues for prevention and intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

Porn Lovers: A Dialogue

by Jacob Held

Draft of a chapter in the forthcoming, What Philosophy can tell you about your Lover. Ed. Sharon Kaye

A dialogue meant merely to raise the reader's awareness about the potential impact that porn consumption can have on... more A dialogue meant merely to raise the reader's awareness about the potential impact that porn consumption can have on our perception of ourselves and others, and thus the impact pornograohy can have on relationships. I draw heavily from work by Robert Jensen, Gail Dines, Pamela Paul, Ariel Levy, and Rae Langton among others.

What Works for Women?: A Comparison of Community-Based General Offending Programme Completion

by Paula Kautt

The British Journal of Criminology 49(6) 879-8

Martin, Jonathan, Paula Kautt and Loraine Gelsthorpe (2009) “What Works for Women?: A comparison of community-based... more Martin, Jonathan, Paula Kautt and Loraine Gelsthorpe (2009) “What Works for Women?: A comparison of community-based General Offending Programme completion” The British Journal of Criminology 49(6) 879-899

Women’s completion rates on General Offending Programmes are significantly lower than men’s. Is this evidence of the programmes ’ design and delivery being focused on men? This study uses multivariate statistical techniques on national data for 2006 – 07 to examine the characteristics significantly predicting completion rates for General Offending Programmes. In particular, it uses criminogenic factors from the OASys risk-assessment tool to identify the features predicting compliance, as captured by the Interim Accredited Programmes System (IAPS), and determine whether they differ between men and women. The results show significant variation between the women and men in the predictors of programme completion. The practical implications of these for research, policy and practice are discussed.

Die Inseln der frommen Heteros. Von der Diskriminierung Homosexueller auf den Färöern.

by Ebbe Volquardsen

In: norrøna. 24 (2009:43), 19-32; and in: Tjaldur - Mitteilungsblatt des Deutsch-Färöischen Freundeskreises. (2009:42), 42-52.

Status of Woman In Islam: Equality or Divine Balance?

by Basheer Aliyu

Presented at the International Seminar on Muslim Women: The Future and Challenges in Shaping the Ummah (SEWANI 2005) (Women: The Driving Force in Developing an Excellent Ummah), Organised by: Centre for Islamic Studies and Social Development (PPIPS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,  Held at: Sofitel Palm Resort, Johor Darul Takzim, 2nd – 3rd April, 2005

Abstract
The recent rise in the intensity of the call for equality between men and women and the increasing... more Abstract
The recent rise in the intensity of the call for equality between men and women and the increasing number of accusing fingers pointed at the Islamic legislation vis-à-vis the woman, claiming that the Muslim Woman is oppressed, discriminated against and/or subjugated, calls for detailed studies of the status of women in Islam and the issue of equality. This paper looks at the status of Woman in Islam as a part of an intricate, perfectly-balanced, comprehensive, divine system and each component of which may be misconceived, misunderstood or misinterpreted when viewed in isolation. The paper is a self criticism of the Muslims’ poor practice of the ideals taught by Islam, and a refutation of accusations of women oppression labeled against Islam by many non-Muslim. The first discusses the status of women in before the coming of Islam, in modern times and in Islam. Then it identifies the areas in which women differ from men under Islamic Law, and concludes that equality is the general rule and that Islam does not differentiate between the two except in certain issues, mostly in mu'amalat. Subsequently, Issues such as Islamic legislations legal witness and inheritance are presented and placed in their proper context proving the perfection in this Divine Balance and refuting the mistaken notions of subjugation and or relegating women to an insignificant background in Islam.

Gender Diversity on European Banks' Board of Directors: Traces of Discrimination

by Ricardo Gimeno