Feminist Myths and Magic Medicine: flawed thinking behind calls for further equality legislation

Image of report coverIs she crazy or just saying the unsayable truth?
The Sunday Times

Those who try to combine high-powered jobs with having children really only end up with ‘nominal families’ with whom they spend little time.
Thisismoney

Its conclusions are zinging through the right-wing press
The Guardian

In this internationally high profile report, leading academic Dr Catherine Hakim shows that:

  • equal opportunity policies, in regards to women’s access to the labour market in the UK, have been successful;
  • calls for further equality initiatives (as in the recent Coalition document, The Equalities Strategy), are based on the  outdated and  wrong assumption that equality of outcomes is either desirable or feasible;
  • the latest academic research proves that many men and women have different career aspirations, priorities and life goals.  Policy makers should therefore not expect the same job outcomes;
  • calls for further employment legislation targeted at women (eg for quotas on boards of FTSE-100 companies) should be resisted.

The full text of the report can be downloaded below.

Media impact:

This report has been covered by:

Dr Catherine Hakim has also been widely interviewed:

  • On the Today programme, in a debate against Sarah Jackson, CEO of Working Families
  • By CNN for their Quest Means Business programme
  • BBC Radio Ulster
  • BBC Radio 5 Live
  • BBC Radio Scotland
  • For a variety of BBC regional radio stations
  • And also, internationally, for Irish, Japanese, Spanish, Croatian, Australian and Colombian Radio

Catherine Hakim - Tuesday, 4th January, 2011