Kristin
What explains the gender wage gap? This Vox video shows that women spend more time taking care of kids, and some jobs require workers to be present during certain fixed hours. When kids get sick or otherwise require care, women might not be able to put in their face time at work. But when women don’t have kids the pay gap shrinks. And when jobs offer flexibility on when or where employees get their work done, the pay gap shrinks even for parents.
There’s good news for employers who would like to advance not only gender equality but also environmental goals: allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely can reduce commutes, improve employee satisfaction, increase productivity, open up your talent pool when hiring. Here’s more myths and evidence about remote work.
When hiring, employers often want someone who is a “cultural fit.” But sometimes that is shorthand for someone who looks and thinks just like everyone else, which can hurt the organizations’ ability to incorporate diverse perspectives and avoid groupthink. Here are four interview questions that help employers really get to the heart of what a candidate is looking for in culture and if they are a fit.
Lee Drutman has a masterful analysis of the 2016 presidential voters, including a matrix scatterplot of voters (so exciting!) on two axes:
- social/identity index where more liberal means more supportive of immigration, Muslims, African-Americans, abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgender bathrooms) and
- economic index where more liberal means more supportive of the social safety net, a more active government, and more economic equality)
Democratic voters tend to be both socially and economically liberal. Republican voters tend to be socially conservative but somewhat spread out in their economic views. In other words, Democratic voters cluster in the “Liberal” (economically and socially liberal) quadrant of the matrix, while Republican voters occupy both the “Conservative” (economically and socially conservative) and the “Populist” (economically liberal and socially conservative) quadrants. The fourth quadrant, “Libertarian” (economically conservative and socially liberal) is nearly empty.
Serena
Last week’s Shouts & Murmurs humor column in the New Yorker, “Before the Internet,” actually read to me less comical and more blissful. Anyone else?
I was delighted to learn I’d won Powell’s Books’ “Daily Dose” competition for my review of Cycling Sojourner: A Guide to the Best Multi-Day Tours in Washington (there’s an Oregon one, too!). That’s $40 to more literary treats for me! And hopefully some two-wheeled travel inspiration for others…
Eric
The Seattle Times has a wonderful profile of my good friend (and ex-wife) who’s the new executive director of Washington Trails Association: “Hiking is My Happiness.”
Anna
Black girls. especially girls between the ages of 5 and 14, are perceived by US adults as less innocent and less in need of protection than their white counterparts. To break your heart and open your mind, see the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality study.
Humans are prone to motivated reasoning. It makes it very hard for us to admit we’re wrong. How about this? An app for crowd-sourcing the process of changing your mind (and celebrating the change)? Yep, go ahead—try being convinced by strangers on Reddit!
And two inspiring arty videos that reveal more than just human creativity but tap into what it means to be human:
First: An Iraqi refugee bides his time in immigration limbo in Turkey by creating astoundingly detailed dioramas that I love, love, love! They are perfect. And I found him charming too—and the story very moving.
And a library of sketchbooks from all kinds of people, all over the world.
Aven
I am so grateful to these high school and middle school teachers around the country who have found creative ways to teach the science of climate change to their students, even in conservative and deeply skeptical parts of the country. It couldn’t be more important.
