Extensive listening: Know your worth, and then ask for it

Your boss probably isn't paying you what you're worth — instead, they're paying you what they think you're worth. Take the time to learn how to shape their thinking.

Pricing consultant Casey Brown shares helpful stories and learnings that can help you better communicate your value and get paid for your excellence.

Casey Brown is a pricing geek and professional speaker. She leads an organization that helps companies improve profits through better pricing. She speaks at conferences, trade associations and networking groups around the world. She is on a mission to correct the injustice of underpricing.

You can read the full transcript here.

Fearless Girl

The iconic Charging Bull statue in New York's Financial District got some company Wednesday, just in time for International Women's Day.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. What is the most famous statue in New York?
2. What is the message Fearless Girl is defending?
3. What is the idea State Street Global Advisors wanted to transmit?
4. How long ago did Charging Bull appear?
5. According to Eliza France, what does the girl show that it is not important?

Finally, tonight. There are hundreds of statues in New York. The most famous, Lady Liberty, and the newest, a much younger lady with a message on this International Women’s Day. Alex Wagner checked it out.
A young girl, head held high, hands firmly planted on her waist, stares down an icon of Wall Street, an arena long dominated by men. She’s called Fearless Girl and she’s taking a stand for women’s equality by facing off with the Charging Bull. People young and old are flocking to her. A group of school children stopped by.
I think that it’s really a symbol of power.
I think it’s cool that they’ve actually put a girl standing up to the bull there.
She’s become an internet sensation. The idea was hatched by one of the financial world’s biggest firms, State Street Global Advisors, as a call to action for more women to serve on corporate boards. Lori Heinel is an executive with the firm.
She’s pushing back, but she’s also engaging and she’s engaging in a powerful way. So this isn’t about pushing men aside. This is about claiming the space that 50 percent of the occupation rightfully should lay claim to.
Fearless Girl was installed in the middle of the night two days ago, a tribute to the resilience of women. Charging Bull appeared 28 years ago as a sign of Wall Street resilience after the 87 stock market crash. Eliza France works on Wall Street.
She’s great. She’s amazing. She’s powerful and I think just opposite the bull it just shows that in this little girl, it doesn’t matter your size, you have that power in you.
It’s part of a movement that’s grown since President Trump’s inauguration. Miriam Mejia has been on the march.
It’s our moment. The little girls is just with an attitude. I’m empowered.
Empowered with a message to the titans of Wall Street. Alex Wagner CBS News, New York.
A girl with true medal. From the Evening News to all of you and all of us all around the world. We wish you a very good night.

KEY:
1 Lady Liberty
2 Women’s equality
3 More women should serve in corporate boards
4 28 yeas ago
5 size

Extensive listening: It's time for women to run for office

With warmth and wit, Halla Tómasdóttir shares how she overcame media bias, changed the tone of the political debate and surprised her entire nation when she ran for president of Iceland — inspiring the next generation of leaders along the way.

"What we see, we can be," she says. "It matters that women run."

Icelandic entrepreneur Halla Tómasdóttir believes that if you’re going to change things, you have to do it from the inside. She infused the world of finance with “feminine values," which helped her survive the financial meltdown in Iceland and nearly made her president.

You can read the full transcript for the talk here.

Shift in South Korean tradition sees men enter the kitchen

The biggest TV shows in South Korea are about cooking and the stars are men - a sight which would traditionally have been taboo. However, more men in the kitchen does not mean more women in top jobs in business.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. Who dominates TV ratings?
2. How old is Park Kyoun Hee?
3. Why did Park learn to cook?
4. Why did Park's daughter get surprised?
5. What is changing in South Korea as the country modernises?
6. What happens when women reach 30?

Turn on the TV in South Korea and all you see these days is men in the kitchen. Zap through the channels and male celebrity chefs dominate the ratings. Sam Kim is a star in the studio, and in his own restaurant.
You want to spend your time with your family and he goes to a public place. Everyone wants to come to see me and wants to take a picture together. Even if you do house chores, you go outside to empty the trash, everyone wants me.
The rise of male cooking shows how this very traditional country is changing fast. This is a cooking competition for men. Park Kyoun Hee is 65. He had a spell working abroad while his family stayed home in Korea, so he did what his father never did, he learned to cook.
In the past in Korea, men or boys cannot approach the kitchen, and they do not know how to cook. Men cannot live without a wife.
So it was a big surprise when I heard he started cooking classes in here. So it was a very big surprise and I was very delighted to hear that.
Is he a good cook?
Yes, I was really surprised. He is a really good cook.
Men in aprons is one sign of changing gender roles. As South Korea modernises, traditional ideas of what men should do and what women should do are changing gradually.
Men, what a performance, always cooking the big meal for the special occasion. I wonder if these guys ever do the cooking at home.
While the men completed the cooking, the women stayed next door looking after the children. Young women now get jobs and work just as much as men, but the figures show that when they reach 30, they leave work to have children. More men in the kitchen doesn’t yet mean more women in top jobs in business.
Stephen Evans, BBC News, South Korea.

Key:
1 male celebrity chefs
2. sixty-five years old 
3. because he worked abroad
4. because he had started taking cooking classes
5. the traditional ideas of what men and women should do
6. they leave work to have children

Victims of acid attacks rebuild their lives

Every year hundreds of Indian women are victims of acid attacks and reported incidents are on the increase. Very often men throw acid at women who reject their marriage offers or attempts to start sexual relationships. One charity has devised a strategy to help survivors regain their confidence and rebuild their lives.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1 Which job do the victims of acid attacks do in Sheroes café?
2 What consequence did the acid attack have for Rani?
3 Why did the boy get angry with Rani?
4 What plans did Rani have for herself at the moment of the attack?
5 Apart from earning a living, what are the victims trying to gain while working at the café?
6 How old was Dolly when she was attacked?
7 What was Dolly's mom's attitude towards her after the attack?


Faces scarred irreversibly, lives changed forever by acid attacks. But these women are very much survivors, not victims, and part of their recovery process is to tell their stories to the outside world.
In the shadow of the Taj Mahal, they found a sanctuary of normality in Sheroes café, set up by a local charity.
Like any other waitresses, they take orders from tables and chat to the steady stream of backpackers who pass through town. Rani, who’s 20, is the newest arrival. The story of her attack which left her blind is all too familiar.
There was a boy. He loved me. It was one-sided love and he used to follow me around. One day he accosted me in the street and tried to force himself on me. I slapped him. That made him angry, so after a few days, he attacked me with acid. My family blamed me. They wanted me to agree to that man and let him do as he pleased. But I didn't want to be involved in the trappings of love or marriage. I wanted to study.
Rani says the women at the café have given her the strength and support she didn’t get from her own family.
Working here at Sheroes isn't just about earning a living, it's also about regaining a life and because many of the women here were scarred when they were very, very young, rediscovering their confidence is part of the key to survival.
These women have already become local celebrities. Here, they're filming a video for the café website. Dolly was just 12 when she was attacked, yet another case of a rejected suitor. She recalls the moment she first saw her face.
After seeing the mirror, I cried and howled and screamed so much. I said things like my face has been ruined and it would have been better if I had died, why did you save me? But my mother told me that I'm still beautiful. I don't cover my face any more. I live my life my way. I like that I have a job here at Sheroes. I like that my parents feel pride in my work and in the fact that I’m standing on my own feet.
As evening falls, Dolly and her colleague chat and laugh about the places they would like to go and the things they want to do. Their advice to other women who've been scarred is try and look forward, not back. Disfigured once yes, but empowered now too.
Naomi Grimley, BBC News, Agra.

Key:
1 waitresses 
2 it left her blind
3 because she slapped him
4 she wanted to study 
5 their confidence
6 twelve
7 she has supported her, she feels proud

My That's English revisited: War of the Sexes

My That's English! revisited is a new section of the blog in which we look back at some of the most outstanding and popular entries so far. Today... War of the sexes.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1 How many Americans fight over housework?
2 How many women feel they do all the housework?
3 What are typical chores that men do?
4 What effect does sharing the housework have on a marriage?
5 What pieces of advice does the psychologist give on how to handle housework? (She gives five)
6 Why should all the family get involved in the housework?
7 What is the least popular chore?

Male presenter: This morning on Today's relationships, the chore wars. There's a new survey that found that one out of every five Americans admits to fighting over housework with their spouse every month.
Female presenter: So how do you end this battle of the sexes. Psycotherapist and contributor Robbie Ludwick has some advice for keeping the peace. This is a universal problem, a lot of couples can relate to this and the survey was very telling.
Robbie Ludwick: Clr did a survey, and they were really the first to look at this problem, how are men and women different when it comes to cleaning, who cleans more and how do people really feel about it? And no surprise 69% of women feel that they did all of the house work or most of it and 53% of the men said no, I disagree, I really feel like I pull my weight.
Female presenter: Was that surprising?
Robbie Ludwick: No, because I think men are really doing a lot more than they ever did before, so to them, taking out the garbage and maybe picking up after the kids feels like they are doing half the work, but women are working outside the home, so there is this kind of idea shift that's going on.
Male presenter: And while these little fights can seem trivial, but they can actually be damaging to a marriage?
Robbie Ludwick: They can, because what the study also showed was women who felt that they were overburdened and taking on most of the responsibility really were angry with their husbands and not feeling as good about their marriages. But on the up side, women who felt that their husbands were helping and that things were fair and square really felt good about their relationship and this is something that comes up on a regular basis, one out of five couples on a monthly basis argue about it. It's reality.
Male presenter: So you say one of the things you should do is assign appropriate assignments.
Robbie Ludwick: Right. So what you want to do is don't go against the grain. If your husband likes doing the laundry, let him do the laundry, if you like cleaning the dishes, separate it along the lines where people are actually good…
Female presenter: Consider compliments.
Male presenter: Where?
Robbie Ludwick: You should all be complimenting. Nagging doesn't work, if your partner, let’s say, really one day cleans up the table, say thank you, that really meant a lot to me. Success builds on success. And that’s the way to really help somebody do more of what you want them to do.
Male presenter: And you said also baby steps, start small.
Robbie Ludwick: Right. It's overwhelming to clean a house, who wants to do it. Do it in five minute intervals, it's amazing what can get done in five minutes. And after a while you start to realize, well, we’re really cleaning up the space together, but if you start small it’s more manageable, less resistance.
Female presenter: And you get the kids involved?
Robbie Ludwick: I did this summer. If you make it a family activity, you can burn calories, it's something everybody does together and then you reward yourself after the fact with movies or a nice dinner out. But get everyone involved. Everybody's messing up so everybody should clean up.
Male presenter: I remember I'm saying to my mom, we should get a dishwasher, she said I've got six of them already. And one of the things you say, just do it.
Robbie Ludwick: Yeah. You're not going to like cleaning all the time. Clr also studied that cleaning the toilet is the least popular thing to do.
Male presenter: Really?
Robbie Ludwick: Big surprise there. But sometimes you just have to do it. A clean home has a better chance of being a happier home so you have to do things in life you don't want to do all the time, so just make yourself do it.
Female presenter: And it sounds like you should also come up with a plan for these things so that everyone knows up front what they're doing.
Robbie Ludwick: Don't surprise me with an assignment. Don’t compare,  I did this, you did that.  We have a personality quiz that you can get on Clr chorewars.com/, it's also on the todayshow.com site. So you can find out what is your cleaning personality and find a way to make that work in your house. Mine is a can-do. I took the quiz, I'm a can-do instead of a honey-do. Are you a honey-do or are you a can-do?
Male presenter: I'm avoiding you as a possibility. I'm hiding in the closet.
Female presenter: Avoidance is not the solution. You can take that cleaning personality quiz on our web.

Key:
1 one out of five
2 69% 
3 taking out the garbage and maybe picking up after the kids
4 couples are happier 
5 assign appropriate assignments; compliment; take baby steps; get the kids involved; have a plan ready
6 everybody's messing up so everybody should clean up
7 cleaning the toilet

The role of first gentleman

We don't hear very much about the first gentlemen of American politics certainly, or anywhere else for that mattter, not as much as we hear about our First Ladies. But come November, that could change.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1 What three occupations does Andy Moffit have?
2 What area is Gina Raimondo a pioneer in?
3 What does 'six' refer to?
4 How did being a first gentleman change Dan Mulhern's marriage?
5 What did Moffit have to do during his wife's first campaign for Attorney General?
6 What does the phrase ‘Your primary role is emotional’ mean?
7 What was one of Andy Moffit's first tasks as first gentleman?
8 What causes is Moffit focusing on these days?
9 How does Moffit support his wife?

Meet Andy Moffit. Husband, a working father, and gardener-in-chief.
So the other day I was out there, you know, cutting the hedges and cleaning, and some guy came by and he said, 'Hey, hey, does the governor live here?' And I said, 'Yeah.' And he said, 'Well, if you see her, tell her she's doing a great job!
And it's pretty easy for Andy Moffit to get an audience with the governor of Rhode Island. He’s married to her. Gina Raimondo is the first female governor of the state, which makes her husband the first... what?
I do remember being at an event where I was a group of seniors, and the man who was introducing me sort of paused. He said, 'This is Andy. He's… what, what's your title again?' And I explained, 'First gentleman.' And all the older men and all the women there all laughed and kind of giggled.
Andy Moffit is Rhode Island's first first gentleman. And while that title may not exactly roll off the tongue, you might want to get used to it.
From Michael Haley in South Carolina, to Dan Little of Oregon there are now six, count them, six first gentleman in the United States. And while we don't know if the title of the cook book by Wade Christensen, the first gentleman of Oklahoma, sums up his take on the job, Dan Mulhern, former first gentleman of Michigan, says the role reversal can be humbling. His wife, Jennifer Granholm, served two terms as governor.
Did it change your marriage?
Oh, sure, yeah.
How?
For a man to see your wife in the position of power and prominence all the time, you have to think about how to manage yourself, and how to manage your ego, and how to play roles that are unusual roles.
In fact, Mulhern, a lawyer and teacher at UC Berkeley, says he’d actually considered running for office himself, but it was during his wife's first campaign for Attorney General that his role began to change.
She gave a big speech at the convention, 3,000 people packed in. And she was amazing. And I was holding my son, and this horrific smell starts wafting up to me from his backside. And so I was on the floor in a bathroom stall with my son on a plastic diaper pad changing him. And I was just fussing like crazy with myself: I can't believe I'm here. Why am I here? I can't believe I'm doing this now!
During his wife's first term, Mulhern sought advice from, who else?, a former first lady, Paula Blanchard of Michigan.
I said it to her, ‘How did you decide what role you would play?' And she said, ‘Your primary role is emotional.’
And what did that mean?
Well, it meant a lot things: number one, it meant I was the lead in the family. And at that time our children were eight, seven and one. You know, you think of yourself as smart, you think of yourself as up on the ideas, you may think you have talents. But that's not where you're supposed to be.
The duties of the first spouse have never been one-size-fits-all.
It's a very amorphous job, a job without a definition.
Lisa Kathleen Graddy is the curator of the first ladies exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
It all depends on what we expect of women, and what we expect of first ladies at that time.
Dolley Madison established the White House as a backdrop for social diplomacy. She also, you may recall, really knew how to pack up and move in a hurry.
Dolley Madison, when the White House was burned by the British in 1814, managed to save it…
A century and a half later, Jacqueline Kennedy reigned domestic, famously restoring her new home.
Lady Bird Johnson was the first to enter the job with an announced slate of programmes, including highway beautification. Our more recent first ladies have taken on issues like health care, literacy and obesity.
How much of what we expect of first ladies and of a first gentleman has to do with our expectations of gender?
I think almost all of it has to do with our expectations of gender. I don't think that people are necessarily going to expect a first gentleman to do the Christmas decoration tour, but we just don't know.
But maybe we should?
Maybe we should, maybe we should.
Take one of Rhode Island first gentleman Andy Moffit's first tasks.
You actually held the tea for former first ladies of Rhode Island.
I did, I did. I realize I have a platform as first gentleman. And I've a real license, and I have an intention to do something with it to make an impact on our state. And they were very encouraging in that way.
These days, while his wife is at the State House, Moffit is focusing on his causes: food and hunger-related issues. That is, when he's not working for a management consulting firm. Which brings us to this guy, who may soon find himself with a wife who's president, and a case of serious role reversal.
You don't make the decisions; your wife makes the decisions, you're a coach or a consultant. You're a supporter. You're a cheerleader. You're an encourager. But keep that clear in your mind: She's the boss.
Still, to hear Dan Mulhern tell it, there's nothing second-rate about being first gentleman.
If you had to assign adjectives, you know, my years as first gentleman were ..., what would you say?
Extraordinary, you know, magical, really confusing, disempowering, humbling, uplifting, very sweet. Lots of pride at my wife. Extraordinary feelings of pride for my wife.

Key:
1 husband, working father and gardener
2 she is the first female governor of Rhode Island
3 the number of 'first gentlemen'  in US
4 he had to learn how to manage himserlf, and how to manage his ego, and how to play unusual roles
5 change his son's napppy
6 the first gentleman's number one task is being the lead of the family and he must forget about his other talents
7 holding the tea for former first ladies of Rhode Island
8 food and hunger-related issues
9 he's a coach or a consultant, he's a supporter, he's a cheerleader, he's an encourager

Nicola Thorp high heels at work row

A London receptionist was sent home from work after refusing to wear high heels, it has emerged.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1 What job was the woman supposed to do?
2 What shoes was she wearing on the day she was sent home?
3 What option did the company give her before sending her home?
4 What did the employment hotline say to Nicola?
5 Why don't many companies follow the dress code laws?
6 What was she supposed to do in the job?
7 What's Nicola's opinion of female workers who want to wear high heels?
8 What were high heels originally designed for?
9 When was Price Waterhouse Coopers, the company that hired Nicola, aware of the controversy?

Now a woman who says she was sent home from a receptionist job because she refused to wear high heels is petitioning Parliament to change the law.  Nicola Thorp was employed by an agency who then sent her to work at a management consultancy in London. The agency that employed her, Portico, has said to us their personal appearance guidelines are in line with standard industry practice.  Well, I've been speaking to Nicola Thorp. She said that she was laughed at when she pointed out that male colleagues weren’t subjected to the same demands when it came to how they dress.
That day I was wearing flat black shoes and they gave me a dress to wear, and a jacket which I put on and the supervisor said, well, you know, you're not going to wear those, we only have women in heels in reception. And I said, well, I think that's ridiculous. I pointed to a male colleague, I said, he's wearing flat shoes, why can’t I? And, of course, that’s laughed at and I understand because that’s a much bigger issue for people to get their heads around. They then said to me, you can go and buy a pair of heels if you like, we’ll let you work. I refused and was sent home.
Without pay.No pay.
Without pay, no. I'm told I can’t work for them so…
So the agency said you, you can't work for us again.
The agency actually really understood. They said, yeah, unfortunately this is what the client requires so I called an employment hotline, and said you know, this is what happened to me, this can't be legal, you know, this is, this is my fundamental right as a woman and they said, well, I'm sorry actually dress codes laws state that an employer can make employees wear a formal dress code, which I agree with, and they can distinguish between male and female. As it stands, flat shoes are not considered to be formal or smart for a woman to wear, and I think that's unfair.
And that still stands, and so were you surprised to discover that that is.
Really, really surprised. Many companies obviously don't take that on board, they’re forward-thinking and think, you know, this is a really outdated, quite sexist dress code, but there are some companies who think that the way a woman should look in a corporate environment is to be two to four inches taller and to change the way, I suppose, they carry themselves.
And there's no doubt in your mind that, that the flat shoes you were wearing were in keeping in terms of they were smart, they were neat, they allowed you… the point is, I think, that potentially you were gonna be on your feet for a nine hour shift because you're walking around the offices showing clients around…  I mean… what… Nicole, I’m sorry… I didn’t know that was the law either…
Exactly!
…or that it was written in that way…
It’s so wonderful, it sparked this debate, the only difference is… I mean, I'm wearing pretty much the same shoes now. I would just.. you couldn't tell from the front I would have just been two inches taller.
And what about a woman who might say, oh but I, I actually feel better in heels, I feel stronger, I…
Brilliant! I would… I would encourage women to… this is my point, it's my heels, it’s my choice, I should be able to choose whether to wear heels or not. If a woman wants to, then absolutely fine, that's up to her. If a company wants to have everyone wearing the same, I think it really needs to listen to the women who are saying this is uncomfortable and you're not really treating us very fairly.
And part of the point is that this is a ruling that was probably set in stone many, many, many years ago.
Many years ago, many, many years ago. High heels were originally designed for men so that they could keep their feet in stirrups whilst riding a horse. Now they're not still wearing heels because fashion changes and moves forward so I think it's about time that corporate fashion followed suit. 
That was Nicola Thorp in the last hour. Now we did ask the various people involved for a comment. We heard first from PwC, that is the company that the agency sent Nicola to work for. PwC,  Price Waterhouse Coopers, says it outsources its front of house and reception services to a third party supplier. We first became aware of this matter on the 10th of May, some five months after the issue arose and the dress code referenced is not, in fact, a PWC policy. We also spoke to the recruitment agency who directly employed Nicola, that’s Portico. Portico said in line with industry standard practice we have personal appearance guidelines across many of our corporate locations. These policies include recommendations for appropriate style of footwear for the role. We will now be reviewing our guidelines in consultation with both our clients and our team members.

Key:
1 receptionist
2 flat black shoes 
3 buying a pair of heels
4 what the company had done was legal
5 because they are outdated and sexist
6 walking around the offices showing clients around
7 she doesn't object to that, that's their choice 
8 for men to ride horses
9 on 10th of May, some five months after the issue arose

Extensive listening: 3 lessons on success from an Arab businesswoman

Professional Arab women juggle more responsibilities than their male counterparts, and they face more cultural rigidity than Western women. What can their success teach us about tenacity, competition, priorities and progress?

Tracing her career as an engineer, advocate and mother in Abu Dhabi, Leila Hoteit shares, in this TED Talk, three lessons for thriving in the modern world.

You can read a full transcript here.

10 Questions for Anne-Marie Slaughter

On this Time interview Anne-Marie Slaughter, the foreign policy analyst, talks about why she left her job at the U.S. State Department, motherhood and the new feminism.

Self-study activity:
Watch the interview and say whether the statements below are true or false. The activity is suitable for Advanced students.



1 Anne-Marie Slaughter was dismissed from the State Department.
2 Anne-Marie Slaughter has been in the center of a controversy because of her situation in the State Department.
3 Femminists object to Anne-Marie Slaughter's ideas on work and motherhood.
4 The magazine that published Anne-Marie Slaughter's article sold 800,000 issues.
5 In American work culture, mothers are not considered suitable for all the jobs.
6 Anne-Marie Slaughter objects to the fact that a worker's value is measured by the time they spend at work every day.
7 Anne-Marie Slaughter understands why her professional activities don't have as much recognition as her article on work and motherhood.
8 Anne-Marie Slaughter still gets nervous when talking in front of a large audience.

Hi, I’m Belinda Luscombe. I’m and editor-at-large at Time magazine. Anne-Marie Slaughter is a professor at Princeton. She was formerly the Director of Policy Planning at the State Department. Most significantly, for our interview, she is the mother of two. Anne-Marie, welcome.
Thank you.
So you had a high-powered job in the State Department and you gave it up to spend more time with your family. Are you sure you weren’t fired?
I am quite certain I succeeded actually very nicely at the State Department. I won the Secretary’s most distinguished service medal, all those good things, so definitely not fired. But as you know, leaving to spend time with your children is a euphemism in Washington for getting fired.
So you have been in the news, in the center of an incredible swirl of discussion, because you wrote an article for The Atlantic in which you speak about how the American system for employment and being a mother are almost mutually exclusive. What made you out yourself at this point?
It was very hard to do. I realised when I was in Washington and I had these teenage sons and they really needed me at home that the sort of assumption that I could just do this and have the job that I wanted and be the mother I wanted to be was not proving possible, but the idea of saying it publicly that there was a problem and, as I put it, you know, that you can’t have it all, that it’s much harder than you think, felt like a betrayal. It felt like breaking a taboo, because my generation of feminists believe that you don’t admit anything other than absolutely women can do it. We need another round of conversation, feminist conversation.
Any response?
You know, the article goes up online on 21st June and by June 25th almost 800,000 clicks on the article. I have heard from hundreds directly, mostly women but I’d say probably 20% men, which is pretty, pretty high, and all mostly saying ‘thank you’, but then of course other women saying you’re going to hurt feminism, you’re gonna set the cause back. Men saying you’ve validated my wife’s experience. Thank you. Men also saying I want these things too.
So one of the things that has sort of stymied thinkers, business people, CEOs, is this persistent gender wage gap that we have. Is that motherhood?
A certain percentage, and I don’t have the statistics here, is motherhood in a sense that no one says anymore that’s not a job for a woman, that may be actionable legally, but plenty of people say that’s not a job for a mother. And there is quite a lot of evidence that there is, in fact, structural discrimination against mothers. I think there’s an assumption that mothers are not going to be able to work the same, get the same amount of work done, that men do, and it may be that mothers also feel less comfortable than women in general asking.
No, I know you’re probably not in the blame finding business. But is it men who are keeping these mothers down or is it the mothers themselves?
I’m sure it’s either. I think it is the structure of our workplace and a lot of our cultural assumptions. I mean, our workplace was set up for individuals who would enter the workforce in their mid 20’s and go through their mid 60’s and never have to make any compromises for child bearing or child rearing. That is the men of the 1950’s. And it was assumed you had to be in the office, so it’s designed for a time with much less technology, and that the person who was in the office the longest worked the hardest. If a woman leaves at 6pm and a man stays till 9pm the assumption is, well, he’s working harder as opposed to looking at what did they… what was the output, not the input, what was the output? So I think there are a lot of different factors, and actually you need to tackle them one at a time.
Does it goad you that you’ve written a number of books, you know, some incredibly influential policy, something like hundreds of foreign policy papers and the article on motherhood is the one that gets you on all the talk shows? Does that?
Yeah, I’ve, I’ve definitely thought why exactly can’t I create the same kind of reaction about foreign policy and there are still not nearly enough women at the top in foreign policy, not enough voices, but I also think foreign policy is not something that touches millions of people’s lives every day. It is by definition a much smaller crowd. And what I said, and at the time I said it, more than I could have foreseen, hit a chord with people’s everyday lives. But I’m going to insist on being recognised as a foreign policy person as well as a mother.
Let’s talk about foreign policy for a while, then. I’ll give you that chance. What would you do or what do you think should be done about Syria?
So right now I would say, let’s, let’s keep doing what we’re doing, providing lots of intelligence, communications and some arms to the opposition, a lot of support. And let’s keep pushing diplomatically. Let’s give that, you know, some more time. I would say if by the fall that has not worked, I still think then we need to take more, more action, and that probably does include no-fly zones, what I’ve called no-kill zones.
You have sons. If you had daughters, what adv…, of similar age, of teenagers, what advice would you be giving them?
One thing I would absolutely tell my daughters and I tell all my young women in class, raise your hand, speak out. I was terrified of public speaking until I was 35, so much so that I didn’t dare go into litigation in law school. I make my living at public speaking today. I can stand up in front of an audience of a thousand people without notes and speak for 30 minutes without any problem. But it took determination and practise. And I’d tell them exactly what I do tell my sons, which is get out there and fail.
Anne-Marie Slaughter, thank you so much.
You’re welcome.

Key:
1F 2F 3T 4F 5T 6F 7T 8F

Talking point: The gender gap

This week's talking point is the gender gap. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

• What examples of sexist behaviour and language can you think of?
• How do you feel or react in those situations?
• What are the main differences between women and men's roles in today's society?
• In what aspects of life have men and women achieved greater equality?
• What areas still need improvement?
• Do men and women have equal rights in your country?
• Do you think the situation of gender equality is looking up in your country? And in the world?
• How does the situation compare to 50 and 100 years ago?
• Have you ever felt discriminated against for gender reasons?
• Do you know anyone who has?
• Which jobs are typically done by men and which ones by women these days?
• Why is that?
• Do you think boys and girls should be treated differently? Think about the topics below:

gender

toys

single sex schools

discipline

other issues (example: more freedom for boys than for girls) 

To illustrate the topic you can watch this BBC news item on the pay gap between men and women in top-ranking jobs.



The gender pay gap has been highlighted and condemned before now. Men in the same sort of jobs as women being paid more. Today we learnt that’s been made worse by the gulf between bonuses paid out to executives. A survey by the Chartered Management Institute shows that men earned average bonuses of more than £6,400 last year compared with just over 3,000 for women. In the most senior roles, male directors got bonuses of £63,700 on average whereas their female counterparts received just over 36,000. The group says there are several factors behind this.
Women are perhaps less adept than their male counterparts at negotiating for pay rises in bonuses. The second is, of course, that women leave the workforce to have children and often return with less confidence than they need. And lastly at the top it’s a very male-dominated culture, that can put women off.
If there’s discrimination over pay, women can take legal action, but experts say that’s not always straightforward.
It can take many months if not year to get a full hearing. A tiny proportion of claims get to a full hearing. And inevitably I think some employees may be reticent about bringing claims because of the impact it may have on them in the market.
Today’s report comes at a time of intense debate about how to increase female representation at senior levels across the business world. Of the top one hundred companies just 17% of directors are women. Although that’s upped over the last year, there’s widespread recognition that more needs to be done to boost that number.
Just three of the top one hundred have female chief executives, and business organizations acknowledge that while progress is being made, there’s still a long way to go on boardroom diversity.
The honest truth is that we need to do a lot more and we need to do… we need to move faster, so we need to look at the pipeline, how can we stop women from leaving businesses, perhaps when they have children, and we also need to look at other schemes like mentoring schemes and networking schemes that encourage women to stay in the workplace and get women networking with other women in a similar position.
Ending the agenda pay gap and ensuring equality in the workplace remains a major challenge for employers and the government.
Hugh Pym, BBC News

One woman discovers the wage gap

In many places and in many jobs, women don't make as much money as men, even if they're doing the same job.



Thank you.
Wait. $1,273 after taxes.
Wait. You make $1,273?
Yeah. What do you make?
78% of that? But that's so weird because we have the same job. That's not fair. Unless...
One woman discovers the wage gap.
Can you give this folder to Mark?
Sure.
Thank you.
Hey, can you give this folder to Mark?
Oh, Mark's right there.
I know. Thanks for doing all of the job that you are paid to do.
Hey, Mark.
Hey, Elsa. Can you give me those reports we talked about?
Oh, yeah. I can get you roughly four out of five of the report.
Why not all five?
You tell me.
So, before we adjourn, does anyone have anything to add?
Oh, I've actually noticed that in the most recent research, the most important thing that we can do...
Elsa, you didn't finish your sentence.
Oh, I know. You did most of it though, so...
Elsa, are you available for a conference call at 2?
Sure. How long do you think it will take?
Only about an hour.
Great.
Okay. Really need you on this one.
You got it.
2:47, time for a snack.
Elsa, I feel like you're not giving this job a 100%
You're right. I'm giving it about 78%, and it's already 4:45, so I'm on overtime. Wouldn't want to cost you any extra money.
Okay, but I need you to come in this weekend.
That is a good one, Mike. I'll see you.
Can you believe and I only make 78%?
I don't even make that!
We need to fix this.

Extensive listening: India, a dangerous place for a woman

British Asian journalist Radha Bedi travels to India to see for herself the reality of life for young women there, six months after a medical student was brutally gang-raped on board a bus in the capital Delhi in December 2012 and later died of her injuries.

The story made international headlines and shocked the world, but was this an isolated incident? Horrified by the attack, 28 year old Radha returns to a country she’s visited many times to explore the problems woman and girls face in India.

Over the course of the documentary, she learns about current attitudes to female members of society, meeting young girls and women who bravely share their personal experiences of harassment and violence.

This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

You can read the transcript of the first ten minutes of the documentary here.


INDIA: A DANGEROUS PLACE TO BE A WOMAN pt1 from Radha Bedi on Vimeo.

An Explanation Of The Pay Gap Between Men And Women

Today's youngest group of working women are the first in modern history to start their working lives at near parity with men. But will they stay this close in the years to come?

Self-study activity:
Try not to watch the video while doing the exercise, as the clip does give some visual  on the listening comprehension questions.

The video is suitable for intermediate 2 students.



1 How much did a woman earn for every dollar a man earned 30 years ago?
2 How much do women earn now for every dollar a man makes?
3 How much did young women early in their working lives make in 2012 for every dollar their male counterparts earned?
4 Note down at least three reasons why the pay gap has narrowed?
5 Did young women starting their professional career in 1995 maintain, reduced or widen the pay gap with men?
6 Why does the pay gap persist? Give three reasons.

Before checking the answers with the transcript below, watch the video and try the activity again. The visual clues will greatly help you with the difficult questions.



Today's young women are starting their working lives at nearly equal pay with men but there's no guarantee that they will stay this close in the years to come. A new study by the Pew Research Center looks at how the pay gap between women and men has narrowed but persisted over the last 30 years. More than 30 years ago, a woman earned (1) 64 cents for every dollar a man earned. The difference in earnings or the pay gap was 36 cents. Since then, the pay gap has shrunk. Now, women make (2) 84 cents for every dollar men earn - a 16 cent gap and each new group of young women has narrowed the gap even more. Let's take a look at the young women starting out in 1980. While women overall earn 64 cents for every dollar men earned that year, young women could expect to make a little more - 67 cents. Taken at five-year intervals, each successive group of young women has started out at a higher level, steadily narrowing their pay gap with men the same age. By 2012, young women early in their working lives earned (3) 93 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned. These groups of young women also started out with a narrower pay gap than the pay gap for all working women.
Why has the pay gap narrowed? There are several reasons. (4) Women are better educated and more active in the work force than they used to be. Many of them had moved into higher-paying occupations traditionally dominated by men and men's earnings have fallen. Also, many work place barriers and discriminatory practices have eroded over time, but the pay gap has also persisted. In the more recent years, it has narrowed more slowly. Let's take a closer look. Let's look back again at the 1980s, where working women of all ages made significant gains and closed the pay gap by 11 cents. In later years, women did not make as much progress in closing the pay gap. Because of this overall pattern, young women who started out in the 1980s have done better over the course of their lives compared with later groups of young women. The young women who started out in 1980 built on the rapid progress of that decade and narrowed the pay gap with their male counterparts as they aged and the young women starting out in 1985 also benefited from the strong, overall gains for women during this decade. She maintained about the same pay gap with men over her working life. This progress for women overall slowed. The women starting their working lives in 1990 saw their pay gap with men widen slightly over time. (5) Young women starting out in 1995 lost even more ground relative to men as they aged and so did the women starting out in 2000.
No matter what their pay gap was when they started, all groups of women have moved toward the same pay gap. We don't yet know what the future may hold for today's youngest group of women who have been in the work force for less than a decade. (6) Why does the pay gap persist? Why the newer groups of young women failed to hold on to their early gains? Women are still mainly responsible for child and family care. Many of the mothers in our survey say they have taken a significant amount of time off from work, reduced their hours or quit work to care for a child or other family member. Women also remain more likely to work in lower-paying occupations than men do. For example, male dominated Science & Engineering jobs, pay a medium hourly wage of 30 dollars, while female dominated Administrative Support jobs, pay less than 15 dollar an hour. Gender discrimination may also contribute to the pay gap. Our survey found that women are more likely than men to say they've been discriminated against at work because of their gender. Both women and men say, 'more needs to be done' to bring about gender equality in the work place.
To learn more about the attitudes and experiences of women and men at work, read the full report at: www.pewresearch.org

Listening test: Stereotypes

Listen to a BBC radio programme and choose the option A, B or C that best completes each sentence. 0 is an example.

listen to ‘Stereotypes’ on audioBoom

0 Neil says that men’s existence will be
A longer.
B shorter.
C the same.

1 The Y chromosome
A is responsible for men’s intelligence.
B has 10,000 years left.
C still has all the vital functions.

2 Jennifer Hughes has said that
A it is very unlikely that the Y chromosome loses any more genes.
B natural selection is failing to preserve the genes.
C only the mother’s genes pass characteristics to a child.

3 Men's sex chromosomes are
A more sophisticated than female ones.
B less sophisticated than female ones.
C as sophisticated as females ones.

4 Rosie’s boyfriend
A has not used the washing machine in 30 years.
B is 30 years old.
C wasn’t used to doing household jobs.

5  Women
A are more afraid of spiders than men.
B run away from mice.
C take longer in the bathroom.

6 Rosie
A hates the fact that men are stronger than women.
B thinks that men are less violent than women.
C says that women usually try to find a solution to problems.

7 The ratio of men to women in the world is
A 100 males to every 100 females.
B 100 males to every 105 females.
C 101 males to every 100 females.

Transcript
Neil:Hello I'm Neil and with me today is Rosie.
Rosie:Hi there.
Neil:Well, today we're talking about men.
Rosie:That sounds interesting.
Neil:It is very interesting especially if you're a man because it seems we've had our existence extended.
Rosie:I'm sorry?
Neil:Well, some previous scientific research had suggested that the Y chromosome, which is responsible for men's sex organs and hormones, is rotting away!
Rosie:Oh dear. Are you going to make it till the end of the programme, Neil?
Neil:Ah yes – even the most pessimistic findings suggested that men had 100 thousand years left. Scientists compared the decline in the male human's Y chromosome with that of the monkey.
Rosie:Okay.
Neil:And their conclusion was that the Y chromosome still got all of the vital bits.
Rosie:Lucky you! Well, here's Jennifer Hughes from the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge Massachusetts. She was in charge of the research:
Jennifer Hughes, Whitehead Institute in Cambridge Massachusetts
I think that the odds of the Y losing any more genes are pretty slim. It appears that it's been stable for 25 million years and that is a good indication that's it going to be stable for many many millions of years to come and the genes that remain on the Y probably have very important functions and therefore natural selection is doing a very good job of preserving those genes.
Rosie:She said the odds of the Y chromosome losing any more genes are pretty slim – meaning it's unlikely. Genes are the parts of cells which have the information which passes characteristics from a parent to a child.
Neil: So it sounds like us males are safe for many millions of years to come.
Rosie:She also added that natural selection is doing a very good job of preserving the genes.
Neil:Now here's an interesting fact, Rosie. Did you know that men's sex chromosomes are not as sophisticated as female ones?
Rosie:No I didn't know that, but it doesn't come as a surprise to me!
Neil I thought you might say that. But you know what – I'm happy having less sophisticated chromosomes if it means men continue to live for a little longer. Now there's only one way to end this programme, Rosie, and that is to imagine a world without men.
Rosie:OK, well for a start more would get done.
Neil: Are you suggesting that men are lazy?
Rosie:Well, they can be. My boyfriend, for example, had never used a washing machine until he was 30 years old.
Neil:Right, well we're getting into stereotypes here! So how about this one – if there were only women in the world, you'd never get into the bathroom.
Rosie:OK, I'll give you that one. I agree that women do spend longer in the bathroom than men.
Neil: And who's going to catch spiders and mice for you?
Rosie: Ah, now that is absolutely not true! My boyfriend is terrified of mice. In fact he ran away from one in the kitchen just last night.
Neil:Well, to be honest, I don't really like mice either, I must say. But what about lifting heavy things? I am always expected to do heavy lifting, which I hate by the way.
Rosie:Yes I confess that men are useful for that. And on a more serious note, I think there would probably be far fewer wars if there were only women. I think women would be more likely to talk problems over than resort to violence.
Neil:Well you might be right there but it's difficult to say because most of the world's leaders are men of course. OK Rosie, this entertaining debate must come to an end. We need an answer to the question. I asked what the ratio is of men to women in the world. What was your answer?
Rosie:I said 100 males to every 105 females
Neil:And you were completely wrong. It's 101 males to every 100 females. Bye for now!
Rosie:Bye bye!

Key:
1C 2A 3B 4C 5C 6C 7C

Extensive listening: Blurred lines, the new battle of the sexes

Blurred lines, the new battle of the sexes is a BBC documentary about changing attitudes to women on today's world. The BBC introduced the programme this way:

"From extreme laddism at universities to rape jokes in the school yard... Kirsty Wark explores whether there's a new culture abroad in which it's acceptable to write about, talk about, and feature women in a sexually offensive, even abusive way. Or whether the female of the species just needs to 'man up', learn to enjoy a gag, and get used to the 21st century world."

You can read the transcript for the first ten minutes of the programme here.

Warning:
Contains some violent scenes, and strong language and scenes which some viewers may find upsetting from the start.

Talking point: Sexual discrimination at work

This week's conversation topic is sexual discrimination at work. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas can flow more easily when you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

• When hearing these jobs, do you think of a man, a woman or both? Nurse, farmer, au pair, detective, butcher, secretary, surgeon, babysitter
• Which are the most male-dominated professions in your country?
• Which jobs, if any, do you feel women do better than men? Why?
• Are there any jobs that are more suitable for men or women? Why?
• Do you think there is discrimination in the workplace in your country? 
• If so, in what ways? Can you give some examples?
• In what sort of jobs or professions do women face discrimination? Why?
• Have there been any 'firsts' for women in your country, like Penny Jamieson, who was made Bishop of Dunedin in New Zealand in 1990?
• In your home, how is housework divided?
• Who does most of the housework?
• Describe the division of housework in your household and when your parents were your age.

To illustrate the topic, you can watch the New York Times video Donning the pink collar, about the fact that more and more men are starting to see the many benefits of jobs long-dominated by women.




I kind of cringe at the term male nurse because, you know, I’m a nurse, you know, it just so happens I am a guy.
Kevin Kaiser is one of a small but growing number of men who are registered nurses. Nursing, like teaching and waitressing are among the occupations that have long been dominated by women. Economists call such occupations ‘pink collar jobs’. But a New York Times analysis shows that men are increasingly donning the pink collar. Men say these jobs are stable, challenging, and often a better fit.
I enjoy the complexity of the patients. I like the flexibility. I basically create my own schedule.
We are seeing now men gravitate into areas that they weren’t so anxious to get into before: neonatal, a lot of male nurses are now in pediatrics, and that’s one, I’ve been a nurse for 40 years, that’s definitely a change.
Now we see a lot of men in pink collar jobs, and there are a couple of reasons for that. One is that those are the jobs that are growing.
Ghilarducci is a behavioural economist who researches workforce issues.
Also the jobs for women, that women dominate are in such high demand that the pay is increasing.
My pay is premium, my benefits are premium, I get subsidized housing across the street. The increase in pay and benefits has been tremendous over the years, and that’s one of the reasons I don’t understand why more men are doing this.
30 years ago Ryan was one of the few men who chose to face the social stigma associated with women’s work.
When I first started in nursing, the culture of nursing was much, much different. If a physician walked into the nurse station, nurses were expected to stand up and let that physician sit down. Now for a guy doing that, you know, not used to sort of demerge to someone else, that was difficult for me to do.
I think young men aren’t settled with the kind of sexism than older men are. They are working along, women are their equals, and that working with a woman and being supervised by a woman would be demeaning.
I ‘ve seen different kinds of guys now. Now you see guys that you’d meet in a neighbourhood bar, the guy who was doing an engineer’s job or something, and I do see people with degrees in other fields.
One of the reasons why it is so important from an economist’s point of view that occupations are integrated is because it makes the economy more efficient. We economists have been talking about that from day one, that if you have artificial barriers to a job, they don’t have people getting the best matches.
I mean, you can go and bang a hammer on the side of a building if you want to or you can sit down and shuffle paper and talk to people on telephone trying to sell them insurance, but you are not going to feel good at the end of the day like you do with this job.

Extensive listening: Sheryl Sandberg pushes women to "lean in"

In March 2013 CBS 60 Minutes aired the segment Sheryl Sandberg pushes women to "lean in", which dealt with Facebook CEO's ideas on the position of women in the workplace. This is the way CBS presenter Norah O'Donnell introduced the programme.

"Sheryl Sandberg is the chief operating officer of the social networking giant Facebook, but that's not what's putting her in the headlines. She's decided to jump head first into one of most hotly debated and intensely personal issues out there: women in the workplace.
In a new book that has already touched a nerve, Sandberg proposes a reason for why there are so few women at the top: the problem she says might just be women themselves. Despite the fact that women have been getting more college degrees than men for 30 years, they still account for only four percent of CEOs in America's Fortune 500 companies and Sheryl Sandberg says that number needs to change."



You can read the transcript here.

Male bonuses double those of women, says study

The pay gap between men and women is made bigger by bonus payments given to male managers which are far higher than those for women, says the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

Self-study activity:
Listen to this short BBC news item and find out more about the study.

The activity is suitable for intermediate students.



1 How much did men earn in bonuses on average last year? And women?
2 Name, at least, two of the three factors that are mentioned for this difference in salary.
3 Why are women reluctant to take legal action?
4 What does '17%' refer to?
5 And 'three'?
6 What is a major challenge for employers and the government?

To check your answers, you can read the transcript below.

The gender pay gap has been highlighted and condemned before now. Men in the same sort of jobs as women being paid more. Today we learnt that’s been made worse by the gulf between bonuses paid out to executives. A survey by the Chartered Management Institute shows that men earned average bonuses of more than £6,400 last year compared with just over 3,000 for women. In the most senior roles, male directors got bonuses of £63,700 on average whereas their female counterparts received just over 36,000. The group says there are several factors behind this.
Women are perhaps less adept than their male counterparts at negotiating for pay rises in bonuses. The second is, of course, that women leave the workforce to have children and often return with less confidence than they need. And lastly at the top it’s a very male-dominated culture, that can put women off.
If there’s discrimination over pay, women can take legal action, but experts say that’s not always straightforward.
It can take many months if not year to get a full hearing. A tiny proportion of claims get to a full hearing. And inevitably I think some employees may be reticent about bringing claims because of the impact it may have on them in the market.
Today’s report comes at a time of intense debate about how to increase female representation at senior levels across the business world. Of the top one hundred companies just 17% of directors are women. Although that’s upped over the last year, there’s widespread recognition that more needs to be done to boost that number.
Just three of the top one hundred have female chief executives, and business organizations acknowledge that while progress is being made, there’s still a long way to go on boardroom diversity.
The honest truth is that we need to do a lot more and we need to do… we need to move faster, so we need to look at the pipeline, how can we stop women from leaving businesses, perhaps when they have children, and we also need to look at other schemes like mentoring schemes and networking schemes that encourage women to stay in the workplace and get women networking with other women in a similar position.
Ending the agenda pay gap and ensuring equality in the workplace remains a major challenge for employers and the government.
Hugh Pym, BBC News

Sex discrimination in golf club

Sex discrimination at Scottish Muirfield Golf Club, where the British Open was held in July this year, caused a bit of an upheaval in the media.

Self-study activity:
Watch the two-minute BBC video by clicking on the picture below or on the link here and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.

The activity is suitable for intermediate students.

It is a (1) ... that’s brought blue skies for the players but a storm cloud for the organisers. Muirfield is one of the oldest clubs for its history, tradition and men.  Women aren´t  allowed  to be members here. (2) ...  discrimination? Not  so, say those in charge.
“On the Saturday morning, when the guy gets up or the lady gets up, and out of the marital bed if you like, and goes off and plays golf with his (3) ... and comes back in the afternoon, that’s not, on any kind of par, with racial discrimination or anti-Semitism or any of these things. It’s just what people kinda do.”
As  a private club, Muirfield’s men-only membership is perfectly legal. But politicians, including Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond, have refused to come here this week claiming the club is (4) ...  ...  ... . Just a few miles down the road, Whitekirk Golf Club has a flourishing female membership and they are less than impressed.
“I really don’t agree with the men-only clubs, it’s (5) ... antiquated.“
“I think it (6) ... a bad example to young male golfers, this is the way that you  can treat women.”
“Women can go as far as they like in business, so why in sport are we differentiating?”
Even Augusta, the US’s famously traditional home of the masters, admitted its first female members this year, including (7) ... Secretary of State Condolezza Rice.  At Muirfield, the stars have been (8) ... to end with the debate, but Britain’s biggest name says it’s time for change.
“It’s something that shouldn’t happen these days, it’s something that we shouldn’t even be talking about. So you know, that’s why I guess a lot of people don’t want to talk about it.”
For now (9) ... , the female spectators here know they can’t be members. At  the Open, where golf’s openness is under scrutiny.

Key:
1 venue 2 Damaging 3 chums 4 out of touch 5  pretty 6 sets 7 former 8 reluctant 9  though