【社会科学-职场】
Women still face barriers in the workplace：Many arguments about female progress are a convenient fiction for men
（ The Economist -759 字 长精读）
Women have made great strides in the employment market over the past 50 years. But many still feel that their progress is being obstructed and, to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8th, two new books by feminist writers tackle the issues.
In “The Fix” Michelle King, director of inclusion at Netflix, a video-streaming giant, observes that women are constantly told they need to change themselves—be more assertive, work longer hours and so on. Instead, she argues, working practices should change to accommodate the needs of half the adult population. In “The Home Stretch” Sally Howard, a journalist, suggests that a big reason why women are held back is that even those who work full-time are still expected to do the bulk of the housework. To cite the book’s lengthy but apposite subtitle, she makes a strong case “why it’s time to come clean about who does the dishes”.
Male managers may find these books an uncomfortable read, peppered with talk of the patriarchy and gender privilege. Sometimes, the authors go too far. Ms Howard links the patriarchy with capitalism so often that one wonders whether she has ever seen a picture of the Soviet Union’s all-male politburo or considered the harm done to women and baby girls by the Chinese Communist Party’s one-child policy.
But men do not need to forsake the capitalist system to appreciate the plight of female workers. They just need empathy. Are women in the workplace judged by the same standards as their male colleagues? Are they described with adjectives (strident or emotional, for example) that would not be applied to men with the same characteristics?
Despite recent progress, women still face a glass ceiling (see article). A couple of stories in Ms King’s book illustrate the point. Sarah was an executive at a multinational who worked late, underwent management training and enthusiastically received and acted on feedback. After many years of rejection, it seemed she was due for promotion to the next tier, which was 100% male. But at the key meeting a male executive said: “I don’t know; she just doesn’t fit. She has those glasses and she wears that clip in her hair.” Not exactly “scientific management”.
In the other tale Ms King, on her first day in a new job, walked into a kitchen full of men. Her boss said “Hey, Michelle, there are dishes in the sink and you are a woman, so, you know, wash them.” His colleagues laughed. When she protested, she was told to learn to take a joke.
Bullying disguised as humour is still bullying. And women are expected to put up with it. They must also tolerate different dress standards. Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, often messes up his hair before public appearances to maintain his “lovable buffoon” image. Dominic Cummings, his adviser, dresses scruffily, which suits his persona as the “eccentric genius”. It is hard to imagine any woman reaching a position of political power while adopting a similar style.
Sometimes the excuse for the lack of female progress in certain professions is that women and men naturally choose to pursue different career paths. Yet those outcomes may simply be the result of formal or informal barriers against female success. At the end of the 19th century, when only 4-5% of American doctors were women, some men no doubt put this down to a lack of aptitude. Many medical schools, perhaps sharing that preconception, did not admit female candidates; Harvard’s began accepting women only after the second world war. In Britain women were not allowed to become practising lawyers until they were admitted to the Law Society in 1922.
In both professions the playing field was eventually levelled. The result? In 2017 more women were admitted to American medical schools than men for the first time. By 2018 half of British solicitors were female.
Another common argument is that it makes sense for married people to specialise, with the man taking on higher-paid employment and the woman doing more of the chores. It is equally dubious. One study, for instance, found that husbands who earn less than their wives do even less housework than those who earn more.
Many of the arguments that women’s lack of progress is down to aptitude or choice look like a convenient fiction for men, who do rather well out of the bargain. Women, who end up doing most of the chores as well as working long hours, get a raw deal. It is not them who need to change—it is the attitudes of men.
Source: The Economist
【社会科学-气候】
Green house Effect
（ WSY -341 字 短精读）
Source: WSY
【社会科学-性别】
Supporting Women's Entrepreneurship in Georgia
（VOA-3分6秒-406字-精听）
先做听力再核对原文哦~
The United States is partnering with Georgia, a former Soviet Republic that gained its independence in 1991, to strengthen its self-reliance and independence by helping the country to develop its democratic institutions and build a more dynamic, diversified, and inclusive economy.
One sure fire way to bolster any country’s economic growth is to support an enabling environment for young people, especially women, to succeed in the economy. And that is exactly what the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is doing in Georgia.
In 2015, in an effort to encourage innovation and promote entrepreneurship among the country’s youth and women, USAID partnered with the Georgia-based non-profit organization Crystal Fund to launch the Supporting Youth and Women Entrepreneurship in Georgia, or YES-Georgia, program.
Since then, YES-Georgia has helped more than 3,000 young entrepreneurs and professionals- about 60 percent of them women. Through this program, USAID provided professional skills training to some 900 young people; mobilized 230 million dollars from private and public funds to support youth-owned microenterprises and startup businesses, and assisted more than 200 young people to draft business proposals and apply for financing.
In late January, while visiting Georgia, USAID Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick took the program a step further announcing an expansion of the YES-Georgia program to support women up to the age of 50. This was in line with the U.S. government’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, or W-GDP. The program will also launch new activities to support women entrepreneurs, including opportunities to apply for financing.
“This new expansion will include supporting women re-entering the workforce later in life, reflecting the practical reality that female entrepreneurs often venture into business at that stage and tend to concentrate in industries with lower capital intensity and average revenue,” said Deputy Administrator Glick. “The long-term goal is to change the way that people think about women’s participation in entrepreneurship, recognizing that many women are held back by negative gender stereotypes. So the program also includes outreach activities to reach 100,000 women and girls across Georgia through media campaigns, social networking, events, and other activities.”
“Like the rest of the world, the people of Georgia want and deserve a stable democracy, with transparent operations built upon the rule of law, safeguarded by a healthy civil society exercising its basic freedoms of conscience, with an opportunity for all populations in society to contribute.”
“USAID programming like YES-Georgia is designed to help Georgia progress down this path.”
Source: VOA
【笔记格式要求】
同学们任选 2 篇文章精读/精听并进行笔记打卡
精读笔记格式要求：
1.总结文章中心大意
2.总结分论点或每段段落大意
3.摘抄印象深刻或者觉得优美的句子
4.总结文章中的生词
5.记录阅读时间、总结时间、总时间
精听笔记格式要求：
1.逐句听写整篇文章
2.对照原文修改听写稿，标记出错原因
3.总结文章中心大意
4.总结精听过程中的生词
5.记录听写时间、总结时间、总时间
这里也给大家三点学习小建议哦~
精读：如遇到读不懂的复杂句，建议找出句子主干，分析句子成分，也可以尝试翻译句子来帮助理解~
精听：建议每句不要反复纠结听，如果听 5 遍都没听出来，那就跳过，等完成后再回听总结原因，时间宝贵，不要过于执着哦~
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发表于 2021-2-7 21:50:00
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