In 1920, women were granted the right to vote in the first milestone marking equality of the sexes. Forty-three years later, in 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed. This states that “no employer shall discriminate between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such for equal work.” Another 43 years later, in 2006, the National Committee on Pay Equity continues to organize a yearly “Equal Pay Day” to raise awareness about unfair pay for women in America.

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that men’s and women’s salaries are anything but equal. There are only five occupations where women are paid equally or more than men.

Equal Opportunities for Men and Women
Bizarrely, female computer support specialists are paid more than men. Maybe this is because many women have to be dragged screaming and kicking to technology, whereas men just love it. Women compliance officers are also paid more. I’m not entirely sure what a compliance officer does, but my guess is that it’s something tedious and nerdy (like computer support). Still tipping the balance on pay, lady bill and account collectors’ salaries are just a little higher than their male counterparts. Finally, female medical scientists and teacher assistants are paid equal salaries to men.

Unequal Opportunities for Men and Women
That’s where equality stops and discrimination begins. From accountant through bartender, book-keeper, cook, lawyer, social worker, and waitress, women are paid less than men. The most unequal occupation is “securities, commodities, and financial service sales agent.” A woman in this position earns 59% of the salary a male colleague earns in the same occupation. Translated, this means a woman can expect an annual salary of approximately $35,000 compared to $60,000 for a man. Physicians, surgeons, and financial managers are similarly unequal, with men earning nearly 40% more than women in the same occupation. All bar 5 of the 100 occupations listing salaries for both men and women follow suit to a greater or lesser extent.

And we call this progress?

Sources:
• Full version of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, as amended (U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management)
• Equal Pay Day (national Committee on Pay Equity)
• Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex, 2005 Household Data Annual Averages (U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics)

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.

My online education is not complete. There are, apparently, 10,500,000 (that’s ten and half million) web pages devoted to hilarious gags about men and women (search on ‘men women joke’). ‘Men joke’ yielded 16 million pages, while ‘women joke’ served up 15 million. Analyzing the humor could be an interesting psychology study; are women really the butt of fewer wise-cracks than men? Or is there truly more to laugh about with men?

Of course, there are many serious web sites exploring gender differences. No-one really doubts that men and women are different, but every new scientific (and not so scientific) biology or psychology study yields a new difference (or similarity) between men and women. Most of them are published online, it seems, and I feel compelled to share my new-found education.

An Online Education in Physical Differences between Men and Women
The Women’s Sports Foundation believes a fair boxing competition is possible between a man and a woman as long as they are matched for physical variables. This is hard to imagine when protective gear for two such different physical variables is required. A UK study shows that men often achieve better sports performance times because of testosterone (let’s face it—it is the answer to everything). This male hormone encourages the production of hemoglobin (the stuff than carries oxygen around in the blood) and as a result men can produce more energy and achieve better performance times. A University of Michigan study indicates that in a group of men and women of comparable height, weight, and fitness, the women were more likely to sustain a particular type of knee injury. Where’s the justice in that?

An Online Education in Differences in Psychology between Men and Women
A psychology study from the University of California, Irvine shows that men and women can have similar IQs, but quite different brains. Men have more gray matter (responsible for information processing) and women have more white matter (responsible for networking information). A special issue of Fortune magazine celebrating women in business reveals that men are blind-sided by crises that women are more likely to anticipate. On the other hand, in an admittedly unscientific survey conducted by Bruce Balsam of Elliot Horowitz & Co., men claim that they would take professional advice for their finances, while women say they would not. This appears to be backed up by another Fortune article that reveals the average 10-month return on stock of 8 female CEO’s. Minus 14.8%. Sigh.

The Ultimate Online Education Trivia
Perhaps the most riveting piece of Internet nonsense (I’m beginning to think that online education is an oxymoron) comes from The Linux Documentation Project. The “How To” section includes instruction on “the 3 button serial mouse,” “3D graphics modeling and rendering,” “802.1X port-based authentication,” and, of course, “How to Encourage Women in Linux.” I’m sure it’s very sexist to assume that women need to be encouraged, but men, presumably, do not. Worthy of a psychology study, for sure.

Does anyone actually know what Linux is?

Sources:
• Female and male athletes seem to respond to training in a comparable manner. Peak Performance
• The Art of the Decision, by Janet Guyton; and Hall of Fame, by Eugenia Levenson, Fortune, Nov. 14, 2005
• Contact Sports - Male Versus Female Competition in Boxing: The Foundation Position, Women’s Sports Foundation
• Intelligence in Men and Women is a Gray and White Matter, (2005), University of California, Irvine
• Knee Injuries Likelier for Female Athletes, The University Record (March 5, 2001)

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.

A 30-year old man is hospitalized with a severe head injury and has to undergo psychological assessment. The psychologist shifts uncomfortably and says gravely, “I’m afraid we have no choice but to perform a brain transplant. We have a 20-year-old female brain at a cost of $2,000 or a 70-year-old male brain for $50,000. I’ll leave you to think about which you’d prefer.”

The man thinks smugly how the higher price must prove that even an old male brain is superior to a young female brain. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have $50,000 and he decides he’d better find out if the female brain has any redeeming features. He has his BlackBerry with him and starts researching on the Internet.

The Truth About the Male Brain Versus the Female Brain
He discovers that males have, on average, bigger brains, and that there are some traits that can be attributed more frequently to men and some to women. It seems that men may tend to be better map readers, although they hate to ask for directions; and women perhaps are better at reading body language, although they always fail to understand that men are not mind-readers. He knows the psychologist will be back soon and hurries to check if there is a published psychological assessment verifying male or female superiority. From Samson and Delilah to Brad and Angelina, he finds that although there are certainly differences between men and women, there is no definitive evidence to support superiority of gray matter in either gender.

The Psychologist Returns
The only logical conclusion the man can draw is that the male brain is superior, even though he found no evidence to support this. He makes his decision just as the psychologist returns. “I’ve decided,” he says, “$50,000 is a lot of money, but I must have the superior male brain.” The (female) psychologist smiles wryly. “Whatever gave you that idea?” she asks, “The reason the male brain is more expensive is because it has never been used.”

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.

You don’t need an emotional intelligence test to tell you that people aren’t all the same. Some of us march to the beat of a drum so very different that other people can’t even hear it. When it comes to sex (an emotional test in and of itself for some) the differences in responses to negative emotions appear to be both gender and personality driven. You might be surprised to know that if you’re in the mood, your partner’s bad mood might not be bad news.

In short, having a real bad day makes some people long for love, according to research recently published in the Journal of Sex Research.

Female Emotional Intelligence and Sex
Basic emotional intelligence tells us that nobody wants to have sex when they’re depressed. Right? And the last thing anyone wants when they’re nail-bitingly anxious is a roll in the hay. For most women, this is true, since depression and anxiety decrease both sexual interest and response. However, one in ten women connects depression with sexual desire, and in 23% of college women anxiety means passion. These women actually become more interested in sex, and more physically responsive, when they’re down or anxious.

Male Emotional Intelligence and Sex
Apparently we can now locate jokes about the male bad mood in the same place as jokes about the location of the male brain. (Don’t think about that too much…) A significant number of men, it seems, want sex no matter what. Depression and anxiety just fan their eternal flames. No surprise there.

Emotional Intelligence Test Reliability
The Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire on which these conclusions are based rely on self-reporting, like the EQ SQ personality tests. As researchers caution, such assessments as these can’t always make finely tuned distinctions. However, if you take the tests simply for your own benefit, what reason do you have to be less than completely truthful (even unwitttingly)?

Emotional Intelligence Ignored
The link between bad days and good sex for some men and women isn’t just an interesting factoid, and you probably shouldn’t rely on it being true for the majority of men or women. Nevertheless, if you ARE thinking about consolation sex, consider the practical consequences. In men, whose eqs tend to be lower anyway, negative moods are also associated with risky sex–no condoms, more partners, casual encounters.

Perhaps everyone should take the EQ SQ tests as part of the prelude?

Ahem.

Sources:
• The Relationship Between Negative Mood and Sexuality in Heterosexual College Women and Men, by Amy D. Lykins, Erick Janssen, and Cynthia A. Graham. Journal of Sex Research 43.2 (May 2006).

About the author
Wendy Croix is a freelance writer and systematizing female whose favorite movie is “The Last Seduction,” a neo-noir about a woman with no eq at all.

Wrap a baby in a pink blanket and adults coo and smile, speaking softly and sweetly to the little “girl.” Wrap the same baby in a blue blanket and adults bounce it up and down, speaking loudly to the little “boy.” At least, that’s how I remember it.

Call it a personality test (the endurance kind…), call it an example of the earliest social education. These scenes from Nova’s 1980 documentary on gender stereotyping “The Pinks and the Blues” have stayed with me, though the program aired twenty-five years ago. PBS archives say, “this program graphically and powerfully illustrates the ways in which adults create gender characteristics in infants according to their sex.”

Are Gender Stereotypes “Made”?
Created? The female brain and the male brain are made, they’re not inborn? Yes, some folks argue, gender stereotying at all levels is not natural, it’s a product of our upbringing. The fancy name for this group is “social constructionists.”

Are Gender Stereotypes “Born”?
On the other side of the fence are psychologists, like Simon Baron-Cohen, who agree that socialization (for example, the cooing and bouncing) is important. However, “what we’ve found is if you go back in time to when children are very small, you still find these sex differences even before experience or socialization has had much chance to have an effect.”

Baron-Cohen cites an oft-cited finding: “Little girls will look longer at a human face, and little boys will look longer at a mechanical mobile suspended above the crib.”

I can imagine the constructionist interpretation: The little girl sees a human face and anticipates happily the sweetness and caress, inviting it by holding the gaze. The little boy sees a human face and averts eyes quickly–anything to avoid the bouncing, jiggling, and yelling that must follow. “Gimme the damn mobile. Ah, what a relief!”

What does this mean to you and me?
Does it really matter whether the many and varied factors that determine our scores on the EQ SQ personality tests are hardwired or socially determined? Yes, says the social constructionist. You’ve been shaped to be the “you” that you are. So, you can change your rock bottom EQ score and forge ahead with that career in social work if you really want to. And, if you’re a boy, you can learn to love pink.

On the other hand, if that low EQ and high SQ is hardwired, it’s probably telling you that a technical education would be an easier option for you.

And that you really do prefer the mechanical mobile to the human face.

Sources:
• The Pinks and the Blues, Nova (1980)
• Interview: Simon Baron-Cohen discusses tracking causes of autism back to the womb, by Alex Chadwick. Day to Day (NPR) Aug 15, 2005.

About the author
Tamise Van Pelt, Ph.D., is a systematizing female who was stripped of her pink blanket by a marauding band of social constructionists when she insisted that her low EQ score was genetic.

Apparently, my ideal career is in Human Resources. I am really more of a follower and I don’t have the killer instinct to reach my goals. On the other hand, my forte is in Business or Marketing (as if that narrows it down). Another career aptitude test revealed that I should be an Administrator. Sigh.

Online Career Aptitude Tests and Me
Three different online career aptitude tests revealed my true vocation(s) in life. Admittedly, I’d got bored by the time I tackled the last one (which was actually seven tests measuring THE seven abilities that consitute a person’s aptitude). For this one, I simply selected the last answer choice for every question. The results declared that I am very good at reasoning with words accompanied by the ability to ‘think’ in numbers. Scary, given my methodology. These were all free tests, of course; all the other “serious” career tests I looked at required payment up front. However, even the non-frivolous tests seemed set to make similar judgments.

The Value of Career Aptitude Tests
In my opinion, any career test that supposes to recommend a career at the level of “human resources” is doubtful. By the same token, a career test that recommends as broadly as “business and marketing” is pretty useless too. I mean, come on! That’s like someone saying they’re going on vacation to Europe… Doesn’t everyone KNOW that there are 45 countries in Europe, at least as many languages (not counting dialects), and people of as many creeds and colors as you care to imagine? But I digress.

Which Career Aptitude Test is Best?
Most dictionaries define “aptitude” in fuzzy terms like “inclination”, “tendency”, and “natural ability”. “Capacity for learning” is about as definitive as it gets. That said, it is useful to know where our talents lie. I believe we are better off discovering these innate talents and then researching careers that support them. Career research takes dedication and committment. A ten-minute career aptitude test won’t give you the answer. Ask yourself, are you a better communicator and empathizer or technical systemizer? You can take our (free) EQ SQ tests and find out. These career aptitude tests don’t pretend to be crystal balls and won’t proclaim the title of your next job. Nevertheless, they will give you insight into the kind of career or education most suited for your personality. The rest is up to you.

Biased, yes–but only because it makes sense.

Sources:
• The Drew Carey Show Career Aptitude Test
• What’s Your Life’s Purpose? College911express
• The Complete Aptitude Test, 3SmartCubes
• Aptitude, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.

23% of men access porn sites on company time either on purpose or “by accident” (yeah, yeah). Only 12% of women admit to having viewed porn sites for any reason. Websense elucidated these findings in its sixth annual Web@Work survey. In addition, the study indicated that more men than women access the Internet from work for personal surfing.

The Male Online Experience
Men spend more time online: they logon more, are more likely to be broadband users, purchase more, pay bills more, research more, download more, and are more interested in the technology. Men are more likely to communicate with organizations. These are highlights from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The Female Online Experience
The Pew/Internet report goes on to say that women use the Internet more for communication–emails, sharing news, planning events, and forwarding funny jokes and stories. Women include a far wider range of topics and activities in their emails. Women are also more likely to communicate with friends and relatives.

The Internet and EQ:SQ Theory
Overall, women use the Internet only very sligthly less than men. However, as with the male versus female intelligence debate, it seems that the empathizing-systemizing theory appears to hold true for the Internet. The way men and women use the Internet is different. That’s not to say that men never use the Internet for communicating with friends and relatives or that no women embrace the new technologies of the Internet fully. But, on average, women are the communicators and men are the technophiles.

Equality on The Internet
As we saw with higher education, it seems historial opportunities and aspirations influence womens’ use of the Internet. Women over thirty trail behind men online; however, women under thirty and black women use the Internet more than their male colleagues. Oddly, unlike career choice, most women probably don’t mind having it pointed out that they use the Internet differently to men. They can accept this “inequality” quite smugly. So why do women want to be “equal” at work?

The Last Word on The Internet
There’s another area where women are catching up to men, too. According to Websense, in their 2004 survey 100% women who visited porn sites said they did so unintentionally. In the 2005 survey 11% women who visited porn sites said they visited these less-than salubrious sites on purpose.

Progress, indeed.

Sources:
• Surfing the Web at Work May Be as Addictive as a Cup of Joe, 2005, Websense, Inc., Sixth Annual Web@Work Study
• How Women and Men Use the Internet, 2005, Pew Internet & American Life Project

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.

Women have always been “the fairer sex” and, no doubt, many arguments can be made on the esthetics of beauty for and against this. However, when it comes down to it, this is a subjective observation. What about cleverness? Are there objective measures that can indicate categorically if the male brain or the female brain has the greatest capacity for intelligence?

There are many professional and self-assessment tests around to measure the supposed “intelligence” of males and females. Our very own EQ and SQ tests sit alongside other emotional intelligence tests and a vast range of personality tests that purport to elucidate the truth about male and female brains. But what do the facts say?

What the Statistics Say about Male Versus Female Intelligence
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that in 2004 17-year old females outperformed males in reading, while 17-year old males outperformed females in mathematics. This would seem to support the notion that male and female “intelligence” is different but not that one gender is cleverer than the other.

Have Women Become More Intelligent in the last 30 Years?
Another study from NCES highlights the changes in womens’ higher education since 1970. From being the minority of undergraduates in 1970, women became the majority in 2001. This trend is projected to increase through 2013. Does this mean that women have become cleverer?

The Truth About Women’s Intelligence
NCES examines the increase in women undergraduates in different sectors of the population and the results are telling. In the period from 1999 to 2000 women comprised 63% black undergraduates, 62% students age 40 or older, and 70% single parents. It seems, then, that the increase in intelligent women is associated more with groups that historically have had less opportunity (or perhaps desire) to further their education.

The real truth is that this tells us nothing about the innate intelligence of either gender. It tells us that more women are seeking to become better educated but nothing about whether they are able to learn more effectively (surely one measure of intelligence).

Unless, of course, the pursuit of knowledge per se is an indication of superior intelligence, in which case women are taking the lead in the gender intelligence battle.

Sources:
• Trends in Educational Equity for Girls & Women, 2004, National Center for Education Statistics
• Gender Differences in Participation and Completion of Undergraduate Education and How They Have Changed Over Time, by Katharin Peter and Laura Horn, 2005, National Center for Education Statistics

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.

Apart from the obvious musical challenges, it’s hard to imagine Tammy Wynette’s famous ballad as, “Stand by your Systemizer.” Just think of her belting out the first line as, “Sometimes it’s hard to be an empathizer.” However, there is a general perception that a woman’s life is harder than a man’s.

Womens’ Work is Never Done
Germaine Greer (an infamous Australian feminist) says that women don’t know how to relax. In addition to paid work, women are also responsible for most of the housework and childcare. Even womens’ leisure activities (shopping, personal care, and beauty) are approached as more of a necessity than something to do for fun.

Men Spend More Time at the Gym
A study completed by the British government in the year 2000 shows that men and women have, on average (everything is “on average”), the same number of work and leisure hours in a day. However, they tend to spend their leisure time differently. Men spend more time playing sports, watching TV, and traveling. Women sleep a little longer, have more of a social life, and (darn it) devote more time to eating. It makes sense that women, who tend to be empathizers, spend more time socializing than men, who tend to be systemizers.

Differences are All in the Mind
It would be very interesting to see work and leisure activities split by brain type instead of gender. Would we see an even more marked split in the choice of leisure pastimes? Would women and men with the “female” (empathizing) brain spend more time on the leisure activitities that are mainly attributed to women? Would men and women with the “male” (systemizing) brain spend more time on activities that we tend to associate with men these days? I’m pretty sure this would prove to be the case.

Suddenly, Shania Twain’s enthusiastic lyrics, “Man, I feel like a woman,” make more sense to me. I always thought they should be sung by a man.

Sources:
• How Do We Use Our Time? The UK 2000 Time Use Survey
• Why Women Don’t Relax, May 04, 2006, Guardian Unlimited

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.

Would you be surprised to know that it is in countries where women don’t go to work that birth rates are lowest? You might think it should be the other way around: that in countries where women don’t work the birth rate would be highest. Apparently, this is not the case. Children are expensive and it could be that women work simply so they can afford to have children.

Do Women Work Because They Can?
Time studies reported in the Economist indicate that women have more leisure time now than they did forty years ago (and twenty, and ten). Although moms spend just as much time on childcare as they ever did; refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, microwave ovens, and vacuum cleaners mean they spend less time on housework. Could it be that women work just because they can?

Do Women Work for the Money?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveals that women, on average, are paid less than men. This can be explained partly by maternity leave absences (a prolonged absence from the workplace for any reason can result in lower pay), but that’s not the whole story. The UK (a developed country comparable to the U.S.) Office for National Statistics examines salaries for different age groups. It can be seen that in the under-30’s there is very little wage discrimination, whereas in the over-50’s discrimination is rife. Not so much a thing of the past, then, as a thing of the present for people born further in the past…So young women, at least, work for the money, maybe?

Do Women Work for the Global Economy?
Another observation made by the Economist is that, “…over the past decade or so, the increased employment of women in developed economies has contributed much more to global growth than China has.” Translated, this means that women previously destined to be “only” housewives have created more worldwide wealth than one billion Chinese.

Why do women work? Who cares?! Let’s just be glad that they do.

Sources:
• A Guide to Womenomics, April 12, 2006, Economist
• Table 6: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), 2005, Office for National Satistics

About the author
Katrina Boydon is a systemizing female with empathizing traits. She is as likely to be found crying over a sad film as balancing her bank account to the last cent.