Driving Gender Equity in the Workforce

This episode of Economics Explored analyzes Australia's new gender pay gap data reported by large companies. Are the data valuable or nonsense, as some critics have alleged? Host Gene Tunny interviews Dr Leonora Risse to discuss the report's methodology, findings, and criticisms. Risse provides context on factors influencing the gender pay gap, like occupational segregation. Tunny and Risse also debate the impact of societal norms and long work hours or ‘greedy jobs’. While acknowledging limitations, Risse argues the data highlights the need to address remaining gender inequities. 

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About this episode’s guest Dr Leonora Risse

Dr Leonora Risse is an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Canberra and a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia and serves as an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity for the Fair Work Commission. She formerly held roles with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University, the Australian Government Productivity Commission, and RMIT University. She earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland. Leonora is a co-founder and former National Chair of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia.

What’s covered in EP230

• Introduction to the Episode and Topic (00:36)
• Overview of Gender Pay Gap Data Reporting (02:59)
• Calculation and Implications of Gender Pay Gap Data (04:48)
• Insights on Compositional Factors and Industry Dynamics (16:28 & 16:41)
• Critical Analysis of Gender Pay Gap Reporting (33:29)
• Claudia Goldin's Work and Nobel Prize Discussion (41:02)

Takeaways

1. The new gender pay gap data reveal significant disparities across companies in male and female median earnings, with factors like occupation and industry composition playing crucial roles.
2. In Leonora’s view, transparency in reporting pay gaps is crucial for raising awareness but also poses some risks of normalization and misinterpretation.
3. Leonora argues societal norms and gender biases significantly influence occupational choices and bargaining power, contributing to the gender pay gap.
4. Future research and data analysis are essential for understanding the drivers of the gender pay gap. 

Links relevant to the conversation

Link to WGEA Data Explorer (can look up each company’s pay gap and other gender equality statistics)

https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer

Leonora’s Twitter exchange with Senator Matt Canavan

https://x.com/leonora_risse/status/1762395543366717877?s=20

Gender wage transparency and the gender pay gap: A survey

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joes.12545

Do Firms Respond to Gender Pay Gap Transparency?

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jofi.13136

Pay Transparency and Gender Equality

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3584259

Claudia Goldin's “Career and Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity”

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691201788/career-and-family

Leonora’s book review in Economic Record (copy attached)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1475-4932.12716

 Leonora’s Conversation article on WGEA pay gap data

https://theconversation.com/qantas-pays-women-37-less-telstra-and-bhp-20-fifty-years-after-equal-pay-laws-we-still-have-a-long-way-to-go-223870

Full transcripts are available a few days after the episode is first published at www.economicsexplored.com.