[quote=UCGal]I found his entire answer kind of off the topic of the original question… and VERY condescending.
– the question was about equal pay. He didn’t answer it.
– He then went on about how hard it was to find qualified women for jobs (so women aren’t as qualified? I guess women are dumber, less educated, less ambitious? Is that what he thinks?)
– And how women need special perks like flex hours (like men never need to get off early to take Jr. to soccer practice? I work in a male dominated field… I can tell you that men use flex hours FAR more than I do.)
He never addressed the issue of equal pay – but his public statements about the Lilly Ledbetter act suggest he does not support equal pay for equal work.
I was bristling the entire time he was answering that question…. I kept expecting him to start talking about the mommy track and how women could never be as good as men because they’re home taking care of their menfolk.[/quote]
I thought his answer basically showed he was going to take effort to make equal opportunity.
His comments about flexibility, and his point that companies will need to be flexible if they want the skills women have, is spot on. It’s not that women need flexibility, they WANT flexibility. Hence his comment about one wanting the flexibility for their children. What I’ve personally seen is often, women don’t even apply because they assume the hours are long, of they need to travel and they prioritize their family and business unless they make a concerted effort don’t even see them.
That said, it would have been really simple for him to say, people working the same job, accomplishing the same things, should make the equal pay.
And that becomes the crux, because the 72% number is an aggregate and not a control, job, industry, time in job measure.