A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter

The converging roles of men and women are among the grandestadvances in society and the economy in the last century. Theseaspects of the grand gender convergence are figurative chapters ina history of gender roles. But what must the "last" chapter containfor there to be equality in the labor market? The answer may comeas a surprise. The solution does not (necessarily) have to involvegovernment intervention and it need not make men more responsiblein the home (although that wouldn't hurt). But it must involvechanges in the labor market, especially how jobs are structured andremunerated to enhance temporal flexibility. The gender gap in paywould be considerably reduced and might vanish altogether if firmsdid not have an incentive to disproportionately reward individualswho labored long hours and worked particular hours. Such changehas taken off in various sectors, such as technology, science, andhealth, but is less apparent in the corporate, financial, and legalworlds.