>>>>>>Of course position and responsibility is everything:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/36234>>>>>
>>>>>Which seems to indicate that, at the time the numbers were reported, Obama's staff had more men in senior positions than women, which accounts for the disparity.
>>>>
>>>>And which is where there should be some parity, eh?
>>>
>>>Why?
>>
>>Because the lack thereof caused the imbalance.
>
>If that's true, then the imbalance should not be an issue. I thought you were saying that equal numbers of men and women should be hired for each position level.
I explained the problem, as I've heard about it, in the other message. It's a bad problem because either way one tries to solve it, there can be ugly consequences, and the solver can be made to look stupid. Any sort of affirmative action is probably counterproductive, as it casts a shadow of doubt upon anyone hired - that they are hired for their status and not on merit. OTOH, leaving absolute freedom to the employers will leave things at status quo, because the employers are mostly rich white Christian males, so... they'll always find a way to fill the upper echelons with their own and leave the others on the lower rungs. Which will then make these less rich, and with fewer means and time to perfect their skills and pursue further education, and those of their children. This circle is very vicious, as it also gives rise to countercultures - as is currently the case with gang/gangsta thing, which may have started as a form of protest and imagery, but eventually gets into real crime and makes higher education unpopular in its circles, which further diminishes chances of integration and achieving economic equality and so ad infinitum. Not that higher education was anywhere near popular among these who were not exactly rich Christian white males, because they have seen or experienced that while education may get you good life, it will not get you into the club; but if you belong to the club, education matters less and you still live better. So, the incentive is more negative than positive - and who was it who said that there's something wrong with any country where merchants make more money than teachers (could be some ancient Greek or Hindu, I guess), well, their own teachers who don't really make much but are the nearest example of a highly educated person most of the kids see, and that example doesn't really make it all that desirable.
IOW, we are losing talented people left and right, because they don't see that staying in the game gets them anything worth the trouble. At least half of these are women.
