Idaho women face workplace prejudice

The equality revolution in the workplace, ignited 50 years ago with the publication of Betty Friedan's best-seller, "The Feminine Mystique," and punctuated by President John F. Kennedy's signature on the potentially transformative Equal Pay Act, has stalled.

Renowned gender-studies scholar Stephanie Coontz wrote last February in the New York Times: "Women are still paid less than men at every educational level in every job category." Nationally, women make up less than 20 percent of Fortune 500 companies' boards of directors.

It's also an Idaho problem. The salaries of female workers in the private sector in the Gem State lag well behind their male counterparts. The number of women in Idaho businesses who can boast the title of vice-president reveals a mystifying gender inequality.

To be sure, progress has been made since 1963, but the long, slow climb reflects a stubborn prejudice in the workplace. The tremendous success of the United States is, in many ways, attributable to the nature of our economic and political system that, in the words of Warren Buffett, "unleashes human potential to an extraordinary degree." But, as he has also pointed out, imagine how much more successful our nation might be if we fully utilized the other 50 percent of our population.

Buffett's observation is illuminating: "At the moment I emerged from my mother's womb ... my possibilities dwarfed those of my siblings, for I was a boy!"

The Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University will host some of the nation's most successful women to address these and other issues in a conference on women and leadership, Sept. 4-6. "Transforming America: Women and Leadership in the 21st Century," will investigate what must be done to create what former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has called the opportunity for all women "to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability."

Justice O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, will deliver the keynote address and be presented with the second Andrus Leadership Award.

The capacity to inspire, a rare but much-needed quality, is critical if America is to surmount its historical practice of discrimination against women. The equality movement requires a renewed commitment to removing the hurdles in the path to greater leadership opportunities for women in business and industry. Among other things, the denial of equal pay for equal work and the slow pace of promotions of women to higher posts in the world of business are unacceptable. The path to reform requires illumination. The Andrus Center's conference on women and leadership will feature a long list of women whose insights will light the way.

David Adler is the director of the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University, where he holds appointment as the Cecil D. Andrus Professor of Public Affairs. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law in the University of Idaho College of Law, where he teaches courses on the Constitution and the Supreme Court. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the Constitution, the Presidency and the Bill of Rights.