Gen Y Women Make More Than Men
Perhaps it was inevitable and perhaps it is a sign of improving work conditions for women, but it appears that the recent domination of college campuses by women is spilling over into the workplace as young, college educated, female adults are now earning more than their male counterparts in many of the largest metro areas in the country.
I've written before that a significant majority of college students and an even larger majority of college graduates are women, but a study by Queens College demographer Andy Beveridge shows that all women from ages 21 to 30 living in New York City and working full-time made 117 percent of men's wages, or a median wage of $35,653, and even more in Dallas, where the women made 120 percent of what the men made. Some of the other cities where young women earn more than men are Minneapolis, Chicago, and Boston.
Other than during times of war, broad cross sections of women have never earned more on average than their male counterparts in recent history. So why has the balance tipped? Demographers point to the higher college graduation rates for women as one reason and also point to more of those women working in major urban areas where there are diverse opportunities and less gender discrimination than in smaller cities and suburbs. Women also aren't marrying as young as they used to so they're able to focus more on their careers and therefore increase their earning power.
While I agree with the above reasons, I believe that there is more to the story. I'm reminded of the story of the why the lion is considered to be the king of the jungle. Almost all animals walk with either their heads or tails held high. The analogy is that they either consider themselves to be high and others low or they consider themselves to be low and others high. They cannot raise both themselves and those around them. But we consider the walk of lions to be majestic because they walk with their heads and tails held high. They seem to understand that they need now lower those around them in order to raise themselves up high.
The demographic story of women earning more than men is kind of like the issue with lions. Women aren't raising their earnings by lowering the earnings of men, but women are earning more than men in part because women's earnings are rising and in part because men's earnings are slipping. Fewer men are attending college and even fewer are graduating. More are dropping out of the education system to start their own businesses. While that will likely pay dividends for many and perhaps most in the long-term, those of us who are entrepreneurs understand that the first years in a business are typically lean so these young, male entrepreneurs are earning less now than they would be in corporate environments. So far, young women have not flocked to entrepreneurship like their less risk averse male counterparts so the women are increasing earning the large corporate salaries while their male peers are struggling to get their businesses off of the ground.
So where is this taking us? Over time, expect to see large corporations increasingly dominated by women and small organizations increasingly dominated by men. As is normally the case with demographic shifts, there are many reasons for the shifts and some of those reasons are obvious, some are subtle, and some don't become known for years until we have the benefit of 20-20 hindsight.
Hi, Steve
Here's another angle.
You mention Lions. Well....they're are male. God created them to be dominante over lioness' correct? Well, God created Adam to be dominate over women, thus the reason men have been dominant over women in all of human history. Hence the reason to this day that pretty much all men are offended by dominate women. The offensiveness is especially great with Muslims.
Consider the situation in Pakistan with Ms. Bhutto. Dominant far-right Muslim men wish to kill her because the thought of a female leader is so reprehensible. Pakistan is an extreme of course because of their relative irreverence for human life and lawlessness in general.
Since the settling of America in 1620 by Western European Christians, whose faith by-the-way dictates male domination as God intended, ingrained the dogma and intellectuality of male domination in American culture. That dogma continues to pervade American culture in government and public institutions. You and I know that if it were not for Congress legislating women's "rights" there would be no women professionals in the American workplace (and certainly no women in the military except for caregivers). As since 1620, most women would be proud mothers and family patriarchs, half the reason for America becoming the greatest nation on earth since 1776.
However, things changed in the late 1960's. Male politicians "allowed" women to become equal to men by law. Thus, if men desired to discriminate against women in the workplace to maintain their natural desire of superiority over women, then the result would be fines and perhaps imprisonment. Well, since American men predominately revere American law, men are thus left with no choice but to avoid being equal to or subordinate to women in the workplace.
Consequently, in order for men (Lions) to avoid lawfully strong and superior women (lioness'), then they simply leave the corporate work place and pursue self-employment where they can feel superior again.
This scenario has much to do with the feminization of the American male i.e. "if you can't beat 'em; join 'em." The same thing has occured in Europe. Male chauvinism is ridiculed; male femininitiy and toleration of women is expected.
The eventual result of this scenario? The collapse of American society and subjectivity to a New World Order that promulgates the tolerance of male subjectivity to women.
Randy