License article

An equal footing still step too far



But progress has stalled.





















''I think women have changed as much as they can, except they could be more demanding, more stroppy. Women are surprisingly acquiescent.''

In their book Women Don't Ask, US economists Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever found men were more than four times as likely as women to negotiate their first salary. This opened up from day one a pay gap that can cost women more than half a million dollars in lost earnings by the time they are 60.

But, according to Cordelia Fine, an academic psychologist at the Melbourne Business School and author of Delusions of Gender: The real science behind sex differences, society habitually forgets to ask the obvious question about why women are acting this way.

''Often, the behaviour of men and women is much more similar than we tend to think,'' says Fine. ''But when there are differences, it's always important not to rush to assume that it's because of some intrinsic difference between the sexes - 'women just don't care as much about money' or 'women just aren't as ambitious' - but to ask if there might be other, external reasons.'' Fine points to a series of experiments by Harvard University's Hannah Riley Bowles and colleagues that found women are treated more harshly than men when they initiate negotiations for higher pay. ''Asking for more money breaks the prescription on women to be nice,'' says Fine.

Such subtle gender stereotypes affect women in every part of their engagement with the workforce and, says Fine, ''it can be difficult to perform some roles without risking backlash by breaking too many feminine gender norms … With still such different contexts and circumstances for men and women, it's simply not possible to compare the choices they make and draw confident conclusions about the sexes' different inner natures.''

Indeed, gender stereotypes are a two-way street. While children turn women into part-time workers, they also turn men into over-worked stress heads, says Pocock. Compared with a decade ago, men with preschool-aged children are now working an average of 5.7 more hours a week, or almost one extra day a week.

Pocock says this creates risks for both sexes. The one-third of women who will ultimately divorce risk living retirement in poverty. But men face the even more immediate risks of overwork, depression and poor cardiovascular health.

The chief executive of the Diversity Council of Australia, Nareen Young, says men and women need to re-evaluate the way they think about part-time and flexible work options.

''Flexibility will be mainstream when men do it. We need to have a long look at how men feel about that. Lack of respect for flexible work patterns is really holding women back,'' she said.

Perhaps savvy women have simply faced up to a reality men refuse to face - that the traditional model of full-time work means less time spent with family.

Almost half of working women work part-time. Jessica Brown, a research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, says while this is often viewed as a negative thing for women, arguably it offers them more flexibility and the opportunity for greater well-being than men. ''I feel a bit sorry for the blokes,'' Brown says. ''They don't have that same sort of ability to balance work and family.''

In limiting themselves to part-time work, women are often making a rational choice, responding to the incentives they face.

''The family tax benefit system does encourage second income earners to work part-time. Women also make a lifestyle choice. A lot of women also make a very conscious and rational decision to limit their hours, to not take a promotion, to perhaps choose jobs which they know are not going to spill over into after hours, and this is how they see balancing work and family working out.''

If government wants to tempt more women into the workforce it must focus on removing the disincentives mothers face to work, including harsh penalties that can apply if a woman increases her hours, both incurring tax and losing out on family payments.

A focus on making affordable childcare available, particularly for single mothers, would also help. ''Childcare is very expensive, particularly for low-income families,'' says Brown.

Government and industry could also do more to tempt women to consider non-traditional careers in highly paid industries such as mining and construction.

Alison Morley, the part-time chief executive of mining exploration company Brumby Resources, says there are highly paid and highly skilled jobs on offer for women, if only the industry could tempt year 10 girls to open their eyes.

Morley trained as an underground mine geologist, moved to a consulting role to have children and now is perhaps Australia's only part-time CEO.

''In mining I have managed to get that flexibility. I don't think I could have done that if I was a teacher or a nurse. When you develop those technical skills and you're in demand then you have the power to negotiate,'' she says

Helping women to make the most of the economic opportunities on offer will require both men and women to think outside the box.