
Why male Uber drivers earn more than women - svcphr
https://work.qz.com/1198825/why-male-uber-drivers-earn-more-than-women/
======
tuna-piano
Gravity is a law of nature, it pulls at 9.8 meters per second squared.

Equality of people is not a rule of nature. In fact, some individuals are born
with Down Syndrome and some are born Einstein. Some are born tall and some are
born short.

Equality in the average income of different ways of grouping people (gender,
race, religion, country, state, height, etc) are also not rules of nature.

Just because the outcome isn't equal doesn't mean there is discrimination.
This paper had to start with the assumption that there wasn't discrimination
(after all, it's an app).

I wish those analyzing every situation where there is an unequal outcome
between groups also had to start with the assumption that there is no
discrimination until there is evidence for discrimination. Unfortunately,
discrimination seems to be the default answer for unequal outcomes between
groups, even when there is no or limited evidence for it.

~~~
lobf
Do you think women are generally discriminated against in society?

~~~
malandrew
What people think is irrelevant. Let's focus on facts, not unsubstantiated
opinions.

~~~
lobf
I'm really bummed you dodged this question. I think HN lacks discussions like
this.

------
_rpd
tl;dr: "the biggest contributor to the Uber gender gap, accounting for almost
half the difference, is the higher average speed for male drivers ... Men in
Chicago, the study found, drove 19.5 mph, compared to 18.8 mph for women."

------
tardis934
The 7% pay gap comes down to speed, experience and preferences on when to
drive, according to the study. I wonder if women are less likely to become
Uber drivers and less likely to continue driving because they don't feel safe?
There are plenty of experiences shared by Uber and Lyft female drivers of
being sexually harassed and propositioned:
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/04/09/female-
ube...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/04/09/female-uber-lyft-
drivers/#7e149f22a28e) I think it's the sort of discrimination that could lead
to having less experience + a preference to drive during the day rather than
at night and could be measured by a correlation between driver complaints and
attrition rate by gender.

------
louprado
It's unfortunate this study didn't compare differences in tips. Do passengers
subconsciously assume men are the primary wage earners in a household and
inadvertently give higher tips to men. Is that subconscious bias is higher in
male vs female passengers ?

~~~
bdcravens
Perhaps female drivers are more cautious, especially with male riders, and
this is perceived as less friendly?

------
devereaux
Business as usual. I can't believe anyone would be surprised.

A few months ago, I shed my last hope of working for someone else ever again.
I gave my resignation, and I am now the captain of my own small ship.

My clients respect my expertise, I respect their money.

------
jogundas
"There are far more men with two years of Uber experience than there are
women."

Which might mean that women move on to better paid jobs faster than men,
right?

