The 1 Extremely Sexist Decision That A Lot Of Bosses Don't Realize They're Making
The gap is real.
Whether or not bosses are aware they're doing it, there's still a pretty sizable gender pay gap.
On average in the U.S., women are paid 77-78 cents for every dollar that an equally qualified dude makes. That's 22-23% less, a figure that hasn't really changed in the past decade.
Ugh. Come. On.
The U.S. doesn't officially track the pay gap through a government agency like other nations, including the Aussies who made the video below, but the inequality is essentially the same.
So, how does the gender pay gap really break down?
There are basically three types: the national gender pay gap, pay gaps within industries, and gaps within organizations.
The national gender pay gap is the difference between women's and men's average full-time salaries. (In the U.S., that's where the figure of women earning 22-23% less than men comes in.)
That figure breaks down into different industry categories. No matter if you're a chef or an educator, most industries — even the female-dominated ones — have a pay gap that favors men.
Within organizations, pay gaps trickle down into three categories: like-for-like, bi-level, and organization-wide.
Like-for-like is the pay gap that exists between men and women with the same job title. Bi-level gaps are measured between men and women at the same organizational level, such as managers. Organization-wide is the average difference in pay between men and women throughout the entire company.
The tricky part of this whole puzzle is that solving the gender pay gap is not as simple as adjusting numbers. We've also got to adjust perception.
Family and societal influences often perpetuate stereotypes about the type of work women should and shouldn't do.
As a result, lots of industries that are female-dominated include occupations that pay less. (See the correlation there? I'm not pointing fingers, but that's not a mistake.) There's actually an official term for that. It's called "industrial and occupational segregation."
Gender bias also contributes to the gap, as does having fewer women in leadership roles. As a result, men are often given higher starting salaries, bonuses, and raises unrelated to performance, while women, working just as hard, are left out in the cold.
We've gotta kill all of that.
let's educate ourselves about what's really going on. Here's a video that explains it all:
To learn more about all these moving parts and how the gender pay gap may affect you, check out the WGEA.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."