White guys still don’t get it: This is the real reason they dominate TV

[Orsino]

This story isn't specifically written about the 2016 election cycle, but here are points to remember when we turn on the TV and are presented with the opinions of "experts." That word's definition is skewed. Points like these have me eager to see more women packed into government, academia and journalism at all levels. We like to repeat the fact that right-wing voices dominate in the media; this is in part a function of the predominance of white males with money or longer professional experience.

http://www.salon.com/2014/03/20/white_guys_still_dont_get_it_this_is_the_real_reason_they_dominate_tv/

First, why would there be fewer women available when asked? Working women do still have less time and make less money, so showing up to engage in punditry has to be worth it. Structural issues continue to mean that women are still doing most of our unpaid work and making less than their male peers for paid work. Television appearances often take place in the evenings and on weekends and are not such an attractive option when you have less time and do not have consistent childcare that you can depend on....

Second, expertise. What is it and who has it? Expertise comes from experience and tenure, and women’s ability to develop both is frequently and systemically constrained by workplace dynamics that remain stubbornly tied to the idea, in defiance of reality, that the ideal worker is a man with a wife at home. This is not because we are not able or ambitious, but because, by and large, men are rewarded with more pay, promotion and credibility when they have children and the opposite happens to women. Women’s responsibility for care also means they work part-time more and are inhibited from accruing tenure and … expertise.

These facts are what’re called the Motherhood Penalty and the Fatherhood Bonus, both extensively documented. They have real and tangible effects not only on time, but also on the definition, recognition and development of expertise.

Subject expertise is also affected by stereotypes, implicit bias and stereotype threats that feed our sex-segregated workforce. Paikin explains, for example that “90 percent of economists are men. So already you’re fishing in a lake where the odds are stacked against you. And unfortunately, it’s the same for foreign affairs, politicians, the sciences, labour issues, and the list goes on.”