A study shows gender equality in some workplaces may never occur—without intervention
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Gender parity in some fields could be unattainable without intervention, according to a mathematical study of workplace hierarchies. (Stock photo.)
When will workplaces across the United States have an equal split between men and women in their ranks? Twenty years? Maybe 40? According to a mathematical model created by a research assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics, the answer to that question in some professions could be never—unless interventions occur.
While women consist of 50 percent of the population and roughly 47 percent of the workforce and have become better represented in business, academia, and government, their absence in leadership roles at the top of most hierarchies remains, as noted in a research paper written by J.L. Doob research assistant professor Sara Clifton and her colleagues.