What Women Want

NY Times ^ | May 24, 2005 | JOHN TIERNEY

[neverdem]

Suppose you could eliminate the factors often blamed for the shortage of women in high-paying jobs. Suppose that promotions and raises did not depend on pleasing sexist male bosses or putting in long nights and weekends away from home. Would women make as much as men?

Economists recently tried to find out in an experiment in Pittsburgh by paying men and women to add up five numbers in their heads. At first they worked individually, doing as many sums as they could in five minutes and receiving 50 cents for each correct answer. Then they competed in four-person tournaments, with the winner getting $2 per correct answer and the losers getting nothing.

On average, the women made as much as the men under either system. But when they were offered a choice for the next round - take the piece rate or compete in a tournament - most women declined to compete, even the ones who had done the best in the earlier rounds. Most men chose the tournament, even the ones who had done the worst.

The men's eagerness partly stemmed from overconfidence, because on average men rated their ability more highly than the women rated theirs. But interviews and further experiments convinced the researchers, Muriel Niederle of Stanford and Lise Vesterlund of the University of Pittsburgh, that the gender gap wasn't due mainly to women's insecurities about their abilities. It was due to different appetites for competition.

"Even in tasks where they do well, women seem to shy away from competition, whereas men seem to enjoy it too much," Professor Niederle said. "The men who weren't good at this task lost a little money by choosing to compete, and the really good women passed up a lot of money by not entering tournaments they would have won."

[blueblazes]

I have seen that phenomena but I've also seen situations in which women cooperate together. It's hard for me to say personally as I am an extremely non-competitive person so that undoubtedly affects what I observe in this sphere. Or maybe I just get along well with other women....

[Phantom Lord]

I've also seen situations in which women cooperate together.

Ya, on shoe shopping trips, and outings to the outlets.

[stompk]

I don't know if you have ever been involved in a team atmosphere with a bunch of women but it seems to me they are generally much less cooperative, and more backstabing then men. Males will certainly compete and hash out who the alpha male is, but once the pecking order is determined they generally do what is best for the team. Whereas it appears to me that women continually undermine each other

my findings as well.

[pa mom]

I happen to pride myself on my driving, though I do sense that I am in the minority of females in that.

I am very non-competative face to face, but put me in a car and I'm a total guy.

[blueblazes]

Can't pay your bills with psychic income and for a long time most doctors were men. I think being a doctor frequently has more to do with abstract things such as reading results and making diagnoses rather than patient care. The actual patient care, provided by nurses, orderlies, etc, pays much less, although personally I think it might be of greater value to the patient.

[FreedomFarmer]

[lilylangtree]

Interesting!

[monday]

"And women don't manipulate things? Your kidding right?"

You do understand the difference between "things" as in inanimate objects, and "people" don't you? Women are better at manipulating people while men are better at manipulating things.

[righttackle44]

". . .and the really good women passed up a lot of money by not entering tournaments they would have won."

Oh, I see the problem. This wasn't written by a writer.
It was written by a fortune teller.

[exile]

I know what women want. Sorry ladies, I'm happily married.

[stompk]

I disagree. Women can be the most uncooperative, especially when they don't feel they've been emotionally rewarded. As you said, there are always exceptions.

we had to watch a "gender sensitive" training video once. they actually taught that women tend to work "pro-quo".

it was a "you never say hi to me, why should I do this for you" and "I've helped you twice as often as you've helped me, so I'm moving slowwwwly" kind of deal. very interesting video.

[coder2]

What Women Want
Chocolate. Next question?

For me --- SEX... but then I've always been a little different, just ask mr. coder2

[blueblazes]

I think there was a lot of truth to what Summers was saying. I think he was basically right in his suppositions of why there are so much fewer women in engineering. Most women aren't interested in engineering -we're not wired that way. It's biological. However, I think Summers also had a greater problem as he apparently did not treat the women he did have under his authority fairly or equally. Women who do enter these fields and show competence should be treated the same as men (as competent men should be treated equally in female dominated fields). Summers was using his ideas about biology as an excuse not to treat the women in his dept fairly. At least that is my understanding and based on my long experience of academia - probably fairly accurate.

[monday]

"The actual patient care, provided by nurses, orderlies, etc, pays much less, although personally I think it might be of greater value to the patient."

It's supply and demand. If it were as easy to train to be a doctor as to be a nurse, there would be just as many doctors as nurses and being one wouldn't pay any better than being a nurse.

[FreedomFarmer]

[No Blue States]

What Women Want:

All of the closet space for way too many shoes and purses. This is not speculation on my part.

[hosepipe]

[ What Women Want ]

You mean Oprahs Harpocrites or other kinds of women..

[gregwest]

Another observation: despite their having excellent skills as observation and intuition, women seem to lack risk-taking skills. In a competitive environment, the one who takes a risk often beats the competition. On "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," women are hesitant at making snap decisions and will tend to be more cautious. Men are often better at "trusting their gut" and acting on a hunch.

[No Blue States]

lol! Women want full service gas stations?

[coder2]

$1.51 a gallon !!!

Tell me where !!! LOL