Stemming inequality? Employment and pay of female and minority scientists and engineers

When white men overwhelmingly dominated the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) work force, the high pay in STEM occupations was a major source of gender and race inequality in the U.S. economy. As women, Blacks, and Latinos increasingly study STEM fields, new possibilities for achieving pay equality are opening. We test whether the reality matches the promise using two large data sets. Analysis of a five percent Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 2000 Census and the 2001-06 American Community Surveys shows that women and minorities earn more, relative to comparable white men, in STEM than in non-STEM fields. This general pattern persists in analysis of a 1% sample of federal personnel records, which include better measures of work experience and education. Thus, federal efforts to increase the representativeness of the STEM workforce should increase pay equality in the economy by moving women and minorities into traditionally high-paying fields.     

‘Family Friendly’ Employment Policies: A Route to Changing Organizational Culture or Playing About at the Margins?

Formal ‘family friendly’ policies, including flexible or reduced hours of work and periods of leave, designed to help employees to balance work and family demands have the potential to challenge traditional models of work and organizational values. However, while these policies can reduce stress for individual employees, it is argued that there is less evidence of widespread organizational culture change. This paper draws on case studies of organizations at various stages of developing ‘family friendly’ policies to identify two barriers to fundamental shifts in organizational culture; low sense of entitlement to consideration of family needs, and organizational discourses of time as representing productivity, commitment and value. Some conditions under which broader culture change may be achieved are explored.     

Forging new syntheses: Theories and theorists

This article argues that sociologists themselves may be partially responsible for the low status of sociology and suggests that efforts toward synthesis of existing theories show considerable promise toward enhancing the scholarly reputation and academic status of the discipline. A more unified approach to the study of society contains the potential of freeing sociologists from endless squabbles over minor differences and allows them to concentrate their energies on the task of furthering sociological knowledge. An integrated paradigm that deals with multiple levels of analysis offers a more complete understanding of the relationship between the individual and society than does single-minded concentration on specific levels of analysis. Overcoming massive intellectual agoraphobia is seen as the greatest challenge to general acceptance of an integrated paradigm.     

An empirical analysis of stressors for gay men and lesbians

This research describes the empirical classification of stressors for gay men and lesbians. Volunteer respondents were recruited through a free local gay and lesbian newspaper, through gay and lesbian student organizations nationwide, through gay and lesbian bookstores nationwide, and at a gay festival in St. Louis. Nine hundred seventy-nine (979) participants completed a 70-item measure with stressors that had been identified in previous qualitative research. Participants were asked to indicate the degree to which they had experienced stress associated with a variety of experiences. Participants also completed a measure of dysphoria (CES-D), responded about their degree of openness regarding sexual orientation, and provided information about their relationship status and involvement with gay groups and activities. Using confirmatory factor analysis, a six-factor model was predicted to account for the data. One-factor, six-factor, and ten-factor models were tested. The ten-factor model yielded the best fit with the data and accounted for 63.5% of the variance. The factor structure remained stable when gay men were compared to lesbians, when those endorsing a predominantly gay versus exclusively gay orientation were compared, and when those in a relationship were compared to those who were not in a relationship. Increased gay stress was associated with more dysphoria. Implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are considered.