Woman dreams of the man who brings home the money
25.05.2023 at 15:14
From Christian Ortner
Apparently, more young people yearn for a conservative-looking family life than published opinion would have us believe. So what?
For supporters of women's quotas, what Swiss economist Margit Osterloh and sociologist Katja Rost found in a large-scale study on "Why are women still underrepresented in top academic positions?" and recently published, is likely to be unsatisfactory.
Almost 10,000 female and male students at several universities in the greater Zurich area were surveyed. The "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" summarized the results as follows: "It's not the circumstances, it's not the men, it's because the women themselves don't feel an irrepressible desire for a full professional commitment. Even more: many female students dream of a man who brings home the money and finances the family."
If this were bad enough to cause violent gasps in the milieu of full-time women's experts, equal opportunity commissioners and quota advocates, it gets even worse: "Young women see themselves in the role of a mother who works part-time alongside her successful husband. This fits splendidly in that a good portion of the students surveyed also want a traditional family model."
Ouch - young women have been told for decades by parts of politics, the media and intellectual elites that certain lifestyles are hopelessly backward, even downright reactionary - and then this: "Many female students dream of a man who brings home the money and finances the family."
A similar survey in Austria recently came to a similar conclusion. The question was why many mothers prefer to stay at home during the first years of their child's life rather than work. The result: almost 80 percent of mothers with children under the age of one said they voluntarily stay at home because they want to and because they think it is an appropriate way of dealing with their offspring. And only seven percent, on the other hand, think that "a lack of or too expensive childcare options" is to blame for their absence from the labor market.
Now, of course, you can make fun of how many women (and men, for that matter) quite obviously have a strong need for lifestyles that are considered outdated, outmoded and reactionary, despite decades of re-education efforts by social engineers in politics and the media. One can, but it is just richly patronizing, pedantic and ultimately arrogant to women.
Perhaps it wouldn't be the worst of all ideas to stop constantly telling young women how disadvantaged they still are.
That doesn't change the fact that there is a considerable discrepancy between the ideas of women's politicians, most media people and other influencers about how women should live, and the ideas of the women concerned themselves. "That women have different preferences than men when it comes to career choices and ambitions is eye-opening." And that, as mothers, they like to spend time with their children and don't see themselves as 'unpaid care workers,' likewise. "Family makes many women happy," the "NZZ" editor scoffed.
Perhaps it would not be the worst of all ideas to stop permanently impressing upon young women how disadvantaged they still are and how it is the task of the state to use all possible and impossible methods to force a quantitative equality between men and women, whatever the cost.
Perhaps it would also be an idea to simply leave it up to women themselves to decide whether they prefer to make a career as a foreman in construction or to fish for a "man who brings home the money and finances the family." Because contrary to a widespread assumption in women's politics, there is something to be said for women being able to make this decision without being supervised by anyone.
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From Christian Ortner
Apparently, more young people yearn for a conservative-looking family life than published opinion would have us believe. So what?
For supporters of women's quotas, what Swiss economist Margit Osterloh and sociologist Katja Rost found in a large-scale study on "Why are women still underrepresented in top academic positions?" and recently published, is likely to be unsatisfactory.
Almost 10,000 female and male students at several universities in the greater Zurich area were surveyed. The "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" summarized the results as follows: "It's not the circumstances, it's not the men, it's because the women themselves don't feel an irrepressible desire for a full professional commitment. Even more: many female students dream of a man who brings home the money and finances the family."
If this were bad enough to cause violent gasps in the milieu of full-time women's experts, equal opportunity commissioners and quota advocates, it gets even worse: "Young women see themselves in the role of a mother who works part-time alongside her successful husband. This fits splendidly in that a good portion of the students surveyed also want a traditional family model."
Ouch - young women have been told for decades by parts of politics, the media and intellectual elites that certain lifestyles are hopelessly backward, even downright reactionary - and then this: "Many female students dream of a man who brings home the money and finances the family."
A similar survey in Austria recently came to a similar conclusion. The question was why many mothers prefer to stay at home during the first years of their child's life rather than work. The result: almost 80 percent of mothers with children under the age of one said they voluntarily stay at home because they want to and because they think it is an appropriate way of dealing with their offspring. And only seven percent, on the other hand, think that "a lack of or too expensive childcare options" is to blame for their absence from the labor market.
Now, of course, you can make fun of how many women (and men, for that matter) quite obviously have a strong need for lifestyles that are considered outdated, outmoded and reactionary, despite decades of re-education efforts by social engineers in politics and the media. One can, but it is just richly patronizing, pedantic and ultimately arrogant to women.
Perhaps it wouldn't be the worst of all ideas to stop constantly telling young women how disadvantaged they still are.
That doesn't change the fact that there is a considerable discrepancy between the ideas of women's politicians, most media people and other influencers about how women should live, and the ideas of the women concerned themselves. "That women have different preferences than men when it comes to career choices and ambitions is eye-opening." And that, as mothers, they like to spend time with their children and don't see themselves as 'unpaid care workers,' likewise. "Family makes many women happy," the "NZZ" editor scoffed.
Perhaps it would not be the worst of all ideas to stop permanently impressing upon young women how disadvantaged they still are and how it is the task of the state to use all possible and impossible methods to force a quantitative equality between men and women, whatever the cost.
Perhaps it would also be an idea to simply leave it up to women themselves to decide whether they prefer to make a career as a foreman in construction or to fish for a "man who brings home the money and finances the family." Because contrary to a widespread assumption in women's politics, there is something to be said for women being able to make this decision without being supervised by anyone.
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Study on female students at the University and ETH Zurich
Better to have a successful man than to make a career for yourself
Two female professors have investigated the lack of representation of women in professorships. Their broad-based study in Zurich says that women are not disadvantaged, but simply have fewer professional ambitions. They also argue against quotas.
As in many areas of business, women are severely underrepresented among professorships. Why? Two renowned German professors, economist Margit Osterloh (79) and sociologist Katja Rost (47), tried to find the answer with a study in Switzerland.
For their study, reported in the "Sonntagszeitung," they asked nearly 10,000 students at the University and ETH Zurich about their career ambitions, family image, choice of partner and other topics.
The result is surprising: the reason why women are rarely found in leadership positions is not discrimination - there is no evidence for that - but that women aspire to this much less than men.
Most female students, for example, want a partner who is older and more successful than they are. If there are children, he should provide the main income, and she wants to work part-time. For the study authors, it is therefore clear that the underrepresentation is self-inflicted.
"Convincing discrimination"
At the University of Zurich, almost 60 percent of students are women, but the proportion of female professors is only 24 percent. The study says that women in so-called "women's subjects" (psychology, veterinary medicine, sociology, education) are more inclined to the traditional family image and have fewer career ambitions. Only 19 percent of them want to work full-time even with a child. This contrasts with female students in "male subjects" (physics, computer science, engineering), where 39 percent also want to work full-time with a child.
Some results also raise questions. Although no responses indicate that female students have ever experienced a disadvantage because of their gender, they answered "yes" to the specific question about being disadvantaged as a woman. Margit Osterloh: "The only way I can explain this is that women are constantly told they are being discriminated against." They have internalized this, even if they have never experienced it themselves.
Drawing lots instead of quotas
The authors also take a stand on the subject of quotas: "Quotas and other preferential treatment of women do not lead to more life satisfaction, but to discrimination against ambitious men."
However, the female professors put forward a new appointment procedure for professorships for discussion: among qualified applications, the decision should be made by lot, because many women do not like to expose themselves to competition with men. They also think it would help if the strict deadlines for female doctoral students with children were relaxed.
She was "simply blown away" when she saw the results of the study, Margit Osterloh told the Sonntagszeitung. Osterloh is the former president of the University of Zurich's Equal Opportunity Commission. The current president is study co-author Katja Rost. (gf)
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As in many areas of business, women are severely underrepresented among professorships. Why? Two renowned German professors, economist Margit Osterloh (79) and sociologist Katja Rost (47), tried to find the answer with a study in Switzerland.
For their study, reported in the "Sonntagszeitung," they asked nearly 10,000 students at the University and ETH Zurich about their career ambitions, family image, choice of partner and other topics.
The result is surprising: the reason why women are rarely found in leadership positions is not discrimination - there is no evidence for that - but that women aspire to this much less than men.
Most female students, for example, want a partner who is older and more successful than they are. If there are children, he should provide the main income, and she wants to work part-time. For the study authors, it is therefore clear that the underrepresentation is self-inflicted.
"Convincing discrimination"
At the University of Zurich, almost 60 percent of students are women, but the proportion of female professors is only 24 percent. The study says that women in so-called "women's subjects" (psychology, veterinary medicine, sociology, education) are more inclined to the traditional family image and have fewer career ambitions. Only 19 percent of them want to work full-time even with a child. This contrasts with female students in "male subjects" (physics, computer science, engineering), where 39 percent also want to work full-time with a child.
Some results also raise questions. Although no responses indicate that female students have ever experienced a disadvantage because of their gender, they answered "yes" to the specific question about being disadvantaged as a woman. Margit Osterloh: "The only way I can explain this is that women are constantly told they are being discriminated against." They have internalized this, even if they have never experienced it themselves.
Drawing lots instead of quotas
The authors also take a stand on the subject of quotas: "Quotas and other preferential treatment of women do not lead to more life satisfaction, but to discrimination against ambitious men."
However, the female professors put forward a new appointment procedure for professorships for discussion: among qualified applications, the decision should be made by lot, because many women do not like to expose themselves to competition with men. They also think it would help if the strict deadlines for female doctoral students with children were relaxed.
She was "simply blown away" when she saw the results of the study, Margit Osterloh told the Sonntagszeitung. Osterloh is the former president of the University of Zurich's Equal Opportunity Commission. The current president is study co-author Katja Rost. (gf)
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