The last three men nominated for the American Supreme Court are
married with children. The last three women nominated, Elena Kagan,
Sonia Sotomayor, and Harriet Miers, are single and without children.
Coincidence? David Leonhardt, a New York Times blogger, asserts this
fact as a symbol of the current labor market. In the U.S, it is
taken for granted that men and women with the same qualifications
receive the same salary and promotion opportunities. The feminist
emancipation has indeed been a success. However, the same system of
equal opportunity is hampered when a woman has a child. In the U.S,
it is called the “motherhood penalty.”
In Italy
A study conducted by ISFOL (the Italian Institute for worker's
education development) has confirmed that Italian women earn 7% less
than men. Apart from the differences in salary, if we compare Italy
to other European countries, we find that “Bel Paese” is second from
the bottom (above Malta
It's 2010 and 46.3% of Italian women (7 million total) are excluded
from the labor market. It's not just about being “politically
correct” towards women, it's about pulling down walls and abolishing
discrimination at work. It’s about more productivity and economic growth. It's
about money and wealth for families. According to
economists, if women were to enter the workforce, the economic indexes
would surely benefit.
I've been a working mum for many years. I was so naive to change my job just before ggtting married. I didn't do my honeymoon because I didn't want to leave my new job, but I got pregnant and, what a coincidence! I was told I didn't pass my trial period...I'm still a working mum now but it's so hard here in Italy!
RispondiEliminaRita, Milan
Hi Chiara, First of all please allow me to congratulate you on your new journalistic blog. This is an interesting entry, although I do not believe one should ever compare the "Bel Paese" with the "Land of Opportunity." But since you did start with America's Supreme Court appointment's, lets approach the facts and your theories with some mind-set challenging techniques. Lets approach your assumption that the three female judges that were appointed had the fact that they were childless taken into account (according to Richard Heur in "The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis", we must always consider a range of alternative explanations and outcomes to ensure we do not dismiss potenmtially relevant hypothesis. "...all individuals assimilate and evaluate info through the medium of mental models and mind-sets. These are experience-based constructs of assumptions and expectations about the world in general and more specific domains. These constructs strongly influence what info individuals will accept- that is, data that is in accordance with their unconscious mental models are more likely to be perceived and remembered than info that is at odds with them. The key risks of mind-sets are that: individuals perceive what they expect to perceive; once formed, they are resistant to change; new info is assimilated, sometimes erroneously, into existing mental models; and conflicting info is often dismissed or ignored.
RispondiEliminaAllow me to use one of the simplest analytic techniques that can help challenge your argument and midset, that of Devil's Advocacy. Do you have, and can you share, the names and backgrounds of other possible female Supreme Court nominees that have children and were not considered for the position? Is it at all possible that the most aggressive and ambitious professionals never have children, whether because of time restraints or other job related reasons (Im just playing Dev's Advocate here, please don't bite my head off on that last question...but it needs to be asked)? Is it a generational result and can we expect the younger gerations of women to advance much further in both government and in the workplace? Statistics are telling us that U.S. universities and colleges are accepting more women then men. This is due in part to the abundance of scholarships offered to women, but in large part it may be that American society is changing for the better; American attitudes amongst parents of daughters (and I fit into this category) want the best education for their daughters and the best future. Now, more than ever, the U.S.A. is proving to be the Land of Great Opportunity for all. It is totally up to women in the work place to change their situation and the accepted beliefs that one group is favored over the other. Most Americans do not like groups who cry favoritism and we hate quotas, however, due to the very large influx of well educated women into the workforce, the military, politics and all areas of society, I feel these real biases, as well as the falsely accepted, erroneous mental models, will be reversed. I do believe in America's women and I DO NOT believe they can be held back by a society or old fashioned biases that are soon to be totally a thing of the past. I inspire my daughters to work their minds and study hard. I tell my daughters to define themselves; they should not allow society to define them, they have to define themselves! You tell the world who you are and if you want to rise to the top you have to do it through hard work, tenacity, intellect and a little cunning!
Please note federal laws in the U.S. that protect pregnant women in the workplace. Although, unfortunately, this was not the case a very short time ago, but now all women are protected from termination when they are pregnant and both the mother and father can request family leave.
Italia is another story unfortunately, but I see that many more women are doing well in the universities there as well. This is just my personal observation, but I see a much larger intellectual involvement by young Italian women right now then I see in its young men. While many youngs gentlemen in Italy are wasting idle time at leisure reject intellectual pursuits, women are studying hard in the Universities and forging a path for their future.
RispondiEliminaI desire a 21st century Italia that stronger and more prosperous then ever. Obviously, for this to happen we must allow Italian women to participate equally in politics and the workplace so we have a much larger pool of itelligent minds to choose from when seeking contributions to Italia's unification as a nation and its significant involvement in a United Europe. First of all Berlusconi and Bossi have to go and they should take with them all 20th and 19th century male-superioty biases that still exist in Rome with them.
I recently read Gianfranco Fini's book Il Futuro della Liberta' in which he attempts to inspire the generation that was born after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In this book Mr. Fini states: "All'Italia serve un nuovo patriottismo costituzonale"...."L'esperienza drammatica del secolo scorso ci ha insegnato chela base piu solida del sentimento nazionale risiede nel valore del patriottismo costituzionale, quindi in quei principi di liberta'. democrazia, uguaglianza e rispetto della persona che mettono al riparo i popoli dalle derive del razzismo." The Italian constitution protects women and it is time to allow them equal opportunity to contribute to Italia's greatness and unification (and to allow them to get paid equally for that contribution). I still insist it is more up to the women themselves to aggresively define themselves and to take their place in assisting Italy make a significant and competitive contribution to a unified Europe. Again, to qoute Mr. Fini: "Ricordate sempre che siete nati sotto la stella della liberta'!
It's so sad to know that discrimination against women becomes inevitable sometimes because of the natural impression that people have on both sex, that men are naturally superior. It happens a lot in employment. And it is good that people write about this matter to remind everyone to avoid it.
RispondiElimina