This is basically an FYI post: I doubt that I could write an article on women and the pay/career issues conundrum without screwing up, getting accused of chauvinism or making irrelevant statements. So let me frame the issue with a bit of history, and then suggest a number of articles on the subject.
First, I am husband of a professional woman, and father of three daughters, all professionals. Although I grew up in a highly male, though not especially macho family, I recognized when my daughters were in grade school that women were getting the short end of the stick and that I needed to help them make wise career/mate choices. (The father/daughter stuff is very potent. My daughters more quickly tell me I'm screwing up than my wife. On numerous occasions, and to my obvious delight, they've told me to "buzz-off," and rightly so. I've also engaged in some of the most enjoyable conversations in life with my daughters.) My wife, who's in her seventies, has told me that growing up, she had three choices of profession: teaching, nursing or secretarial. After two summer stints as part-time assistant to the senior executive for General Motors Overseas (Opel cars, etc.) he offered her the position of his personal assistant, with a pool of a dozen assistants, but she chose to become a teacher. (She's a very exceptional woman.) After our first was born, her father offered to pay her way through law school, but she said no. (I learned much later that she thought I'd have been too intimidated. Aaaargh! No comment.)
It was obvious that for me to feel secure about our daughters' future they needed to go to the best schools and get a graduate degree. (That was more my agenda than my wife's, although she certainly was supportive.) All three daughters completed graduate school, and they've been highly successful. My wife and I both have happy smiles about that. We recognize that that was not possible for the majority of women of that generation, but we were given three daughters and that was our family objective. I should also say that over the years I've had the good fortune to consult to numerous women. I'm not certain why, but a number of my clients have been exceptionally capable females at the executive level. I am certain I gained as much from them as I gave. When the issue is women in the workplace, I should say that though I've been blessed to meet a number of very enlightened males, I also know an awful lot of dumb-ass ones from mid to executive levels from all the generations. I count two sons-in-law among the enlightened.
Both men and women of the younger generations should be aware of the current statistics (although some writers are pointing out that these are not really the important issues).
- Pew research finds 26% of women out-earn their husbands.
- More women than men are starting American companies.
- Women earn 6 out of 10 bachelor's and master's degrees.
So, men and women of the younger generations, here are a set of articles on highly relevant women/workplace issues.
Recognizing the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, Newsweek has a fascinating overview on the gender gap: Why the gender gap still has not closed.
Harvard blogs has a series of useful articles on women in the workplace, some challenging the usual stuff: Why the gender pay gap misses the point; What's in a (last) name? A bigger paycheck, maybe. Those two articles refer to research from a number of articles, and also reframe much of the gender/workplace issue.