Friday, March 23, 2007

Measuring why men suck

Yes, I'm a man. So, I'm culpable too on whatever it is about to write. But, I'm a daddy of three little girls that wants them to grow up in something better.

I read three articles in the past 4 days or so that had 1 common string in them, being: Men suck.

Article 1: When You Land the Job Interview, Should the Ring Come Off? (WSJ)

Article 2: Screening Resumes for Mommy Status WSJ

Book 3: The 51% Minority

So in the three sources put together, here's the HR story. In a Cornell blind study, resumes of women more likely to have kids are less likely to get the intverview than an equivalent resume from a man. (check the NYT for the article). And a survey of female professionals found that more women think for a moment about whether to wear their engagement / wedding rings during an interview. The 51% book has a ton of data on the facts we all are familiar with in terms of income.

Being a man, I don't think I have the right to take a moral ground on this besides - it's wrong, men suck (maybe some women too), and let's just stop it.

But look at this from a labor capacity standpoint. We are a nation of 300 million. India is heating up, China is heating up. The growth rate of the US vs other nations is just not as fast. Hopefully the market will correct the problem based on 1 fact: the labor market is going to demand more of us to keep our productivity and output high and keep our nation competitive. Bottom line. The economy needs women to compete.

And us boys in HR better let it sink into our heads that this is a topic our interviewees think about.

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