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Biology at Work : Rethinking Sexual Equality / Kingsley R. Browne.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Rutgers Series on Human EvolutionPublisher: New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2002]Copyright date: ©2002Description: 1 online resource (288 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780813530536
  • 9780813542478
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 305.3
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- I. How the Sexes Differ -- 2. Sex Differences in Temperament -- 3. Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities -- II. Women in the Workplace -- 4. Once One Breaks the Glass Ceiling, Does It Still Exist? -- 5. Occupational Segregation -- 6. The Gender Gap in Compensation -- III. The Proximate and Ultimate Origins of Sex Differences -- 7. Why Socialization Is an Inadequate Explanation -- 8. Hormones -- 9. Evolutionary Theory and the Ultimate Cause of Biological Sex Differences -- IV. Public Policy and Sex Differences in Workplace Outcomes -- 10. Difference or Disadvantage? -- 11. A Thumb on the Scales -- 12. Mitigating Work /Family Conflict -- V. Sex and the Workplace -- 13. Sexual Harassment -- 14. Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author
Summary: Does biology help explain why women, on average, earn less money than men? Is there any evolutionary basis for the scarcity of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies? According to Kingsley Browne, the answer may be yes. Biology at Work brings an evolutionary perspective to bear on issues of women in the workplace: the "glass ceiling," the "gender gap" in pay, sexual harassment, and occupational segregation. While acknowledging the role of discrimination and sexist socialization, Browne suggests that until we factor real biological differences between men and women into the equation, the explanation remains incomplete. Browne looks at behavioral differences between men and women as products of different evolutionary pressures facing them throughout human history. Womens biological investment in their offspring has led them to be on average more nurturing and risk averse, and to value relationships over competition. Men have been biologically rewarded, over human history, for displays of strength and skill, risk taking, and status acquisition. These behavioral differences have numerous workplace consequences. Not surprisingly, sex differences in the drive for status lead to sex differences in the achievement of status. Browne argues that decision makers should recognize that policies based on the assumption of a single androgynous human nature are unlikely to be successful. Simply removing barriers to inequality will not achieve equality, as women and men typically value different things in the workplace and will make different workplace choices based on their different preferences. Rather than simply putting forward the "nature" side of the debate, Browne suggests that dichotomies such as nature/nurture have impeded our understanding of the origins of human behavior. Through evolutionary biology we can understand not only how natural selection has created predispositions toward certain types of behavior but also how the social environment interacts with these predispositions to produce observed behavioral patterns.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780813542478

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- I. How the Sexes Differ -- 2. Sex Differences in Temperament -- 3. Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities -- II. Women in the Workplace -- 4. Once One Breaks the Glass Ceiling, Does It Still Exist? -- 5. Occupational Segregation -- 6. The Gender Gap in Compensation -- III. The Proximate and Ultimate Origins of Sex Differences -- 7. Why Socialization Is an Inadequate Explanation -- 8. Hormones -- 9. Evolutionary Theory and the Ultimate Cause of Biological Sex Differences -- IV. Public Policy and Sex Differences in Workplace Outcomes -- 10. Difference or Disadvantage? -- 11. A Thumb on the Scales -- 12. Mitigating Work /Family Conflict -- V. Sex and the Workplace -- 13. Sexual Harassment -- 14. Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Does biology help explain why women, on average, earn less money than men? Is there any evolutionary basis for the scarcity of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies? According to Kingsley Browne, the answer may be yes. Biology at Work brings an evolutionary perspective to bear on issues of women in the workplace: the "glass ceiling," the "gender gap" in pay, sexual harassment, and occupational segregation. While acknowledging the role of discrimination and sexist socialization, Browne suggests that until we factor real biological differences between men and women into the equation, the explanation remains incomplete. Browne looks at behavioral differences between men and women as products of different evolutionary pressures facing them throughout human history. Womens biological investment in their offspring has led them to be on average more nurturing and risk averse, and to value relationships over competition. Men have been biologically rewarded, over human history, for displays of strength and skill, risk taking, and status acquisition. These behavioral differences have numerous workplace consequences. Not surprisingly, sex differences in the drive for status lead to sex differences in the achievement of status. Browne argues that decision makers should recognize that policies based on the assumption of a single androgynous human nature are unlikely to be successful. Simply removing barriers to inequality will not achieve equality, as women and men typically value different things in the workplace and will make different workplace choices based on their different preferences. Rather than simply putting forward the "nature" side of the debate, Browne suggests that dichotomies such as nature/nurture have impeded our understanding of the origins of human behavior. Through evolutionary biology we can understand not only how natural selection has created predispositions toward certain types of behavior but also how the social environment interacts with these predispositions to produce observed behavioral patterns.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 27. Jan 2023)