The Hypocrisy of “Equal Pay Day”

As the radical left advances ivory-tower theories as equity initiatives, the irony reveals itself. Women are asked to take on these initiatives, but are actually not being paid for the amount of time they spend on them, and away from doing the good work they were hired for and are qualified to do. Forbes reports that the women, in leading the so-called Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, are doing “unpaid office housework.” 

Not only does this work on DEI initiatives show little benefit for the women leading them, but it also does not help the women and minorities it is intended to help. Ample research on these workplace initiatives—finding implicit biases against women and minorities—have not actually shown evidence of success for the very people they are intended to help. The Harvard Business Review found:

A longitudinal study of over 700 U.S. companies found that implementing diversity training programs has little positive effect and may even decrease representation of black women.

In the United States, Harvard scholars Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev found that research shows that:

[H]undreds of studies dating back to the 1930s suggest that anti-bias training doesn’t reduce bias, alter behavior, or change the workplace.

Let’s take a look at a country that tried the left’s experimental training. The United Kingdom experimented with “implicit bias” training in its government offices, and found—despite good intentions—that it was unsuccessful, according to a report entitled “Unconscious bias and diversity training – what the evidence says.” The Parliamentary Secretary Julia Lopez summarized the report’s findings:

[T]he report highlights that ‘there is currently no evidence that this training changes [behavior] in the long term or improves workplace equality in terms of representation of women, ethnic minorities or other minority groups’. It also states that there is emerging evidence of unintended negative consequences.

Those who are interested in truly helping women advance in the workplace should look to a different type of program that works for all employees—mentorship. Strong mentors who have achieved success in the company can support younger employees to do their best work. Mentorship is effective at preparing junior workers for promotion.

Adopting ivory tower DEI theories about reforms in the workplace might be well-intentioned but when evidence is examined, they have backfired. Women choose to work where their employer values hard work, and respects them. Pay women for the work they were hired to do, not ineffective and unpaid equity housework.