men and women are different

An oft heard statistic is that for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes .77 cents. The factoid itself is a sharp lesson in bad statistics. It is calculated by taking the “median” female income (not even the average!) and comparing it to the median male income. This would be like taking the middle value of income for people over age 40 and comparing it to the middle value of income for people under 20. People under 20 have less experience, engage in entry level jobs, and generally value different things (maybe value leisure time more). Statistically it is a fallacy to straight compare one group of individuals to another, especially when the defining characteristics are also predictors of different value sets.

The “pay gap” advocates understand this, but they pretend it does not exist. It would not help their bottom line if they quote: “An unmarried, educated, childless, career orientate women makes more than a male of the same demographic”. Women, when controlling for relevant factors, actually make more than men (up to 20%)! A career orientated woman is a valuable employee.

One primary reason, besides childbirth, that women on average (and median) make less than men is because the two groups have wildly different value sets. reports about a University of Texas study:

“The participant pool was composed entirely of 72 female students at the University of Texas at Austin, because researchers were unable to find male participants who played computer games for less than two hours a [week].”

Yes, that’s right. They could not find any college-aged men who barely played video games.

Why the differential? See also Huffington Post on a computer hacker’s convention:

Unfortunately, women were underrepresented at DEF CON — at least as badly as the ongoing disparity in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. While organizers don’t keep records to track demographics (remember the registration process?), it’s glaringly obvious in the convention halls and even bathroom lines. Given the price, the event could be used as cost-effective stepping stone for women who want to get involved in STEM.

The convention is cheap, voluntary, technological, and devoid of women. The same could be said about Comic-Com or any anime convention:

There is a reason that walking around in any major city will reveal that men make up the vast majority of homeless people. Women don’t generally tolerate living in squalor. Men, however, can tolerate living like slobs or sleeping on streets. On the lower end of the spectrum, men make up the vast majority of lazy people. Homeless statistics are skewed by the fact that families living in buildings (like hotels or motels) are still counted as “homeless”. But statistics still show the discrepancy.

Men and women have wildly divergent value sets. Pretending that they are the same is dishonest. Reality is challenging to those who think gender discrimination is real. Remember: the free market destroys real discrimination. Bureaucrats attempting solutions cause it.

About christopher fisher

This entry was posted in Econ 101, Economics, Human Nature, Leftists, Statistics, Women. Bookmark the permalink.

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