David Gonski is “diametrically opposed” to gender quotas.

Disagreeing with Gonski, Carol Schwartz stated that quotas are the “perfect” solution to this underrepresentation. In order to tackle the underlying belief systems and unconscious bias that keep women from leadership roles, Schwartz says there needs to be a “paradigm shift which will actually move the dial.” For that, “the only answer is quotas,” she says.

Schwartz says quotas need not aim for exact gender parity every time, “that is way too rigid,” she says. Instead, she proposes a “quota for men of 40 per cent, a quota for women of 40 per cent, and 20 per cent floating.”

In 2015, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon introduced a bill so that this 40/40/20 formula would become mandatory for all Australian government appointments, but it was rejected.

Professor Cordelia Fine of the University of Melbourne, put forward a social justice argument in favour of quotas. She said that based on U.S. data, women and minorities are more compassionate, other-minded and egalitarian, and also tend to take greater account of the welfare of employees, communities and the environment.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/david-gonski-diametrically-opposed-gender-quotas/

American Economic Association – Why do mother’s earn less?

Mothers tend to work fewer hours and earn less than women without children.

It’s called the “motherhood penalty,” and while economists are well-aware of the phenomenon, they have struggled to understand why it exists.

University of Amsterdam professor Erik Plug explores the motherhood penalty in a paper that appears in this month’s issue of the American Economic Review.

(ed: No idea why they should struggle with perceiving the obvious.)

https://www.aeaweb.org/research/why-do-mothers-earn-less

Swelling UK solicitor ranks becoming more diverse

“Increasing diversity in the solicitor profession is a powerful force for good and a cause for real celebration. . . . However, he said that there is still a diversity gap in the higher ranks of the profession. “[M]ore than 40% of male solicitors become partners – compare that to less than 20% of women and just over 20% of BAME solicitors.”

https://www.australasianlawyer.com.au/news/swelling-uk-solicitor-ranks-becoming-more-diverse–study-237295.aspx

How men continue to interrupt even the most powerful women

The numbers do not lie: women have long been underrepresented on the United States Supreme Court. In the court’s 228-year history, only four of the 112 justices have been female. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female justice in 1981, almost two centuries after the court’s creation, decades after ratification of the 19th Amendment, and years after landmark Supreme Court decisions on women’s rights. Now, with three female justices on the bench, gender equality on the court seems within reach. But our new research on interruptions among justices during Supreme Court oral arguments indicates that women still do not have an equal opportunity to be heard in the highest court in the land.

Justice is interrupted when a justice is interrupted. When a justice is interrupted during her questioning, her point is often left unaddressed. Because women and liberal justices are interrupted at significantly higher rates than the other members of the court, this could make it much harder for women to make arguments and win votes during the post-conference process.

https://aeon.co/ideas/how-men-continue-to-interrupt-even-the-most-powerful-women

Women rely on the family home to support them in old age

Thanks in part to the gender pay gap, the gender wealth gap more than doubled between 2002 and 2014. But our research shows Australian women don’t just trail men in total wealth, they also have less diverse asset portfolios. Women are more likely than men to have their assets tied up in a family home. This means their finances are more precarious, and they have less saved for retirement.

https://theconversation.com/women-rely-on-the-family-home-to-support-them-in-old-age-76703

This workplace just got a menstrual policy and yours can copy it

Now, the Victorian Women’s Trust is promoting its “menstrual policy”, which they say for the past 12 months has been successfully assisting female employees who’re experiencing their period or menopause.

The VWT is also making its menstrual policy template freely available to other workplaces, in the hope other employers will follow their lead.

The policy offers a number of options for employees who’re managing their period: including to work from home; to stay at work but sit or lie somewhere comfortable (such as in a quiet area); and to take a day’s paid menstrual leave. It gives employees a maximum of 12 paid days per calendar year (pro-rata and non-cumulative) for those who’re unable to perform their work duties due to menstruation or menopause. A medical certificate is not required for these days.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/eds-blog/workplace-just-got-menstrual-policy-can-copy/

Proposed Changes to HECS/HELP Repayment Will Be Particularly Harsh on Women

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney said analysis of this year’s budget showed younger women were some of the budget’s biggest losers. “Another generation of women will have less money, less opportunity and less financial security because they’re earning lower wages than their male counterparts from graduation, to childbearing years and right through to retirement,” Kearney said.

According to the 2017 Workplace Gender Equality Agency report there is an average gender pay gap for recent graduates of 9.4 per cent favouring males.

The NFAW report said: “It may not make financial sense for a woman with young children to take up a position with a salary that is close to the repayment threshold, if it jeopardises other benefits and if she is required to pay for childcare as well.”

https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/05/proposed-changes-hecshelp-repayment-will-particularly-harsh-women/?

The 22 women on this year’s Rich List, including eight billionaires

There are now eight, billionaire women in Australia as reported by the annual Financial Review Rich List yesterday. It may sound like a huge figure, but this year 60 Aussie billionaires made the list – the highest number in the report’s 34-year history. If you can do quick maths, this means that just thirteen percent of the highest earners were female.

An honourable mention goes to Nicole Kidman for emerging as the highest earning Australian entertainer. She currently sits on a fortune of $347 million. (Not bad for a girl who started out on Aussie TV soap, ‘A Country Practice’.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/22-women-years-rich-list-including-eight-billionaires/

There’s still a huge gender gap in NZ’s equity partner ranks

There’s still a wide gender disparity at the most senior ranks of law firms in New Zealand. At the equity partner level, 81% are male while only 19% are female, according to a study conducted by the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) and McLeod Duminy.

“There are considerably more women than men working in private practice – yet, women make up less than a fifth of equity partners and only 43% of salaried partners,” said Kirsty Spears, McLeod Duminy legal recruitment consultant. “It seems that despite women making up 63% of lawyers and solicitors, and 64% of senior management, the top position of partner is still dominated by males.”

http://www.nzlawyermagazine.co.nz/news/theres-still-a-huge-gender-gap-in-nzs-equity-partner-ranks–study-236803.aspx

‘Stay-at-home Mum’: An archaic term ripe for extinction?

. . . the opportunity and financial cost of spending time raising children and managing a household, instead of working for pay is a huge drain on a family’s finances. So because what we do is unpaid, society in general inherently, and often subconsciously, looks down on ‘Stay-at-home Mums’ as not providing value.

But we are all painstakingly aware, both from statistics, economic modelling and experience, that this work is so hugely valuable and fundamentally important. Yet, still today, the term ‘Stay-at-home Mum’ is full of negative connotations and stigma. It implies inactivity and masks the many roles a mother actually fulfils. No other job description is so multi-dimensional. In my view, the term ‘Stay-at-home Mum’ undermines the very work we do and belies the real nature of this all consuming role. So no, I was not going to write ‘Stay-at-home Mum’ on that form.

A close friend, who has the same immigration form dilemma, shared with me her struggle with the term. “It implies that you stay at home….and do…well…not much. It has symbolised the totally undervalued, horrifically hard role that I took on for a period without properly understanding the job description.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/soapbox/stay-home-mum-archaic-term-ripe-extinction/