Comments on: We’re #27! We’re #27!

By: Tessa

Tessa — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:58:29 +0000

You might want to rethink moving to NZ. Our lame new right-wing National government has just pulled the plug on a scheme set up by the last left-wing Labour government that had identified that women in the public service were being paid significantly less than men, and was about to move on to actually rectifying the problem. But apparently eliminating pay inequity is too expensive in these recession-ridden times.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:13:25 +0000

Contrarian, that's the whole "not comparing countries to each other" thing. I'm sorry they ranked (and then I went on to reproduce) that top-10 thing, because it's misleading, and seems to indicate "women have it better here than there" when what they are really saying is "in a number of carefully defined categories, we have quantified the differences between men and women in each of 130 countries." Another major problem (there are any number to choose from, like that whole "ignoring the inputs" things) w/ the design of the study is that it starts from the premise that women are less privileged than men in every area, which is probably true, but, logically speaking, "begging-the-question-y." It's not totally useless, but the more I look at it, the less I know what to make of it.

By: contrarian

contrarian — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:56:41 +0000

I looked at some numbers, and I’m ready to proclaim this survey dead stupid.

Example: life expectancy for the USA vs. Lesotho. Americans live until ages 71 (women) and 67 (men). 71/67 = 1.06. Life expectancy for Lesotho is 33 (women) and 30 (men). 33/30 = 1.10.

In words: women in Lesotho live 10% longer than men in Lesotho, while American women only live 6% longer than American men. Therefore, Lesotho is “better” for women, so it ranks #1 in this category, while the USA is ranked #60.

Or to be more succinct: it’s better to live 33 years in Swaziland than 71 years in the USA.

By: Eeva

Eeva — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:26:13 +0000

Oh, good stuff. I do know several people in that august department, so if a job ever does come up that you want, let me know and I’ll give you the inside scoop

By: PhDork

PhDork — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:33:41 +0000

I’ve never been to Cork…yet, but your campus looks great online. I’m trying to stay on the d-low since “blogger” is not really great for the ol’ CV, so I’ll say that I’m in what your fine institution would abbreviate to “DTS.” Shhhhh.

By: Eeva

Eeva — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:21:57 +0000

Or UCC! You can’t leave out my alma mater! Our Quad is far nicer than either of the others.
Do you mind me asking what field you work in?

By: PhDork

PhDork — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:19:30 +0000

Eeva, I would LOVE to live in Ireland, and your excellent cheese is but one reason. I haunt listservs, looking for a gig at Trinity, or University College Galway, but nothing yet in my field. I have friends/colleagues who have landed work in England and Scotland, though, so I keep my fingers crossed.

By: Eeva

Eeva — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:12:08 +0000

PhDork: Thanks for the further breakdown of the report.
Also, move here! In its favour, Ireland is the land of Mary Robinson, one of the most amazing women alive. And we have really good cheese.

By: SarahMC

SarahMC — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:03:46 +0000

Sweden seems like paradise to me, for numerous reasons.

By: Eeva

Eeva — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:55:24 +0000

contrarian: yes. The fact that Ireland – my country – ranks so highly does not reflect well on any country below it. Apart altogether from the almost-total ban on abortion (and have you read about the X Case?), we have a serious lack of women in the political system, and I’m just home from a talk about the horrific state of affairs here with regards to sex trafficking.

Sweden was spoken of very highly at said talk, though – apparently its prostitution laws are stellar – so that seems appropriate.