Why are men still getting better jobs than women?
Published March 8th, 2006 in GeneralAs I have previously mentioned, I went to one of the shows in the newly refurbished Laughter Lounge in Dublin recently. The MC on the night remarked that it was a strange crowd because women in the audience far outnumbered the men. He mentioned that for two reasons:
- A lot of comedians’ jokes are aimed at men
- There are relatively few female comics
The fact that there are relatively few female comics got me thinking, at least because one of the country’s most popular comedians, Des Bishop, just had a television series which saw him go to disadvantaged communities and help some of them train to be a stand-up comic.
I think that there has to be some sort of correlation between the lack of female comedians and the relative shortfall of women in senior management positions. A survey today showed that women score better than men in school and college exams, yet men still get the best jobs. Is this down to women being less boastful of their acheivements than men?
As an aside, I wonder whether encouraging more women to set up a blog would also give them an added platform to showcase their expertise and skills?
*Please note that the original title of this post was changed as some people seemed to find it offensive.
I also changed the following sentence “Does anyone else think that organisations might be better off funding programs which encourage women to take up public speaking or even stand-up comedy rather than simply setting up grants to encourage them into specific industries?” to “Is this down to women being less boastful of their acheivements than men?”. I don’t think that women have to be attracted to specific industries because as exams results show, stereotypes like ‘Men are better than women at maths’ simply aren’t true/ I think more efforts should be put into developing ways to showcase their achievements.
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17 Responses to “Why are men still getting better jobs than women?”
- 1 Pingback on Mar 10th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
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In my very(very) limited experience women just dont put themselves forward unless they know they are going to succed, whereas men are used to making themselves look stupid so they are not as afraid to try.
“I think that there has to be some sort of correlation between the lack of female comedians and the relative shortfall of women in senior management positions.”
Hiya Piaras.
I’m subscribed to your feed and generally enjoy the common sense things you have to say, though I apply a slight discount to certain areas given your profession.
The above comment, I’m sure, was the result of a fleeting, unconsidered post. Who hasn’t written first and then moved on. Like that hand that writes on walls in history.
Just wondering if you might like to revisit it, or apply any caveats?
Can’t do any harm, I’d have thought.
All the best
Simon
Do women need to see the funny side of things in order to get promoted? Eh no, it seems in this country and in others women need to have a penis and testicles to get promoted, in other words be a man. I don’t think the lack of female comedians has anything to do with anything…other than to point to the fact that again, society is male dominated. I once interviewed a very well known female politician who spoke about how male counterparts would often bemoan the lack of female politicians but then add “but sure, they don’t WANT to be politicians anyway” as if it was a moot point. She pointed out to them that in fact women DID want to be politicians but were hampered because of family responsibilities and were often seen as the ‘bit of fluff’ to shore up votes for the men. Did you know that neither the Dail or the Seanad, despite employing hundreds upon hundreds of people, have a creche? Or that most votes take place in the evening at around 8pm? Hardly family friendly. In order for women to be promoted, they need to be treated as fairly as men, and given the same perks and helping hands as men. You rightly point out that women score better at exams than men…yet men get the better jobs or even the better paid jobs..why is that? Because men are given an easier ride than women.
Ok - so THIS is what a good sense of humour looks like. *note to self - listen, read and learn…*
Hmm… people seem to have completely misread my original post. I agree the original title was a bit troll-like, but it was meant to encourage discussion rather than cause offense.
I’m not talking about being able to tell jokes, I’m talking about being able to stand in front of an audience and showcase your achievements.
Statistics are showing that women score better than men, but yet they still don’t get as many top-level jobs. While having children plays a factor in this, I think that men might be just talk themselves up a bit more.
Days like International Women’s Day should be used to break down stereotypes. If I’ve caused offense then I’m sorry. It wasn’t intended, I’ll just have to learn to formulate my thoughts better.
I work in PR, a profession dominated by women so either I work with a load of comedians or with people that are passionate about their work and not afraid to shout about their results.
What women need to get promoted? Well that’s easy, forget the sense of humour and the genetalia. Women need wives, see it’s simple.
When men get promotion it is because the company/organisation whatever, knows that somewhere in the background there is a woman; be she wife, girlfriend, mother, or sister; she’s there, she will take care of the domestic, see that his pristine suits and shirts and ties are regularly taken to the dry-cleaners/ironed etc, she will remind him of things he’s forgotten, she will sort the sock drawer, the shirt pile, pick up his dirty clothes and put them where they should be. She will know where he has left his keys, work papers, passport, and that it’s about time he went for a check-up with the doctor, dentist, chriopidist, psychotherapist etc.
And of course in the case of wives, if there be offspring, she will go with them to the doctor, dentist, school meetings, school plays, recitals, concerts, ballet classes, music classes etc.
Women do have a sense of humour, we are just not good at getting paid for it.
What women need to be promoted is wives.
Wha’ya think about my sense of humour? Do I get the promotion?
That last point is true. Research into entrepreneurs proves that most men who go that route have a family - most women who go that route don’t, You can draw your own conclusions from it but nevertheless the “men need wives” has legs
Piaras,
in short, what you are saying that in fact, contrary to what’s been said for years, and years, being better does not result in you getting further in your career. What matters is being able to spin a good story about yourself.
In other words, advancement is a case of style over substance, not a case of merit. How you look and sound, rather than how you are.
But it’s nice to see someone admitting this.
Winds - you are not seriously suggesting that what women need is *gasp* a PR guru or spin doctor? perish the thought…
winds, I can see that. It’s not about merit, it’s about being in the boys locker-room, a member of the right golf/tennis/sailing/drinking club. “Style over substance”, not what you know, but who you know, yes sounds about right.
ainelivia, I like that, lol; if we had the out of office support system that men get, we’d get there too.
Actually,
Piaras, what are you doing on Saturday around 5pm - Colm of Infactah left a note on my blog hoping you’d be along to the non-tech pre-Event to prevent him from being ganged up on by a bunch of girls…
I’ll try and make it along earlier to the Merrion
Re: Simon McGarr “…but I apply a slight discount to certain areas, given your profession”.
Best line I’ve read all week, Simon.
Piaras, I’m going to presume you’re trainee in PR and still have the stabilisers attached to your nascent career, as no self-respecting PR grown-up would’ve exposed themselves to the kind of critical ordnance aimed at (and successfully detonated upon) your original post yesterday. Were I a client of yours I might well, to paraphrase Simon, be looking to apply a discount to “certain areas”: my inovices, for a start.
Keep it up. I guess bravery is its own reward!
Ouch Gary!
Regarding the issue of women getting better marks in college yet not being promoted in the senior roles: Most people eligible for senior positions went to college twenty or thirty years ago when men were getting better marks and more men were going to college and more women were becoming house wives. This is not the case now and that is why even the feminist groups do not criticise the underpaying and under promotion of other staff except the very senior roles. This will fix itself over the coming decades when it will start to reverse.
Hah, I surfed in looking for some discussion on “are men more boastful than women” because I believe it is true. It’s very funny to see the women attack you for tackling this very important topic, as I’m having a “conversation” with my wife right now on how to conduct yourself in a job interview. It’s too bad a topic like this is hindered by political correctness, but then you should have expected that given that your blog is focused on PR. Very interesting observation about comedians.