Money is not the only form of payment from work, there are, of course, other benefits and types of remuneration; that are personal, social, moral, and culturally rewarding too. The feeling of giving back to society, the feeling of belonging and being valued, the feeling of connection, the feeling of purpose, of autonomy, competence, and appreciation. No, they don’t pay the bills, but they are a form of ‘payment’ that makes life worth living, and helps us feel meaningful. Some call this “cultural capital”. And yes, women get significantly, and consistently, more of it than men do – and it’s about time we talked about it. Of course, the opposite to cultural capital is “financial capital”, which men (as we are so often reminded) on average, receive more of. And such a thing makes sense. If you are going to do a job that is boring, monotonous, isolating, unappreciated, and lacking in felt meaningfulness, then yes, you ought to be compensated with more money. In fact – Studies have found this to be a far stronger explanation of the pay gap, than valuative discrimination of so-called “women’s work”. Such studies show that men, socialised into breadwinner roles, forgo a sense of meaningfulness in their work, prioritising money; and are then castigated as the privilved beneficiaries of a “gender pay gap”. But is this fair? Does such a metric, centered entirely on money, not miss a huge amount of detail, nuance and context? So ask yourself – When you go to bed tonight, will it be the money you earned, or the societal difference you made, that will help you drift soundly off to sleep? What do you think? ~ The Gender Gap in Meaningful Work: Explanations and Implications https://tinyurl.com/4mmjd636 Why do women’s fields of study pay less? A test of devaluation, human capital, and gender role theory https://tinyurl.com/yny8y4r6

2026-03-13