We use Google Analytics in compliance with German Data Protection Law. The site gathers data for the sole purpose of improving its services. You're able to decline
now or later. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. You'll find more information
here.
X
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ('Google').
Google Analytics uses 'cookies', which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site.
The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.
In case of activation of the IP anonymization ( which is true for this website ), Google will truncate/anonymize the last octet of the IP address for Member States of the European Union as well as for other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
Only in exceptional cases, the full IP address is sent to and shortened by Google servers in the USA. On behalf of the website provider Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage to the website provider.
Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser.
However, please note that if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.
Furthermore you can prevent Google's collection and use of data (cookies and IP address) by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under
You can refuse the use of Google Analytics by clicking on the button bellow ("Disable Google Analytics").
An opt-out cookie will be set on the computer, which prevents the future collection of your data when visiting this website:
Further information concerning the terms and conditions of use and data privacy can be found at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/gb.html or at http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/analytics/privacyoverview.html.
Please note that on this website, Google Analytics code is supplemented by 'gat._anonymizeIp();' to ensure an anonymized collection of IP addresses (so called IP-masking).
IZA Tower Talk: Is the future of labor female?
Angela Titzrath
Better policies to increase female labor market participation are urgently needed to cope with the demographic challenge and the growing shortage of skilled labor. Among the main impediments to women’s careers are insufficient childcare, work disincentives provided by joint income taxation, and generally lower career advancement prospects for women.
IZA not only stimulates research on this topic but also actively supports women’s careers in academia. Examples are the IZA European Summer School in Labor Economics with its large share of female graduates or IZA initiatives to promote anonymous job applications as a way to reduce discrimination of female applicants. Awarding the 2010 IZA Prize in Labor Economics to Francine Blau (Cornell University and IZA) for her contributions to gender economics also reflects IZA’s mission to strengthen the role of women in the labor market.
At a recent IZA Tower Talk co-organized with Zonta Club Bonn, guest speaker Angela Titzrath, board member for human resources at Deutsche Post DHL, stressed that women’s equal participation in professional life is also a “matter of economic reason” as it would lead to substantial GDP gains. However, although women “are clearly in the lead” when it comes to education and training, there are still too many “male domains” and too many high-skilled women who involuntarily work part-time, Titzrath argued. She also reported on initiatives by Deutsche Post DHL to set internal gender quotas and to offer flexible working time arrangements. Moreover, her company actively helps mothers and fathers during parental leave to maintain their labor market attachment and achieve a smooth return to the job. She also called for a “new corporate culture” – away from the “fetish of workplace presence” and towards a better family-work balance, which is increasingly demanded by new-generation career entrants. In addition to childcare access, employees should be able to take extended sabbaticals for the family, for elderly care, or for education.
IZA Director Klaus F. Zimmermann pointed at the recent improvements in female participation, but warned that the high part-time rate for women in Germany reveals the deficits in childcare provision. He called it “socially unfair and economically counterproductive” that parents have to spend enormous amounts of money for childcare services while university education is essentially free.
In a lively debate moderated by Adelheid Feilcke (Deutsche Welle), an inside view of women’s situation in academia was given by Annegret Schell, equality commissioner at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. She reported subtle incidents of discrimination against female applicants for professorships. Unlike Schell, however, IZA Director Zimmermann opposed all forms of statutory gender quotas. He agreed with Angela Titzrath that the main focus should be on improving childcare – including after-school care– to improve women’s career prospects and save them from the part-time trap.
