This weekend I was listening my favorite podcast, Freakanomics, and there was a great story about gender pay gap. If you haven't had a chance to take a listen, I encourage you to do so. The primary presentation was Claudia Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard University. She proposes that the average of 77% of the pay women receive for doing the same wok as men is not so much a pay gap as it is an opportunity gap. We have heard about this for a while, but listening to this while I was getting dressed to run errands with high hopes I would have enough time before other family commitments to clear my work inbox, really resonated with me. I am well aware that I struggle with my balance between personal and professional lives way more than my husband and definitely more than most of the men I work with. I also know that I struggle much less than many women I work with. This struggle, therefore, has a direct impact on the opportunities we seek! Voila'! Ok, maybe not for all women, but for me personally for sure. When I see that an opportunity may manifest as I continue down a path, if that opportunity appears to be a potential increase of time away from my family, I believe I procrastinate and ignore the effort it might take to be given the opportunity.
I love having a good glass of wine with good friends while discussing problems that need a good solution. And we have talked about the gender gap a lot. A LOT. The next time this comes up, I want to talk about the impact that has on the opportunities we seek and how this might be good or bad. As we look to encourage the next generation to continue to "mind the gap", perhaps the trick is in how we define and prioritize our opportunities.
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