
Gender Differences in Executive Compensation and Job Mobility (2010) - roymurdock
http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1569&context=tepper
======
roymurdock
Abstract:

 _Fewer women than men become executive managers. They earn less, hold more
junior positions, and attrit faster. We compiled a large panel data set on
executives and formed a career hierarchy to analyze promotion and compensation
rates. Given executive rank and background, women are paid more than men,
experience less income uncertainty, and are promoted as quickly. Amongst
survivors, being female increases the chance of becoming CEO. Hence the gender
pay gap and job rank differences are primarily attributable to female
executives attriting at higher rates than males in an occupation where
survival is rewarded with promotion and higher compensation._

~~~
elthran
(Admission - I've only read the abstract)

I wonder if there is any/what the correlation is between the attrition rate of
these females and pregnancy - is becoming pregnant a significant blocker to
their survivorship rate?

~~~
Zikes
From the conclusion:

 _It is most implausible to suggest that giving birth and caring for young
children is the predominant reason why female executive managers, who average
50 years old in our sample, quit. Other unobserved factors leading managers to
attrit could include more un-pleasantness, indignities, and tougher
unrewarding assignments at work, examples of factors that reduce the
attraction of work without necessarily affecting productivity or human capital
acquisition. Perhaps women are subject to this form of gender discrimination.
Another hypothesis is that women acquire more nonmarket human capital than men
throughout their lives, and hence find retirement a relatively attractive
option._

~~~
facepalm
Why shouldn't women quit at age 50 because of children? If they sacrificed
family time for their career before, they might realize that suddenly there is
not a lot of time left with their children before they will leave the house.
Maybe at 50 they have secured enough money as well to be comfortable working
less. Older men seem to be taking time off for family, too.

It's a shame that they have to discredit their paper by ending it with pure
speculation ("could include...").

~~~
Zikes
At 50 years old, most people's children would be having children of their own,
let alone be out of the house. Retiring to spend more time with your adult
children wouldn't make much sense when those children are likely just ramping
up their own careers.

~~~
efaref
My mother semi-retired in her fifties to care for her grandchildren (providing
free childcare so that my sister could continue her career). Perhaps this is a
factor.

~~~
Zikes
Definitely a possibility, especially since two incomes are becoming so
necessary.

~~~
oldmanjay
Not necessary, just desirable because people like buying things.

Considering it 'necessary' is actually part of what makes this a problem. If
people knew how to want instead of need, they might next learn how to delay
gratifying those wants. Instead, desire becomes confused with necessity and
suddenly you can't live without an HDTV right now.

~~~
Zikes
The median income per household member in the US was $23,535 in 2004[1].
Unfortunately I can't find a more recent census value for that. In the case of
a household with two partners and at least one child, such as we're discussing
here, I would think that more than ~$24,000 would be necessary.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income_per_household_me...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income_per_household_member)

------
skizm
Hey, if you haven't seen it before, this article by Scott Adams (the Dilbert
guy) is a great summary of gender bias in the workplace:

[http://blog.dilbert.com/post/114055529676/my-verdict-on-
gend...](http://blog.dilbert.com/post/114055529676/my-verdict-on-gender-bias-
in-the-workplace)

If you're going to read it, don't just skim it; read it from end to end.

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
Isn't that the same Scott Adams who said that if he didn't get hugs on the
regular he'd start killing people.

~~~
skizm
Doesn't make the content of the article any less valid.

------
mcguire
Actual title: "Gender Differences in Executive Compensation and Job Mobility"

~~~
dang
Yes. We changed it back to that from "Gender gaps in promotion and pay due to
female attrition". To cherry-pick one detail to highlight from the article is
a form (actually the leading form) of editorializing, which is against HN's
rules about titles.

------
marrone12
Ah, gender analysis by authors who are all men. Very refreshing.

~~~
totony
How does their gender matter? Are you implying that men are less capable than
women?

~~~
d0lph
Classic ad-hominem.

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bigethan
So if a woman can "survive" the business environment, she's more likely to
become a CEO. To me that says: if she can survive through the
bias/discrimination, she's probably much more qualified than her male
counterparts.

That women are driven away by bias/discrimination is the true failing of our
workplaces.

~~~
x1024
Your logic involves quite a few jumps to conclusions that aren't remotely
proven by the contents of the paper.

~~~
roymurdock
_It is most implausible to suggest that giving birth and caring for young
children is the predominant reason why female executive managers, who average
50 years old in our sample, quit. Other unobserved factors leading managers to
attrit could include more un-pleasantness, indignities, and tougher
unrewarding assignments at work, examples of factors that reduce the
attraction of work without necessarily affecting productivity or human capital
acquisition._

Although this does not support the "more qualified" argument, the study was
specifically tailored to control for attrition from pregnancy, and the authors
conclude that they are not entirely sure why older female executives quit at a
higher rate than comparable male executives. It's not unreasonable to assume
that it could be due to "discrimination" in the form of indignities and unfair
assignment of tough/menial work, as the authors suggest.

