Women Are Taking Over the World. Really.

I couldn’t resist putting two and two together. The Washington Post has a piece today about the fact that more women than men snagged Ph.Ds during the 2008-2009 academic year. Then, the Post readership is discussing the oh-so-pressing topic:  Why are women surpassing men academically? Since when are women “surpassing” men academically? I missed the memo. More women graduates with Ph.Ds doesn’t do anything to address one of the largest salary gaps in the workplace, that of women on the tenure-track. 

Then, in the July/August 2010 issue of The Atlantic, writer Hanna Rosen penned this culture clash gem: “The End of Men.” Rosen writes: “Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women? A report on the unprecedented role reversal now under way— and its vast cultural consequences….”

So, one final observation that I would be remiss in pointing out is that the mastheads of both the Washington Post and The Atlantic are dominated by men. Are the old boys fretting over their own eventual demise, or just whipping up their readers into a media-inspired frenzy?

You decide.